Camp is off to a roaring start! What lessons I have learned this first week. From spending a whole first day of school with a two year old to seeing how the developmental spelling test can inform instruction, it has been terrific!

So...here was a lesson learned today: Last week, I visited the K,1, and 2 class and gave them the developmental spelling test. One student was so adamant about being able to spell the words correctly that he cried. I felt awful and offered to give him the list when we finished. Yet, he wouldn't have it. I told him we could be done. In fact, seeing his frustration and his view that writing was about getting it right, told me a great deal about how he reads and writes. Possibly much more than if he could have done some phonetic spellings, as I presume he can.

So I used that knowledge to teach a predictable chart writing lesson, which I thought would be motivating and also non threatening as it is a supported or shared writing lesson. I bought the 4 blocks book on the subject by Dorothy Hall from a local store. It has a great assortment of ideas. I chose to make up my own topic based on the conversation I heard from the students. We wrote this: On tv, I like ... It worked so well. They could not wait to be able to write and illustrate their own pages based on their sentence on the chart. We did not know if one younger student could write and he gladly made his page about Blue's Clues. The kids got it, but I felt happy too as I saw clearly the difference between writing about stuff you really want to say and spelling things correctly.

Anyways, in multiple classes, this shared writing and linking it with digital photography is working well.

Overall, I think that right from the start of the self selected reading components of the Four Blocks books this point is driven home. Having a love of reading or writing helps a great deal. The literacy seminar surely emphasized this concept. It simply makes sense to me and although it is not new to us as teachers, setting to creating that spark in our students as a primary goal of our literacy instruction is a nice jumping off point. Also, I liked how Dave and Karen said that it does not have to be "fun", as many times we are engaged and have quite a stern or intense look on our face.