Writing About Caring and Caring About Writing

We wrote poems about caring. Here are some of the caring poems. Each poem starts with "Caring is..."

Caring is... love helping people sharing listening love. Caring is... sharing toys helping make dinner helping clean up in the kitchen helping make things helping someone get up when they fall down getting a band aid for someone. Caring is... sharing things with people helping other people love helping Mom and Dad and Grandparents listening to people letting friends be in front of you. Caring is... helping other people love not being selfish. Caring is... loving other people being nice to people sharing helping other people who need help. Caring is... love caring for your little sister thinking about other people caring for your school caring for your friends being helpful to other people caring is love. Caring is... sharing listening to other people taking turns loving someone caring for animals. Caring is... love giving people things they need. Caring is... love helping smiling helping your Mom and Dad giving love. Caring is... love giving helping not being selfish loving your brother, Mom, Dad and sister. Caring is... love sharing with other people helping.

We learned a lot about how we can be caring towards others in our Ronald McDonald House Project. We each wrote a report about what we had learned in this project. The most important thing we learned was that there are lots of people who are caring about each other in many ways.

We use our "Bird Print" writing process to do our reports. We named each step in the writing process after a bird who's behavior was similar to what we do in that writing step. Each of us has our own computer disk which we use for our writing documents. We practice our keyboarding skills once a week so we can write faster on the computer. We save each of our writing step documents on our computer disks. Here are the steps:

1. Puffin Prewrite: In Puffin Prewrite, we list words for the idea we want to write about in our report. (The puffin is a ocean shorebird that flaps its wings quickly just like we quickly write our ideas in words so we won't forget what we want to say.) Here is an example of a Puffin Prewrite document from a writer in our class:

A Ronald McDonald House Project Report Puffin Prewrite May 1999 R.M.H. Video R.M.H. kitchen R.M.H. bedroom R.M.H. playroom R.M.H. londry room R.M.H. basement R.M.H. T.B. R.M.H. stachu Pull tabs L. and Mrs. B. visit H. books Viset to the H. Comfert quilt

2. Swan Draft: In Swan Draft, we write sentences for each of our Puffin Prewrite ideas.(The swan is an elegant bird that floats smoothly across the water just like we let our sentence ideas "float out of our heads onto the page". We use book spellings that we have learned and use sound spellings for other words so we can get our ideas written.) Here is the Swan Draft document from the Puffin Prewrite. This writer is using book spellings and some sound spellings in the Swan Draft step.

A Ronald McDonald House Project Report Swan Draft May 1999 R.M.H. A Ronold Mcdonold house is for famlales that have children in the hospetol and are far away from ther house. Video We wached a video and learnd abot the R.M.H. R.M.H. kitchen Ther are three stoves, refrigaraters,sencs, and three dishwoshers. R.M.H. bedroom Thar is a bedroom for each famaly in the R.M.H. R.M.H. play room The R.M.H. play room has a video camra so that adalts can woch them when they asent in the room. R.M.H. londry room Thar is a londrey room that has a washer and drier for each famaly. R.M.H. basement The R.M.H. basement has a lot of box's fild with pull tabs. R.M.H. T.B. Thar are taddy bares at the R.M.H.some are smoll and sum are big and you can sit in them. R.M.H. stachu Thar is a stachu out side that has a Mom holding her child with a sotcas next to her. Pull tabs We tack pull tabs off of pop can's and give them to the Ronold McDonold house so thay can resicle them and get muny. L. and Miss. B. visit Lanaya and mrs. Bensen visatid our clas anfd told us what it was like to be in the R.M.H. becas lanaya was in the hospital. H. books We rede hospital books to lern abot it. Viset to the H. We viseted the polman mamoreol hospetol. And lernd a lot of thanings. Comfert quilt Were making a comfort quilt for the Spokn Ronold McDonaold house.

3. Egret Edit: In Egret Edit, we read through all our sentences and underline the words we think we need to change to book spellings. (Egret's have really good eyes to find their food so we use our good "egret eyes" to check the spellings of the words in our reports.) Here is a Ronald McDonald House report document in the Egret Edit step.

A Ronald McDonald House Project Report Egret Edit May 1999 R.M.H. A Ronold Mcdonold house is for famales that have children in the hospetol and are far away from ther house. Video We wached a video and learnd abot the R.M.H. R.M.H. kitchen Ther are three stoves, refrigaraters,sencs, and three dishwoshers. R.M.H. bedroom Thar is a bedroom for each famaly in the R.M.H. R.M.H. play room The R.M.H. play room has a video camra so that adalts can woch them when they arent in the room. R.M.H. londry room Thar is a londry room that has a washer and drier for each famaly. R.M.H. basement The R.M.H. basement has a lot of box's fild with pull tabs. R.M.H. T.B. Thar are taddy bares at the R.M.H.some are smoll and sum are big and you can sit in them. R.M.H. stachu Thar is a stachu out side that has a Mom holding her child with a sotcas next to her. Pull tabs We tack pull tabs off of pop can's and give them to the Ronold McDonold house so thay can resicle them and get muny. L. and Miss. B. visit Lanaya and mrs. Bensen visatid our clas anfd told us what it was like to be in the R.M.H. becas lanaya was in the hospetol. H. books We rede hospetol books to lern abot it. Viset to the H. We viseted the polman mamoreol hospetol. And lernd a lot of thanings. Comfert quilt Were making a comfert quilt for the Spockan Ronold McDonold house.

4. Owl Edit: In Owl Edit, we conference with our teacher and use our dictionaries to find the book spellings for the words we have underlined in our reports. Then we type in the book spellings to edit our report. We also make sure all our sentences and names start with capital letters and end with a period, exclamation mark, or question mark. (The owl has good eyes and is suppose to be wise so in Owl Edit we try to be wise too by finding books spellings in dictionaries and using our "wise eyes" to edit our capital letters, periods, exclamation marks, and question marks.) Here is the Owl Edit document.

A Ronald McDonald House Project Report Owl Edit May 1999 R.M.H. A Ronald McDonald house is for families that have children in the hospital and are far away from there house. Video We watched a video and learned about the R.M.H. R.M.H. kitchen There are three stoves, refrigerators,sinks, and three dishwashers. R.M.H. bedroom There is a bedroom for each family in the R.M.H. R.M.H. play room The R.M.H. play room has a video camera so that adults can watch them when they aren't in the room. R.M.H. laundry room Thar is a laundry room that has a washer and dryer for each family. R.M.H. basement The R.M.H. basement has a lot of box's filled with pull tabs. R.M.H. T.B. There are teddy bears at the R.M.H.some are small and some are big and you can sit in them. R.M.H. statue There is a statue outside that has a Mom holding her child with a suitcase next to her. Pull tabs We take pull tabs off of pop can's and give them to the Ronald McDonald house so thay can recycle them and get money. L. and Miss. B. visit Linnea and Mrs. Benson visited our class and told us what it was like to be in the R.M.H. because Linnea was in the hospital. H. books We read hospital books to learn about it. Visit to the H. We visited the Pullman Memorial Hospital. And learned a lot of things. Comfort quilt We're making a comfort quilt for the Spokane Ronald McDonald house.

Here is a picture of a teacher doing an owl edit conference on book spellings with one of our classmates.

5. Wren Revise: In Wren Revise, we carefully read all our sentences to see if we want to revise the order of the words or add words to help the sentences make more sense. We also take off our prewrite words and under linings. (The wren in a small bird with a beautiful song so, in Wren Revise, we try to make our words flow like beautiful music. The wren sometimes hops from branch to branch and so when we do Wren Revise, we sometimes cut and paste our words from one place to a better place just like the wren hops around from place to place finding just the right spot to be.) Here is the Wren Revise document:

A Ronald McDonald House Project Report Wren Revise May 1999   A Ronald McDonald house is for families that have children in the hospital and are far away from there house.   We watched a video and learned about the Ronald McDonald Houses.   There are three stoves, refrigerators,sinks, and three dishwashers.   There is a bedroom for each family in the Ronald McDonald House.   The R.M.H. play room has a video camera so that adults can watch their children playing in the playroom when the adults aren't in the room with them.   There is a laundry room that has a washer and dryer for each family.   The Ronald McDonald House basement has a lot of box's filled with pull tabs.   There are teddy bears at the Ronald McDonald House. Some are small and some are big. You can sit in the big ones.   There is a statue outside that has a Mom holding her child with a suitcase next to her.   Linnea and Mrs. Benson visited our class and told us what it was like to be in the Ronald McDonald House because Linnea was in the hospital. Linnea was in the hospital because she was born too early and her lungs weren't ready it and it was hard for her to breathe.   We take pull tabs off of pop can's and give them to the Ronald McDonald House so thay can recycle them and get money.   We're making a comfort quilt for the Spokane Ronald McDonald House.   We read hospital books to learn about children being in the hospital.   We visited the Pullman Memorial Hospital and learned a lot of things.

6. Peregrine Publish: In Peregrine Publish, we check all our sentences to make sure everything is just right. We put our sentences together in paragraphs. Then our work is all finished and ready to be sent fast by email to our classroom friends around the world and onto the Internet website! (The peregrine falcon is a fast flyer so we use this bird to name our final publishing so that our writing is ready to be "fly" quickly around the world by email and websites.) Here is the Peregrine Publish document.

A Ronald McDonald House Project Report Peregrine Publish May 1999 A Ronald McDonald house is for families that have children in the hospital and are far away from there house. We watched a video and learned about the Ronald McDonald Houses. There are three stoves, refrigerators,sinks, and three dishwashers. There is a bedroom for each family in the Ronald McDonald House. The R.M.H. play room has a video camera so that adults can watch their children playing in the playroom when the adults aren't in the room with them. There is a laundry room that has a washer and dryer for each family. The Ronald McDonald House basement has a lot of box's filled with pull tabs. There are teddy bears at the Ronald McDonald House. Some are small and some are big. You can sit in the big ones. There is a statue outside that has a Mom holding her child with a suitcase next to her. Linnea and Mrs. Benson visited our class and told us what it was like to be in the Ronald McDonald House because Linnea was in the hospital. Linnea was in the hospital because she was born too early and her lungs weren't ready it and it was hard for her to breathe. We take pull tabs off of pop can's and give them to the Ronald McDonald House so thay can recycle them and get money. We're making a comfort quilt for the Spokane Ronald McDonald House. We read hospital books to learn about children being in the hospital. We visited the Pullman Memorial Hospital and learned a lot of things.

This writer is really proud to have finished her report!

Here is a Ronald McDonald House Project Report by a first grader.

A Ronald McDonald House Report We collected pop tabs for making money to give to the Ronald McDonald House. We took a trip to the local hospital. We did a website about the Ronald McDonald House. We learned that some people in the Ronald McDonald House feel like its a home far away from home. We like to make comfort quilts. We read lots and lots of hospital books. Mrs. Benson visited our class.

Here is a Ronald McDonald House Project Report by a Second Grader:

A Ronald McDonald House Report Across the street from the hospital in Spokane is our nearest Ronald McDonald House. The Ronald McDonald Houses are usually only in big towns. The first Ronald McDonald House was made in Pennsylvania. Ther person that thought of the Ronald McDonald House was a doctor. There are not many books at the Ronald McDonald House in Spokane so we are going to try to but them some new books. There are lots of bedrooms at the Ronald McDonald House. There is a big big play room and if there is no grown up in the playroom they don't need to worry because there are video cameras in the playroom and they can watch from another room. Sometimes when people have to be at the hospital a long time during the day and don't feel like cooking, other people that are helpers come to cook. There is a helper chart for the people who stay at the Ronald McDonald House. We have a helper chart in our classroom but ours is different than theirs because we don't cook and clean like they do on their helper chart. There are a lot of kids that come to the Ronald McDonald House. It doesn't matter what they look like. Its who they are on the inside that matters. We are making a comfort quilt for the Ronald McDonald House. Mrs. Benson and her baby, Linnea visited our classroom. The reason they came was because Linnea was born early. Mrs. Benson had to stay at the Ronald McDonald House while Linnea got the doctor care she needed. We asked questions about the Ronald McDonald House and Mrs. Benson gave the answers. We had a visit to the Pullman Memorial Hospital. There was a lot of neat stuff there. When we went to the hospital, one of the things we did was go to the lab. We had to chose a buddy to get in and share a lab coat. We put gloves on. We wore caps that doctors do. The first thing we saw when we went to the hospital was the X-ray machine. we saw how the table moved and the pictures the machine takes. The ultra sound was the second thing we saw when we went to the hospital. The C.T. Scan was the third thing we saw. In the lab we saw bacteria. The pharmacy was the second to the last thing we saw. We are making a Ronald McDonald website.

We hope you enjoyed learning about our writing about caring and our caring about writing!

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