Advice from My Third Grade Review Partners

One thing's for sure: our students' are learning a lot about writing this year!  Not only are they becoming better writers themselves, but also they are pretty good peer review partners.

I dropped by a second grade class finishing their writer's workshop for the day and I was overcome with pride when they let out a collective "Awww" after their teacher told them time was up; they were in the flow!

Then I had an awesome experience with a group of third graders who told me not only what they liked about my story, but also exactly what I need to do to make it better.

This started weeks ago when I happened upon their class just as they were transitioning from drawing a picture of a place they wanted to write about to actually writing their stories.  I joined them, drew my picture, then wrote my story. I mentioned this experience in an earlier post.

I returned to their class a day or so later while they were learning about adding dialogue to their stories to make them more "in the moment."  I rewrote my story; it needed serious revision.

It's been several weeks, and I hadn't had an opportunity to share my story with them or to hear theirs. Today was the day.

Here's the revised version I read them:

The door slammed open and away he ran!
"Chance! Where are you going?" I shouted as I ran after him.
No answer. Down the hall, down the steps.  First, he; then, me.
"Chance! Stop! Come back."
Across the driveway.  Onto School Street.
He was running as fast as he could.  I was chasing him as fast as I could.
"Stop, now!" I yelled, but he didn't comply with my demand.
I kept running as fast as I could, and . . . I was catching up to him.  He must have been slowing down, running out of steam.
Finally: he stopped.  And I stopped when I caught him.
"What are you doing?" I demanded.
"Running away. I hate school. I don't want to be here any more," he sassed.
"Well, you can't run away from school.  You have to stay until your mom picks you up this afternoon," I replied.
Exhausted, we walked back to school, holding hands, or rather, I was holding his hand to prevent another escape.

Sweet children - they were quick to tell me what they liked.  Bravely, though, they also let me know that my story needs "some onomatopoeia in the part where he's running."

I think that's pretty good writer's advice.  Thank you, third grade! You bring me joy!

I'm off to the revision cycle.

In a Nutshell
Students are learning!  Our new writing program is building skillful writers. And, I'm learning, too.