Writing Workshop Time!

For the second half of our time at University School this week, we spent working one on one with a student on their writing workshop.  We each were paired with a 4th grader. I got paired with a little boy named Ben who was absolutely awesome.  He is in a wheelchair and he doesn't have arms but does have hands.  That sounds weird, but he does a great job with it.  He is very smart and funtions amazingly!  He was so excited to work with me and to share his work.  First, we did a quick write about brushing our teeth.  It was great hearing what Ben was writing and he really thought of some things that I would never have thought about.  Then as a class the teacher discussed ideas about remembering the first time we ever did something and the last time we ever did something.  Each child made a t-chart and created a list of both of these topics.  Then from the list they were to pick one of these ideas and write a short story about it.  Ben chose to write about the first time he drove his wheelchair, which he calls his "car."  It was so interesting to hear about this experience and hear how excited he was about it.  Working one on one with Ben really gave me the chance to see what his thought process was when writing a story, and it was great because I could give him ideas and suggestions.  I would love to follow up with Ben next time to see how his story is going.  I would also  love to have had time to work with even more students, so hopefully I'll be able to do that in the future!