Bite Size Writing Assignment: Free Verse Poem

This week, give your students wings. Assign them a poem to write, free verse style.

A free verse poem has no metrical pattern, does not need to rhyme and has lines of varying lengths. The poem can be anything your student wants it to be, a true expression of their surroundings or thoughts.

Example of a free verse poem about a bird:

Chickadee

Nervous on the feeder
Black hat, with feathers ruffled against the cold
Some seeds drop to the ground, some get eaten
Always on the alert
And never relaxed
A chickadee visits the railing
Of my deck
I watch him out the picture window
Until he flies away

Free verse is easy and great for students who stress out over writing poetry that requires a rhythm or rhyming. Have students think of something they like (pizza, sailing, riding a bike) or observe something inside (a kitten, running water, a clock with a second hand) or outside (a leaf blowing in the wind, the grass, clouds). Imagination and freedom are the tools for a free verse poem!

"A Basic Course in Grammar" Review

Following is a review for the Little Darlings Press curriculum, "A Basic Course in Grammar." This unit was written after two years of research and teaching a basic grammar course to a group of homeschool students. At an affordable price, $15.95, we feel this curriculum is a great choice for grammar or to supplement any Language Arts curriculum. One thing we have found in our own classrooms is grammar can be a tricky subject, some kids get it, some don't. Put your mind at ease, pick up a copy of this grammar unit and get your students started on the road to understanding basic, essential grammar rules.

REVIEW by Amanda K. on currclick.com: This review is for “A Basic Course in Grammar” by Little Darlings Press. This course is great for younger students, but can also be used as a refresher course for older students who are struggling. It covers all the basic parts of speech such as Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions and Interjections. It also covers types of sentences and punctuation. The format is straight-forward and easy to use. They give the instructor a guide for lesson planning which includes a 23 week lesson plan, a materials list and several charts that can be printed out and used as visual aids in the classroom. They give step-by-step instructions on how to teach each lesson. You could print this guide and start implementing it with your students right away. It does not require hours of planning or prep work, they have already done it for you! There are worksheets and quizzes available to help monitor student progress, as well as answer keys which make it easy to grade student’s papers. The guide begins each lesson with a section titled “teacher notes” which guides you through the teaching process. It is followed by “assignment suggestions” which shows the instructor which worksheets to use for that day’s lessons and gives ideas for real world instruction (like finding parts of speech in a newspaper article and circling them). Each lesson ends with a “before the next meeting” section which assigns homework and things the student should do to prepare for the next lesson. This curriculum was well thought out and does a great job covering the topic without overkill and excessive sentence diagramming which can overburden younger students and make grammar painful. This is a breath of fresh air and a gentle way to teach grammar skills. I highly recommend it for your students!

Bite Size Writing Assignment: Easter

This week have your little darlings write a journal page about Easter. They can make it about anything they want, as long as it is related to Easter! Here are some ideas:

Easter memory
What is the true meaning of Easter?
Good Friday: What does it mean?
My favorite thing about Easter
What we do at church to celebrate Easter
What we do at home to celebrate Easter
Where did the Easter bunny come from?

Some of these topics will require some research. That's a great thing! I love assignments that require more than one skill: hand-written journal page (penmanship practice), written assignment (creative writing) and research (investigative skills, good for future research papers). Take a bite out of the Easter holiday during school this week and have your students pick a topic and write away. If someone has a great Easter topic of their own, encourage them to write about it. Happy Holy Week!

Bite-Size Writing Assignment: Winter High/Low

In my house we sometimes play a game called "High/Low." We play it at the dinner table. Going around the table, each person says what his or her high and low for that day were. We've had some pretty interesting answers.

Let's take High/Low on a writing assignments with your little darlings. Have each student take out a piece of paper and a pencil for this assignment. I'm not opposed to typing writing assignments on the computer, but when they are short I like to have students write them with pencil and paper. It is a great way to get in some penmanship practice. I also encourage keeping a dictionary handy to look up words (as opposed to relying on a spell-check).

Instruct students to reflect back over the winter months and the events of late December, just before Christmas, through today. I would be careful not to mention Christmas because students may just go there. Let them come to events in their own minds. Give students at least 10 minutes (longer if you have time) to think about highs and lows of the winter. Avoid feeding students memories, unless a student is having difficulty after a fair amount of time. Then, perhaps, you may decide to help jog memories.

After reflecting back, have students write "Last Winter's High and Low" as the title for this assignment. Then, instruct them to write one paragraph for the high and one paragraph for the low. Encourage students to explain each situation and why it was a good or bad memory.

This assignment would be a good one for the "memory box" or scrapbook. Perhaps the teacher would like to document a few highs and lows of their own?

My high for this winter: Selling my first magazine article.

My low for this winter: Bitterly cold temperatures that just wouldn't quit!

Happy writing!

Bite-Size Writing Assignment: Limerick

Have your students write a limerick. Traditionally, a limerick has five lines.

You may want to come up with an example, or use the one at the bottom of this lesson, to help your students catch on to limerick writing.

Here is the format of a limerick:

• One stanza of five lines (a stanza is a grouping of two or more lines in a poem)
• First, second and fifth lines rhyme
• Third and fourth lines rhyme
• The first, second and fifth lines are longer than the third and fourth lines
• The lines follow a pattern with certain rhythm and number of syllables (to keep it simple, count out by clapping hands how the rhythm of each line should sound, using the example below)

Sample Limerick:

There once was a kitty named Kate
Who did not like to stay up past eight
Each night in her bed
She'd lay down her head
And she'd stay until it was quite late

Clapping:
First line: clap on once, kitty and Kate
Second line: clap on not, stay and eight
Third line: clap on night and bed
Fourth line: clap on lay and head
Fifth line: clap on stay, it and late

Encourage your student(s) to write goofy limericks. Nonsense is part of the fun!

Bite-Size Writing Assignment: Pet Story

This week have your little darling(s) write a story about a pet. The pet can belong to your family or another family, or a neighbor. Encourage creativity, description, observation and fun!

Supplies:
One sheet of paper, a pencil with a good eraser, a hard surface to write on and, of course, a pet.

Steps:
1. Have your student(s) collect the supplies. If you are going to observe a pet outside, take a book or some other hard surface with for the student(s) to write on.

2. Have students spend a few minutes observing or interacting with the pet (it can be a fish, a cat, dog, rabbit or even a farm animal).

3. After the observation/interaction time, have student(s) write about the pet, including descriptions of how the pet looks and how the pet acts. Give student the freedom to write either a simple descriptive paragraph or a short story incorporating the pet. You may want to make the assignment specific if the child is young or struggles with making a choice. If your student is more creative when it comes to writing, let them decide.

4. Have your student(s) turn in the story, then read it aloud to them. Kids love to hear their creative writing read aloud. Praise them for their effort. Correct spelling and punctuation. Be careful, however, not to criticize their expression. Each student will develop their own writing style. Have fun!