Hello from Rockland!

Hello Fellows, 
I am sorry I could not be with you today and I am sad that I will miss all of the presentations. But I am certainly doing lots of writing, only I'll be doing it with this view (still foggy at 7:00).

This weekend I am attending a writing retreat at the beautiful Samoset Resort. The weather and foliage are beautiful and I just feel fortunate that Brigid and Rebecca allowed me to miss class and come here. I do a bit of professional writing as a contributor for an online PD website called Choice Literacy. So this weekend is all about nonfiction article writing. I have already written one piece and will revise it this morning. Our day is filled with gobs of writing time, meeting briefly with our reflection group, eating and walking the grounds and the breakwater. Oh, did I mention that I am away for a whole weekend without my kids AND I have a room all to myself? Yes, I am more than a bit giddy.

I wanted to share my digital piece. I really want to make book trailers with my students so I explored some platforms. Some required money or seemed too difficult for my 4th graders to use. So I settled on Haiku Deck. Here is my book trailer for The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. 

I hope you have a fabulous class. Rock those presentations!!

Humorous Six Word Memoir...

 ...by a 13 Year Old Boy

Rather
be
eating
sleeping
playing
XBox

My son's class was creating 6 word memoirs.

Materials from Anne's Presentation on Sentences

Yarmouth HS SEC Sheet
Sentence Style Sheet
Syntactical Analysis
Mt. St. Helens Paragraph (originally from Warriner's)
NY Times Writers' Rooms

BingoBaker.com

Here's the link to the online bingo card maker.

https://bingobaker.com/

FIRST SATURDAY -- September 13

Here we are, back in Bailey Hall, though one flight up and a vast improvement from the second floor. We are comfortable with more space and less humidity.  As happy as we are to see one another, we feel the absence of friends who could not join us for the Fall sessions.  We will miss them.

Patricia Opened the day with some wonderful six-word memoirs.  

We had a quick refresher on the expectations for the Fall (see "helpful links" or the shared folder for the Fall Requirements Doc), and a couple of cool announcements:  1) SMWP is hosting a Writing Marathon in Portland next weekend. Bring a pen, bring a friend, and join us for a day writing around the Old Port!

 2) The Technology Conference is definitely happening on November 7, so ask for a professional day this week and register early (keep your eye on your inbox for registration information).  You'll recognize some names on the presenter list and have an opportunity to meet some great people while learning some things about technology that you can share with your own colleagues.

Writing Time -- any time at all during the school year is a gift, and writing time in particular comes as a rare and precious commodity.

Book Discussion -- small groups gathered by book choice and answered three questions about the book from the Rethinking Teaching Practice category: Thinking Out Loud on Paper, Room 109, Crafting Digital Writing and When Writing Workshop isn't Working.  Each group shared a strategy, idea or concept that participants agreed was important.  

Presentation Blurbs -- fascinating and dynamic brochure-worthy blurbs were crafted and shared on a google doc.  

Closing Moment -- Rebecca shared ZeFrank's eloquent video "Sad Cat Diary."  If you enjoyed today's clip, check out his True Facts videos.

Just Sharing-nErDcamp Northern New England "Unconference" is Coming in January

Hi everyone, 
I just wanted to share this FREE professional development opportunity that is coming in January. 
It is a great day for K-12 to discuss, share and learn together. Did I mention it's free AND there are door prizes! 

http://nerdcampnorthernnewengland.blogspot.com/

Six Word Memoirs

September 13, 2014

In the Opening Moment we viewed a series of illustrated six-word memoirs created by students of various ages which you can see on the Washington Post website below.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/through-childrens-eyes-love-fear-hope-jokes/2012/12/20/1ff1862a-494d-11e2-ad54-580638ede391_gallery.html