This ongoing class meets once a week. The classes do not build upon each other so students are welcome to join class anytime. In this class, students will choose their own writing topic. They will create a graphic organizer and brainstorm ideas on their topic. Then, students will use their ideas to create a paragraph. Each class follows the same structure. Below is the structure of each class:

****** CHOOSE A TOPIC ******
At the beginning of each class, students will choose a topic to write on. If students struggle to come up with a topic on their own, I will provide a handout with topic ideas. 

****** CREATE A GRAPHIC ORGANIZER ******
Students will choose four ideas to brainstorm about their chosen topic. Students will write these four ideas onto their graphic organizer. I will provide a handout with idea suggestions that go with all topics. 

Some topic suggestions could be ....
      - Who?
      - Where?
      - Do?
      - Need?
      - How?
      - When?

****** BRAINSTORM ******
I will model how to brainstorm ideas into the graphic organizer. Students will brainstorm their own ideas into their graphic organizer. 

****** WRITE A PARAGRAPH ******
I will model how to use a graphic organizer to write a paragraph. Students will use their organizer to write a paragraph. 

****** CHECK-IN ******
As students work on their writing, I will check-in with each students. Students will share their topic and ideas with me. 

****** SHARE ******
At the end of class, students will share their paragraph with the group. 

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****** IMPORTANT INFORMATION ******
In this class, students DO NOT ....
           - Revise their writing
           - Edit their writing 

This class is a good fit for students who ...
          - Brainstorm ideas independently
          - Write a paragraph independently
          - Enjoy writing on their own

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MY CREDENTIALS 
         - Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education
         - Minor in Reading
         - Classroom teacher for 11 years
         - Online educator for 4 years
        - Reading and math intervention teacher for 3 years
        - Passionate about writing 

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****** Fall 2023 ******

Week of September 24, 2023: Students choose their own topic.
Week of October 1, 2023: No Class
Week of October 8, 2023: Students choose their own topic.
Week of October 15: Students choose their own topic.
Week of October 22, 2023: Students choose their own topic.
Week of October 29, 2023: Students choose their own topic.
Week of November 6, 2023: Students choose their own topic.
Week of November 12, 2023: Students choose their own topic.
Week of November 19, 2023:  ****** NO CLASS ******
Week of November 26, 2023: Students choose their own topic.
Week of December 3, 2023: Students choose their own topic. 
Week of December 10, 2023: Students choose their own topic.