ASSIGNMENT FOUR: WRITTEN REFLECTION-Section Two- Teaching Essentials Chapters 4-6
Read Writing Essentials, Chapters 4-6 and briefly reflect on the following thoughts written below and any additional comments that you have after reading these chapters. Post your reflection to the course blog.
Chapter 4: Raise Your Expectations
• Why we need to raise expectations – ESPECIALLY for our minority and lower socio-economic students
• How to raise expectations in your classrooms as well as in your grade level and throughout your entire building
• What about handwriting, spelling and editing expectations?
• How to use the Optimal Learning Model to support your students’ needs
“Raising expectations” for our students is a big push in all of our districts. Under “No Child Left Behind” many schools have been identified as “in need of improvement” and have been working furiously yet unsuccessfully for over ten years to “close the gap” for our minority children. But more important than improving performance on high stakes tests is remembering that if we raise our expectations and teach explicitly, then our students will rise to the occasion and astonish us with the high quality work that each of them is capable of.
Regie has some great insight into the need to raise expectations of our students and feeling comfortable and confident with the decision to set high standards for all learners. She raises the question, What are our clearly articulated, rigorous yet reasonable expectations? This is a question that we should reflect on as individual teachers, and one that should be the starting point for a conversation within our grade levels, buildings and across entire districts.
We’d like to know what you think of one of our favorite quotes from the book: “Worksheets aren’t good enough. The students who can do them don’t need them, and the ones who struggle with them feel defeated by the red marks, which only reinforce their feelings of inadequacy. WORKSHEETS FOSTER MEDIOCRITY!” (We personally wanted to shout out when we read that!) Please include your thoughts in your Section Two Reaction.
In this chapter, Regie also sheds some light on several topics that teachers often ask about. “What about handwriting expectations?” and “Conventions, Editing and Publishing?” It’s always helpful to get another professional’s point of view on these pressing issues! Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 5: Do More Shared Writing
• Where does Shared Writing fit within the Optimal Learning Model?
• For which learners is Shared Writing appropriate?
• How can we link Shared Writing with Shared Reading?
• How can Shared Writing be used to support word work?
• What are some “Tried and True” ideas for Shared Writing?
Regie's idea of Shared Writing is very different than that of many other professionals in the field. So often we use Shared Writing only with the primary grades. As Regie states, “What a great way to teach and engage all students in all aspects of oral and written language.” If we are to consider teaching through all phases of the Optimal Learning Model, we can begin to see how important Shared Writing is for our students. We think that the idea of using Shared Writing in both upper elementary and the middle schools is a new way of thinking for many of us.
One of the reasons Regie encourages teachers to use chart paper and an easel, instead of projecting to a screen with an overhead or document camera, is that the children are seated right with you on the floor, which usually holds the children’s attention a little better. Another idea that has worked great for me is to move the overhead machine to the group area and place it on the floor in the middle of the group in front of the easel. I then project the machine onto the white space of the easel. It’s great because you’re able to be right there in the middle of the group and have the benefit of writing more quickly onto a transparency rather that chart paper. You’ll need to consider which of your Shared Writing activities you’ll want students to be rereading (don’t forget that you can hole punch transparencies and put them in a binder for future reference) and which you may want posted to your walls on charts.
Regie’s list of “Tried and True Ideas for Shared Writing” (page 112) is very extensive. It would be helpful to take a look at Regie’s list as you create your curriculum map for the year. Where would some of her suggestions fit within your science, social studies, math, reading and writing units across the year?
Chapter 6: Capitalize on the Reading-Writing Connection
• How can we become more effective integrating our reading and writing instruction?
• Are we as efficient as possible with our responses to reading?
• The benefit and necessity to integrate our content area teaching with both reading and writing
• The importance of writing (and reading) more nonfiction
We know research shows that reading achievement affects writing achievement and vice-versa, and we also know that it continually gets harder to fit “it all” into our day. Effectively using reading and writing connections throughout the day in all areas of language arts, math, science, social studies, and even specials such as art, music and library, is our only option.
Regie’s suggestion of taking a closer look at how we use written response to reading is a very important one. Careful consideration is needed to decide if what we’re asking the students to do is “worth their time.” For example, if the response we’re looking for will “deepen comprehension, cause the writer to reflect on the content, and/or foster appreciation for the text” then it’s worth it. We whole-heartedly agree with her statement that many of the overly structured assignments such as book reports can alienate our readers! While response journals do have their benefits for us professionally Regie states, “they also take up a lot of our time!” It’s a very organized teacher who can effectively keep up with their responses without feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. Don’t forget the bottom line – “Be sure that students spend more time reading than writing about reading!” (Page 126)
We are so glad that Regie addressed how to effectively teach summary writing. We know that many teachers have a difficult time differentiating between a summary and retelling – I (Jackie) was one of them until several years ago. The snapshots and procedures that Regie shares on how to teach summarizing are invaluable and should be a reference that we all refer back to throughout our teaching year.
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Assignment #4 Chapters 4-6
ReplyDeleteChapter 4
On page 53 Regie mentions that raising expectations does not equal increasing skill work or work itself but going in depth. I reflect on one of our writing goals for the year: each child will be able to write an unconventional sentence. I think about the school she visited where the teacher wanted 3 complete sentences with capitals and periods. Oh how we limit our kids. While I see the necessity of some worksheet-type assignments, I definitely don’t want to give children meaningless work either because they are too capable or because they are not ready for that work. Her comments about handwriting are great! I am definitely trying to speak about audiences more (for speaking, reading, and writing).
In our school we are working in Professional Learning Communities in our grade-levels and cross grade levels to ensure that we are teaching to the standards, creating interventions for children who are not meeting the standards, and enriching for students who have met the standards. Obviously in our teacher training we are taught to modify lessons for our learners as part of our profession, but it is worth making it a priority and having a plan for accountability. In reality it is hard to do sometimes--especially with one teacher and little time!
I agree with Regie that poverty kids and English Language Learners need more exposure to quality materials. I know that I teach in quite a diverse population in terms of finances: we are a Title I school (applying for school-wide Title I funding) as well as home to many affluent families. I know many of my families visit museums, public libraries, go on trips, etc. while others lack books in their homes or anyone to consistently read to them.
As a side note to raising expectations for minority students: in some of our populations such as our Russian students academics are often very important to families—it is important to remember including parents in the expectations, sometimes even teaching them how to teach and reinforce at home. I try to keep parents plugged into our state standards and class activities. I have sent home journals and expectations for those with optional writing activities (supporting student choice). I have also tried to incorporate special events such as birthdays with student-made books. Their birthday book simply has a poem on each page for each year of their life—they can draw, write, or include photos as part of this optional assignment. One student turned in their birthday book last week. It was AMAZING! The family had included so many pictures and a story for each photo. They used numbers in their writing that correlated to each year of the student’s life. We read it in class and many students were inspired to do their own.
My notes for this chapter include: not writing with only limited words that we know, using journal entries as continuing stories, teaching editing, continuing to prioritize high frequency words for speeding up the writing process, and not being a “talker of writing” only.
Chapter 5
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of using shared writing pieces as part of our shared reading for familiarity and fluency. There is so much that can be done! I could put those words onto sentence strips, highlight them, cut them up as part of a revision process, etc. In fact, this was one tactic in out GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) training last year. I get so used to using my document camera because I believe it increases the students’ visual learning but I agree that it can be a divider between the students and me! What would Regie think about typing in word documents in front of the students?
I was so happy that Regie discussed word work ideas. I have an activity that includes using high frequency words and other word cards to build sentences (with periods, question marks and exclamation points—I’ll have to add quotation marks soon!). We make sentences in the whole group, then I mix them up, we read to verify that it doesn’t make sense, then students partner up to correct it. A support activity for independent practice is to have a sentence for them to read, then write (with finger spaces and punctuation as teachers intervene as necessary), then glue in order (as they are given the sentence words in mixed up form), and finally illustrate. I would love to add her word sorts to this activity!
Page 98 asserts “if we want students to be problem-solvers we need to encourage articulation of skills and strategies they use”. I completely agree! After winter break students seem to be even more ready for whole group activities and explicit teaching of strategies for independence (with anchor charts and all). I notice that even my higher readers cannot articulate their thinking. I want to give them the language to do so…which requires slowing down, devoting more time, not rushing to the next project, but extending upon the work we’ve done. I’d like to utilize some of her language for shaping children’s ideas positively.
I am excited to implement shared writing meaningfully with 1) morning procedures 2) new student/visitor letter 3) directions (ingredients, utensils, directions) 4) advice 5) book reviews 6) biographies (I know they would like to do one for MLK, Jr.!) 7) class news (why should I be the only one communicating with parents??) 8) how to be a good friend (good kindergarten lesson anytime) and 9) how to care for a pet.
Chapter 6
ReplyDeleteI, too, want to make sure kids are spending more time “reading” (being read to, shared reading, and independent reading) than writing about reading. This week we’ve celebrated authors by reading the book jackets (good for the summary writing exposure Regie is talking about). We talk about book jackets or blurbs being like a movie preview that lets us know if we want to read it or not, but without giving away any surprises. That is different from retelling, which we need to do in kindergarten as well. We’ve spent time on sequencing story pictures and then creating a story around that. Various sequences could actually make sense based on the reasoning behind it. I want kids to validate their thinking, not always have “right” answers or “support their answers with text evidence” as is discussed on page 138. I agree that nonfiction writing is of utmost importance and that we should strive to integrate content area teaching into writing and reading. My centers-type setup usually revolves around whatever science of social science unit we are working on so that writing and reading can be meaningful and reflective.
Something from this chapter that I’ll take away: Stephen King’s “if you want to be a good writer, read and write a lot!”. I also thought it was interesting that she doesn’t believe guiding reading is necessary in kindergarten. I agree that read alouds definitely support language and vocabulary acquisition. There are so many opportunities to stop and talk about story meaning and give time for kids to ask clarifying questions. I may try to incorporate a morning message—boy there is so much to remember! The content area journals are a neat idea as well. Reading about the quick write responses on page 135 reminded me of an activity in my GLAD training in which kids would draw as the teacher walked around and read the story (with or without showing pictures).
Julie Payton said...
ReplyDeleteAssignment Four: Written Reflection Section Two-Chapters 4-6
Chapter 4: Regie makes some interesting points about reaching the minority and lower socio-economic students. For many years, those are the two populations of students that my district has been struggling with. Their test scores are well below the non-minority and mid to higher socio-economic kiddos. We have all taken SIOP training this past year, and have implemented several new strategies to help with this population of kids. Writing is one of the most difficult areas to reach these students, but I am seeing growth this year.
Regarding her comment of “Worksheets aren’t good enough….” I am in complete agreement. The students that do well on them are the ones that don’t need the practice and so forth. I’ve also learned over the years and this is especially true in writing. For example, if I give out a proofreading activity that focuses on run-on sentences, the students tend to find the mistakes. The same is true with a Daily Oral Language activity. However, when they are editing their own work, they do not find the errors. The correlation between drill and direct application are not apparent, in my experience.
Chapter 5: Do More Shared Writing
I had mixed reactions to this chapter. In theory, doing more shared writing sounds fabulous. However, in a class as large as mine (32), with several diagnosed ADHD kids, this is extremely difficult. I lose many students’ attention if I try to do very much as a whole class. Many students simply can’t focus. Combine that with the size of my classroom, there simply isn’t space at all to pull kids together on the floor in front of me to use chart paper with. The only option I have is to use the document camera.
I think shared writing is effective if it can be managed. In smaller groups I have had more success than with the whole class. I will continue to challenge myself with this idea and see where it leads.
Chapter 6: Reading-Writing Connection
I enjoyed this particular chapter. I needed to remind myself of the important connection between the two subjects. Of course this isn’t new information, but it is easily forgotten when we are instructed to teach a certain number of minutes per day in reading, and in writing.
I too learned from her examples of teaching summarizing. My students really do struggle with this concept, so I will give her strategies try. I hadn’t really thought about the fact that I should model this for a good portion of the year before they try it in groups and eventually on their own.
I was struck by something she said in this chapter. On p. 123, she states, “Children who read literature-well written folktales, narratives, and trade books-become better writers than children who primarily read basal reading texts.” I was excited to read this, because I have always felt this to be true. I was also sad, because my principal, and district, have required us to stick to the basal for our reading instruction. This is the first year I have been unable to teach a unit with a novel, and it has been difficult. I do feel that their writing is reflecting this change. Time will tell. I will continue, however, to teach with picture books in writing, and with our read aloud books. I didn’t have to give that up!
Sincerely,
Julie
Assignment four: Chapter 4
ReplyDeleteI admit it! Sometimes I accept work from students that I know is not their best quality, because I don’t want to hassle with giving it back and waiting to have it turned in again. With some students, I’m not sure I’ll ever see the work again. They have a hard enough time turning it in once. But Regie’s chapter is a good reminder. I shortchange them when I do this. And philosophically, I am a firm believer in high expectations. I don’t agree with TAG programs; I think teachers can design work that challenges all students.
Expectations can be raised throughout the school when students best work is shared, posted, and celebrated throughout the school. After revising and editing, my students are expected to have taken care of errors in spelling and grammar, but only things that I feel we have mastered. If I haven’t yet talked about commas in complex sentences, then I don’t take off points for those mistakes. Regie never says what she does with work that is full of errors. Do students keep redoing it? Do those mistakes affect their grade? And if students have no idea that a word is spelled incorrectly, then why would they look it up?
I like the worksheet quote, though I do believe that some practice is necessary with certain skills. The practice doesn’t have to be worksheets though.
Terrible handwriting? Well, I’m in a school where I can require them to type. I realize this isn’t the answer for everyone. Even if they type, I still expect them to format things correctly and make it presentable.
Chapter 5
“Shared writing is a safe context in which struggling learners can shine. Students who are weak in organization, structure, and form are often strong in ideas. Receiving validation for their ideas in front of their peers builds students’ writing confidence, a necessary prerequisite for becoming a writer.” This is my favorite quote of this chapter. Shared writing is important at any age. There is always more to learn about writing.
The teaching tips on p. 89 are useful. The challenge for me is moving the lesson along, yet finding opportunities for all 27 students to give meaningful contributions. Having students write their ideas down before they share will help keep all engaged in the lesson.
Great tried and true ideas for shared writing! I have two ideas for shared writing to use in the near future. My students will be writing their own Greek myths after we study Greek god and goddesses and read many myths. First, we’ll write a shared myth. Many of my students won’t need this step, but it will be a confidence booster for all.
Chapter 6
I know well the connection between reading and writing and am always encouraging our math and science teachers to encourage more writing from the students.
I read aloud to my students, we write about everything we read, and still, after reading this article, I don’t think I do enough of it. I agree with the emphasis on non-fiction writing. I find that students have a harder time with it than with fiction writing. If they had written more in their younger years they would be more fluent. That will improve the more they write non-fiction.
Thanks Lauren, Julie, and Katie for your comments. Lauren, you are so right…in so many instances, I believe we ARE failing our kids because we don’t have those high expectations of kids…especially our students who are not meeting standard….and YES – family support is key to student success!!! Julie – Your comments back up the research out there on “daily oral language” type drills…..they don’t work because there is no there is no transfer of learning to their real writing. This has been a constant bone of contention in both of the schools and districts that I’ve worked in over the last 10 years….Shared writing as well as other classroom group activities (class meetings, read aloud, interactive read aloud….) really do benefit from the class meeting as a whole group together on the rug. Have you ever had the opportunity to look at The Sisters’ work on classroom design? They have a website, thedailycafe.com, which has many suggestions for classroom design. They also have very large class sizes in the classrooms in which they work. Katie – you are right if teachers could provide differentiated work for all students, there really wouldn’t be a need for TAG….it is so often a political move in a district….It seems as though you are doing some great reading and writing in your classroom….keep in mind that there is only so much time in the day.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of this school year I was shocked at the low levels of performance two of my students showed me. Both students are on IEP’s as well as being ELL students. Both students arrived in my classroom with the attitude and behavior that shouted “I am incapable, always have been and always will be. Therefore I do not do work nor should I be expected too because I just can’t do anything well.” Obviously this was unacceptable to me. Quite frankly, I was angry that they have been able to cope with their learning challenges in this manner. Somewhere along the line some adult in their life let them know that they did not expect them to work hard or to take pride in their work.
ReplyDeleteI sat down with each student separately and explained to them that I expected them to work hard, complete assignments with effort and pride and ask questions when they needed help and/or didn’t know what to do. Though both students are clearly well below grade level I am very pleased with the progress they both have made. I distinctly remember the first time I told one of the students that writing three words in a 25 minute Daily Five session was not okay. He looked at me puzzled and asked
“You want me to write more? Not enough?” I answered that he needed to write a lot more- he needs to fill the whole page up with his stories. He answered back, “Oh okay. I can do that.” And he has. His writing is becoming more clear and easier to decipher and he consistently works hard during his Daily Five time. Chapter Four really stuck a note with me. I truly believe in self-fulfilling prophecies and I believe as a teacher I need to help children to see themselves as capable of achieving greatness.
We’d like to know what you think of one of our favorite quotes from the book: “Worksheets aren’t good enough. The students who can do them don’t need them, and the ones who struggle with them feel defeated by the red marks, which only reinforce their feelings of inadequacy. WORKSHEETS FOSTER MEDIOCRITY!”
Response: I believe that true writing is from the heart. Very rarely will a writing worksheet inspire a heartfelt authentic response. Opportunities to invite students to write about their life provide a much richer experience.
Shared Writing- When I taught at the Kindergarten level, daily shared writing began our classes, but as a 4/5th grader teacher I find myself struggling to fit shared writing into the already jam packed day.
After reading chapter 5, I put myself out on a limb for my students. Our new mode of writing is expository and the prompt I gave them is to write about a role model in their life. I went through the entire writing process with my class armed only with chart paper and pen. The experience though scary for me, was a rich one for all of us as a community of writers. When I struggled I told the kids I was struggling. When I didn’t like the way I wrote something I told the kids. When I was just frustrated that the words wouldn’t come to me, I told the kids. Students were happy to help and share ideas together to improve the writing. I really believe that allowing the children to see that writing is challenging and rewarding and most of all a process of creativity, concentration and imperfection. (And the imperfection was enjoyable.)
Today, my class had a guest teacher (the literacy coach for our district) and I had prepared the students by telling them she would be teaching a cool way to end expository writing. Her lesson was a terrific example of blending and reinforcing the connection between reading and writing. She brought a short expository piece on the attack of Pearl Harbor . The piece had many interesting details and some great quotes but they were out of order- not blaringly so but she encouraged them to decide how they would rearrange the article to create the best ending. The kids loved the assignment. How else do we learn to write than by reading other texts, discussing ideas and learning together?
Chapter 5
ReplyDeleteOur school has been meeting for the last three professional development staff meetings on how to improve writing and celebrate writing in our school. I feel so fortunate to be taking this class, and working with my fellow teachers on the process of writing - there are so many experienced and dedicated teachers at this school to share such wonderful ideas and experiences.
Today we tried to "match" up what we were doing across grade levels, and find gaps where we feel we could improve instruction and thus student learning. Ironically, the conversation turned toward "pre-made" writing materials and test prep books. Many of the teachers agreed that worksheets such as these were nice for the teacher to grade, but really had no direct relevance to the writing they wanted the students to produce - especially the modes of writing that they were to be teaching the students at their grade level!
I think I am guilty as a first year teacher in leaning towards some of these materials, but I do now understand that their purpose is just not there. The students have no tie to the materials we are working on, and are simply doing the worksheets because the are assignments to practice conventions or other out of context material. I especially know that the ELL students in my class struggle with these materials, but are the first to offer ideas and suggestions when we write together as a class. They love to participate verbally.
So, I do agree somewhat with the quote on page 57 that "worksheets foster mediocrity" -especially if they have no other outcome than to make kids struggle over what they are supposed to do, or make them do busy work. I know I will be changing and focusing any worksheets my students do to have a purpose and relevance to them and to what they individually are writing.
Chapter 5
I loved this chapter the best so far, so many great examples, ideas, and testaments to the power of a group writing together. One of the Standards modes of writing for 4th grade is Expository - research based/multimedia - writing. The shared writing in action starting on page 105 really showed me how this could be done as a whole class before the responsibility is handed over to the students.
There are so many great ideas from the list starting on page 112. Since we are in the process of building our classroom writing community, what a better way to begin our writing adventures together but with an informational text on what good writers do and how to become a better writer! This is relevant to all the students and I know they will have so much to share. Since their experience this week with the State Writing Test, they all have an opinion about what they need to do to be a good writer. I am excited to work on this project as a class, and I know it will make us stronger as a supportive class that writes and learns together.
I can also see how the shared writing will fit into our upcoming units on Space and The Oregon Trail in Science and Social Studies. How about an informational group "booklet" on what you need to take with you on the Oregon Trail? This could be something that could be shared with other classes as an introduction to our unit or in some role play activities we are planning to do.
Chapter 6
ReplyDeleteAs a person who grew up loving books - being read to and becoming and avid reader - I can see nothing but an irrefutable connection to reading, writing, spelling and vocabulary knowledge. Our school has a very strong literacy program, and we meet for 1 hour leveled reading blocks, 4 days a week. I also read aloud to my class every day for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on our schedule.
One of the fourth grade writing standard modes is literature based summaries. I do have students summarize what they have read - chapters or text - and students must be reading from several different genres. (It would be great to create an informational text based on what students should be doing for a summary!) Looking at the list on page 127 - there is a lot that goes into a thorough summary. I have not ever modeled how to do a good summary though, and it is no surprise that the ones that I have recently received are not any good - and I do realize that it is my fault.
I will be trying the ideas on page 131 - and hopefully having student have a better idea about what is required - and demonstrating their understanding - before they do it independently. I will be keeping my new "writing Bible" nearby as a reference to remind me the importance of modeling the summary writing skill.
Thanks Virginia & Jenni! Virginia – your students are very lucky to have a teacher who believes in them and sets higher standards for them to reach for. This lack of expectation from teachers and other adults in their lives creates a downward spiral where the children lose all belief in themselves. Jenni – It definitely seems as though you work in an awesome district for professional development and growth. I loved your ideas of integrating the curriculum into the writing (Oregon Trail). Best of luck as you try some of your new ideas!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with the need to raise our expectations for students with lower SES. It is something that I feel my school works really hard to do. The one major hit we took was when we were forced to become a reading first school after 3 years of our school being open. In my opinion, this really set us back in that regard. We went from having and integrated, engaging, enriching literacy program, to a scripted, worksheet, dry, and forced curriculum. I was very saddened by this, as was our staff. Although our DIBELS scores have continued to improve, we have now set that as our driving force for curriculum and achievement. So now that a series of one-minute fluency tests have driven our reading focus, you can imagine how inspired our students are (and teachers).
ReplyDeleteI see this also spilling over to other parts for the day, more so with this current class. It seems as if they want to do only things that are easy, and they want to do it and be done. The creativity and passion for learning isn’t there. They also aren’t as willing to take risks because things aren’t scripted out. I’ve never been one to teach out of a script and didn’t do so even when I was suppose to. However, I did have to alter my teaching to fit in to the RF grant. Also, we share students in a Walk to Read model so all of my students aren’t with me for 90 min a day, which makes things tough. Much of this is out of my control, so I am trying to focus on what I CAN do.
I am very conscious of giving the students a great writing model. I teach GLAD for science and incorporate that into my everyday teaching as well.
We do a lot of shared writing in our classroom however, I realize that I could be doing even more. I especially see the need to use shared writing with small groups of students who need more guidance. It would even be beneficial for groups that I want to raise the bar with, such as TAG students or just kids who are passionate, effective writers already.
When we do shared writing it works best to have all of our students on the carpet and using chart paper on an easel, or sentence strips and pocket charts.. This way, all students can see it, they are in close proximity to each other so they can turn to a partner and generate or share ideas. With sentence strips, it is fun to tear them apart to show line breaks, or to add ideas or words to make it make more sense when we reread.
The link between reading and writing is SO important. I have noticed that it is hard for my 2nd graders to do retells without a lot of extra information that isn’t needed (And then…And then….). We do a lot of practicing with this skill. I noticed that Regie mentioned that it was really hard for kids before 4th grade to do written retells. This was nice to hear because I was having a hard time with this. We are trying to teach our kids how to take the DRA2, which has a written retell component and they were struggling, especially the lower readers. The main thing it reminded me of was that comprehension is the reason we read, it is SO important to use writing to help develop this.
Chapter 4
ReplyDeleteThe phrase “high expectations” has dominated the field of education for as long as I’ve been in the profession. This is for good reason, as over and over raising student expectations have resulted in increased performance. With that said, “high expectations” can easily be nothing more than a buzz word. No teacher (nor school) would ever admit that they don’t have “high expectations” for a student, even though it is likely that many of us don’t. I appreciate Routman’s address of this issue, as she quickly states that raising expectations is not about long, elaborate tasks, but simply about the quality of what we require. Routman then continues throughout the first half of the chapter to address ways to ask for more from our students.
For me, while I found Routman’s discussion of asking for more, requiring correct conventions, handwriting, and editing both helpful and inspiring, raising expectations ultimately comes down to self-reflection. This can sometimes be a brutal process. For instance, I like to think that I have high expectations for my students, and in many cases I probably do. However, as I read this chapter, I thought of ways in which I do accept work from my students that likely would not meet Routman’s standards. Really, there is no reason for this, other than the excuse that I have probably given myself which is; “that’s not directly related to our primary learning goal, so I’ll address it next time.” It is true that there will be times that we can only focus on a few things at a time. But some things, like the conventions, editing, and handwriting that Routman discusses, can be requirements every time. I remember one instance, this year in fact, in which I was conferencing with a student and his mother about his writing. I had never really addressed handwriting in my class, but during this conference I mentioned to the mother, casually, that this students’ handwriting was difficult to read. The very next day, the student’s handwriting was vastly better. All I did was mention it. This reinforces the idea that we can ask for (and receive) higher quality writing without “interfering” in the writing itself.
Chapter 5
ReplyDeleteThis chapter was empowering for me because the practice of shared writing seems relatively easily accomplished (I do many elements of this practice in my class already) and it demonstrates the effectiveness of shared writing. With that said, shared writing is a little counter-intuitive for me because I don’t really recall any of my teachers when I was a student utilizing shared writing in the manner described in this chapter, and I think that many of us teachers would worry, as I discussed previously, that we would be teaching our students to imitate rather than to create. Still, I look forward to using more shared writing in my class due to its effectiveness and ability to engage. If I try and do too much shared writing at one time, I will lose the interest of my students though. Perhaps rapidly alternating between shared writing and individual practice will allow students to maintain engagement and explore their own writing while allowing me to provide the scaffolding that I feel is necessary.
I thought about how I could use shared writing across curriculum. Besides teaching language art block classes, I also teach stand alone geography classes to my 7th graders. Share writing can be used not only in helping students with a writing assignment or writing practice in the geography class, but many of the processes, such as verbalizing the thought process, can be used when exploring many geography skills. Much of geography requires students to decode, analyze, or create charts, graphs, and maps, and the skills demonstrated and discussed through the shared writing process can assist students with this. Additionally, shared writing can be used when students are creating expository or persuasive texts, which are common within geography.
Chapter 6
This chapter reminded me of what another author has said was his premise to teaching. In very basic terms, he said he has his students “read about it, think about it, write about it” and do it over and over and over. I really appreciate his, and Routman’s, dedication to the importance of reading.
As Routman states, we all know the connection between good readers and good writers, but too often we teach reading skills and writing skills independently without any connection. Writing is important because it is the act that gets us to organize our thoughts and communicate them.
Something that resonated for me in this chapter was Routman’s emphasis to not “neglect nonfiction”. I agree with this. Most of the text that we read and write in our lives will be forms of nonfiction writing. Unfortunately, too often we don’t approach, at least in my observations, nonfiction with same vigor that we do fiction. In my school, I can walk downstairs and check out classroom sets of dozens of different novels. However, there isn’t a single classroom set of any non-fiction books available (I checked) aside from textbooks. Nonfiction books do not have to be boring.
Thanks for your comments Nicole and Derek. Nicole – I’m so saddened that your curriculum is driven by an assessment…especially DIBELS – how often do you need to progress monitor students (and is it only the “at-risk” that get progressed monitored? Are you still a Reading First school? I think your attitude of focusing “only on what you have control over” is the best you can do in your given situation. Derek – point taken on “high expectations” …accepting lesser quality work is definitely the easier road for many educators. I also agree, that working with older students, alternating between shared and independent practice is the best idea! As far as your nonfiction text issue…there are so often many grants available that would support funding nonfiction texts for your classroom/grade level….(in your spare time). :)
ReplyDeleteWe progress monitor "intensive" at risk every other week, some of them every week. The benchmark kids are only progress monitored once a term. They have in-program assessments and other teacher made assessments too. Once the kids are benchmark, the teacher can do whatever they want with them, lit circles, centers, etc. We use a walk to read model so I teach the kids who are in the middle, about half a grade level behind. We also do DRA's as a form of assessment three times a year but no longer get support for those so we have to find time to do them. Last year the grant was up, this is our transition year, however our district adopted Houghton Mifflin as our curriculum. I feel like we are still stuck in some of our old ways even though the grant is up. For instance, we meet monthly to move kids around to different different instructional groups depending on their progress. But their progress is mostly based on DIBELS. I just want to get rid of DIBELS all together. It is an arbitrary number, just one piece of reading yet we base our instruction and our sense of student success on it. I wasn't here to start the year this year, and I really would have pushed to move out of that practice if I were. We are having some serious conversations this year. There's a lot to this, but that is the gist of it.
ReplyDeleteChapter 4: Raising expectations: an excellent topic to undertake. Being able to "raise expectations" in this day and age within a culture of focus on state testing, can be a challenge at times. On page 58, Regie shares lists of suggestions in "What Makes Our Writing Interesting". I think this list would be a good one for the classroom wall, as a reminder to students of things to think about to include in their writing. In the following list "What Does It Mean To Write More/Tell More": she also gives suggestions to students that help them think about what goes into their writing (another good one for the classroom wall!) Yes Worksheets are for dummies!! Anything we can all do to rid ourselves of them is a good thing. I've been going through LOTS of old educational materials recently, and I'm purging much of what I have, either because I never use it, or it's way too focused on specific skills that can more efficiently (and authentically!) be taught by the student's own writing samples.
ReplyDeleteHandwriting: I'm all for good handwriting, but it is interesting how the educational ups and downs (curriculum changes) have left students in the lurch: many of my students have had little or no instruction in cursive, let alone enough practice with printing skills. I often write into IEP goals that students need the use of word processing available to them, because I have students that teachers generally can't read their handwriting. I think it's important to continue to encourage the improvement of handwriting skills for students, but some of my students need the priority to use technology to assist them to write legibly and get their ideas down.
Chapter 5: Shared writing can be a very fun activity, especially when workng with a fun topic or a great work of literature that all of the students are enjoying. I so enjoy Regie's list of "Tried and True Ideas for Shared Writing". I think many of the items of this list provide endless ideas to teachers and students, and ways to make writing a lot of fun, not to mention very engaging! I think it's important to give students plenty of planning time, both with teacher help, but also independently with each other (students) to brainstorm and come up with their own ideas. I see this happening more and more in classroom settings, and this is an important and worthwhile (and can be time-consuming) process.
Chapter 6: The reading/writing connection is crucial! Literature can be such an inspiring and exciting avenue for encouraging writing, and writing ideas. Yes, I totally agree: more time for reading!!! We want those students to crave time for reading. I love using literature for teaching and developing deep thinking. It's easy to use writing as a way to support reading comprehension (e.g. have students write down questions they have about the book, where the story is going, some possible predictions,etc...) It's fun to think out loud (for teacher and student!) while using the text to help illustrate how characters develop and change. Talking about these things then help students to include ideas in their writing, and may be helpful to those students that have difficulty just starting a writing piece. Yes Regie, reading and writing are co-essentials!!
Assignment 4
ReplyDeleteCh 4
I’m not going to pretend to know how to address the issue of low expectations for minority or poor students because that’s not something I’ve had to deal with. Regie also talks about how she has experienced low expectations at affluent schools due to lack of innovation and complacency, and that is something I am more familiar with. I see many students who write accurately but without voice, without passion. In particular I remember an old-school, curmudgeonly freshman English teacher, who scared students into writing accurately. But he also made them afraid of thinking for themselves or being creative. When I got them as sophomores, they were very suspicious of me when I tried to get them to loosen up a bit. He was beloved by the students. I always thought it was a weird Stockholm Syndrome type of thing. And it created a culture of writing that lacked voice.
I am especially sensitive about how my journalism students and I are judged by poor spelling, grammar and punctuation. One of my greatest weaknesses as a journalism adviser is that I’m only an average copy editor. I’m getting better, but still, it’s something I need to work on. Also, I am still correcting the same mistakes over and over in student work.
My new strategy is to sit next to my students and talk through the edits as they change them.
I say, “Do you know why I took out this comma?”
Student, “Oh yeah, we take out the final comma in a series.”
Then, I have the student change it on the computer as we speak.
I’ll see soon if this helps improve the edits I make over and over.
I like the Optimal Learning Model, and I think I’m going to use it with my first grade son as he gets ready to write a batch of thank you notes from his seventh birthday. I’ll model one. We’ll write one together, and finally, I’ll have him write one on his own.
Ch 5
I think I stumbled across the value of shared writing, even for high school students, when I did my modeling writing assignment (#3). I like the idea of encouraging students and creating trust. Obviously, shared writing fits in the Optimal Learning Model after the teacher has done modeling and before a student works independently.
I enjoyed reading about how shared writing could be used to do word work. As a teacher I’m not going to be doing a lot of word work with my students; however, as a parent I was interested in some of the ideas. I see my son coming home with similar exercises.
One of our family gifts at Christmas was a game called Bananagrams. I had groups of first graders playing it at my son’s birthday party. I was worried it might be too difficult, but I was amazed by the results. If I gave a struggling player a little help by showing him some strategies, he would suddenly take off on his own.
Ch 6
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I am learning a lot about the curriculum in my son’s school as I read this. I know that they are trying to introduce a new writing program this year, and I see how many of the ideas presented here are being used. And I see how some of the ideas presented here are being misused. However, in this chapter, I was able to make some favorable comparisons to what my son is doing in reading. He is doing many of the activities listed in this chapter to help link reading and writing.
In thinking about how I can incorporate these ideas into my own classroom, I have been thinking I might be able to help students deal more effectively with the information they get from interviews. When students come back from interviews, they have to figure out how to put the information into a cohesive story. A part of this activity involves reading. In rereading their interview scripts, one thing they could use some work on is how to paraphrase and summarize the quotes. Another thing they need help with is deciding which quote is the most effective.
An activity that I’ve often done with high school English students involves using Bloom’s taxonomy. I introduce them to Bloom Taxonomy, what it is, and then I have them use it to create questions for a reading assignment. Over the years I’ve used it many different ways. Sometimes I have them create questions individually for a test review. Sometimes I’ll have them come up with questions as group work for a student taught lesson. I like how it demystifies a process that teachers use and how it makes students realize that there are different types, lower and higher, of questions.
As kids become more comfortable with my expectations I feel quality of their work and efforts become sloppy. So I tend to raise expectations at varies points throughout the school year. Mainly after conferences, end of trimesters, and long breaks. I view each student individually and therefore set my expectations accordingly. I will say that I am a bit more lenient on some kids than others; this might not be a good thing.
ReplyDeleteWhat really made an impact on me from Chapter 4 was the repeated reminder to focus on the positive of each piece of work a child produces. I now have a yellow sticky on my laptop that says “kindness makes it possible for us to try again; it gives us energy to reinvest and take risks.” (pg 80)
You wanted us to comment on the quote” Worksheets aren’t enough …” It definitely got me thinking, especially the part that said “The students who can do them don’t need tem, and the ones who struggle with them feel defeated by the red marks …” WOW, there is truth to that. This year I tend to project workbook pages on my Smartboard so we can complete it interactively as a whole class (the kids love writing on the Smartboard). I struggle with not having worksheet pages to send home so parents can see what we are doing in class (even though I have NEVER had a parent question me on this). The problems I find with worksheets are those who struggle with the mechanics of writing take forever to complete them. They end up with a pile of unfinished work. I know there are better ways to assess student learning than worksheets. I don’t know if I would do away with them all together, but I do find that this year I am using less and less of them. When I taught 2nd grade I seemed to use them a lot more frequently then I am now (3rd grade). My biggest arguments against worksheets are 1). In primary grades many students can’t read/understand the directions and 2) in higher grades many students don’t bother to read the directions!
Last week my class wrote For Sale ads … they could sell what every they chose as long at it was something they truly owned. I credit much of the success of this assignment to modeling, and prediscussing (or preselling) the item with partners before they ever picked up their pencil. This, I owe to this book! My whole “teaching writing” strategy has been refreshed. Yea!
Yesterday I celebrated writing by letting a handful of students read stories they had previously written aloud. I explain to my class that I had selected those stories which were well written and had evidence of the most thought and effort behind them. Much to my surprise some of the student who were chosen were not ones I would have anticipated (I think it surprised them too).
Chapters 5 & 6 did not grab me as much as the previous chapter did. I highlighted a little and wrote fewer notes in the margins. I would like to have seen the contents of these two chapters in action, the down side to online classes.
Expectations:
ReplyDeleteI love what Regie has to say about raising and keeping raised expectations for students. I have always thought I had high expectations for my students, but have come to realize they have been getting lower and lower over the past two years. I student-taught in a large, affluent, high-achieving high school, but haven been teaching at a private alternative school which combines 9th-12th graders, all on IEPs, in the same classroom. Talk about differentiation! Over the past two years, I have realized whatever I thought was the norm, or what I expected of my students’ writing, was all thrown out the window when I met my current students. They are poor, unmotivated, unfocused, and come from uneducated and illiterate homes. This is what has been pounded into my brain as school administrators and other teachers and I discuss the daily trials of teaching this population. But as I form opinions about my students’ abilities, I have also been lowering my expectations for what they can achieve.
Regie says “It is never okay for a student not to write or not participate,” however, I encounter this on a near-daily basis. I also only have my students for 45 minutes at a time. Therefore, if a student is not participating, I barely have enough time to check in to see if the issue is skill/knowledge-based, if they don’t understand the directions, or if it is emotional/attitude-based (home life is not always checked at the door). So I often have to leave it alone, and move on to the next student who needs help. What do I do with students to refuse to work? I am hoping my next unit of “Creative Writing” will motivate students to write by using non-threatening topics that don’t ask them to write about something they don’t know (like the book we’re reading, or a class discussion). Regie seems to focus on these types of writing prompts—writing letters and stories that have an audience that appeal to the writers.
I do agree with and LOVE the charts on page 58 that provide clear and concise points for writers to “keep going” and “add more” (my most commonly used words to students). Especially when students can add more sensory details: sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. I think I will transfer these to posters for my room. Or better yet—have students decide which ones they like the best and have them create posters!
The list of “Tried and True Ideas for Shared Writing,” although long, makes me more comfortable with the types of writing I’ve done with my students, or assigned them to do. I guess part of teaching is relaxing, and trusting yourself. Helping struggling writers to understand writing is important, and that we do it all the time, and encouraging them to trust their own writing is all part of the journey to building independent writers.
Thanks for your responses Erin, Hillary, Clara, and Lindsay. Erin – I’m with you….I had to pack up and move all of my things (after teaching 3 grades and being a reading coach for several years)…and move for a new job……I had so much crap…some I didn’t even want others to use, so I just chucked it all away. It really did feel good to purge :). And yes, handwriting (as well as spelling) have always been in that fuzzy gray area in terms of academic instruction. Hillary – it sounds as though you’ve gotten some great ideas out of this section, especially in the area of helping your students with editing….and what a “Teacher Mom” you are….I sometimes pity my own children :). I enjoyed hearing how you let kids in on the secret of Bloom’s Taxonomy – what a great idea! Clara – I think you are right, expectations do need to be raised throughout the year. I also loved the quote you picked out….what a great one to revisit frequently. As far as worksheets go, I think the key is to just try and use less and less, not go “cold turkey”….I think it’s a wonderful idea to use some as shared and interactive work using technology such as the SMART board! I’m psyched that your writing instruction has gone through a renewal…it’s always exciting to try something new! Lindsay – Wow! You really do have your work cut out for you….a truly differentiated classroom on all levels…and no, “home life is rarely checked at the door”! I wish you luck in your creative writing unit…and I’m sure these kids would love to hear about your life stories which would encourage them in their own writing.
ReplyDeleteChapter 4 Raising Your Expectations
ReplyDeleteI agree with Derek that "high expectations" often becomes this buzz word in education. But, I also feel that we set the bar too low sometimes. Regie said that she has never worked in a school where the expectations are too high. I believe that it is teachers who need to change their style and approach to teaching to help their students flourish. Instead, we expect students to learn the way we teach and often students full potential is wasted. I am in complete agreement that work sheets are not enough. I rarely see students take what they practiced on a worksheet and transfer it over to their own writing. If students are struggling with reading and writing, how would a worksheet that they have to read and fill out be a benefit? Then, you have the students who don't need the worksheet and they just fill it out at busy work. Writing is writing, you are not becoming a better writer unless you are writing.
Something that I do have low expectations of is handwriting. I often except poorly handwritten work because I don't want to take the time to have them rewrite it or because I am just happy they finished it. I teach 3rd grade and I am always so horrified at how sloppy and incorrectly their handwriting is. Student get frustrated with having to write because it takes them so ling to form the letters. I decided for next year instead of starting the year teaching cursive I will teach ball and stick writing. Handwriting is a life skill and I need to raise the bar on what I consider a final copy.
Chapter 5 Do More Shared Writing
Shared writing was something I did a lot of when I taught 1st grade. For some reason when I moved to 3rd this stopped. I can see how this time of writing would build students confidence as writers. I guess I felt 3rd graders where too big for this, I know that is silly. I really like the "Mystery Message" activity. I also really like the idea of creating a story together.From this chapter I found all of the examples, lessons, and chart to be really valuable. I loved doing shared writing and I am ready to implement it back into my classroom. My class is needing something to charge them up again in writing.
Chapter 6 Capitalize on the Reading-Writing Connection
I try as much as possible to cross reading and writing. The new DRA2's incorporate both and children need to understand that they are connected. I love that Regie says, "Children's writing reflects the quality of the reading they do." I try to keep my library stocked with great literature, but kids are still drawn to "Goosebumps" and graphic novels. I really like the idea of using writing in guided reading groups. This is something new that I can easily begin to implement and will greatly help with comprehension.
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