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

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Powerful Paragraphs

Following our lesson on detailed sentences, both groups received instruction in effective paragraph writing. The students were great with the concept of staying on topic. One area of weakness for most students I meet is what I call "boring starts/patterns." I teach a 5-step process that encourages varying sentence patterns while staying on topic. The Junior group did this beautifully with a topic called "Backwards Animals." We had a great time brainstorming crazy animal names by spelling them forwards and backwards! Then we imagined what this new creature would....
- look like
- eat
- act like
- live
and more!

Once the brainstorming was over, we wrote 1-2 paragraphs, staying on topic of course! Here are two wonderful examples, with one scary creature and one sweet animal!

The Yeknom
By Marston, 2nd grade

The yeknom is a vicious creature. It has hands on its body to kill animals, then eat them. Its hands are really sharp. When it eats, its heart stops due to anger it feels during its meal. I wouldn't want to have it as a pet!

The Epa
By Shefali, 4th grade

   The epa is a kind and gentle animal, but very interesting. It lives in the water during the day, but can sometimes come out. During the night, it comes out of the water and it digs a deep burrow, then covers the hole with sticks. When it needs something, it opens its trunk to fly. I don't think there's any animal as cool as the epa!

My Seniors class had a little different assignment. They played a game in partners that involved drawing numbers representing sentence starters/patterns from a bag. Some examples were:
- Start with Because.
- Include a "where" or "when" phrase.
- Include two vivid adjectives
- Write a sentence with one strong verb
- Start with an adverb
- Include a quote sentence
And more!
They had to use the pattern/starter that they drew and create a sentence that flowed with the one before it, while staying on topic. They did a fabulous job with this, and showed great teamwork skills.

Arushi and Sophia (both 6th grade) chose a topic from my list: A favorite vacation spot. They wrote a beautiful paragraph with this game. Listen to these descriptive words! It sounds like it's straight from a travel brochure!

   Truly, Hawaii is one of the most amazing summer vacation destinations ever! The weather, which is always beautiful, is easily enjoyed at the beach. Because the ocean is very refreshing, people can beat the heat by going for a swim. Touring the volcanoes is an adventurous activity for people to explore every day. Some elegant resorts have exciting water slides to slide down into a big and deep pool. "Surf's up!" shouts a surfer, as he catches a ride on a huge wave. The island is a magical place for special events such as weddings and luaus. Isn't Hawaii the best place to spend your summer vacation?

After writing with a partner, the students had to try one on their own. They could either play the game, or choose their favorite sentence patterns from the game in any order they wanted. Here are two nice contrasting paragraphs about food!

Bacon
By Sammy, 6th grade

   My favorite food is bacon. I absolutely love when the bacon is right in the middle of chewy and crispy. Because bacon isn't very healthy, I don't eat it very often, which makes bacon all the more special. One of my favorite sounds is the sizzling sound that it makes. Bacon is a wonderful, tasty food.

A Yucky Food
By Eugene, 5th grade

   Brussel sprouts are the most yucky and gross things in the world! When my mom cooks some, she gives me a little. I don't like the taste, so I add something to it. Truly, brussel sprouts are disgusting enough to make me say, "Yuck!"

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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!"