​The IcicIe Games
by Christy Weisiger

Icicles raced 
down bare branches
in crystal sneakers.

When they reached
their marks 
on the bark,
they dropped--
suspended--
and held a solid chin up
through the night.

Growing light 
and building heat
depleted 
those dangling
athletes
until, 
one
by 
one, 
dripping 
with sweat,
they released
their grips
and plummeted 
to the snowy ground,
shattering PR’s.

​Good-bye for now to shiny, dripping, falling icicles! Happy Wednesday!

​​MisunderSTOOD
by Christy Weisiger

Hello? Down here! We’d like a word--    
our list of gripes is long.            
As feet, we feel we’ve been unheard,    
your view of us is wrong!            

Why blame us for your lack of nerve?        
Perhaps your HANDS are cold!            
We’re vital, vigorous, have verve!        
You stand on us. We’re bold!            

And if you hem and haw all day,    
it’s not because we drag.
We kick the ball and dance ballet,
run races and play tag.

You can’t be dead and on your feet--    
decide which of the two.        
If you’re exhausted, take a seat,    
if dead…then we’re dead, too.    

We’re tired of being second-string--    
that role is unfulfilling.            
A handstand may be just the thing    
to grant us our TOP BILLING.

ABAB (rhyme scheme), iambic meter, mask poem and a fun play on feet idioms!

​Happy Tuesday!
​

The Most Wander-ful Snowflake!
by Christy Weisiger

A winter storm!, the forecast teased.        
The girl looked up and sighed.        
She couldn't spot a single flake        
no matter how she tried.            

A crystal formed within the clouds--        
the falling snowflake grew.            
It wandered toward the waiting girl     
as if, somehow, it knew…

She stomped her feet and pumped her arms.    
She snow-danced till she dropped. 
She raised her face and scanned the skies…
A snowflake! Her eyes POPPED!

The flurry found the girl! She cheered
and bolted to her feet.
She caught the snowflake on her tongue--
its journey was complete.

​Happy Snow Day, Virginia!

A picture is worth a thousand words. Well, maybe not a thousand words. :)  This QR code will link you to a video of me teaching the first lesson in my Graphic Narrative writing unit.  

Below I have included a copy of the written lesson plan that I teach in the video. 

If you are interested in the complete unit, you can find it here:  

https://all-kids-can-write.teachable.com/

The Graphic Narrative unit is currently free on Teachable, and there is a unit on Narrative Writing for upper elementary students also available.

Graphic Narrative Lesson 1 Intro and Prewrite

Virginia Standards of Learning: 

• 1.12a Identify audience and purpose.
• 1.12b Use prewriting activities to generate ideas.

Objective:  Students will understand what a graphic narrative is and become familiar with the components of writing that are included when composing a graphic narrative.

Materials:   

• Stack of graphic novels
• Prewriting Template

Connect:

• Go over the structure and components of a personal narrative:
  • Beginning, Middle, End
  • Characters
  • Action
  • Setting
  • Dialogue
  • Problem/Solution

Teach:

• Tell students that today we are going to think of ideas for our graphic narrative story.
• Remind students where writers get ideas:
  • Things that happen to them
  • People they know
  • Places they don’t want to forget
• Tell the writers that lots of graphic novels are written about adventures that people have.

Active Engagement:

• Tell Ss that we can turn anything that happens into an adventure.
• An adventure can be:
  • A fun day at recess
  • A hike with the family 
  • A search for a missing item
  • A chase with a favorite pet 
  • A game with a friend
• Model thinking of a time you had and turning it into an adventure:
  • Ex.  I’m going to think of a regular day and turn one part of it into an adventure.
  • Once,  I was going for a walk with my granddaughter, CK . We came upon a goose family in the middle of the trail. The dad goose was guarding his babies, but we had to get by and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt!
  • So, I closed my eyes and whispered “Super Cici”, turning myself into a grandma who could fly!
  • I picked up my granddaughter, and we soared up and over the geese, and then came back down on the other side.
  • Once we landed, I whispered, “Normal Cici”, and I turned back into a regular grandma. CK and I said goodbye to the geese and kept on walking.

Link:   

• Tell students that writers try to make a list of ideas before they start writing. Then they look long and hard at the list and choose the idea that means the most to them, or that they know the most about.

Share:  

• N/A

Feedback:  N/A

Assessment:

• N/A

Resources

Please let me know if you find this video and lesson helpful, and/or if you are interested in seeing more like it.

This has been a test of the allkidscanwrite network! :)

Happy writing!

​Christy

Writing well in elementary school matters.

Good, effective, articulate writing matters. In elementary school.

I have always known this to be a fact. And I spent most of my career as an educator doing the work of convincing teachers, administrators, central office decision-makers, parents, and students that this is a fact. Writing well in elementary school matters.

I wrote and shared curricula. I held workshops. I supported teachers in classrooms. I led professional development sessions. I taught, co-taught, modeled, scored, graded, mentored, and conferenced. 

But by the time I left the division for which I had worked for 20 years, I did not feel like the change-maker our students and teachers needed and deserved. It wasn't for lack of trying.

Our leadership noted the sinking writing grades of our eighth grade writers...but couldn't see the value in truly investing in and committing to the breadth and width of training and instruction it would take to substantively move the needle on student writing in elementary school.

I struggled to understand how I could have tried so hard and made so little difference. 

Here's what I also know to be a fact. Without exception, as soon as I (or another teacher) helped a student get excited about his/her writing, the hook was in and the art happened.  Even if the decision-makers outside of my K-5 classroom couldn't  or wouldn't understand the value of the elementary writing instruction, my students, their parents, and I certainly did. And so did a fair number of building administrators! We all got it. It was art. It was expression. It was hard work, commitment, thinking, re-thinking. It was mindful, purposeful, and impactful. And it really, really mattered.

Fortunately, I am now the maker of my own decisions and approaches to K-5 writing instruction. And I have something new to share with you all!  It's a reframing of why writing matters. 

Come back next time and we'll dive in. Remember, #allkidscanwrite!

Happy writing!

Christy Weisiger, M.Ed., NBCT

Happy New Year, teachers, parents, and writers! Welcome to a brand new school year and a brand new start for me and this blog!

I am charting a new path for myself by launching an online writing school called All Kids Can Write via the Teachable.com platform. After 20 years with my school division, I have decided to branch out on my own and do the work that I am passionate about - working with students and teachers and parents on writing! This work fuels me. It inspires me. It brings me joy. And it is my calling.

I am starting with just one course, an 8 lesson mini-unit of study on graphic narrative writing. You can find a sneak peek of the first session on my Facebook page, All Kids Can Write. The link to my new course is also posted on that page. (https://all-kids-can-write.teachable.com) 

The lessons are student facing, so they are ready to use with your student(s). I am also available for 1:1 coaching sessions which you sign up for separately. 

To be honest, I am scared to death to put myself and my work out there. But I know that we ask students to be brave and put their work out for us to see each and every day. I want to make a difference for student writers. To do that, I have to be brave and share my work with the world. 

Let's do this together! 

I am going to be adding courses and building the curriculum of the school. I would love for you to join me on this journey to support student writers. All kids CAN write - let's make it happen!

#allkidscanwrite

Happy writing!

Christy

It has been a while. A long, long while. And I can't go back right now. The end of this school year was traumatic, trying, and terrible. That's not to say that I regret one minute of the time I spent with my class of first graders this year. Oh, no. I will remember this class of students and parents as perhaps the most meaningful of my career. What those amazing kiddos accomplished with the unyielding support of their parents is etched in my heart forever. 

But, now I need to recover, rethink, reconsider so many things. The world is upended, and I, like most everyone else, am struggling to process and understand it all. 

So, for awhile, I will post photographs and poetry. These are my creative outlets for the moment. Thank you if you pop in occasionally to check on my work. I know that I will be ready for whatever "school" and "teaching" look like in September. But, for now, I'm just going to reflect and try to grow into the tremendous changes of our time.  It's time to dig deep.

Friday Morning, 6/26/2020
​

This morning I was thinking about my students, and my granddaughter who is also out of school. And I wanted to reassure them that, although their days look so different right now, it won't last forever. And, it's okay!!

So, here's a fun little poem called "At Home"

At Home

I’m in my house -
Imagine that!
I was supposed to be 
​In school…

Instead of friends
Like Charlotte Kate,
My recess pal is brother Nate.

Instead of reading in a group,
My bookmate is tomato soup.

Instead of Mrs. Weisiger’s voice,
I scan a menu board for choice.

I’m in my jammies at
Half-past ten -
Oh! Mom says it’s time to 
Stretch again!

My backpack is empty,
But, it’s okay! It’s cool!

One day I will be back in school!

Christy Weisiger, 3/17/2020

Encourage your student writer to try her hand at a poem today. There is a lightness about verse that is fun and engaging for even our youngest writers.

Stay well and be safe!

#allkidscanwrite

The very first form of writing I can remember falling in love with is poetry. I started writing poetry when I was in elementary school, and continued dabbling in verse through college. It is such an accessible way to express emotion, ideas, life, everything. And, there is something controllable about the form of short verse - which appeals to me right now as I don't feel in control of much of anything else! I have tried writing prose - completing 3 manuscripts of middle grade fiction - none of which are published. I always find myself blocked at the revision stage. I struggle to be able to wrap my head around revising something that is over 100 pages long. And, so, those beautiful little stories sit in a manuscript drawer, unrevised and unedited and unpublished. Maybe one day...

A few weeks ago, I found myself drawn back to the idea of poetry. And, now that our lives have been so dramatically changed, I am inspired to capture some of what I'm feeling in verse. 

Coincidentally, I am working on writing a Poetry Unit of Study for my district, K-5. The serendipitous nature of this situation is not lost on me.

So, today I tried to write my first poem. Here it is...after a few revisions. It may not be perfect. But, just as I never expect my students' work to be perfect, just to reflect their best effort, I am giving myself the same grace. 

Isolation

Outside my window
It is dark
Except for the reflection
Of my face staring out into the shadows of 
Pre-dawn solitude.

My gaze, defying the 
Backyard distances, approaches and stands
On the windowsill of a neighbor’s kitchen that is
Filled with warm, yellow light and the 
Imagined aroma of fresh-brewed coffee and
The embracing chit-chat of Monday breakfast - 
Connecting us.

At a time

When we must

Not connect

Except through gazes darting across isolated backyards hidden 
In darkness.

Christy Weisiger 3/16/2020

I will check back in with you all as this journey continues. Anyone who would like support for a student writer at home, please reach out! What a gift it would be to the world if our youngest writers capture their lives in this moment!!

Take care and be safe!

#allkidscanwrite