Advice From a 3rd Grader

Writing at the beginning of the year can be tricky.  It's a balance of getting kids to write quality pieces while not overloading them with anything too hefty.  I have a list of a few things I like to do early on, but this year I took on a new project.

This summer, my family and I traveled to Yellowstone and the Tetons.  At one of our Visitor Center stops, my daughters and I came across these great postcards and bookmarks that were written as advice.  They were all about nature, and they were so straightforward and witty all at the same time.  I was immediately smitten and purchased a couple of the postcards, knowing I would for sure find a way to use these in my classroom.

As luck would have it, they have a beautiful website too!   It's called Your True Nature, and you can read how it all started with Advice From a Tree.  Here are a couple of my favorites:

Fast forward to early September.  I was ready to tackle this great writing project.  I checked out the website for more examples and discovered a wonderful section for teachers (and more!) under the "Learning" tab.  They demonstrated a great approach for helping students figure out how to write this kind of advice.  I showed the kids the examples I had purchased as well as others from the website, and we worked through an example together (Advice From a Flower).

The strategy of first listing attributes and then personifying the attributes is very effective in helping students organize their thoughts and in making the project manageable.  However, here's what I learned very quickly--the simplicity of this writing is highly deceptive.  And it was very tricky for some of my 3rd graders.  So after a day of some struggle, I adjusted my plans to make this a more collaborative effort.  The kids used each other to get ideas, and then we worked as a group to help anyone who needed it.  Synergy at its best!

So after all the toil and trouble, I was pleasantly surprised by the final product.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Advice From a Leaf

Look out for poison ivy.

Beleaf in yourself.

Be free in a tree.

Stay in the shade.

Try not to fall.

It's good to be green.

Advice From a Sun

Have a sunny day.

Have a bright attitude.

Be the star of the show.

Work your way around it.

Be yellow and don't be blue.

We all shine better together.

Advice From an Owl

Even good things can be found in the dark.

Fly high in the sky.

Stop and see the world.

Try to see everything around you.

Be WHOOO you want to be.

Advice From a Wave

Swim in the ocean.

Go with the flow.

Enjoy the ride.

Make a splash.

Advice From the Sun

Be kind the people around you.

Stay bright.

Rays your hand.

Don't let someone steal your light.

Shine like a star.

Pretty good, right?!  It seems like it was worth the struggle.  I may make some changes next time (like making a connection to science--Who doesn't love some interdisciplinary work?!), and I may try it a bit later in the year, but I think it will make a return.  Live and learn.  That's pretty good advice too!