Slice Of Life April 28, 2015
Thursday I had the opportunity to see and hear Lynne Dorfman and Rose Caqppelli speak at Penn State Harrisburg on Discovering the Possibilities with Nonfiction Mentor Texts in the Age of Common Core. What an informative and entertaining evening. If you ever get a chance to hear these two dynamic speakers don’t miss it.
I thought I would share some of their comments and words of wisdom in today’s post.
- Look at assignments that will help a child’s curiosity grow.
- Always address students as “writers” in conferences. “Writer to writer…”
- Study a mentor author and see how they do things differently from you.
- Ask yourself, “How can standards fit into good writing?”
Lynne and Rose shared many books that can be used as mentor texts. One author they highlighted was Steve Jenkins.
His books include:
Rose and Lynne suggested using timelines as a means of helping to tell a story but to use them in more creative ways. For example:
This book shows pictures of the Empire State Building at different stages of construction.
One activity that Lynne and Rose had us do was write a How To Be…poem. Each line of the poem usually begins with a verb or adverb. This is a poem of advice. Lynne shared her poem on How to Be a Rain Forest. Here is my example.
How To Be a Cat
Sleep twenty out of twenty-four hours to conserve energy.
Shed on everything because no outfit is complete without cat fur.
Flop down in front of people when they are walking, especially if they are carrying something.
Lick your owner’s face to wake them up when it is time for breakfast.
Run around the house like crazy, especially during the middle of the night when everyone else is asleep.
Deposit a furball during the night and and then run so no one can easily find where you left it.
Climb your owner’s leg while they are trying to put food in your dish.
Stretch luxuriously to show all how long you are.
Jump on someone’s lap, especially when they are trying to do something.
Purr incessantly to show the world how happy and contented you are.
With Rose and Lynne
With Rose, Lynne, and Cindy Minnich
Next week I will share more from their presentation.
arjeha 
What a treat for you! I love the How to Be poem format. You have nailed the life of a cat. It would be fun to write one and see if the reader could figure out what you are describing. Can’t wait to read your other learning!
Informative and entertaining is the best combination for learning. Your slice includes also both elements. Being a cat owner has given you wealth of detailed images to write the poem. You clearly know what you are writing about.
Thank you, Bob! We had such a good time last week in Harrisburg. I love your “How to Be” poem. I can tell you have personal experience with cats! You would love the book It’s All About Me-ow: A Young Cat’s Guide to the Good Life by Hudson Talbott.
It sounds like you had a delightful time learning. Thanks for sharing your “How to Be” poem – I think you’ve got your (and every) other cat figured out to a tee!
Love the poem and pics. But CCSS, dump them!
What fun! You sure had an amazing experience learning…and crafting that wonderful cat poem, full of cat-ness delights.
Sounds awesome, glad to see the pictures too, and read the poem. Cats are so reliable without being reliable, agreed?