To quote April Halprin Wayland's wonderful Friday post about clutter-busting:
Before we get started, run over and read the dynamite interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith by Teaching Author Carmela Martino and enter our latest book give-away! Note that the deadline for entry is 11 pm (CST) Wednesday, February 2, 2011. Make sure you follow the rules by posting a comment at the bottom of that blog post and include your contact information. And you must have a USA mailing address.
Teaching Author Esther Hershenhorn kicked off our current topic with a great intro to 6 + 1 Trait Writing: Organization. Teaching Author JoAnn Early Macken followed with Getting Your Ducks in a Row. Teaching Author Mary Ann Rodman's It Just Looks Disorganized came next. All include practical and inspiring Writing Workouts, so check them out.
As the absolutely least organized of the Teaching Authors (the one who took my son to preschool on Friday when there was no school; the one who this week mailed our new church registration to my mom and a handmade card from my daughter to the church; the one who "ran" to amazon and purchased my copy of Clutter Busting as soon as I read April's post) -- it is my pleasure to tackle this topic last.
In fact, my college classes this week (when they haven't been canceled due to snow) have been learning about essay and paragraph organization. Our text suggests the most obvious methods: chronological; spatial; most to least important or, conversely, least to most important. We have also been stressing the use of appropriate transitions.
To illustrate how writing instruction is similar across the grades, my daughter brought home the following exercise from kindergarten on Friday:
So, does the picture mean you're working out as you work at the computer? I can't tell for sure.
Sorry, Carmela -- I take lousy pictures. Yes, that is my mini-ellipitical, and I try to keep moving while I write. I'm not sure how much of a workout I'm getting (vigorous it is not), but it's definitely helped my mental acuity to keep the blood pumping.