W is for Writing & Whew!

Whew! We started the 2nd half of the year today with a teacher work day. I did more thinking today than I did in the entire two week break. I did this much school work over break, but I did start this project...

You may have seen me lament about it on facebook.

Yes, it's A Cupcake for the Teacher's Writing Center Starter Kit. I absolutely love it. It just wasn't getting as much love as it could sitting on my computer so I decided to put it together. And Paisley decided that it was the best place in the entire house to lay.

Anyway...I got a smaller version of a tri-fold backboard at Wal-Mart. Teri used a regular sized foam backboard, but with my limited classroom space, I decided to go smaller. My Wal-Mart only had the cardboard version, but foam versions in the smaller size are also available.

Because the back of mine (the first one above) felt like wasted space, I painted it a beautiful teal with some leftover acrylic paint. Yeah...I was on break and it was a rainy day...

I printed almost everything in the middle of the board in half-size, cut it ALL out, and laminated. You can start to see why this project was saved for over the break.

I decided to use two examples for each type so that my students can see what is considered acceptable writing. I've got a WIDE range of abilities in my room.

I'm happy with the way it turned out.

On to the other side!

I used Hooty's "Rate Your Writing" examples for the middle.

I adapted A Year of Many First's writing process pencil from her Writer's Workshop Mega Pack (so worth having!) to fit my other writing materials. You can click {HERE} to get mine, but please consider Lyndsey's pack. It's FABULOUS!

Finally, I used the Hamburger Rubric that I have on TPT in my Hamburger Writing packet.

I'm going to add some titles with my letter stickers and have my students help me rate the middle examples. We will probably draw a line to the rating they decide on. I love these added visuals for my students to refer to during writing.

This was quite the project with the painting, printing, laminating, cutting, arranging, dog chasing, and gluing. However, I am so glad I finally finished it. I hope it gave you some inspiration to spruce up your writing center.

I'm off to sleep now...the darlings come back tomorrow!

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