Pumpkin Descriptive Writing

The students used Thinking Maps to organize their ideas of how to describe a pumpkin. They then wrote three sentences using those Maps. Each week I model for the students how to use Thinking Maps to help them with their writing. Then they write independently for the first three days. On the fourth day, I sit down with each student individually to do one-on-one editing. When I see an area that needs to be corrected, I ask the students a guiding question such as "What goes at the beginning of the sentences?" and they answer. I think this helps them take more ownership and leads to better writing the next time. After we edit together, they go back and rewrite a final draft which is what is displayed in the hallway. While I work with students one-on-one, the other students are  working in Daily 5. Occasionally I will have an independent art project that they can do to go along with their writing.