Using Feeling Words in our Writing By: Jamie Morawski April 30, 2009

Class Thomas Edison Elementary Kenton School District School 3 rd Grade Mrs. Brodfeuhrer’s Class 21 Students

Grade Level and Ability Of the 21 students: –4 were diagnosed with ADHD with ADHD –Learning Disabilities –1 student has Tourette’s Syndrome –6 were in the gift and talented program –6 had IEP’s that required some modifications.

Focus Question 1.0 The learner will be able to describe, in writing, a single moment or event when they felt a certain emotion. Objective How can I improve my assessment plan? Time Frame: 3 days Each writing block is 45 minutes to 1 hour long.

Purpose To have the students produce a strong, focused writing piece about one moment/event when they felt a specific emotion Enduring Understanding Using a moment when they felt a strong emotion will bring out their voice and make their writing much more powerful.

Essential Question Why is it important to write about moments when we feel different emotions? Guided Questions What do we need to do as writers in order to improve our writing? Why is it important to include describing words/details in our writing? Why is it important to write about our emotions and feelings?

Standards ELA Core Curriculum Standard 2: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression. Performance Indicator: Use resources such as personal experiences and elements from other texts and performances to stimulate own writing

Modification Table Modification Type Specific Modification RationaleBenefits Environmental and Management -Students with ADHD and those who are struggling are seated in individual desks, away from the student tables. -The reasoning behind regrouping these students is that it allows for minimal distractions for those students with ADHD. -The use of separate desks allows for them to stay focused on the task and complete their work more thoroughly.

Day 1 Family Feud game –Ways to improve writing –Based on previous lessons Pass the paper activity –Students work in their table groups in order to write about a single event/moment

Pass the Paper

Day 2 Re-writing –“The Way I Feel,” by Janan Cain –The students rewrote the story using different feeling words. Writing Time –Students pick a specific feeling word off of the “Feeling Words” chart and write about a moment in their life when they felt this emotion.

Day 3 Web activity -Hands-on approach to writing as a group Computer lab time Sharing our stories using the megaphone!

Web Activity

Assessment Summative: –The students wrote a story about a single moment in their life when they felt a specific emotion. The student were assessed using the Cupcake Rubric. –Designed by myself and another 3 rd grade teacher at Edison Elementary.

The Cupcake Rubric

Teacher Exemplar Last week was a very exciting time in my life! I came home from school where I had just received a perfect score on my Math test. As I walked into the house, I saw my parents sitting at the kitchen table, which made me nervous. They asked me to join them at the table and I slowly put my backpack on the floor and sat in the chair. They then gave me some thrilling news! They told me that we were going on vacation in April. I was so excited and couldn’t wait to actually go. My parents told me that we would be going to Florida, which made me very happy. They then described our trip and how we would be going to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. I was so overwhelmed with excitement that I could barely stay in my seat.

Developing Student Work Scored a total of 1 on the Cupcake Rubric. This student, who has ADHD, has trouble focusing on a single topic when writing.

Developing Work Rubric

Proficient Student Work Scored a total of 3 on the Cupcake Rubric. Used more than one emotion in his writing piece.

Proficient Rubric

Distinguished Student Work Scored all 4’s on the Cupcake Rubric.

Distinguished Student Rubric

Reflection I would like to thank my peer review group, JELLA, for their warm and cool comments. They helped to reinforce that the activities I used during my lessons motivated the students to enjoy writing!

Additional Pictures