A Writer's Notebook

I have a 2012 summer focus...A Writer's Notebook. I am using the following resources to plan lessons and develop my own mentor Writer's Notebook to be used as a model for my 4th & 5th graders next school year.

• How to Write Your Life Story by Ralph Fletcher
• A Writer's Notebook by Ralph Fletcher
• Notebook Know-How Strategies for the Writer's Notebook by Aimee Buckner


• http://corbettharrison.com/

I just finished reading Word After Word After Word by Patricia MacLachlan. The story is about a published author who visits a 4th grade classroom to share with students how to develop as writers. While there is not a real strong plot or very much action, the characters are developed enough to maintain interest and understanding of the author's purpose. This could serve as a fall read aloud for 4th grade as an introduction to their own Writer's Notebook.

A sensory web (hear, see, feel, smell, taste) graphic organizer, a pencil, and a special place outside, are the essential ingredients for writers to plan a story. This helps students enhance their writing by using sensory details that help them show not tell about their setting, characters, and events.