He CHOSE to WRITE!!

If there was a way to squeal over writing insert here.  If you have read my other two blogs about my son and writing (here and here) you know that it has been a struggle. In fact it has become my mission to help boys (and girls) love to write and, more importantly, choose to!

Quick recap: my son Sam is in grade three. He is an excellent reader and has always been a reluctant (sometimes hostile) writer. Being the Literacy Lover that I am I decided I was going to change that.  I have worked evenings and summers with Sam on his writing. In fact the revised Scope and Sequence to our Writing Station in the Lit Pit is 100% due to my discoveries with my son and his adventures in writing.  Now I would love to tell you that his transformed attitude is due to an amazing lesson I created and the inspiration I have given him, but that would be lying. Sam's turnaround in writing came from his incredible grade three teacher (I could kiss her!).  

Sam came home telling his dad and I that in his free time in class he's been writing a chapter book.  The shock on both of our faces was visible, and the looks between us were actually comical.  When we asked him to tell us more he went on and on about his story, his characters and the plot. He talked about the adjectives (and yes, he used that word) that he was going to use to describe his characters and then went on (in case we didn't know) to explain what an adjective was.  When I could finally get a word in (and, trust me, we were hanging on every word of his writing adventures), I asked him what it was that inspired him to write.  He simply said, "Mrs O. She told me that writing and reading are almost the same and then she told me that she was going to teach us the building blocks of words and sentences to help us create great stories. She just loves writing and reading so much, Mom, that it inspired me to write." 

There isn't much more I can say. His success and comments have simply reinforced the idea that Bryn and I try to secure our teaching to - it's not simply just important to teach How, it's important to inspire a Love for Literacy that will get our students excited about Reading and Writing.  Our Motto - Love to, Learn to and Choose to - was driven home this week.  Mrs O's love for writing got Sam excited about writing. All these times I've been working with him it's been more about a "job" and less about getting him to love it. Oh Mrs. O, thanks for the reminder! 

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