Mrs. Huff's Stuff: Authors and Artists Writing Club!: Fabulous Paragraphs

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Fabulous Paragraphs

Once we mastered writing outstanding, descriptive sentences, we moved on to paragraphs. After all, great sentences that vary in style and length make up great paragraphs! That was the theme of our lesson on fabulous paragraph writing. First, I showed the students examples of horrible paragraphs that strayed from the original topic. Then I taught the students how to write five sentences, all with various beginnings, in order to make the paragraphs sound more interesting and stay on topic. They were to stick to the format I gave them, but we did allow for some variations as long as they used all five types of sentences. Below you will find some of my favorites. Notice how they all have at least one outstanding adjective in the first sentence, pronouns (possessive, too) in the second and third sentences that support the topic, a sentence starting with a "where," "when," "even," "although, etc" clause, and a fantastic conclusion. The students worked in partners and groups, and then tried a paragraph on their own.

How did they come up with these topics? They got to pick various topics out of my bowl-- definitely a surprise as they read topics such as Favorite Vacation Spots, Favorite Cartoon Characters, The Yuckiest Food, Holidays, Animals, and even some as crazy as Cookie Monster and Mickey Mouse. The students definitely stretched themselves and did an outstanding job!

Harry Potter Character Harry Potter
By Will (3rd grade), Katy (3rd grade), and Jade (5th grade)
   Out of all the characters in the book, Harry Potter is the worst! He murdered Voldemort and ruined Cornelius Fudge's life. I truly feel Harry should be sent to Azkaban. When he created "Dumbledore's Army," he disrespected the wonderful Umbridge Regime. Even though Voldemort is evil, Harry Potter is much more destructive!
   (PS- I am Draco Malfoy and I approve this message. I also wrote it!)

Harry Potter character Sirius Black
By Rebecca (5th grade)
   My favorite Harry Potter character is Harry Potter's sneaky godfather Sirius Black. He broke out of Azkaban, the wizard prison, because he was innocent and had great wizarding skill. He is very brave and he broke into Hogwarts, the wizarding school. When Sirius managed to escape Azkaban and broke into Hogwarts, he turned into a great, black, shaggy dog. Truly, Sirius Black has a lot of skill and is a deceiving person.

Christmas
By Katherine (4th grade)
   I love Christmas because of all the fun things and activities. It's fun to rip all the paper off and throw it around, making a mess. My favorite thing to do is have my relatives over and have dinner with them. While doing these two things, I laugh and have fun with my cousins. I think Christmas is the most fun holiday ever.

Dogs
By Elika (5th grade)
   There are many pets in the world, but dogs are my favorite. They are such loyal animals that can be your friend forever. Dogs will always be ready for you to throw a tennis ball out on the field. While reading a book, I can pet its soft hair that makes me feel relaxed. Clearly, dogs are the best pets of them all.

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About the Teacher

Mrs. Huff has taught Language Arts for over 20 years. After being a classroom teacher for 12 years, she chose a new career path in teaching writing workshops and tutoring in order to stay home with her young children. She loves teaching creative writing, reading, and grammar. She specializes in teaching elementary school grades, but enjoys assisting older students with their writing as well. She offers both in-person and online workshops and tutoring sessions. Mrs. Huff is Barton trained and certified, and has experience tutoring dyslexic students. She loves to see their growth and improvement in reading, writing, and spelling.

Mrs. Huff's hobbies include coaching volleyball, photography, scrapbooking, writing, and spending time with her family. She has a daughter and a son, both "graduates" from the "Authors and Artists" program!

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What Parents and Students have said about the workshop:

"The small group environment allowed for lots of personalized attention and immediate feedback. My daughter loved the workshop and came home raving about the creative writing assignments which included group, partner, and individual writing."

"It amazed me how my son was excited to stay after school for an academic-style club. Mrs. Huff made the classroom environment comfortable and light after a long day's work at school, yet encouraged hard work and focus and got the kids to produce great things. We loved the program!"

"I loved Mrs. Huff's teaching style and enthusiasm."

"I never thought I'd hear the words 'awesome' and 'writing' in the same sentence from my son, but that's what he said after the first class."

"My daughter absolutely loved the workshop. It made her think, and challenged her to write something different. She loves writing, and this gave her a scheduled time to do what she loves best with a teacher's guidance. Plus, she loved her teacher!"

"Authors and Artists is my favorite part of the day."

"This workshop is hard work..... but it's fun work!"

"I was very impressed with Mrs. Huff's manner with the children. There was a sense of mutual respect in the classroom between the teacher and students. The students were comfortable and worked hard, but had fun!"