Reading/Writing Connections

My school has put a major emphasis on Writing this year so we are reading and writing all day long. Whether we are reading our story from the reading series and writing about it in literacy centers or reading the steps to the scientific method and writing the results in our science notebooks, we are always writing! I find that my students enjoy reading but when I ask them to write about it in their journals or for homework, I always hear complaints from them. They need to write as much as they can especially in second grade because they are off to third grade next year. I try to incorporate engaging ways for them to write. They are usually excited after a science experiment so this is a great opportunity to jump on the fact that they can write in their journals and put it in letter form to their parents or friends about the results of our experiment. I also have a writing literacy center set up that the students can use stickers to create a sticker story about any topic they choose. They also write letters to other teachers or students in second grade and send them the letter only to receive a response back. This is a great way to keep them writing. I hope that I offered some great ideas for you to use in your classroom and I would love to hear any ideas that you have to offer. Please post them under the "Let's Blog About It" tab.