How I Teach Writing & the Beauty of Flee Maps!
This year we only get 2 weeks off for Winter Break...I know, I know! I should be happy that I get an entire t-w-o weeks off but I am used to three weeks off! I feel like this year's break has been stacked with activity after activity- and while I am enjoying these activities... I would love a second to just BE STILL! Today we had a wonderful day just being a family of four and hanging out! It. was. lovely.
While the kiddos napped I was able to post a product that one of my loyal TpT patrons asked me to create. Our district uses Thinking Maps and I incorporate them into every subject that I teach. I especially enjoy using them in writing. We always start out with a circle map which defines our topic in context and allows them to get all of the ideas out of their head and onto the paper.
I often have the students brainstorm on their own, then share 1 or 2 of their ideas with their elbow buddy and finally I crate a class circle map to create a massive list of ideas- which is especially helpful for hesitant writers.
After they are done brainstorming and have a good grasp on the writing prompt at hand and which genre we are focusing on we move onto the Beautiful Flee Map! A Flee Map is a hybrid of a Tree Map, which classifies and groups things, and a Flow Map, which sequences and orders events.
This is what it looks like and what goes in each box. It can be used for a 3 or 5 paragraph assignment. The students do not need to write in complete sentence on this. Bullet points and notes are fine. This serves as a map or plan that organizes all of their ideas and the things that they must cover in each section before they compose their first draft.
This map is a completely blank one but my students still need a lot of guidance as they organize their ideas. To help them focus and include everything they need to I have create thought starters for the various genres that we cover over the school year.
Included in this set are 11 mind maps: -1 circle map- good for any prewriting activity- whole group or individual -2 cause effect maps: flow map and Flee Map
-1 Blank Flee map with no support for the student, great for assessment purposes to see if they can do it on their own after the sheltered approach.
I use Flee maps for all writing, even in content writing and research reports. It is a cohesive way that they are comfortable with and they feel supported with the structure and format.
You can grab this *on sale now*, at my TpT store! Find it here and check my Facebook Page for a giveaway!
