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Thursday, May 7, 2015

Every single time, it's a miracle

Today we read Big Cat.
There are many beginning-reader stories 
about big cats.
Yet, there is something amazing that happens, 
every single time, as beginning writers
find their stride
grappling with sounds in
phonetically-regular words. 

So, after reading Big Cat
we shared the writing.
I controlled the pen, 
they did the thinking.
  We wrote about big cat's 
thinking (in the bubble).  
I wanted a happy cat; however, 
my boys wanted the cat to be mad,
so I made his face grimacing and 
his bubble thinking, "I am mad."
Then, each of them eagerly grabbed their own pencils,
drew their own Big Cats,
gave their own Big Cat a thinking bubble
and wrote what their Big Cat was thinking.
I saw the writing emerge,
eagerly, excitedly.
"I im hB,
certainly made me happy!  
to represent a complete sentence about their Big Cat.  
Seizing the energy of the moment,
he drafted a complete wonderful sentence,
"Big cat is happy."

This is not the first time 
I've watched a beginning writer find his stride.
This is not the first time 
I've drafted a quick mentor text.
This is not the first time
I was happy we had read Big Cat.

Every single time those fingers 
take control of the pencil,
it's an exciting, fabulous miracle.


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