Almost every day at Share, at least 3 or 4 writers tell us the “Show not Tell” they put in their writing. Many are taking it to a deeper/more complex level. Instead of saying “fast as a cheetah” or “as sad as a crying baby”, today’s offerings were:
WriterC: as sad as a turtle that can’t swim
WriterB: as fast as a lizard being chased by a snake
WriterH: I kept saying ‘OK’ like a bird going peep, peep, peep.
Today in Math, WriterI said, “It is like when you write. You have to use ‘am’ and ‘pm’ when you are doing time, so the people will understand if it is morning or night.” Great that it has gone past literacy to be used in other subjects.
Haven’t blogged in a while, but I just can’t get over how ingrained “Show not Tell” is with this class. Almost every day, 2 or 3 share an example. Today, WriterQ used it in a letter to Patricia Polacco. Author to Author.
They are still obsessed with “Show not Tell”. Often once a craft topic is no longer part of the every day focus, interest starts to wane, but not this time. “Show not Tell” hasn’t been the focus since mid-November.
I was reading Patricia Polacco’s Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair, and I could barely get a sentence out without someone wanting to talk about the “Show Not Tell” in the story. Some examples:
Eli took to reading like a beaver takes to gnawing wood, or a flea takes to a dirty little yella dog.
The wall of water hit that tower with such force that it crumpled up like tinfoil.
It’s raining books!
Had our first “opposite” simile today. WriterR shared, “I did ‘Show not Tell’. I wrote: I was not patient like a quiet rabbit.” The rest responded with smiles and “Oooohs.”
I don’t know what I’d do without WriterA. It is almost like being a comedian and having a ‘plant’ in the audience if you need one. She comes up with the most insightful connections. Often ones that I’ve not yet made. Today’s offering:
“We could put character traits (we’ve been exploring these in Reading Workshop) in our stories. That way the Reader would know things about the character. Hey, it would be like ‘Show not Tell’. We would ‘show’ them what the character is like instead of telling them.”
Most of students still very “aware” of the reader although we haven’t had specific lesson on it since early December. At share today, Writer A commented, “I used ‘Show not Tell’ today. I wrote–My grandma squeezed me like she was making juice.” The class burst out laughing, and she beamed because her audience ‘got it’.
Writer E called me over today to tell me, “First I wrote–Me and my mom and my sister went to Peru–but the reader would know that I am going since I wrote it, so I should put my mom and sister first.”
Today was the first day back after a three-week Winter Break. Mondays are short days, so there was no focus lesson to remind them of all we learned “last year”. I simply said, “Please start Independent Writing.” At Share, WriterC said, “I put this ‘Show Not Tell’ in my story, so the reader would know how fast I ate: I was starving like a bear who hadn’t eaten in five years.”
Totally integrated into her writing process despite the break. Love it!
I walked by WriterL today during Independent Writing and saw this:
When I asked her about the ‘x’ over the period, she said, “ ‘to see the animals’ can’t be by itself.”
So great that this occurred while she was writing and not later as a revision.