UNITS OF STUDY

In the midst of all our cuts, surplussing and many changes we still must carry on with what we do for kids. Today I spent the morning going over the PD that my friend and I will be delivering to the 4th and 5th grade teachers in our district. Every quarter we go over the next quarter's writing units of study. We have been doing this for several years so now we are really bumping up what we are sharing. It is not just handing out the units with lessons, but more having the teachers brain storm and work together to make the units more rigorous for their students.

Tomorrow's session will be for Quarter 4. We are focusing on three units of study in our two hours with them. We will start out with Independent Writing. I like to give a basic unit so those kiddos who have not been bathed in workshop will have the support they need. Then we go deeper with the study. I am not sure where the second part of our session will go with this. It all depends on where the teachers take it.

The next unit of study is one of my favorites. It is the memoir session. Katie Ray says memoir can be a series of small moments. That is where we are going with the basic group. Then we are going to go deeper using Katherine Bomer's book on memoirs. Our last unit of study is called: The Writerly Life. That is all about reflections. We are going to have the teachers reflect over their year as well as show them how they can help their students to reflect.

That's about it. If you have any suggestions or ideas for us, let us know. We would love to share!