Handy Dandy Writing Tool

I like to see my kids' names on the board but only for the best of reasons.  Last week we learned how to use certain words to create suspense in our realistic fiction stories, so after the mini-lesson I attached the list to the whiteboard and told the writers to make sure and sign their name around it if they tried  any of the words.  It's amazing how the simple signing of a name can heighten awareness of a mini-lesson strategy.  

Here's page one of a piece that was written that day. This little writer was definitely in the zone.  It's possible the incentive to write on the board helped just a little.

One morning Ava was walking to school.  All of a sudden it started to hail.  She said, "Oh my heavens."

We don't write our names on the board every day, but it's a nice little trick to pull out of the bag every so often.  Look here for other ways I've used this tool during writing workshop.