Author Linda Urban

Last week author Linda Urban spoke to the fourth grade about writing. She talked about how and why to write parts of a story with a lot of detail to slow the action and how and why to speed up their writing to get to the good stuff.  We were able to hear an excerpt from her new book and we looked at parts that showed a summary (limited detail) to parts that showed a scene (lots of detail to slow down the story).  Students had a chance to write about a soccer game and then they were given the option to share. The next day we applied what we learned by writing scenes in the realistic fiction narrative.Here are some photos from that day.

Henry's Freedom Box

After reading the book Henry's Freedom Box by Kadir Nelson, students did a Words Come Alive activity. They had to choose one scene from the book and represent that scene with a statue. One partner was the sculptor and one partner was the clay. Students shared their statues and its title. Their statues are pictured below.

Guy in a Box

Sideways in the Box

Pouring the Acid

Upside down in the Box

Family

Playing the Banjo

In the Box

Paralyzed!

Guy Crying

Taken Away in the Wagon

Trapped in a Box

Freedom!

Worried

Upside Down in the Box

Upside Down