Beach Elementary and Indian Hill Elementary
I went to two different elementary schools when living in Round Lake Beach,
Illinois. This town is rather big, with a population of nearly 25,000. It is a very diverse environment consisting of people from all over the world. From first through third grade I attended Beach Elementary. Due to an
overcrowding in the school, I was relocated to Indian Hill
Elementary.
Illinois. This town is rather big, with a population of nearly 25,000. It is a very diverse environment consisting of people from all over the world. From first through third grade I attended Beach Elementary. Due to an
overcrowding in the school, I was relocated to Indian Hill
Elementary.
Staying on the lines
I always had problems staying on the lines when
writing my name in first grade. At least once I week my teacher Mrs. Weir would
make us write our first and last name on lined paper six times. I rememember some of my friends getting their papers back with smiley faces and I always had the dreaded red marks on mine. I was a very sensitive young girl and would often run home crying to my mother because I couldn't write my name on the lines. My mom was a stay-at-home mom and helped me to practice writing whenever she had the time to do so. I would have eventually learned how to stay on the lines, but this is something that students needed to be focussing on in the first grade. Eventually I became better at staying on the lines and Mrs. Weir was pleased.
Journal Write
I remember that journal writing was something we did once a week. We were given a prompt and instructed to write a few sentences regarding the prompt. If we had time left then we could draw a picture on the bottom of the page. I remember the kids in my classroom would make fun of me because my drawings were never very good. I was always pleased to show off my penmanship because I practiced all the time and I thought it was very good. In this journal I wrote about my dad being a hero to me because he taught me how to play sports. I always wrote about happy things regardless of the prompt, especially in elementary school. Everything seemed to be so enjoyable at the time and I absolutely loved to write at this point. This was not the case for many of my other classmates. I can recall a time that CPS was called because a girl had discussed in a journal how her dad had beaten her. It seemed as though writing was a place for this girl to express her feelings. I think journal writes are beneficial, throughout all stages of life. This is where true passion lies and individuals are able to express their feelings, emotions, attitudes, and beliefs. My teacher, Mrs. Weston, really established a community for us in the classroom. She was fun, goofy, and energetic. She showed us how to be creative with our writing, and write about our feelings and attitudes. I feel that my writing grew in strength because of the fact we were able to free write and not be judged. Journal entries were good entries for exploring ourselves. Mrs. Weston was one of the most wonderful teachers that I have ever had, and I would like to be a teacher just like her someday.
Cursive
I remember that being able to write cursive was something that my elementary teachers instilled in my head at a very young age. They said that we have to be able to do it because we were going to do this all throughout our life. I felt that I was pretty capable at doing so, but thinking back I feel like we could have used this time to work on other things pertaining to writing. The only thing I strictly use cursive for right now is my signature. I feel that my handwriting is kind of a mix between cursive and print. As long as my handwriting is legible, it does not matter. Cursive writing is not even required in schools anymore because of the implementation of the common core standards. We are becoming a more "tech savy" country, so it is just not as important as it was back when I was in elementary school. I feel that students who have an easier time writing in cursive should use it, if others prefer print than they should do that. I do know that if I ever happen to become an elementary teacher, I will not force my students to use cursive like the way I was. It will be their choice to use whichever they prefer. I feel as long as you can write and express your feelings, it does not matter what style of writing you choose to use. If cursive is easier for a student, then they should use it. I was even able to discuss this with my mom, and she told me that writing in cursive was enforced. She said she had even got marked down because her cursive wasn't as good as what it shoud have been.
Her is a dialogue I created. Unfortunately I was unable to find my actual young author's story. This is the first time I had to create something completely on my own. I think young author books are a great way for students to express themselves in writing. We were never limited to writing on a cetain topic with a certain amount of pages. We were allowed to explore oursevles as writers. I feel that this first young author story allowed me to explore myself as a writer.
“Mom, guess what?” I yelled.
“What’s going on Lex?” My mother responded
intuitively.
“We have to create a young authors book.” I
explained.
“What is a young author’s book?”
“It’s a book we have to make using words and pictures.” I sighed.
“We have to come up with something creative and just don’t know what I should
write about.”
“Well you could write about sports---you love sports and I could
help you with drawing the pictures if you need me to.” She said.
“Ehh I don’t think really want to write about sports---I don’t
really have any interesting stories about them right now. “ I muttered.“I don’t
really want to make something up about it either. I guess I’ll just go outside
and think about it before I go to bed.
20 minutes
later
“Dinner is ready Lex.” Mom yelled. “Come inside and wash up, you
don’t want your food to get cold.”
I came inside and sat down feeling very disappointed. “Mom, I
thought about what I would write for my young authors book and I can’t seem to
know anything interesting to write about.”
“Alexa Ann now you need to relax.” She screamed. “This thing
isn’t due for a month and you’re sitting around worrying about it. Think about
it tomorrow or another time and lets enjoy this lovely lasagna I decided to
make.”
I went to bed and a few days passed. Suddenly
one night I woke up and screamed, “I know, I’m going to write about my pet
guinea pig Zippity!”
“Have you decided what you are going to do your young authors
book on?” My best friend Andrea asked.
“Oh yes!! I was just going to tell you that I figured it out last
night .” I explained. “Do you remember my pet Zippity that died a few months
back? I am going to write about him and my experience with him.”
“ That seems like a pretty good idea” Andrea said. “I think I am
going to write a make-believe story about unicorns and I can draw pretty
pictures to go along with it.”
“Oooooh,” I said as nicely as I could. “I bet Mrs. Neimi would
really like a story like that.
“I think she will. Well I will see you later Alexa, I have to
catch the bus.” Andrea scurried away.
I went on to win
3rdplace with my story on
my pet Zippity. I was really
excited.
“Mom, guess what?” I yelled.
“What’s going on Lex?” My mother responded
intuitively.
“We have to create a young authors book.” I
explained.
“What is a young author’s book?”
“It’s a book we have to make using words and pictures.” I sighed.
“We have to come up with something creative and just don’t know what I should
write about.”
“Well you could write about sports---you love sports and I could
help you with drawing the pictures if you need me to.” She said.
“Ehh I don’t think really want to write about sports---I don’t
really have any interesting stories about them right now. “ I muttered.“I don’t
really want to make something up about it either. I guess I’ll just go outside
and think about it before I go to bed.
20 minutes
later
“Dinner is ready Lex.” Mom yelled. “Come inside and wash up, you
don’t want your food to get cold.”
I came inside and sat down feeling very disappointed. “Mom, I
thought about what I would write for my young authors book and I can’t seem to
know anything interesting to write about.”
“Alexa Ann now you need to relax.” She screamed. “This thing
isn’t due for a month and you’re sitting around worrying about it. Think about
it tomorrow or another time and lets enjoy this lovely lasagna I decided to
make.”
I went to bed and a few days passed. Suddenly
one night I woke up and screamed, “I know, I’m going to write about my pet
guinea pig Zippity!”
“Have you decided what you are going to do your young authors
book on?” My best friend Andrea asked.
“Oh yes!! I was just going to tell you that I figured it out last
night .” I explained. “Do you remember my pet Zippity that died a few months
back? I am going to write about him and my experience with him.”
“ That seems like a pretty good idea” Andrea said. “I think I am
going to write a make-believe story about unicorns and I can draw pretty
pictures to go along with it.”
“Oooooh,” I said as nicely as I could. “I bet Mrs. Neimi would
really like a story like that.
“I think she will. Well I will see you later Alexa, I have to
catch the bus.” Andrea scurried away.
I went on to win
3rdplace with my story on
my pet Zippity. I was really
excited.
Then
Here is a concept map I created on bubble.us. I found a handwritten version on this topic I used in elementary school which was used to help brainstorm ideas for a paper I was writing. I had a teacher in the 4th grade who made us create these before every paper we wrote. I think they are extremely beneficial for young writers still struggling to get their ideas out. I have actually had college professors who have made us create these and show them to her before we wrote papers. .
Now
This is also a concept map but a bit more detailed than the one above. This is one that I've actually used this year in order to help me brainstorm ideas for a paper. We are still using them!!