I "Mustache" You a Few Questions...

I had seen an idea on Pintrest by Christie (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/I-Mustache-You-A-Question-Writing-Activity-More) where she had the students write a question.  Then she took a picture of them with a mustache and titled it "I Mustache You a Question."  I thought the idea was so cute and I had to do it with my second graders.  Of course it needed some adaptations.  The first thing I did was make it more developmentally appropriate. I told them to pick a character from their favorite book.  Then I asked them to have a topic sentence, ask the character three questions, and to get our higher level thinking skills in, I asked them to tell me why they wanted to know this information.  I especially like how this made wrting a question so concrete for them.  When we were done, they definitely knew the difference between an asking sentence and a telling sentence.  They even knew...wait for it...the difference between a question mark and an exclamation mark.  I know, right?  They were so excited and did such a great job!  I found these straws with paper mustaches so I gave them each their own mustache and took their pictures.  This turned out to be one of their favorite writing assignments...and one of mine too!

We all know how much our students struggle with writing.  It seems like the harder we work trying to teach writing, the less they enjoy it. I decided I wanted needed to find a way to show them writing can be fun.  I had taught summer writing in the past, and although it was successful, I still didn't feel like they realized how fun expressing themselves in writing can be.  That is when I thought of doing it as a camp. I had seventeen campers sign up for this adventure.  I love how my room theme inspires me, so I knew I needed a theme for the camp too.  I decided to go with a "Survivor" theme. I set up four tribes.   This allowed me to break them up into homogeneous groups for differentiated instruction.   We met for five consecutive days.  I was a little concerned that five hours each day might be too much for them, but the only negative comment I got on the evaluation sheets was that it should be longer!  We explored several different genres including narrative, fairy tales, dramatic, and informational.  We targeted specific skills such as brainstorming, getting through the writing process, plot, and word choice.  The campers came back more excited each day than the day before...you remember I said this is a writing camp, right?  So I guess I could say mission accomplished.  I am going to get all of the materials together and post pictures soon.  Now it is time to start thinking about getting my classroom ready.