Getting Rid of the Grocery List Writing

Grocery list writing.  You know-I went home.  I ate a snack.  I watched T.V.  I played outside.  It's hard for kids stuck in this type of writing to break out.  Buy hey-these kids are going to grow up and be our engineers, scientists, and accountants, so give them some writing love.

I got to work in a second grade classroom recently with some sweet second grade kiddos.  They were writing a personal narrative about a time they lost something.  I wrote a grocery list story on the board (in black).  We then talked about how to add to these sentences to improve them.  We also discussed how to create a picture in your readers mind by add sentences with no action-just thoughts or feelings.

I think there are some kids in your room who are never going to come to you and say, "That Patricia Polacco book moved me deeply.  The next time I write a personal narrative, I am going to use figurative language as beautifully as she did."

And you know what?  That's perfectly fine.  This is a great way to help kids work within the thinking framework they are comfortable with.  If you've got grocery store list writers, how do you help them stretch?