I like to have several options going at each station, but especially at the Writing Station. My hope for the Writing Station is that it is always creative and sparking new ideas. I feel like providing options and continually updating those options is helpful for brainstorming.
One way I like to aid in brainstorming is the Journal Jar. This is full of a bunch of randomness...from magazine pictures to Happy Meal toys. Here is some of the randomness:
One way I like to aid in brainstorming is the Journal Jar. This is full of a bunch of randomness...from magazine pictures to Happy Meal toys. Here is some of the randomness:
I try to update it every time I clean out my daughter's toys. One way to use the jar is just to allow students to dig in and find one thing to write about. Another way is a class favorite. I put a number on the outside of the jar. I change this number often so it's always fresh. Whatever number is on the outside of the jar is how many items they can pull out. Once they have pulled the right number of items out of the jar, they write the number and their items at the top of their page. This helps them to remember if they don't get finished with their writing in one sitting. Whatever order they decide on when they write the items at the top of their paper is the order the items should appear in the story. So in the picture below, the jar says 4 and those 4 items would appear in the story in that order: mansion, spider, smurf, eyeball.
They usually love these stories because they end up being pretty ridiculous!