You Might Be a Writer

I keep "mission control" at the back of the classroom near a window.   The inside walls of my room are gray, so's the carpet.   Even the sky's been gray this week.   That's what made this writing opportunity just about perfect.

I was at my desk and some kids were nearby turning in papers and chatting.   At the exact moment I turned towards the window, a huge black bird swooped down from the gray sky, showing off a serious wingspan before landing just feet below.   My eyes widened at the sight, and I snapped my head around to see if anyone else had noticed. 

Yes.   I turned to see a male student with eyes as wide as mine.   "A bird!" he exclaimed.   Then he went to his bookbag and pulled out his second quarter two-sentence journal assignment.

At that moment I got another rush on top of the bird sighting.   I just saw one of my students become a writer.   He's been working at it for a while; his writing is improving exponentially.   I hadn't yet seen everything gel in a way that let me know that he could fly on his own.   

Swoop.   There it was!   

For second quarter, I gave my writers a list of 20 people, places and things to observe over the course of the nine weeks.   They were to "write hot" and not rely on memories alone.   (Yes, I know.   Some of my kids are going to fake every last one of those 20 two-sentence entries.   But some of them won't.   And magic will happen.)

Here's the list: 

things

bird

four legged friend

mode of transportation

gift

music

drink

food

weather

injury

something unusual

something electric

people

child under 5

high school student

adult over 40

places

parking lot

inside a library or bookstore

grocery store

inside a closet or wardrobe

view through a window

inside a drawer

So what did he write?   
Here's E.S.'s two-sentence observational journal about a bird: 

"The black feathery beast glided from the roof.   

It realized there was no food and continued on its search." 

Here's the encore for tonight. Just because.

Where Tanner's From

If this post's title sounds familiar, it's probably because you remember an entry from a while back, Where Malik's From.   See the original writing assignment here.

I'm just stopping by to remind all of us that writers bloom throughout the year.   I get a whole lot of flowers in September, but I also get some children who are seeds, bulbs and tubers...and planted at different times.   That's pretty normal in 8th grade.

There's a whole lot of research about boys and language arts instruction, so go ahead and read it.   Don't discount what you know to be true from firsthand experiences either.   There's not one magic key that unlocks a joy of writing for boys.   The young men who are most successful in becoming writers with my style of teaching have these commonalities:

They listen to mini-lessons on writing skills.

They practice these skills in small bits of writing.

They then work these skills into larger pieces of writing.

They welcome feedback.

They recognize that writing is a craft.

They get downright metacognitive about their use of language.

They believe that the world around them is to be examined.

They know that a final draft means edits and revisions, not simply neatness.

Before you think that I am a "my way or the highway" kind of writing teacher, I'd like to say that I don't think that I am.   I can't be certain, but I am pretty sure that if I were reviewing student writing with Stephen King, Anne Lamott and Natalie Goldberg-- we'd at least recognize and agree upon bad writing when we saw it.   And...yeah...it's totally okay to see some bad writing from 8th graders.   I mean, they're 8th graders.   Sheesh.

I center September around some of Laura Robb's mini lessons for writers and Nancie Atwell's lesson on narrative leads.   If I can get kids using specific nouns, strong verbs, a variety of sentence starters, PARAGRAPHS, effective narrative leads and a unified topic...I feel pretty ding dang good about that.

(Pardon my shouting.   I'm still teaching perfectly kind children how to paragraph narratives.   It's December.   It hurts.   My eyes are bleeding from the dreaded BIG, FAT PARAGRAPH.   I might write a song about it.   Never mind.)

Back to Tanner.   He came into class on day one with a strong work ethic, unmatched tenacity, a kind spirit and some sharp writing skills.   Even so, his mom is pretty impressed with his current interest in getting all of his words in the right spots.   I sure do wish I could just let you see all of his various writing work from this year because he's a perfect example of a talented, developing writer who fits all of the qualities I listed above.   

Check this out.   Remember the two-sentence journal assignment I borrowed from a class I took at William and Mary?  Here's one of Tanner's entries, "It's the time of year when the smell of corn chaff and diesel fuel fill the air.  Visibility soon becomes low as the farmer takes the combine for another round."   You better believe I asked his permission to write that gem down for other grasshoppers to see.   It was feng shui perfection on the white board.

Here's where Tanner's from:

I’m from sunglasses in the rearview,

From tie straps and duct tape,

I am from eggs in the nesting box,

(Dry and Warm with a surprise inside)

I’m from orchard grass,

The yellow poplar,

Whose leaves fall every year just for me to collect.

I’m from fishbites and pellet guns,

From Pride and Horton,

I’m from the bluecollars and the hardheads,

From “How ya whole family doin’?”

I’m from “American born and Southern by the grace of God.”

I’m from Genesis and Communion,

3 inch slugs and ram rods,

From the man who died for our sins,

And the 10 commandments.

From the gray uniform stained with blood,

Whose owner long gone from Earth,

Waits patiently in the Promised Land for the ones who honor him most.

For those about to write

This year has been tough, but enough about that.

One benefit to our schedule is that my two fourth block classes are smallish.  This means 10-15 students most days.  Today I was enjoying myself so much; it almost felt like summer.  Almost.  We were down to 12 kids today because two of my students were on a band field trip; one was somewhere else.  All eighth graders spent their morning completing three intense timed Explore tests, so I thought I'd go easy on them.

This group loves independent reading time, so I made sure I gave them 20 minutes for that.  During that time I was also to get a child started on the audiobook for Frindle. Sadly the archaic technology of the cassette tape requires 1:1 instruction.  (Other books being read in that room include: the Lunch Lady series, the Vampire Kisses series, the Bone series, the Bluford series, the Wimpy Kid series, the Harry Potter marathon, World War Z, The Dead and the Gone, Cobra Strike, The Running Dream, Twilight, On The Run. The last title is part of, you guessed it, a series! It's Korman's Chasing the Falconers-- a sure sell for reluctant readers who can get bogged down by their reading pace. It's Friday night; I'm sure I'm forgetting someone.) Most children are reading good old-fashioned books.  One is reading on her cell phone.  By the way, if you haven't yet fallen completely in love with helping kids develop an individualized reading life, let the lovely Neil Gaiman  help you with that.

Back when I started this blog I had twice the amount of instructional time with all language arts students.  I've had to cut out some of the activities I enjoy.  On days like these when the children are a little spent or we have several absences, I try to move some of those lessons back in.

Today we created the My Name Is...  poems that I used to do the first week of school.   With only twelve students I was able to keep the art mess to one side of the classroom to make it easier on our custodians.  Students who finished first explained the secret second step of the assignment to their classmates as they were ready to pen their creations.  When they completed their work, we "published" by posting their poems on the magnetic white board with some cheap fridge magnets from Wal-Mart.   After that, I could move students around the room in order to give them other enrichment activities.

Some took Accelerated Reader tests and got new library books before the weekend.  Some played with my deck of I've Never cards.  Students sharpened our classroom supply of pencils.  They cleaned up after themselves and others. They used my school-provided iPad to play Chicktionary. They read their classmates' Six Word Memoirs as well as today's poems.  Two students helped cut apart my circus-sized copy of Chicken Soup with Rice.  (I want to create classroom posters with the pages.)  In short, we all just enjoyed each other.

I know that there is some research that negates class size as a positive variable in student achievement, but maybe it's all about the size of the room.  When I can plug learners in to different spaces with different activities when appropriate, my job is easier, and learning can be individualized.  I miss the days of being able to take my class to the technology lab in our former school building.  There were tables, a whole bank of computers, floor space, traditional desks, AND IT WAS RIGHT ACROSS FROM BATHROOMS AND A WATER FOUNTAIN.  The instructor was so cool about letting me have my class there during his planning period.  Think kindergarten classrooms for teens.

Back to reality...

So after the first student's poem was done, our assistant superintendent dropped by for an unannounced visit.  Stay calm.  It's okay.  It's always fun to see another adult in the room.  With the student's permission, I was able to show him a finished product while explaining what was going on.  He asked a young man what we were doing; the young man was additionally cutting out a snazzy moustache and other oddities while completing his 20 word collection.  I pointed out that wasn't quite what we were doing, but the assistant superintendent did remark that the child was engaged.  True.

Allowing children some time to socialize through appropriate, guided play can foster a love of language.  It helps balance out your classroom climate as well.  The classroom needs to be a place of play and experimentation in order for everyone to stay healthy and energized.  Play can build community.  Please resist allowing kids to plug into their iPods to listen to music while all of this is going on.  Believe me-- they will get all of their daily iPod time in later.  I love music too, but allowing them to detach from the "now" prevents them from connecting with friends through language and listening.  It will also dull their observational skills that you are trying to build for their writing lives.  Please don't let them disengage through isolation.  Besides, it will wreck all your feng shui up one side and down the other.

(It may be a bias that I think personal listening devices are for alone time, cutting the grass, going to sleep and pretending to be busy to avoid talking to strangers on planes.  I like my music loud and shared. \m/ )

Say what?

I need to make it clear that I think that the English folks at Virginia's Department of Education do an excellent job making all kinds of resources available to teachers and students in support of their Standards of Learning Assessments. They also allow teachers to apply to work on the committees that see the tests through just about from start to finish. Every effort is made to construct valid measures of students' abilities to read and write.

But I have to tell you about the practice writing tool that is available on line. It's a stripped down word processing program that children will use to type their essay responses to prompts in March. The tool is user friendly, right down to my favorite feature-- the indent button. You would not believe how many times I have to reteach how to indent a paragraph...as in literally. But that's a different story for a different day.

This entry is all about the spell check feature. This is the first year students may not use paper dictionaries, but they can use a feature that will underline suspicious words in red and offer suggestions, if you left click your mouse. It's pretty awesome, if you ask me.

Lissen here, all y'all. That spell check doesn't care for dialect atall. Makes sense, right? I think so, but here's where I got into trouble. I was modeling an essay for my students using the "if I could visit anywhere in the world" prompt. Well, I decided to go back in time and visit with my grandparents at their home. It was a lovely summer night, full of corn shuckin' and sweet tea drinkin', and my grandpa talkin' like my grandpa did.

The words were "git" and "gonna." They look harmless enough, don't they? When I was showing my kids that dialect will most likely be considered a misspelling by the program, and that they should just double check to make sure they are spelling their dialect consistently and purposefully, if needed-- I clicked on the suggested words to prove my point.

Hmmm. One of the recommended words for "git" was "tit." I innocently clicked "gonna" to be rewarded with "gonads." Just so you can picture this, I had set up my projector in order to magnify the program on the screen in the front of the room.

I can't really say I was surprised. I mean, those words are in the dictionary. I just found myself wondering about the essay that would necessitate those words, and the scorer who would undoubtedly need a cold drink after work. And then I pictured a young Hunter S. Thompson sharpening his wit for a standardized test, and my heart got a little warm just thinking about the whole ding-dang lexicon being open to all of our kids.

Awesome!

So there's a blog of 1,000 Awesome Things that has now been turned into an Awesome book.   What a great idea.   What would your eighth grade self identify as awesome enough to celebrate in writing?

I have to admit that I gave out homework over a weekend, but it was merely for students to ponder on the awesomeness of their world.

Together we examined Neil Pasricha's  Picking the Perfect Nacho Off Someone Else's Plate, Old, Dangerous Playground Equipment and The First Scoop Out of a Jar of Peanut Butter.   I also rattled off a few of the other topics featured in the blog that would be accessible to teens.

We focused on tone, voice, point of view, sensory imagery and audience.   Keep your tone positive and your voice conversational and upbeat.   Use second person point of view to pull your reader in.   Rely on sensory imagery to recreate the awesomeness of your chosen topic to your reader.   And your choice should have broad appeal.   When the majority of people read your entry, they should be able to connect with your topic.

Yes.   Some folks got right down to it when it was time to write.  

And some people sat and sat and sat and sat.   If you are in the latter group of writers, I expect you to have paper on your desk and a pen/cil in your hand.   If after a reasonable amount of time you are still in the latter group of writers, I want you to list the five senses and start brainstorming some favorites.   Usually this does the trick.   Usually.

In giving feedback on the first draft I found that writers needed the most help with crossing over into second point of view and creating a meaty snapshot of their experience.   This is the first year I've tried this activity, so I'll be able to add in more supports for next year.   We had so much fun.   This lesson is a keeper.  

It's also something that I had willing students submit for immediate publication.   I mean, who doesn't want a Wall of Awesome in their classroom?   And that's the thing about trailers ..it's pushpin heaven.

Putting Kids in the Corner

Well, sometimes it needs to be done.   I'm not talking about a screaming match and banishment.   I'm talking about reducing distractions in order to focus.  

Here's the thinking spot in my old classroom.   Note that it's surrounded by many people who have mastered the art of writing.   (Oh, and there's James Dean as a tribute to teenhood.)   Kris Kristofferson is a Rhodes Scholar, y'all.   This is a power desk.   Behind it is a big, wooden podium that provided some additional privacy.   There's not a "think about what you did" poster in front of the child.   It's Joe Perry being calm and cool while Steven Tyler breaks out into some kind of wacky musical scat-- I'm guessing here.

I would sometimes ask a child to try out this location after several attempts to redirect his/her focus on the task at hand, but there was also the option of a child choosing to sit there if he/she wanted a cozy place to create.   At first, there was some hesitance about the corner, but for some students, it was the most coveted place in the room--and they knew they didn't have to act up to use it.

This isn't a sleeping corner or a quarantine corner.   This is a tool for you and the child.   I have one in my new classroom, but I haven't gotten the corner vibe just right yet.   When the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter finally aligns with Mars, I'll let you know.

Sometimes when I write, I vant to be alone.   It's nice to be able to provide teen writers that option as well.

My desk was at the back corner, directly behind this row of students.   I also had a magnetic mirror that I could place on the white board, so I could check up on the lone writer and wave hello at welcome intervals.

On Your Marks

As an 8th grade writing teacher, my ultimate goal is to create independent writers by March.   First quarter focuses on narratives, ideas, written expression and apostrophe usage.   I feel like if I can get 8th graders to see writing as a craft by revising for specific nouns and strong verbs, there's a big payoff.   Craft.   That's what I'm talking about.  

I've written before about how I incorporate highlighters into writing instruction, but I'll mention it again because I think color-coding is one of the best approaches students use during editing and revising.   In short, we use pink to pause and green to go.   Pink means something's amiss; green means that something's sweet.   The more tools we can give our writers, the more independent they become.   And the more independent they become, the less you have to correct.   (Highlighters, colored pens, colored pencils---anything similar will work.)

Which brings me to the issue of marking up students' final drafts...   Use red, if you want to.   There's no harm in that.   You can also use highlighters to mark up a final draft. Highlighting something in pink...not just putting an editor's mark...puts the responsibility on the writer to determine the type of error.   We do need to consider the writing instruction given by that point in the year.   For example, I'm not going to write rants about usage and mechanics on children's papers in September.   That's counterproductive.  

I realize that students don't really have much of a choice when it comes to deciding if we are the type of people they'd like to share their thoughts, hopes, dreams, feelings and stories with, but we should be the type of readers that can offer both critique and praise.   If we shut our writers down early, how can we expect them to approach each of our lessons with a sense of optimism?   How can we encourage them to take stylistic risks or dig into some of their darkest corners for honest storytelling?

Okay.   I know that sounds a bit deep for third grade students, but I think you understand what I mean.

I would caution teachers against creating a penalty system to grade papers in which a product can fail on minutia.   The best example is spelling.   You will have some wonderful thinkers who have a diagnosed or undiagnosed processing hurdle when it comes to spelling.   What if their essays are perfect in every way, but their spelling is not?   Using a rubric will help avoid failing a child on one isolated skill.  And I don't get a kick out of marking up finals with negative comments at all.   My preference is that the skilled child writer will find all of his/ her errors before I do.

Am I saying to take it easy on your writers?   Nope.   Just give them challenges in which they have the real possibility of success.   Don't get caught up in carrying on about which skills they should have mastered in earlier grades.   It doesn't matter.   That's for your administration to ponder.   Teach the students in front of you what you want them to know now.  

Also, if you are a true crafter of language, you can identify something successful in just about any paper.   Voice, written expression, word choice, imagery, sequencing, believable dialogue, ideas, sentence fluency...you can find it.  

If you are still thinking that you need help on giving constructive feedback, here are 100 trait-specific comments!

Anne Lamott's Back Pocket

There are so many reasons I heart Anne Lamott.   Inspirational. Conspiratorial. Practical. Comical. Spiritual. Commiserational.   Is that last one a real word?  Well, you know what I mean.

All of her books are worth your time, but I want to focus on one chapter from Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.   "Index cards."

Isn't it fun to find out how particular writers practice their craft?   Ms. L. uses index cards to capture ideas from everyday life that sometimes evaporate if you don't have a pen and scrap of paper with which to capture them.   She keeps index cards in a flock all around her house and her car, but it's the one in her back pocket that interests me most as a writing teacher.

For those moments that you take your students to a band or chorus concert, a speaker, a play, a field trip or even to the cafeteria, the index card in the back pocket can be a fun way to capture writing outside your classroom.

In my dreams, especially now that I am teaching inside a trailer, I can hitch my classroom to a truck and drive my writers to a creative hot spot, teeming with the energy of everyday life.  

In reality, the closest place full of vibrant, teen power is the cafeteria.   The index card provides a great tool for quick, observational writing without intruding too much into their free time.   I have a class that is split by lunch, so it's a great opportunity to try out this technique.   The assignment was to create a two-sentence observation of a food item...using the old show, don't tell technique.  And no one complained.   Hmm.   A few crafty souls even worked in some figurative language into their work.   It was fun to display their work after lunch and get such a thorough, varied report from a familiar location.

Eastern Virginia Writing Project 2012

Stop the presses.   A friend of mine just told me that the EVWP sponsored by the College of William and Mary received funding for its 2012 Invitational Summer Institute.   Start the application process today!   Classes run from June 25- July 26.   Books are provided.   If you are accepted into the program $800 of the $1642 tuition is also covered.   Completing the coursework will earn you 6 hours of academic graduate credit.   The best reward is spending time with the amazing staff.

I would have told you earlier, but I just found out a few minutes ago.   Funding for programs connected to the National Writing Project has been in jeopardy, and it looks like there is good news to share.   Please pass this link on to any interested friends and coworkers.

Highlights

For those of you joining us from another state or another country, Virginia's 8th graders take two state assessments in language arts.   We administer the writing test in early March.   Students must pass a multiple choice portion that focuses most heavily on editing, but includes other parts of the writing process.   They must also write a short paper that is evaluated in three domains: composing, written expression and usage/mechanics.   It's the essay portion that I want to talk with you about today.

A great tool that Virginia's Department of Education made available to teachers and students is the NCS Mentor Program.   It's a collection of scored student essays that were written for the writing assessment.   You are able to show students what passing and failing papers look like.   Essays have been scored in each of the three domains, so if you are giving a lesson on written expression, you can zero in on papers that illuminate those techniques well.  

My favorite part of the NCS Mentor is the color-coded overlay feature.   If you choose that option in viewing a paper, you get to see a student's essay evaluated with annotations that are linked to a color.  

• Red = Central Idea
• Green= Elaboration
• Blue= Unity
• Purple= Organization

To see this free program for yourself, visit http://perspective.pearsonaccess.com/perspective/appmanager/va/educator

I wanted to translate the color coding idea into something manageable for my writing classroom.   Two of the materials that I require for class are pink and green highlighters.   I decided to equate pink with "pause" and green with "go."  

Here's what I know about 8th grade writers.   Many students don't really know when or how they got it right or wrong when it comes to writing.   Often, they don't have the right vocabulary to pinpoint what works and doesn't work in their essay.   It's like looking at a great piece of art when you don't have the language to evaluate it.   Your gut tells you it's great, but what techniques is the artist using to please your eye and move your heart?   In addition to giving students the reasons why part of a piece does not work, we need to give them the language to explain why other parts do.   For example, "You are right to organize your story chronologically, but your word choice is flat and the lack of elaboration does not let the reader visualize what is happening."   This book can help you comment on student work http://amzn.com/0439796024.

Where do the highlighters come in?   When students are revising, I ask them to identify their best parts in green and the parts that need help in pink.   Sometimes when I am evaluating a paper, I use the highlighters as well.  

The highlighting task can have a smaller scope.   For instance, if you are teaching students the beauty of word choice, ask them to highlight their vivid language in green before turning their paper in to you.   If they are unable to make any highlights, they have already discovered that they do not have mastery of the skill.   They should revise before turning the paper in to you.   It's so important for writers to critique their own work.   Every now and then we do some peer editing, but that's not a realistic scenario, is it?   And peer revising is just too much to ask.   Really.   Writing is work.   Writing is craft.   Expect to sweat a little.

Highlighters, colored pencils, pens, crayons...it doesn't really matter what students use.  

Also, if you administer the VA writing SOL, check the directions.   This year students were allowed one colored pencil to use for editing and revising their draft...not on the final though.   It looks like the DOE caught on to the good idea they shared with teachers through the NCS Mentor.   And guess what?   Students used those pencils.   What's better than giving students techniques that they can carry with them throughout their writing lives?

For an in-depth look at the new curriculum framework for 8th grade writing, look for pages 73-79 after you click "6-8" at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/review.shtml

Laura Robb: Your Fairy Godmother

Having studied to teach high school English, my first year at the helm in 8th grade was a real eye-opener for me.   It was the year I discovered that some 8th graders have never read a chapter book/ novel on their own-- ever.   Seriously.

I had an excellent English education at Menchville High School and Christopher Newport University to prepare me for the canon of literature that I would most likely teach as a high school English teacher.   But none of the classes really addressed the reluctant reader, the painfully slow reader, the special needs reader, the non-reader, the dependent reader, the ADHD reader, the dyslexic reader, the resentful reader, etc.   And I wasn't teaching high school.   You get the picture.  

For 11 years I have been storing up some tricks in my bag to share with you, but that could take a lot of Blogging.   I want to give you a jump start with the common sense advice of Laura Robb.

Who is Laura Robb?   First of all, she is a teacher who is still teaching.   That means a lot to me if I am going to spend time trying out someone else's lessons in my classroom.   Educational research is important, but I can't replicate a lesson that requires me to be in five places at once because I do not have an aide, college professor, graduate student and two parent volunteers with me to implement it.   I can be realistic and optimistic at the same time, but most days it's just me and the kiddos without a net.

What else does Mrs. Robb do?   Find out here: http://www.lrobb.com/web/guest/home

My favorite part about Mrs. Robb is that she has written several books for Scholastic on best practices for teaching reading and writing in the middle school.   Several are available from Amazon.com.

It's a strange place, middle school.   Most of the research out there focuses on catching reading issues early in elementary school and putting interventions in place.   Even if this is done well, some teenagers still struggle to read at grade level.   I have taught students before who have tested on a first, second, third grade level in eighth grade.    It's a frightening, exciting challenge.   There isn't a lot of magic on hand for any instant fixes, but let Mrs. Robb help you along the way.

I'm sure I'll mention her again later, but allow me to start you off with my two favorite activity books.

For reading: 50 Fabulous Discussion-Prompt Cards for Reading Groups: Snap-Apart Question Cards That Build Comprehension & Spark Great Discussions About Character, Plot, Setting, Theme & More

For writing: Brighten Up Boring Beginnings and Other Quick Writing Lessons: 10- to 15-Minute Mini-Lessons and Reproducible Activities That Sharpen Students' Writing Skills

Let me close with this.   A few years back, Mrs. Robb taught a lesson on "Harrison Bergeron" to one of my reading classes.   I can't remember why she was there in my small town, but I know that I truly enjoyed spending time in her classroom and so did my students.   (No one misbehaved, much to my relief.)   When I e-mailed her post-tornado about these two activity books that I could not find on Amazon, she mailed them to me with her good wishes.   She also mailed a few other resources and had Scholastic do the same.  

It was another reminder to me that none of us can do what we do alone.   You may have a really great day teaching, and you should pat yourself on the back, but a lot of amazing people helped you get you where you are today.   And they are still wishing you well from their little corners of the world.   Don't forget to plug into the energy of all of that goodness on those days that exhaust you.

Thanks to Laura Robb, Scholastic, Christopher Newport University's Dr. Scott Pollard and art teacher Rob Mercer for restocking my Robb resources.

While You Were Out

Here's to the first responders with office supplies!   As soon as our community found out when and where students and teachers would spend the rest of our school year, boxes started magically appearing in the main office.   Every tool imaginable was there.   We had to make daily concerted efforts to "spend down" the treasures in that small space!

Hmmmm.   What to take?   What to take?   What's something that will have a difficult time moving out of here?   Ahhhh.   Tucked away behind the closet door was a stack of pink While You Were Out memo pads.   When our amazing secretaries take messages, they are logged in a spiral notebook with carbon copies, so I knew that they would not need them.  

We've done short bursts of diary writing, but I thought we could try mini-fiction this time.   Students opened up their creative minds and jotted down many truly ridiculous messages.   I gathered the messages up (the appropriate ones, anyway) and put them in a pony envelope for the teacher who is generously sharing his space with me as a classroom warming gift.

Zombies invaded. Sportscars were borrowed. Rock concerts surprised us. The apocalypse unfolded.  

A lot happened While You Were Out.

You may order your own While You Were Out megacube from Quill.

http://www.quill.com/rediform-while-you-were-out-mega-cube/cbs/132091.html