Lisa Larson - classroom and demo idea

[Lisa Larson]

I'm a 7/8 Language Arts teacher at Cold Springs Middle School. I've been teaching for three years and I'm passionate about my subject and the success of my students! I think I do a good job of offering a variety of writing ideas and opportunities and I am always clear about my expectations, providing a rubric before the assignment. Since I started teaching, I've found that my students have responded well to "opening hook" lessons and have shown growth in that area, but many seem to run out of gas and motivation by the end of the essay, rushing to finish or just ending wherever they are because it's the bottom of the paper.

I chose essay endings for my demonstration. I'm still not certain where my genre focus is going to be - persuasive or narrative - but I think this is an area that could help many teachers, in many grade levels. My focus writing trait is organization.

I've attached a photo of one of my classes - see how hard they are working!

[Temoca Dixon]

Do I need to tell you I'm excited about your presentation? It will work well with my presentation on beginning a story and you will be tying the story up. We'll worry about the middle later, huh? :)

Temoca

[Ray Hirschman]

RIGHT ON!

Lisa: This sounds so cool. As I've read through these posts, I continue to become more and more excited by all of the resources (None of which are duplicated) that will be available to us all. I couldn't agree more with your comment on the students running out gas by they end o the essay. I've had similar experiences: At the beginning of the lesson, the students seemed engaged and motivated, dare I say even excited; however, by the end of the actual writing process, they pooped out and almost gave up. Whether you choose persuasive or narrative, I think this will be an extremely valuable demo, and I'm looking forward to it.

Have a fantastic end of the year.

Eddie

[Jetta Lovett]

Sound good!
I too have experienced the students who just want to get it done. Thanks for tackling this area. Sounds like a winner to me. Can't wait to see your demo!
Jetta Lovett