First Day Jitters, by Julie Danneberg, is a surprisingly funny story with a twist about being nervous on the first day of school. A perfect read aloud, of course, for the first day of school.
Today, this book also provided a perfect springboard for our first quick write. Students were prompted to write about “first day jitters”. The directions, though, were extremely open-ended. The writing could be completely fictitious, about themselves, about themselves in years past, about themselves in some OTHER first day situation (ex: first day going to dentist, first day at new dance studio, first day of camp, etc.), or even about someone they know! They also could write their feelings about first day jitters (vs. telling a story) OR even write a response to the book we shared!
Since one of the main purposes for quick writes is to improve writing fluency (the speed at which the writer can transfer their thoughts to paper while continuing to think ahead and write on), students were instructed to write for 5 minutes, keeping their pencils moving constantly. Common pitfalls with this process for young writers include things like what to do when you run out of ideas and don’t know what to write or can’t spell a word.
My tips for students are:
1. Don’t worry about spelling.
2. Don’t stress over punctuation or handwriting.
3. If you run out of ideas, just keep writing. It is OK to rewrite something you’ve already written. Your mind is more likely to come up with new ideas when you keep it moving, versus stopping. Thinking. Waiting. (…and then getting distracted!)
Take a look at these samples of student work. See if you can find evidence that they’ve followed my recommendations to avoid getting stuck!
When all was done today, I was thrilled to see that for most students, the hardest part was putting your pencil DOWN when the timer buzzed! I can’t wait to hear what they wrote at home tonight!
I know it isn’t Christmas yet, or even winter! But, we’re going to the North Pole!
