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Grade: Elementary
Subject: Reading/Writing
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Although my first and second grade students loved the Junie B. Jones books, I was reluctant to model poor grammar. One day I received one as a gift and felt I had to read it aloud. I found that, when I paused and furrowed my brow after incorrect verb tenses, etc, the students would correct the error. We usually had a Wacky Wednesday morning message full of daily language mistakes. What would be more WACKY than a letter from Junie B? Now, on Wednesdays, students are greeted with a letter from Junie B. chock full of typical Junie B. language. As we read together, we circle and correct her mistakes. Then during their Wednesday writing block, they write a letter to Junie B. telling her what they are doing in school, and politely explaining one thing that they have learned that might help her. For example, one student noticed that she never remembered to capitalize the word I. He wrote, "Junie, I have learned that I is always capitalized when it is used alone to mean me." Later, when I wrote the letter from Junie, I began capitalizing the I. The student commented that he thought Junie was learning something from us. Students look forward to Wednesdays, and they learn a lot from each other and from teaching others what they know. I have also noticed that letter writing skills have improved tremendously.
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