Nonfiction Detectives

We began our genre study into nonfiction after the holidays and students are noticing many new features they haven't been introduced to throughout the year.  During our inquiry study surrounding the features, we began creating a chart of what they discovered in their books.  They shared their features on the ELMO and tried to figure out what the feature was "doing" and if they didn't know the name of the feature, I supplied it for them and it was written on the chart.  This week we will take another look to see if we can find some features we didn't find last week.  After our chart is full, we'll do a closer look and see how many of the features each buddy group can find in several books.  Be looking for more updates soon! 

Plotting a Story in Writer's Workshop

Over the summer, I participated in Kate Messner's incredible Teacher's Write Summer Camp.   It was just what I needed after completing my C. A. S. and wondering, "Now what?"  Each week, along with Kate, different authors posted lessons for over 500 teachers to "try out" and share.  Once sharing, feedback was given via blog comments and many teachers branched off and created smaller writing groups as well.  I am now in a smaller group of Maine Teachers called Maine Writers Critique Group that was created by Kimberley Moran over at First in Maine.
One lesson I loved and knew would be perfect for my second grade students was taught by Cynthia Lord.  In her lesson, she discussed the fact that many children have great ideas for stories, but they are usually lacking in plot.  She devised a creative, easy way for children to create a character, set up a story, increase tension with details and have a satisfying ending.
I had previously read Hot Rod Hamster by Cynthia Lord for 2 days in a row and told the kids I was going to share Cynthia Lord's secret to writing a good fiction story.  They were hooked and couldn't wait.
I used her W. O. W. formula and created an anchor chart.  Want? Obstacles? What is in the characters way? (I also told students many teachers and authors call this the problem). What does your character do? (This is where we get the juicy details).  and Win?  Does your character get what they want? 
We reread Hot Rod Hamster and my students were able to easily pull the elements of Cynthia Lord's formula out of the story.
My plan for next week is to show them how to do it with my own writing and we'll also create an anchor chart so we can put other fiction books we read on the chart under each letter of W. O. W. with a blurb about the book.