"Adding Drama" to writing

I was watching The Book Thief the other day- I adore the book and the movie is charming.  The book is one of my favorite stories ever and if you haven't read it, I would highly recommend it (other books by Zusak are wonderful as well, in my opinion).  As I was watching, there were so many parts that I wanted to share with my class, but I teach fourth grade and it's not a movie or book I would read with that age group- nothing sticks out to me as inappropriate, it's just a WW2 story that I wouldn't show/read in school, although many of my kiddos have seen/heard of it.

However, one part struck me as exactly what we are working on in writing right now.  We have been practicing "adding drama" to our narratives (hey fellow Lucy Calkins Units of Study teachers!), and writing things as if they are happening right now (versus just telling what happened) and choosing interesting words to create vivid descriptions.

...and then I heard this in the movie...

...and it is perfect, so I had to share with my class and with you.  It says everything I want to say to them and shows how to brighten up a description.  Beautiful!  

            

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Snowcation Day 4

Snowcation (noun) - A series of days when school is cancelled because of snow.  Similar to a staycation because you can't leave your house, except to shovel snow.  Applies mostly to teachers and students attending grade school.

That was the view from my house yesterday morning (Snow Day 3).  Gorgeous, right?  We already had a foot of snow on the ground before the snowstorm came and dumped another 8(ish) inches from the sky.  Two snow days last week, two snow days this week... I'm not even sure if I have a job anymore.  I've been in lazy-productive mode.  It sounds counterproductive, but it's really just productivity taking place in my pajamas.  It's been delightful.

The snow storm had all of us teachers and students "stuck" at home, but also had this little critter wandering lost around my home in broad daylight.... He was injured, but still managed to break into my home and find a cozy place to live in the crawl space under my  house.  Nice.  So there's a project I didn't anticipate dealing with...

These snow days gave me a lot of time to wrap up some projects I've been working on and get them posted to my new TpT store.  I'll post how I use each of them specifically in the upcoming weeks, but here's a sneak peek at a couple that I added this past week:

First up: These great colored Hundreds Grid Cards.  We are currently using them for fraction and decimal practice.  I can ask questions like: What fraction of the block is red?  What is the corresponding decimal?  Write the fraction of the block that is green in word form.  Etc, etc, etc.  I have a math "art" project that has some great worksheets (perfect for guided math centers!) that could be a center, or used in small groups for easy differentiation.

After that, I think we will work on area and perimeter with them.  Then I can make them into a guided math center and "Presto!", three math projects with one set of 24 cards! 

You can get my "Fraction and Decimals Hundreds Grid Art" activity - with the 24 colored grid cards- at my TpT store here.

OR

You can get just the set of 24 cards for whatever your little heart desires at my TpT store here. 

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Next: Writer's Workshop Writing Folder Pack- Everything I use to set up student Writer's Workshop folders.  Look for an upcoming post about how I use these materials in our 4th grade classroom.  I love how I've set it up this year and how well the students are working on their creative writing.     

You can get the Writer's Workshop Writing Folder Pack here at my TpT Store.  

I'm ready to get back in the classroom and do some teaching!