Week Five: Section Three - The Essential Writing Day
There is a lot packed into this third section of the book, read and comment on what was most relevant to you:)
ASSIGNMENT FIVE: WRITTEN REFLECTION-Section Three- The Essential Writing Day Chapters 7-10
Chapter 7: Be Efficient and Integrate Basic Skills
• How might we integrate skill work into student writing rather than teaching it in isolation?
• Daily Oral Language exercises – THEY DON’T WORK!!!
• The importance of focusing on meaning and quality first
• All writing needs both a PURPOSE and an AUDIENCE
• How thinking aloud can make your teaching more explicit
• Teaching WRITING – not just the language of writing (process, process, process)
• What about writing standards? In your District and State?
• Key writing minilessons
• Revision – how to get students to care about it
• Letting kids in on the secret that – Yes! – Conventions do matter!
• How can we effectively use word walls?
In Chapter 7, suitably titled “Be Efficient and Integrate Basic Skills,” Regie gets to the heart of what so many teachers struggle with: “Fitting it all in!!!” Many of the elementary teachers that we work with are beginning to feel as though their personal motto is: “Jack of all trades; master of none.” We just don’t have the time to teach well what has to be taught. The only answer to this problem is to modify our instruction so it agrees with Regie’s stance that isolated skill work (such as Friday spelling tests, DOL, grammar worksheets…) will not help our students grow into writers (or readers.) On page 144, Regie shares four components for an integrated Writing Workshop:
1. Identify writing genres that would interest students (and meet district requirements)
2. Decide who the audience would be for each piece of writing.*
3. Model your own writing process and show students how you struggle.
4. Have students share writing regularly (for both celebration and great teaching moments.)
*This created the biggest change in my own class’s writing - once my students began to write with an audience in mind, the quality of writing shot right up!
Regie also gets to the heart of what writing with “voice” really is and addresses how to teach children to write with an honest voice in their own writing. She describes voice as “the writer’s unique personality on paper, his own melody in words, her ‘mark’ as an individual. To write with voice, the writer has to be interested in the writing.” We think that many teachers and students are unclear as to how to add true voice to their writing. Regie suggests, “Voice is in the details – but details that show the real person and story behind the words, not just details for the sake of adding more words…”
Integrating those isolated editing skills such as grammar, punctuation, and spelling into our writing will increase the efficiency of our instruction. Bottom line – if the students care about their writing, are writing for a specific audience, and understand that “the importance of editing (and spelling conventionally) is to make their message clear and easy to read for their audience – or reader, they take this job seriously and work hard at making their writing clear.”
Chapter 8: Organize for Daily Writing
• What is our definition of Writing Workshop? What does Regie say?
• How can we have student choice within a structure?
• The importance of writing talk (teachers and students)
• The ultimate nightmare for all of us…scheduling…finding the time to write everyday
• The importance of routines, organization and modeling expected behavior
• Genre study – why it’s important to have both school-wide and district-wide conversations
• The possibilities within genres
Figuring out a way to “fit it all in” is usually one of the most frustrating things many of us face. It starts at the beginning of the year as we first plan our daily schedule and continues throughout the remainder of the year. Considering how you will create your schedule to include a solid chunk of time for both reading and writing will probably be the most stressful piece to the start of your year.
Create a Comprehensive Literacy Framework: Play with your time and consider what changes you might make in your daily literacy framework for next year. Take a look at the samples that Regie provides on pages 185-187 for some possibilities. You do not have to post your schedule, but we believe this is a worthwhile activity to complete on your own.
Chapter 9: Conference with Students
• What is the purpose of a Writing Conference?
• What are the different types of Writing Conferences?
• How can Share be used effectively?
• How to conduct a productive conference
• What about management and routines?
We are so glad that this chapter talks about Share during Writer’s Workshop. Too often this component is skipped by teachers who feel there isn’t enough time in the day to “fit it all in.” However, it’s a vital piece of the workshop and beneficial to all the students. Share sessions are an additional time to teach. The teachers in my school are quite comfortable using Share as their mini-lesson if the need arises. Given the reality of daily schedules they were finding that they couldn’t have a mini-lesson, confer and share everyday. They then realized that their Shares sometimes were the minilessons. For more information about Share we recommend looking at Leah Mermelstein’s Don’t Forget To Share: The Crucial Last Step in the Writing Workshop. In this slim book, Leah explains in detail four types of Share: Content Share, Craft Share, Process Share and Progress Share.
The “Tips for Successful Whole-Class Shares and Conferences” on page 215 are excellent ones to keep in mind. The bottom line for Conferences and Shares is that students should feel successful and want to continue to write. Make sure what you say to the child encourages them to keep on writing. “The conference is secondary; the student as writer and confident learner is primary.”
Chapter 10: Make Assessment Count
• Understanding how rubrics work
• What about Test Prep? THE BEST TEST PREP IS EXCELLENT TEACHING!
• How can we collect reliable data on students’ writing throughout the day?
• Guidelines for grading and providing evidence for parents, administrators and the public
“There is lots of writing assessment going on these days, but little of it actually improves the quality of students’ writing.” As Regie continues she points out that this ‘assessment’ “is seldom used to improve daily instruction.” This chapter is about becoming more knowledgeable about assessments. Regie notes, that unless teachers know how to teach writing well, it can be a waste of time to examine students’ writing and place students on a writing continuum. She encourages you, as a staff to “write together, study together, converse together, gather school-wide data, analyze these data and set goals for improving writing instruction. There is no shortcut to helping students become effective writers and there is no program you can buy that will do it for you.”
Remember to use rubrics judiciously and not overdo it. They should be “used as an evaluation tool, not as the driving instructional force.” “Use professional common sense. It is not advisable to apply rubrics to ALL writing nor to score ALL writing. Just as our students need lots of practice reading many texts without the expectation that they will be assessed on everything they read, they need lots of practice writing without being assessed on everything they write.” (Page 243)
Have your students do a lot of writing! “Extensive writing across the curriculum as part of an excellent writing program is the best preparation for doing well on (standardized) tests. Readers have to read avidly to become readers and the same holds true for writers. Kids who write a lot develop higher-order thinking and understanding that translates to higher achievement on all types of tests.” Be sure to check out “Try It Apply It” on page 246 and throughout the chapter for ideas to incorporate into your program.
As Regie points out in this chapter, “The joy has gone out of writing.” We need to “concentrate on developing kids as learners rather than kids as test takers.”
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Chapter 7
ReplyDeleteMuch of what is talked about in Chapter 7 is similar to what I was taught 12 years ago when I was being trained to be a Secondary English teacher: teaching grammar in isolation doesn’t work; teach mini-lessons as you see the need. What was missed – and what seems to be the theme of Regie’s philosophy when it comes to teaching reading and writing – is “teach the joy and the rest will follow.” This is the theme I hope is burning into my brain.
In this chapter, the method is primarily teaching for a purpose and an audience – the purpose provides inspiration, but the audience provides motivation for quality and correctness. Students will be much more willing to buy into revision if they really understand the role of the audience.
I was glad that Regie spent most of the time on spelling. Even with my ELL students, grammar is something they speak much better than they write. For my ELL’s, 80% of their grammar mistakes can be self-identified if they read their writing outloud.
Spelling, however, is another issue. I need to directly teach it, and I do have weekly spelling words. However, I choose those words very carefully. The words are chosen for their word patterns, both regular and irregular. Studies have shown that once students achieve mastery over a certain amount of letter patterns, the ‘natural process’ of spelling that Regie is counting on takes over. But many of my ELL students need this help now, having missed it in elementary when they were just trying to master oral English.
I use the word walls to hold students accountable for the spelling words they really need to know…it comes from 6th graders still spelling does ‘dose’ or didn’t as ‘dint.’
As far as DOL’s ’don’t work’ – well, this depends on the DOL and how they are used. I have some I’ve designed for ELL students and I consider them as mini-assessments. I’m supposed to cover a lot of language forms – some of which are not needed by the students. Daily Language Reviews (DLRs) give my students daily practice of language forms without overkill while letting me see the class weaknesses. So, although I did find DOL’s limited in the regular language arts classroom (and a big time consumer), I am finding the format can serve a useful purpose for my ELD classroom.
Chapter 8
I loved the ideas in this chapter – having students write daily, building up their fluency, giving them lots of engaging choices, teaching them how to narrow down a topic – great!
But, as usual – frustrated. I have 45 minutes with my students, and I’m supposed to be teaching ELD, of which writing is only 25%. The writing I need to teach is so functional – academic language functions of cause and effect, sequence, etc. So how can I, when it is time for students to write, find topics of engagement that will transfer to other classes?
I believe now I was in too much of a hurry to get to the academic application of causes and effects of a natural disaster. I missed the shared writing, the story telling middle…the part that would have made this much more fun for the students and myself.
It is that constant tension of mandated vs engaging…even in my time-bound, ELD objective world. What if I spent the first two weeks having students just write various ‘small’ exercises before launching into the academic application of it? I bet, looking back, it would have worked much better….
This week, we are putting together the poster….I think the following week I’m going to try a 5 day sequence of writing…life stories a student could come up with that involved cause and effect….I will work out a schedule that will reflect a real writing focus…
Chapter 9
ReplyDeleteThe key purpose of a writing purpose is to affirm and then to “support the writer in moving forward.” I like that. It keeps everything positive.
I have done a form of whole class share that has not worked well. I took both good and bad examples of student writing, took off names (sometimes even typed it so handwriting wasn’t an issue) and talked about what was good about the writing, but what also needed work. This was modeling an example of a 6+1 traits workshop I had attended – so students could know what was good and poor. I won’t do this again, as the students inevitably felt attacked…even if no one ‘knew’ it was theirs.
Far better this model of having the student read (and don’t look at the paper!), affirming personally…and then – somehow – learning Regie’s positive ways of moving students forward – doing it in a way that doesn’t sound negative. In reading this whole book, that is what impresses me the most – how she instructs and hold high standards with such affirming language. It is an acquired skill, for some of us – to her, it sounds so natural.
As I am working on reading conferences, these writing conferences seem like such a parallel experience. I’m learning how to do the individual ones with reading – of course, I could do this with writing – as well as take the notes needed.
I’m sure Regie is successful with all students – but I keep thinking about a few – boys usually – who won’t work. Ideally, I could inspire like she does – but I wonder about ‘in the meantime’ – how do I keep them on task, and not disturbing others – as they learn to enjoy reading and writing….I see them as possible issues when the workshop progresses to the individual level. I could see them ‘getting done’ much too soon and being far to satisfied with less. How do I keep them working? (you know, until I get fabulous like Regie?)
Chapter 10
Rubrics. When I first started teaching, I loved them, because they forced me to be explicit about what I expected from the students. I felt that it kept me honest with grading, and gave me an objective anchor for grading.
But sometimes that anchor can weigh me down. I completely agree with Regie, that the 6+1 traits (1 = publishing) were designed to assess, not to teach. I am completely sold on the idea that if students get engaged in writing – if the ship is moving – it is much easier to steer…indeed, the students become much more teachable if they regard their writing and their audience as authentic.
Perhaps the rubric is best for the teacher – to keep us on track….Students should be exposed to them in the same progression as the optimal learning model. Their use by students should reflect the progression from dependence to independence.
Chapter 7: Be Efficient and Integrate Basic Skills
ReplyDeleteThis chapter was eye-opening for me. I loved how it so simple tells us to integrate the easy things right into our shared writing. Once piece that really hit me was when Regie asked the reader to take a hard look to see if the skills were transferring from worksheets to the writing. Ouch. I know that some of my students might do this once in a while, but certainly not the majority. My major struggle with this is not the fact that I love the grade worksheets in my spare time. It is that our report cards are content-based and under the “Writing” category, there are about ten different sub-categories. One of these is “understands and uses simple and complex sentences and sentence structure.” I know that I could do a better job of integrating this into my shared writing, but I am not sure how to have enough evidence to back up the grade I give, unless I have their work to prove it (mostly to their parents).
The checklist of mini-lessons was also a help to me. The suggestions on page 154 for imbedding these into the teaching made them seem so much more doable. I also love the idea of having the students reflect on how I revise. I will be writing in front of them tomorrow and I can’t wait to have them watch me edit!
One more piece for comment from this chapter: Keep reminding students (and yourself) to keep their audience at the forefront of the writing. I am guilty of not doing this, and I know that I have not emphasized it enough. This is another goal for the week to come.
Chapter 8: Organize for Daily Writing
This chapter was helpful in showing what a “writer’s workshop” can look like. I truly didn’t know what a workshop was supposed to look like because I have always worked at schools that required a “canned” writing program. This is a bit of a challenge for me, because there is such a learning curve. It is also strengthening me as a teacher and I really appreciate that.
The issue of scheduling is, of course, a hard one to work around. I liked the teacher’s before and after of how she integrated writing into her core curriculum as well. This is something that feels easy enough to implement right away.
Finally, the “Start by Engaging Students” section (page 194) was brilliant! This was a helpful resource for any teacher that feels bogged down by the dreaded district requirement of a particular grade. So often, students haven’t done any work in the genre that they are required to write, until the year they are required to do so. In my opinion, this is more of a fault of the system and the rigid requirements than of poor teaching. The lessons that coincide with this section are so helpful as well.
Chapter 7
ReplyDeleteI really like the way Routman lays out the teaching frame of whole-part-whole. I like structure. I think we all crave this in part. It seems easier for me to try and grasp a lesson based on steps or lists, that is just my learning style. By stoping to analyze the whole-part-whole method, I realized that because teaching skills does not lead to getting my kids jumpstarted into their writing, this was the biggest reason why I was struggling with teaching writing. But, with visioning a lesson or unit process as more big concept-smaller skills-final project, then I am able to more clearly see how you can easily and simply put skill lessons into daily practice.
With conferences approaching this week, I always seem to especially dread one comment that seems to come often from my parents. It is not unjustified, because it is an issue for most children at the age I teach, and that is their spelling. Let’s face it. Second-graders who are perfect spellers are few and far between. Parents are very concerned, because like most of society, they value a neat, grammar-corrected final piece of writing. I do not believe in weekly spelling tests. I am a horrible speller, but a fabulous dictionary user, so I do not see the need for spelling tests. I also do not believe in daily drilling of spelling patterns and phonics repetition. I do some practice of it, but I do not drill. I also prefer to address it when it naturally pops up, rather than a random lesson that has no relevance to our daily practice. Routman’s information on spelling in this chapter has made me feel vindicated for my own beliefs on spelling instruction.
When I look at the state writing examples and really examine the pieces that score well, the one overreaching commonality they have it that these pieces simply ooze voice. I feel like any reader will buy into writing being excellent, if the writer bleeds their real passion and interest for the subject onto the page. I have not been putting the weight of how important voice is in writing to my students. I never ask them who their audience is or who we should want to read our work. I need to change this right away in my conferencing and teaching.
As a new teacher, I have felt for the last two years that I have not had enough support or help with finding my way as an effective teacher of writing. I was given a curriculum, but it was not a good fit for me. I wanted to teach mini-lessons, but I was never really sure what to teach. Others would tell me, you will know what to teach when you see it. What? I felt like I was clueless because I never saw it. Routman seems to have the same attitude, but she also helps a little by providing framework and actually spring boarding some ideas for what kids will need in their mini-lessons.
Chapter 8
ReplyDeleteI really wanted to get into this chapter on writing organization. I pride myself on being well organized. It is the first thing people impart to others when they speak of me. I have a bit of a reputation around my school and some of the district for having a very organized classroom and flow to our day. I was curious to see how Routman feels about organization and to see if I am on track with her teaching advice.
I was happy to find that I already put a lot of the writing time into the day that she suggests and shows in this chapter. I integrate writing in many ways and many areas throughout my students’ day, and find this to be really helpful for all of my students. I was also most happy to read about the part of the chapter that had Routman talking about the noise and feeling of the room during writing.
My first year of teaching my writing block was the last part of the day and I hated it. I had a very disruptive class and found that I was dealing with most behavior issues during writing time. I was told that the class needed to be able to make their own decisions about how and where to sit and what the noise level should be during writing. It was ciaos and it was so loud that no one could think. I would have kids crying because they could not stand the volume. I found that sometimes each class needs different guidelines and limitations, and this was a group who probably needed more strict guidelines on how to handle themselves during this time of the day.
I also liked the information that Routman shared about trying not to fit in too much direct instruction in genres and skills. I am a little hesitant to do this, because as a new teacher I need to be able to confirm that I am teaching the skills and other topics in the state spectrum. I liked the idea that the teacher made in the book about taking two days a month to do some drill instruction, and then spend the rest of the month just focusing on getting kids involved in the pleasures of writing. I also think that I would like to find more ways to try and engage students in better writing practices rather than passing along some required topics.
Chapter 9
ReplyDeleteI have been struggling with student conferences this year. I have put a new structure to my conferences this year to make sure that I get around to everyone, but by doing that I feel like I limit my time with each writer. I also am trying to pay attention to making sure that all students get skills, but it is hard to only conference on those topics. After reading this chapter, I think I may need to look at changing my conference philosophy a little.
I loved how Routman says to use the whole-class share as a conference. This is such a brilliant idea for me, because I have been struggling to find a way to fit in sharing, and this helps me to justify a double-use of this time. I also like how she says to go ahead and show writing to the class. I am very fortunate to have a document camera and projector in my classroom, so I could put each piece up on the screen. I think I would like to create a comfortable environment for students to have their work up on the screen for all to see and learn from during writing sharing.
One thing I figured out while reading this chapter was why I feel so overwhelmed and not able to use my conference time effectively. I am always trying to go through my students writing books and conference and correct every piece of writing they are working to complete. When I look at them, I feel like I have to get them to presentation level and for some of my lower-level writers, I feel like I do not even know where to start. I also get frustrated when I go to conference with a student and they have little to no writing with which to use for a conference. I also then have students that I am not sure what to help them with. I look at their papers and wonder what skills they need to be pushing forward with. The teaching tip that said it is okay to say, “Good Job” and move on sometimes was some keen insight. Through this chapter I learned to just focus on whatever piece they are currently working with and to be on the lookout for only the topic covered in that mini-lesson that day.
Chapter 10
ReplyDeleteI really liked how Routman strips rubrics down to a very basic checklist of things that need to be included or worked toward in order to make a good piece of writing. The biggest reason why I do not use rubrics in my classroom is because they take so long to write. I thought you had to have guidelines listed for every level or score of an activity and that you had to clearly outline every single aspect of the project. The example rubrics gave me some food for thought about how to simplify this process in my classroom.
I like to focus on the trait-teaching in my classroom, and I was thinking that if I could write a rubric that has a clear criteria for each trait to be included in each child’s writing, then I would be able to more easily incorporate the trait teaching into every day conferencing and min-lessons.
I was a little surprised to hear that most teachers and administrators did not agree with the statement that the best preparation for testing is excellent teaching. This seems to be basic to me, but I think that this is due to the administrative philosophy in my own school. Our principal has said that most importantly our students need to love school. We need to make them learners and have some fun. He acknowledges that we have to subject our students to the testing, but we are not going to focus on it. We are going to keep doing what we are good at and that is excellent instruction. I am really luck to have the principal that I have.
I love the idea of having a school-wide beginning and ending of the year writing prompt. I have heard many presentations from schools that score every month, week or several times a year. The thought that always goes through my head is yuck- how much work. And when all of these scored writing assessments are going on, what is happening to the writing block. We however, do no formal writing scoring at my school, and I sometimes wonder if we are really working to push our students forward without having some sort of evidence. The two simple writing prompts would be a quick and easy way to determine whether or not students are making progress.
Chapter 9: Conference with Students
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that conferencing can be the mini-lesson if necessary. I am finding that there really isn’t enough time in our writing block (approximately 35 minutes), but I am determined to work with those kids who need the individual help! I have been working really hard to make sure that I have students share-out what they have worked on during writing time. The pride that I see in those struggling writers’ faces is SO worth the tiny bit of time it takes to have them read to their peers.
I love the idea of conferencing in front of the class, formally and publicly. What a time saver! I have done this once in a while, here and there, but never with a strong purpose. This year I have really focused on having kids peer conference, and what that looks and sounds like. I know that it could be better, and will continue to review those high expectations.
Regie’s suggestion that we frontload is one of those obvious ideas, yet I think that so often we feel the pressure to “get it done by this day” or “all fifth grade should be working on this right now” that it feels like a real crunch. This is a struggle that I think many teachers face, so I don’t want to complain, just solve. If we, as teachers of writing, commit to frontloading and using the optimal learning model, success and sanity can be ours!
My favorite part of this chapter was the editing piece. I will be making an editing checklist with my students this week! They are so capable of this, and it really makes them sure of what the high expectations for writers in fifth grade are.
Chapter 10: Make Assessment Count
Don’t we all know the feeling of “rubric overload?” Once we start with them, it can be hard to stop. If we give ourselves a little rest, there is a nagging voice inside of us, asking, “Don’t you want them to understand what they did well, and what they need work on?” Having student-friendly language is a great way to help emerging writers understand what is being asked of them. I have been guilty in the past of overloading kids with lengthy rubrics that mean nothing to them. My new school has a friendlier version of this and it is much better.
My absolute favorite part of this chapter was the “Help your students visualize the reader/scorer” section. Wow, even in the preparation for the test, the teacher must always remember that the students are writing for an audience. It just seemed like a powerful way to bring the objective back into focus.
The other key idea that was helpful was just the logistics of test-taking. Sometimes as adults, we forget that we like to know those “housekeeping” basics like schedule changes, bathroom breaks, etc.
Lastly, Regie justifies to us “grade-aholics” why we can, and should, tone down the amount that we grade. So many times, kids get in a rush to turn in a product, that it is not their very best work. It is something they are doing for the teacher, not the real audience. I will definitely make sure that I let the student (and their parents) know what the expectation for grading and then score a few “key” papers.
Chapter 7:
ReplyDeleteI found this chapter to be particularly valuable. As a teacher, I find teaching writing difficult because I feel like it there is just so much to cover. I really appreciated the revised writing goals on page 144. I feel like this changes writing education from the teaching of individual skills to a more entertaining and enjoyable teaching of writing the writing process through a variety of thematic units. Not only would this be undoubtedly more interesting to students, but it is also far more interesting to me as a teacher. The sampling of minilessons provided give a means for making sure that all of those individual skills are covered and recovered multiple times throughout the year. I also appreciated the detailed list of 16 writing strategies or formats presented towards the end of the chapter. I use many frequently in my classroom, but too often I revert to what I am most comforatable with. I like the list of ideas about how to vary the format my writing lessons.
Chapter 8:
In this chapter, Routman really seems to lay out how the writing workshop should be organized as a process. Each session should contain a lesson by demonstration, a period of sustained writing, and a time to celebrate student achievement. I feel like majority of my writing lessons contain time for all three of these activities. I also liked analyzing the sample teacher schedules to see how often writing is snuck into various times throughout the day. I will have my students write tomorrow in a math lesson on problem solving. Similar to my comments from Chapter 7, I often revert back to what I a most comfortable with. In previous years, I have had students write math problems, but I don't frequently. Reading Routman reminded me of this strategy, and I will use it tomorrow. One of the greatest things about teaching is that there are some many different strategies for student learning. Trying them all out and revisiting them makes it interesting for students and teachers alike.
On another note, I would really like it, if the staff at my school spent some time analyzing what genres are taught at the different levels. As a fourth grade teacher with the writing test approaching, I feel like I need to be covering a broad range of genres by the midway point of the school year. It would be nice if our school had a plan for what grade covers which types of writing.
Chapter 9
ReplyDeleteI believe the purpose of writing conferences is to really focus students in on their own writing strengths and weaknesses. I, like may teachers, struggle to find time to formally conference with every student. I frequently utilize the whole class share structure to conference with one student, but at the same time talk about things that many students are dealing with in their own writing. I frequently have students come up to the elmo at the end of writing to share what they have accomplished. We share positive things about the writing and look for areas that author might be able to improve on. I will incorporate the idea of quickshares into this format. I like the idea of each and every student finding their best line and sharing it with the class before we head out to recess.
I frequently use the roving conference format as well. I use a similar table as the one shown on p. 217 to help me keep track of what the students are writing and areas that they are trying to improve. I feel like the 1 or 2 minutes I spend with students notetaking focuses them in on their writing for the day, as well as allows me to find common areas of needs that I might put into an upcoming minilesson.
Scheduling, one on one conferences is the most problematic for me. I struggle to find time to fit them in frequently enough. I really liked the focus on editing towards the end of the chapter, because if students do more and more of their own editing, it gives me time as a teacher to focus on areas of their writing that really affet their message or purpose of writing. An editing checklist that I created with my class started me on the path to a more independent classroom, but I still have students that fly through the checklist and am not sure how much real editing is taking place. I have to continually revisit and reteach this important aspect of writing.
Chapter 10
One question that I had immediately after beginning the chapter was about the relationship between rubrics and the student editing checklists from the previous chapter. If rubrics homogenize student writing, then what are the effects of checklists like the on page 237 on student writing. I would tend to think that these might have a similar effect.
I think rubrics are most effective as a tool for improving student writing when students are involved in the assessment process. I try to include student assessments of their own writing in rubrics that I create. I feel like this is a good jumping off point for discussion for conferencing with students and the creation of goals. I liked the different child friendly rubrics presented throughout the chapter and the checklists from chapter 9. I will definitely incorporate some of those ideas in my class. I dislike the rubrics that ask the teacher or the student to assign numeric scores, because unless each number is clearly delineated, the assignment of numbers seems very arbitrary.
WHile I have talked about the upcoming state writing assessment with my students, I don't overemphasize it or teach to it, so I agree with comments laid out on number 245. I really liked the spin that Kari Oosterveen puts on the test. I think I will try this.
Thanks for sharing your comments Teri, Lisa, Tod, and Hope. Teri, the first time I read this chapter a huge light bulb went off when she was discussing the important roles of both purpose and audience. I was teaching 4th grade at the time, and if there was on moment in time that had the greatest impact on my writing instruction, it was as I began to include “audience” and “purpose” in my lessons. Everyone of my students’ writing performance soared. I couldn’t believe it had taken me so long to share something so simple with the students. I also feel your pain over that constant struggle with both time and curriculum!!! Lisa, would it be possible to show most of the “writing content” for your report card with student writing? If students are able to use “simple and complex sentences” in their writing, then they obviously understand the concept? Maybe that’s too lofty?
ReplyDeleteHope, I completely agree with your views on spelling…and I was just at our district reading meeting this afternoon, and our district is moving towards the same philosophy and is even going so far to draft a letter to inform parents on our spelling beliefs. Yippee!!!! As far as conferring goes, it does take a while to become more comfortable and confident…just keep trying and don’t give up! As you said, the biggest thing is to find 1 thing to compliment and then choose your ONE teaching point which correlates to the writing instruction. Tod, I’m glad that this section both confirmed your own writing instruction as well as offered you some suggestions for enhancing your writing. I think that you should try to talk to your language arts coordinator of your district and discuss the possibility of “mapping out” units of writing across different grade levels…it is an excellent idea as well as being a necessity considering all of our time constraints with curriculum!
Chapter 7
ReplyDeleteI want very much to get all my 8th graders fully prepared for high school and have, in the past, followed the ideas and lessons of previous 8th grade English teachers. The desire to prepare “skilled” writers has truly focused on isolated skills. I signed up for this class because I was frustrated with the mediocrity that I felt I’ve had in my writing classroom for the past few years. Regie’s book has definitely challenged me, and has caused me to rethink how I use my English block of time. In the past I have created many criteria lists and rubrics so that students can see EXACTLY what they need to do to write an “A” paper. It’s apparent to me how these lists and rubrics are what Regie refers to as “contrived writing” (pg. 146) that stifles the voice of the writer. This chapter has really clarified what voice is and most importantly, how I can help nurture it in my students.
Another eye opener for me in this chapter was how to teach students to care about revision. I’ve always had the students revise and edit after writing their first draft. I’ve lumped both together without thinking about the differences between the two and I can see how this can be very tedious for students. The Optimal Learning Model has given me the method to demonstrate, think aloud, and to show how to revise while drafting. I still struggle with remembering to think aloud, but it’s becoming easier.
A few other thoughts from this chapter: if I’m teaching a mini lesson on a specific skill, I try to keep an eye on the time as Regie suggests. I share my classroom with two other teachers (one of them is our Spanish teacher) so I don’t have a lot of room for word walls. Therefore, I try to make my posters more effective by having the students create them and take ownership in them. I’ve found that pocket charts are effective for flexible word walls. To help develop spelling consciousness I have the students continually update their personal dictionary. We wrote to soldiers in Afghanistan recently and the students did a good job editing by using their dictionaries. The concept of audience was so clear for my students when they wrote their letters to the soldiers. They wrote very heart felt messages and I told them we didn’t want their beautiful messages to be diminished by the distractions of grammar or misspelled words.
Chapter 7
ReplyDeleteI opened this chapter with great anticipation. I feel absolutely overwhelmed by how much there is to teach and reteach for my 7th graders. I could immediately see the benefit of having an authentic purpose and audience—something we talked about at length when I was studying for my teaching degree, but I struggle to apply in the classroom. I think my present lessons already do a good job of avoiding drills and isolated skills, but we rarely discuss audience. To address this, I worked to create more enticing writing prompts to “engage my students’ hearts and minds so they want to write and do their best writing” (141) for our next project, a persuasive editorial. They will be writing to real editors about a few Oregon topics and maybe some of their essays will actually be published in their local newspapers. It will take some extra preparatory work, which I realize is ironic, since the point of this chapter is to help us “fit it all in,” not to create more, but I think it will be worth it. I look forward to seeing how the essays turn out. I suspect authentic writing is a lot more fun to grade, too.
Chapter 8
The second half of this chapter was the most meaningful for me. I’m beginning to see that we do a lot of repetitious assignments between 7th and 8th grade. We need to take the time to have a schoolwide conversation about the genres we’re teaching, why we’re doing them, and how to use real purpose/audience to make them meaningful. Luckily, we started that process in our last staff meeting, and I’m excited to take Writing Essentials along to our next one and to share some of these ideas.
Chapter 9
I am fortunate to be able to work with my students individually every time we interact, so I rarely have to worry about discipline issues during conferences. (It’s one of my favorite parts about online education!) I’ve been toying with the idea of how to create whole-class shares, though, as a way to “fit it all in” and not say the same thing 180 times. I’m still working with how to do more celebrating, since we don’t see each other every day. My biggest “Aha!” moment came on page 235, where she discussed how to hand over more editing responsibility to students. I have created writers who wait for my feedback before making their next move, thinking I was teaching explicitly. It’s not working and I’m working late every night just to keep up. I have to help them develop the tools they need to write independently, not do it for them.
Chapter 10
A major part of my job involves preparing my students for the writing test in February; I spend all of January getting them ready. After reading this chapter, I feel like my previous state testing prep lessons were all wrong. We covered the five step writing process ad nauseam. Even I was bored. I love Oosterveen’s idea of making the state testing evaluator a character for my students. As I mentioned in my chapter 7 response, I’m going to start by making their writing test authentic. Although there were pages of good suggestions, this is one I can apply right away. I’m beginning to see that I have to manage not only how much information I give to students for improvement, but also take the same advice and work on just one thing at one time in my teaching, as well.
Chapter 7:
ReplyDeleteRegie begins chapter seven by laying out the shift in focus that she hopes writing teachers will embrace. I love how she writes, throughout the chapter, that our highest goal must be to bring joy and passion back into writing. To do this, she states that we must give our students clear purpose and audience in their writing. For some reason, this entire chapter made me think of the ubiquitous Christmas letters that we will all begin receiving in our mailboxes in the coming weeks.
In my case, I write a very brief New Years card for my wife and for me. I spend hours looking for the right pictures and coming up with something witty to entertain the 30 or so family and friends who will receive it. Other people in my family write a missive to capture the biggest moments of the year.
No matter the form, the authors of Christmas correspondence across the country (and around the world) invest large amounts of time and energy to make their cards and letters well-written and attractive.
Right now my school’s writing curriculum focuses on genre studies, which I have begun to question while reading Writing Essentials. Although possible, it seems more difficult to inspire my students to love and embrace writing when they are relegated to writing personal narratives, essays or memoirs. I can just see them trying some of the wonderful and quick writing projects that Regie has suggested: heart poems, hero writing, etc. When presented with a project with a meaningful purpose and an important audience, I am sure they would invest as much time and energy as I do on my New Years card.
Chapter 8:
I have decided to reshape my schedule to make for additional literacy time. First, I plan to integrate more reading and writing into our units of inquiry. Second, I plan to end the day by reading for a few minutes from our class read-aloud. Finally, as we delve deeper into problem solving in math, I would like to work with my students to craft their own problems (using strong writing techniques).
Chapter 9:
Mrs. Rable’s conference recording sheet is great! I love how it gives a clear and concise snapshot of what the entire class was working on in writing over the course of one week.
Chapter 10:
I am fortunate to be at a school that spends 0 hours per school year preparing for standardized tests. We do take the MAP tests, but only to inform our teaching. The one aspect of the chapter that I take to heart is not to “rubricize” my students. For them, I think too many rubrics can impede the joy of writing. For me, too many rubrics can steal too much of my time. I plan to use a thoughtful combination of assessment techniques, including child-friendly rubrics, conference notes and checklists.
Chapter 8
ReplyDeleteI took the challenge that Mary and Jackie gave us to really look at my schedule and see where I could fit more writing in. I realized that I could do a lot more with my religion, 8th grade science, and 7th grade science time. I’m trying to re think lessons to see how I can fit more choice-writing into these core subjects. It’s a challenge, but when I’ve done it, the kids give me positive feedback. I’ve asked them to think of themselves as scientists looking at something for the first time (i.e. a lava lamp in action) and write what kinds of questions the scientists would be asking, as well as writing ways to test theories. When sketching something, rather than just labeling parts, I have them give descriptors with the labels. I’ve also read to them the Dr. Seuss book Bartholomew and the Oobleck. Then we’ve made oobleck and discussed its properties. Then the students write their own creative story about oobleck incorporating the science principles we just learned about. I’m hoping we can get these to a more polished place so that they can be read to the first graders. These science (and also religion) writing times truly develop and strengthen deep thinking as Regie mentions on pg. 176.
As I mentioned before, my 8th graders will be getting together with their 3rd grade buddies to write a creative story about their “life as a water molecule”. The 8th graders are looking forward to it and I believe that all the students will enjoy this creative writing together. I am planning on “walking the talk” with them. I’ll model how to work with shy, quiet kids, as well as the kids who veer off from the task at hand. Prior to reading this book, I would have just given instructions and then have the kids write with their buddies. Now I’m taking the time to write in front of the students, as well as do shared writing.
This OLM process is becoming easier for me the more I practice doing it. I wish very much that I would have done the first two parts of this process with my students before we wrote the outdoor school memoirs. I know they would be interested in learning my outdoor school perspective and would have had more confidence to start if they saw me struggle. Then I could have taken a general topic like camp food and do a shared demonstration with them. I really believe their memoirs would be better as a result. There’s always next year!
I appreciate the many ideas to create and sustain a writers workshop in this chapter. I’m trying not to get overwhelmed by all the things I feel like I need to do NOW. One thing I’m realizing is that a big reason my writing time with students was so mediocre was because I enjoyed teaching literature so much more. One other thought: another middle school teacher is starting a website so that her students can publish to the website. I’m going to try to do the same over Christmas break. I told this teacher that this will be a wonderful place to celebrate the students’ writing and will also give them an audience beyond the classroom.
Chapter 9
ReplyDeleteI have been inspired by this book to type up many different charts, poster ideas, teaching tips, etc. to strengthen my writing program, but the notes I’ve typed that I like best are the ones that help me remember the positive teaching comments that Regie shares. I’m a positive teacher and I always try to establish a good rapport with each student. However, during writing or reading conferences my comments can be too general (“that’s a nice intro you’ve written”). Regie gives specific, constructive responses teachers can use to encourage and guide her students. I’ve got bookmark-size notes that I keep in my conference notebook with Regie’s “teacher talk”. For instance, the “quick share” comments she shares on pg. 216 and “language of helpful response” on pages 230-231. I just glance at my list before I conference and this helps me to remember and use appropriate, specific responses with my students.
I was happy to see Regie’s ideas for having the students be more responsible for the editing of their writing. This is very frustrating for me, as well as the rest of our middle school staff. I shared this section of Regie’s book with my fellow teachers and we had a discussion about how we all could better facilitate having the students be more independent with their editing. This will be an ongoing discussion I’m sure, and one that I hope we can share with the younger grade teachers.
Another part of this chapter that gives me relief is the variety of ways we can conference besides the one-on-one model. The whole class shares, quick shares, and roving conferences are so useful. Variety is the spice of life! I can get fatigued with one student after another coming to the back of the class and conference with each, while trying to monitor all the other students. I’ve used peer conferencing quite a bit, but I will definitely do it differently now. In the past I noticed that students were often reluctant to critique too much, so their comments are usually more general and complimentary. Once again, Regie points out the importance of teacher modeling first. I like her list on pg. 220.
Chapter 10
ReplyDeleteThe last writing prompts that Jackie and Mary made for this chapter jumped out for me because I need to add “high schools” to the list of who I’m providing evidence for (beyond parents, administrators, and the public). The majority of my students apply to Catholic high schools. These schools require a written evaluation from the language arts teacher (me), the math teachers, as well as the principal. I want to provide accurate information for the schools, yet am often bogged down with what the assessments that I do. I need to take a closer look at this chapter and how I can do a better job of assessment that doesn’t require so much of my time (i.e. grading, scoring, rubrics, etc.). I want to become proficient at collecting data throughout the day. This is going to require better methods of tracking progress and skills. This needs to go beyond putting the grades in the grade book (and in the computer).
I realize that I’m definitely guilty of “rubricizing” my students. The goal of all my rubrics and criteria sheets is well-intentioned: I am trying to give specific guidelines for quality writing. However, this results in stagnant writing, with the students looking at the rubric as the final goal, rather than their audience’s understanding. Regie wisely says “when you focus on a checklist instead of the child, you miss a lot of what the child is trying to do”. I’ve written rubrics so that I can be fair and consistent in grading all my students’ papers, however I can see how this doesn’t take into account individual student efforts and / or growth. There's much for me to think about and do over Christmas break!
A couple other thoughts on this chapter: I love the idea of the longitudinal display of work. We have a portfolio of each student’s middle school work, but what if we asked kindergarten teachers through 5th grade teachers to save samples too? That would be a wonderful celebration and display at the end of 8th grade to showcase their progress in writing! An offshoot of this idea is to display all pre-writes, drafts, and final copy of a writing project to show the writing process. I’m sure it would be especially interesting for parents to see. I have already made big changes to my classroom environment by taking down motivational posters and displaying student work. I don’t have a lot of classroom wall space, but I’m finding windows and white board space to display student work.
In this chapter, Regie puts emphasis on addressing audience in all writing students do. While reading this I began to see clearly that I haven’t put in enough effort in teaching my students to write for a particular audience. How can my students learn to write appropriately for an audience if I haven’t shown them how? There is much to cover while teaching writing, and this is another one, but it shouldn’t be a time consuming addition. Since I don’t directly teach writing this year, I will have students do a good deal of formal non-fiction writing.
ReplyDeleteTeaching students to write with appropriate voice confuses me a bit because voice is not an area we score so I think we, at my school, have neglected to teach our students to be aware of their voice in their writing. I find myself struggling to know what to have students write, to keep their writing authentic, and to keep them involved and interested all at the same time. It is so overwhelming! I like the New Writing Goals example on page 144. This is the kind of list/plan that I want to develop to connect writing to my content areas and for use when I can teach literacy. I also appreciate the list of common mini-lessons on page 155-I could have used a list like this when I started teaching two years ago. I still struggle to know what mini-lessons to teach. This is a very helpful list.
I have always heard about writing workshop but haven’t really known how it works or what it entails. This chapter gave me the insight I needed. There is much to teach and little time, I wonder if I will ever find a balance that will allow me to feel that I can successfully teach writing. The chapter offers me great ideas that I can incorporate and has made me feel that I can at least develop a solid game plan now, which is something I don’t feel I have had…now, how to make sure it all fits with the standards. I, somehow, feel that meeting the standards will be the easy part. I have come to the conclusion that I need to stop feeling so rushed to cram everything into their heads and begin to allow myself and my students to have more fun and enjoy the writing we are doing; the rest will fall into place.
I have had time in my daily schedule for students to write; it is mandatory at my school that we allot time for a 10 minute modeling/lesson each day and 20-30 minutes for students to write. It will be a bit harder, time wise, for me to fit writing in this year as I teach content areas. I am working my schedule out so that I am including more writing within my units; it will require me to stretch my units out over a longer time period, but will allow me to solidify my students newly acquired knowledge through their writing.
How do I keep students busy during writing conferences? What do I do with students who rush through their work and are not concerned about quality when they think they are done and are happy with what they have produced? I realize that this should improve over time, but I feel like there will always be those students who we can’t get to CARE.
I like the idea of roving conferences. This would allow me to assess where my students are at, do a brief teaching where appropriate, give positive reinforcement where needed, maintain classroom management, and take notes about student progress all in a short amount of time. I can see how one-on-one conferences would benefit student learning, but it feels like the time just isn’t there. As for rubrics, I have been using a writing check sheet with my third grade students. I use the same check sheet for each writing assignment. We create it as a class and it helps us to clarify the basics of our writing. It is written to allow its use on various topics, forms or writing, audiences, etc.
I know that I have some very positive aspects to my teaching of writing, but I am learning so much from this book. It creates a feeling of excitement in me for my students to do more writing to see what I can guide them into doing on their own. I am certain that my excitement will be contagious!
Thanks for your comments Yvonne, Alicia, Scott and Amy for your comments. Yvonne – I loved your idea of sending letters to soldiers in Afghanistan…what great way to provide purpose for your students’ writing!!! You seem to be making some wonderful adjustments to your writing instruction…just remember that you’ll be more effective if you move slowly!!! Writing for a true audience will also help with voice and ownership over their own editing and revision. Alicia - those school wide conversations are so important…what would be even better and help with the effectiveness of curriculum would be if you worked together on curriculum mapping and building units of study…and you’re right, you do need to help them develop tools for independence…release the responsibility to them, once you’ve taught them! Scott – how fortunate for you to be in a school that does not concern itself with prepping for a state assessment…my district seems to be going in the other direction…just adding more and more test prep. The genre debate is an interesting issue….so much of the writing work I’ve done in the past focuses on genre units. I think the best way to do this is to possible have 2/3 genre units as well as process and author study units. Amy – you mentioned struggling with what mini lessons to teach…a great resource is Denver Public Schools Reading and Writing Workshop Curriculum. They have their units of study mapped out across the year and you can access all of their information at; http://curriculum.dpsk12.org it’s a wonderful resource to use until your district develops one for themselves. I think cross curricular instruction (ie.writing during science) is the best way to “fit it all in”. I hope your students catch your excitement for writing!!!
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