SOLC: First Grade Inspiration

Yesterday, I spent time in a first grade writing class. They were discussing revision strategies. Yes, at first grade. Revision is delightful, although it’s not always as elaborate as we might be thinking.

One student I conferred with was writing about football. He had written, “One afternoon, I played football.” I asked him what his purpose was for writing this piece. Jay said, “It was a great game. We won.” He had definite purpose.

We talked about how the action in the story could help share his purpose along with the illustration he had. I left and Jay busied himself with writing. When I checked back with him, he had written, “We played in the field. We won a trophy.” I then noticed a star between the last two sentences. I asked about the star. “I forgot to add in that he (pointing to his picture) threw the ball to me and I caught it.”

A large smile spread across his face. He was inspired and thrilled with his work. I was thrilled that my conferring had inspired him.