Fourth and Twenty

One thing we talked about today is the idea of writing stamina. We're trying to get the kids used to the idea of writing for more than just a few minutes at a time. The idea that they can just write and write on one topic is something we're trying to put into their minds. For many of them, writing is something they could easily do for hours. For some, they treat writing two sentences as though I was pulling out their fingernails. But today, even the ones who consider writing to be a horrific chore instead wrote for six full minutes without stopping. Tomorrow we're going for eight.

This is going to be really important, not only for their research paper and their book report, but also for ISTEP and their continuation into middle school.

We've also been having some fun reading Genius Files. I'm thinking that I could write a whole paper about how Dan Gutman is the perfect read-aloud author for guy teachers of fifth graders. So much funny material here about spies, exploding frisbees, renegade teachers, geeky parents, Pez, yo-yos, and RV cross-country family vacations, all tied into 9/11, and yet somehow never failing to be outrageously hilarious. I love this book. This is the one I went back and added to my "wish list" at the book fair because I needed something to add. Dan Gutman is all it took for me to add this to my list, but only because I needed to add something. Man, am I glad I did. This is instantly moving up to #2 on my read-aloud list for next year. It would be hard for anything to replace I Was a Rat for the beginning of the year, but this would make a choice for the second book of the year. We've even been following the family's trip on Mapquest, as suggested by the book. Pure joy. I really hope there's a sequel out there.