Third Graders Love Their “I Love” Writing

       

 Third graders recently completed their “I Love” writing project, which they were very enthusiastic about.  To begin the year in writing, students created a “heart map,” on which they wrote a number of things that they love and could potentially write about in the future.  They will keep these in their writing folders so that if they are ever looking for something to write about, they can refer back to it. 

           
After completing their heart maps, each student chose one topic to write about.  They began by answering questions about what they love about this thing or activity and their favorite related memories.  They also worked on a “Prove It” sheet where they had to come up with five different ways they could prove that they loved their object more than most people.  

After students had some time to write, we did an activity called Concentric Circles where students spoke with a number of different partners, each for about 30 seconds, and shared one thing that was special about the object or activity they chose.   With each new partner, they had to share something different, which helped students brainstorm details to include in their writing.  Writing about something that the third graders feel a strong connection to made the writing process both accessible and exciting for the students and it was a delight to share their writing with families at conference day on Friday.