Next week, 4th graders across the great state of Texas will take a test of ridiculous proportions.
It’s the Writing STAAR and there are people out there who honestly believe it measures the knowledge and know-how of our kiddos.
If only they knew —
What the kids go home to,
What they witness,
The challenges they face…
But also (and more importantly) —
The twinkle in his eye when he tells a silly joke,
The warmth of her hug when she greets you Monday morning,
The light bulb moments,
The wonderings,
The laughter.
And so,
This week before the test,
We go to Camp Write Along!
Nothing is the same at school.
We rally.
We sing.
We play games.
And we write.
We write… a lot!
But, first we sing.
To the tune of Tub Thumping:
“We’re here to write! And then we’ll write again. There’s nothing gonna hold us back!”
And then we use Oreos as metaphors for good writing:
Oreos Thins?
Bare minimum…I mean, the basics are there, but who wants to read that?
Original Oreos?
That’s better! The intro and conclusion (cookies) are more filled out and really frame things for the reader.
But something’s missing…
Ah, Double Stuff!!!
Now we’re talking!
Still have the strong intro/conclusion, but now they frame something more! Something powerful and important because it’s the story of our writers!
And so — this week before the STAAR…
We write.
But we also sing,
And we play.
But most importantly we live and laugh.
And eat — I mean WRITE — good double-stuffed Oreo writing!
Then sings my soul….
The Blue Heron (Then Sings My Soul) 
Love how you approach the week and your writing. Part poetry, part prose. I’d love to hear more about the kinds of activities you do during this week. It sounds a perfect way to both engage and relax the kids.
Oh, we have such fun!
Over the past 10 years, I’ve been developing a collection of songs “adapted” to writing. The week prior to testing, I pair these with mini-lessons and a LOT of writing to build both stamina and security for the kiddos.
Some years, we’ve had an hour + of all 4th graders together with me in the cafeteria for our rally (think SONG FEST!), then — literally — spending the rest of the day writing in their classrooms transformed into campgrounds.
This year, we’ve got a more active group of learners, so we’re rotation the kids through our classrooms for activities ranging from sensory exploration to the Oreo project, to homophone sorts… and, of course, WRITING TIME! 🙂
We start the SBAC shortly. I teach 6th grade now, but when I taught 4th grade (and ESL where even kindergartners had to test on computers and demonstrate their writing skills) , I wondered how much their keyboarding affected their results.
Sounds like a good start to a stressful time.
Oh, but how about those colorful oreos….? The ones that are slim, but full of colorful, vibrant and well chosen words – I mean frosting. Sometimes, you can cut back on the fat and add the color!
Yes!!!!! Follow up lesson! 🙂
Thank you for making standardized testing not so horrible!
I bet your kids look forward to Camp Write. It sounds like they love it.
Yes! It’s a magical week. It’s a part of our school culture now. The kids look forward to 4th grade because of it and talk about it for years. Love it!!!