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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After reading this section for Assignment Four, the part that comes to mind first is the story Routman relates of the digital camera she received for her birthday. The analogy she uses to compare her learning experience with the experiences our students is valid. I can explain an assignment or project to my students, even model it for them, but they may still struggle. The process of learning takes so much more time and effort...especially if the students are expected to master the skill.
ReplyDeleteShared experiences are so valuable because they provide a better foundation for learning. As with Routman’s example of the digital camera gift, a shared learning experience develops confidence and, in the end, mastery can be achieved. As my class size jumps, though, I am sure I will find it more difficult to find my students‘ level of prior knowledge and scaffold from there.
Handwriting is addressed early in this section. That was interesting for me because that subject is one I have difficulty with throughout the year. I always believe first impressions are very important and I don’t think it’s any different for writing pieces. The more legible it appears, the better that first impression. I appreciate that Routman advises either form of writing--cursive or printing--should be acceptable since legibility is what we are after. Besides, allowing a student to write in their preferred form lets them focus on the actual story. The “Try It, Apply It” tips on page 68 are useful and there are a couple I will be implementing.
Not only does my writing instruction fail to include enough shared writing, the opportunities students do have are not as structured as they should be. Therefore, the focus on share writing this section includes is very timely. I have marked many pages as Routman explains the framework for a shared writing lesson, provides tips for those lessons, demonstrates a lesson, follows with some observations, and then offers many topics and examples to help me bring more of the shared writing experience into my classroom.
It was also timely that this reading section ended with the “reading equals writing” connection and a look at summarizing. Both concepts/skills were emphasized in my building this year. As we work to keep improving on our fourth-grade writing scores, this year we focused on using reading to help drive improvement in our writing. It was a comfort to see we’re going in the right direction and having students write more across the curriculum will help us get there quicker. As for summarizing, Routman states written summaries are too demanding for K-3 students and my experiences with my fourth-graders would suggest that is true. Retelling is often difficult enough as students struggle for the right words. Putting those thoughts on paper is a skill we work at all year and few seem to make significant progress.
Finally...worksheets foster mediocrity. That’s hard to argue against but I will continue to use them. As I gain experience as a teacher, I do find myself using them considerably less than I once did. I remember how I relied heavily on them when I first started teaching. I worked as a substitute for two years and most of that time was spent handing out worksheets, too. Students should be encouraged to be creative but worksheets usually foster “one size fits all” thinking. Worksheets can give me an idea of where students are on a particular skill, but using them for anything more than that “snapshot” is keeping students from developing higher-level thinking skills.
I really appreciated reading chapter 4. I have always felt that you should never talk down to your children or your students. Children are very capable and are quick to pick up on language and skills as long as they are exposed to them.
ReplyDeleteI loved the nurture and nudge list. The last section that writes about holding high expectations for all students was very powerful. We need to make sure that all students realize we believe in their ablitiy and value their work. This alone will boost their confidence which will give them the interest and drive to continue to write.
Starting at the beginning of the year I want to make a list of things we can do to improve our writing (expectations). Make each list with a specific subject. It would be a continuous list where we can add to it throughout the year.
I one thing I struggle with is when my students get stuck and do not know what to write about. Like where you catch them sitting and thinking. I try to have an idea list that we create together for them to refer to, but that doesn't always work. Any ideas for those students that never seem to have anything to write about?
The last thing is handwriting and editing. I really struggle with students who have poor writing, but do not want to stop the flow of writing. After reading I am excited to go back and put that in place the expectations of good handwriting and keeping their WIP books and journals clean and free of doodles and scribbles. First impressions are important and making sure students understand this is equally important.
I push the editing with my students and the expectation that when we do final form that it needs to be perfect, but to their capablities. The tip on page 70 is great. Once they do what they are capable of, I will go over it and fix it with the student.
I view worksheets alot like I view textbooks, they are a one size fits all theory that does not work. I also believe they put students in a box of boredom. Finding ways to assess and practice skills that motivate and fit students skill levels is so important. It can be done. Without some challenge yet success, students can stop trying because they are bored or feel overwhelmed.
Shared writing is not a time to work on grammar, but a time to validate student ideas and thinking. What a great thought to keep in your mind. It is so easy to get away from empowering to the basics. The lists on page 88-92 have great ideas and things to remember. Incorporating conversations with students is something that I need to do more often. I can really see how this could help my EL students as well as my students who struggle. The tried and true ideas for shared writing is awesome. What a great list to have close at hand.
After taking the essentials of reading course last year, I have made some changes to my reading program. Modeling your expectations is very important to get the quality. Also having them do worthwhile writing that will enhance their reading.
I use response journals and have learned to do a check after they are done to make sure they are on the right track. I then correct them every other week to make less daily work. I have also added book reports, but see that a review could be much more beneficial when it comes to teaching writing.
S. Ortega
ReplyDeleteCh. 4
As I read the expectations that Regie sets for first grade students and second grade students I am impressed! Teaching them to explain their thinking at such a young age so that this becomes easy for them early in their writing careers is great. I believe that students can achieve high expectations with the skills modeled and taught properly along with the encouragement that the students need.
As Regie talks about handwriting expectations and neateness I began to reflect on the expectations I have set for my students.
I have been guilty of accepting student work that has terrible handwriting, paper that is torn or is a scrap. Last year I spent more time setting my expectations for what I want turned in and that made a big difference. I will continue to make my standards clear to my students.
I am realizing that I need to spend more time demonstrating the editing process for my students. I still have students turn in work that is littered with misspelled words, run-on sentences and forgotten punctuation and capital letters. The more I read from this book the more I realize that the strong writers pick up these skills quickly and easily and it frustrates me that the rest of the class doesn’t apply the lesson the same way. Now I see that my struggling writers, EL students and Sped students can still do these skills I just need to spend more time in the shared writing process with some students. I plan to assess whether I need to do it as a whole class or with small groups but I do plan to spend more time in this area.
I would agree that worksheets foster mediocrity. I use them but rarely. I feel that the skills that are broken down in worksheets can be taught within their own writing. I feel that worksheets stifle creativity and even if the student can do the task on the worksheet they don’t always apply it to their own work.
Ch 5
I loved all the ideas that Regie had for shared writing. As I read this chapter I found myself tagging many of the pages so that I could go back and find them easily. I like the fact that all of the ideas for writing had a purpose or an audience that will give the writer a reason to really focus on writing something that is clear and concise. It was very helpful to read the dialogue between Regie and the class as she did the shared writing. This gave me a much clearer picture of what shared writing looks like. I now see the value in spending MORE time doing the shared writing from the Optimal Learning Model.
Ch. 6
In college I learned how important writing was in learning. I knew that I needed to really stop and think before I could write on a topic and that gave me a deeper understanding. Knowing how much writing helped me in my studies I agree that writing helps improve student comprehension in all subjects. I can also see that reading and writing are connected and improving one area will affect the other.
I see myself adding more read alouds to my writing class next year and continuing to use writing with my reading program. I need to find a way to integrate writing with math, social studies and science more. I do it to some extent now, but I might add content area journals for my next class.
I found the section on teaching students to write summaries very enlightening and useful. I liked how she said to begin teaching this by telling the students that I will show you how to decide what’s most important on the page when you read instead of saying that we are going to learn how to write a summary. I don’t’ believe I have taught how to write a summary in the way she modeled it. I can see how this would help my students to improve their summarizing abilities. I also like the idea of having students practice note-taking by using consumable texts. The last section I also thought was important when integrating reading and writing is asking worthwhile questions; questions that are considered to be higher level rather than literal questions. I look forward to implementing many of the ideas from this section into my classroom next year.
Hello everyone! Shawna I couldn't agree more about adding more books into the writing program. I think I have a book or two that has book ideas for different skills. I was wondering if anyone knew of a book or website that had book lists that worked with different genres of writing or skills? I see that Regie added some titles in her book, but would love more ideas.
ReplyDeleteChuck Fall
ReplyDeleteAssignment #4 chapter reflections in Section Two
Review Expectations Chapter 4:
I agree with the author’s idea that raising expectations means “students learn what it means to explore writing in depth…” and this would include the whole array of activities that go along with “in-depth writing.” Routman reviews the range of writing activities, tasks in her prompt to observe what we do as writers in the previous assignment. I think it is very important to hold our expectations as possible outcomes of the things we are asking our kids to do in class. It is obviously not enough to just hold a “high expectation” and teach to the text, or to the test. There has to be the scaffolding in place (and I’m convinced the Optimal Learning Model provides necessary and appropriate scaffolding) for students to get the message, respond to the lessons and grow. “Expecting excellence” but failing to provide the means for students to learn the nature and difficult task of writing is only magical thinking.
As I read through Routman’s text I am constantly thinking how I can apply her recommended practices with the curriculum I am expected to cover in my 11th and 12th grade classes. I see the importance of providing “high interest” prompts, writing everyday on meaningful topics and for meaningful purposes. Finally, I appreciate Routman’s acknowledgment of the need for writing (and reading) “fluency and endurance” fostered by “lots of student choice.’ Central to holding expectations, and raising students’ skills to meet the expectation is practice. I get that Routman is all about creating a meaningful writing practice in our classrooms. And it isn’t something mysterious and magical. If I understand her correctly, it is borne of well thought out lessons, enthusiasm, and an insistence from the teacher that students do their best with the lessons provided.
Finally, I agree with Routman’s admonishment against relying on worksheets. Completing worksheets is not writing, it’s responding to worksheets. I have a favorite grammar text that teaches grammar in the context of composing increasingly complex sentences. The students like this work because it is concrete (like doing math) but one student admitted once completed he doesn’t think about the lesson. I do not intend to abandon this workbook approach to grammar, but I realize I need to contextualize the exercise in the “real” writing associated with free-writes, and more developed, polished pieces. Finally, I need to review lessons again later to reinforce.
Review Shared Writing Chapter 5:
At the end of Expectations Routman emphasizes the need for building trust. Shared writing, as a teaching technique for helping students get the lesson, builds trust through the social-ness of working collaboratively, I think, or at least, I hope this is the case. I know that students don’t like to share their work if they don’t feel safe, or trust that others won’t laugh, snicker, or blurt out errors, or make negative remarks. I am hopeful that with very clear expectations on how to behave during a share-out that students will practice good manners. This is something I will try to establish on day 1.
Routman’s “Tried and True ideas for shared writing…” do provide extensive opportunities for turning what is essentially a private activity into a public one: essentially de-mystifying the process. I am drawing a bit of a blank as I try to anticipate how I would use shared writing. By 11th and 12th grade students should be adept as using textual evidence to support a topic or thesis. I anticipate demonstrating and doing shared writing around using quotes to support a topic. Also, we will be working on the personal essay and I expect I will line up a demonstration on “getting started” perhaps, or using an anecdote to illustrate a point. The possibilities are vast. My task will be to line up the important lessons.
Chuck Fall
ReplyDeleteReview “Capitalize on the reading writing connection” Chapter 6:
The big take-away I am left with from reading Chapt. 6 is the need to connect reading response to tasks that actually enhance reading comprehension. Routman’s warning about giving students a series of questions about a text is true based on how I have seen students limit their reading to answering the questions. I have used a dialogue journal but I neglected to scaffold well enough and many of the journal entries tended to ask questions that only revealed the failure of the student to question, then predict, and question again.
I anticipate calling on students to take reading notes in a dialogue journal structure, or annotate a photocopied text. But I intend to limit the scope of their responses to critical details and essential information about character, plot, setting, word choice, figurative language etc. Many students are very adept at the free association (make a connection with the text) but are not using the dialogue journal to discover the full text. Again, all this is fodder for the shared writing and demonstrations. I do see the value of summary writing (this was an across the school for all disciplines last year and I anticipate it will occur this year as well.)
Finally, I am encouraged to continue to use the dialogue journal, to teach taking reading notes, and to connect reading with smaller written responses that connect the text (evidence) with theme/topic. I love the questioning approach (because it is something I do and it is easy for me) but I also have learned that questioning needs to be part of the prediction, and test the prediction by looking for the answer to the question. Reading is a dialogue between the reader and the text.
Chapter Four Reflection
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading Chapter Four about Raising Your Expectations. Although when I read the sub-title of the book, Raising Expectations and Results While Simplifying Teaching, I admittedly thought that it sounded too good to be true. However Regie gave us some great insight in how to push students further while not overwhelming them with extra worksheets and less meaningful tasks. I loved that Regie recognizes that more doesn’t mean harder or better! I fully agree that “worksheets foster mediocrity!” It’s true that the kids who don’t need them, breeze through them, while struggling students feel defeated. Worksheets also offer very little opportunity for creative and higher-level thinking. Although I do use a few required worksheets from my reading program to reinforce skills, I do not put much weight on them. These worksheets are just one center choice for my students to complete. Worksheets do not provide an authentic opportunity to practice skills!
Regie suggests that as a grade level or as a school we should meet together to outline our clear, rigorous, and reasonable expectations. I look forward to meeting with my grade level to talk about just this. I appreciated the author’s suggestion about bringing pieces of writing to our meeting to decide which pieces meet our expectations. I know that across our grade level, each of us grades papers differently and has a different set of expectations for our students. I look forward to this valuable meeting and time for us all to get on the same page!
I did feel like it was helpful to hear a professional’s view on handwriting and conventions. I agree with Regie, that it’s important to focus on getting ideas on paper during the first draft. But, final published work must be presented in a neat, organized, correct manner. I liked reading about how Regie spoke to students about their need to revise spelling and grammatical issues. We have to present our work in a manner that it can be read easily!
Chapter Five
I’ve been really looking forward to this chapter, as I’d like more ideas about how to incorporate Shared Writing into my classroom. Shared writing is a fun way to cover skills and engage the whole class. It fits perfectly into the Optimal Learning Model too, through shared demonstration. As I read this chapter I realize that I can improve a lot in this area, and how important it is. The framework for a shared writing lesson helped me visualize exactly how my lessons would go. I felt like her suggestions for keeping kids involved and moving along quickly, really applied to what I need! I also want to write more class books and have a place in our classroom library for books created by the class. I think that will help show how much I value their writing and our process. She had some great ideas for teacher language to use during shared writing and fun word work lessons. Lastly, I loved the “Tried and True Ideas for Shared Writing”. I plan on using the “procedures for our classroom”, near the beginning of school. The School Alphabet Book would be a great first month of school writing activity. I love the idea of writing class letters, advice, or recipes. After we finish a read aloud chapter book, I’d love to write a book review to pass on to another class. I even think I could have a section in my weekly newsletter that features a shared writing piece on what we did that week. I feel so much more confident about Shared Writing now!
Chapter Six
ReplyDeleteI really agreed with the chapter on capitalizing on the reading-writing connection. The best way to write is to read and practice writing. I liked the idea that kids could read books and reflect upon the authors writing to help improve their own. Their experience with authentic, high quality literature will strengthen their interest and ability to write. I also agree that written responses to writing need to be valuable for the student and the teacher, and not just as a time filler. During novel studies, I have kids do quick comprehension checks, which tell me more than a long response journal. I think that there is a time and place for written responses to reading, but I do agree that a daily journal format can be cumbersome for the teacher and feel too routine and dull for the student. I loved the section that talked about the importance of informational writing and non-fiction reading. I have captured the attention of many reluctant readers through the use of non-fiction materials. The chapter concluded with excellent, fun, and unique ways to bring writing and reading together in reading groups.
Heather Farnsworth
ReplyDeleteJuly 23, 2010
Writing Essentials
Assignment 4: Written Reflection Section Two
Acquiring writing skills is essentials for success in life. Setting high expectations in class for our young writers is important not only for the learning outcomes and goals in your planning book, but also to foster the love for the writing process as a form of divine communication that is unique to oneself. I am under the strong belief that if I as a teacher and role model set high expectations, my students will take that lead and set high expectations for themselves as writers and life learners. To make this all come true in real life students must see writing as creative, meaningful process. If students do not see the assignment as meaningful, they will view it as “needed for the teacher at school”; and that is a waste.
When my student roster is issued, staff knows that I would rather not be informed of their perceptions of my future students. So many times I have a teacher or a recess staff member approach me with comments such as “ Jonny tries hard, but has a real anger problem and hates school” or “Jill is excellent at writing, wait tell you read her writing”. Permanent files are never opened and all students come into my room with a clean state so that I can get to know them as who they are…not what other know or think they know of them.
To raise expectations at the school level I think it is important to communicate what each class is doing in their studies. It can be incorporated into the celebrating process. So many times, we as teachers are stuck in our room and we really have no idea what other teachers and classes are doing. If ideas are shared, say at a staff meeting, teachers would be able to feed off others and be willing to try new things in their classrooms.
Handwriting and spelling are important to aid in the communication process and it is also essential in life. I teach handwriting in the morning when students come in. Students first come in and go to a hand strengthening station. When the bell rings we begin a mini lesson on one letter in the alphabet. I use the Gradual Release of Instruction Model. My spelling curriculum is reviewed briefly in class each day, but is mostly given to students as at home work. It a process that works…maybe not as well as I want at times. It is an area I can work on.
When it comes to my minority students and setting high expectations, I like to use their ELD goals in the classroom so that I am double dosing and supporting their pull out classes as well. My students also benefit greatly from shared writing experiences. Students not only learn a lot about each other, they also get great ideas from one another. On a daily basis we do a shared writing. Usually I do this at the end of the day, with the topic of something they enjoyed throughout the school day. The more language I can infuse in the curriculum the better off all my students are.
Worksheets in my opinion are useful if they are not used as busy work only. Many times I generate my worksheets so they target exactly what I want. In addition I usually give worksheets during independent work when we have already gone through the better half of the Gradual Release of Instruction Model. This way I know student are practicing correctly and are being successful. It’s easy to fall back on worksheets with 30+ students in the room though. I have been guilty in the past of tossing out a worksheet and calling it good.
Sorry for the second post
ReplyDeleteShared writing is an essential component of literacy instruction. I have found it be rewarding beyond description. There is just something magical that happens when the entire class, no matter where they fall ability wise, write and share their thoughts together. As Regie says, it incorporates and supports each component of the Optimal Learning Model. Since you’re amerced in words, it is only natural to incorporate some reading. Since students are writing the piece, they have more of an investment in trying hard to read the piece tying together their reading strategies, fluency and decoding. My ELD students gain a lot from this activity.
I have made a copy of pages 92, 112 – 118 for ideas when “stuck”.
Because I have so many students I must be smart when planning my curriculum. My classroom is the flood for high risk students and behavior IEP students so I need to be on my A game each and everyday. I do what I call “bundling” my curriculum. I expose students to science, social studies, health, math, writing and reading in every lesson. If we are reading I might mask, “If we began at page 43 and ended at page 52, how many pages did we read?” The bottom line is that I do not have the time within my day to teach each and every standard to the best quality if I do them all individually. I also believe that by bundling, my students are being given optimal learning experiences to dive deep into the content instead of skimming the top and calling it good. That being said I ma always looking for ways to be more efficient with my time and instruction. Since my level of students are reading to learn now, instead of learning to read, I work with a lot of non-fiction text just as yet another exposure to my content areas.
Assignment 4: Chapter 4-6
ReplyDeleteI agree with the quote “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 inadequacy. WORKSHEETS FOSTER MEDIOCRITY!” I feel there are so many other ways to instruct and assess students. I feel instructing and modeling through whole group writing is much more authentic and engaging. Students contribute to the writing and are invested. Editing together can teach a grammar point instead of doing a worksheet.
I like to look at my students’ writing as a group and find common points that need further instruction. I chose that as a teaching point. I can focus on that when we do cooperative strip paragraphs (where each student gets to write a sentence and we edit together by ripping sentences strips and moving things around and adding details, etc.)
Routman touches on the idea that students will rise to meet expectations. Increased expectations leads to higher quality of work and not necessarily higher volume. If students are invested in their work, it is personalized and they will take ownership of their writing.
High expectations would be to expect that editing and revising can happen at the beginning of first grade. I have seen this first hand in my school. A new staff member came on board and revolutionized the writing process for kindergarteners. The students were achieving because she had high expectations. She has a color code system for editing (red = punctuation, green = spelling, etc.) They did group editing and pair conferencing. The students’ writing blew me away. She had a close relationship and bonded with the students, so that they felt comfortable taking risks.
I liked the ideas under Nurture and Nudge. Just an overall balanced literacy approach to teaching. Read alouds, playing with poetry, modeling and intentional teaching help the students grow as writers.
Routman addressed the audience when teaching her writers. The writers needed to keep the readers in mind. It is important to teach grammar, spelling, punctuation and handwriting legibility for an overall polished paper. I think that is important especially when publishing. I also think journaling is important to increase writing stamina.
This quote really spoke to me, “Learning happens best within a supportive community that offers many opportunities to observe, talk, listen, suggest, collaborate, try out, make choices, set goals, and evaluate. Relevance is a necessity here” (p. 70). Increased opportunities through explaining, modeling, and brainstorming foster development. Routman made a valid point that the in-depth conversations help expand language, which is especially helpful for the English language learners. It is important that all students see themselves as writers.
I will hold my students to a higher standard. “We marginalize their access to the world of literacy and are too quick to accept failure” (p.82)
Ch. 5-6
ReplyDeleteCh. 5:
Routman discussed the benefits of shared writing. She has so many great ideas. Her reasoning validates the importance of shared writing. It was affirming for me when she stated that shared writing facilitates, “students’ enjoyment, confidence, and competence in reading and writing increase and their oral language skills grow” (p.83).
The lively pace and gradual release of responsibility in shared writing helps students to figure out how the written language works. Shared writing is especially helpful for English language learners and helping them figure out how English functions. The rich oral language modeling that goes along with shared writing helps to stimulate literacy development. It keeps student interest and increases motivation. I like the idea of bilingual texts. I have used this when working with ELLs. Newcomers can write in Spanish and higher function ELL students can help them translate. It is great to have a bilingual text. I have newcomers write in their native language and if it is Spanish, I translate it into English so they can publish in both languages.
There are so many ideas from Routman’s list of Tried and True Ideas for Shared Writing that I can integrate into my English language development curriculum. Procedures are excellent for the beginning of the year and reviewing verbs. School Alphabet book is a great way to do with a thematic unit. I might use that with a rain forest unit with the first graders. Research reports on non-fiction texts would be great to do as an extension for a unit. I have used recipes for shared writing and directions on how to make soup. This was a great activity. Then we made the soup and used our senses to describe the soup. New student hand book would be a great thing for level 3-4 ELL students to design for newcomers. They could make a bilingual picture book welcoming students. I love doing literacy charts and observation charts. I also love the t-chart with what you expect the classroom to look like and sound like during a specific activity. I also enjoy shared writing to do a retell of a story and focus on a specific language goal. I will implement some new ideas from Routman this coming school year!
Ch. 6
I also agree with Routman that there is a deep connection between reading and writing. Students’ writing often exemplifies their reading capabilities. The more students read the more language they acquire and they experience more language models in a written form. It is important to take the shared writing and use it as shared reading as well. Using the students own writing helps to engage all learners. This is great for English Language Learners. This provides a model for pacing and helps increase fluency. I will do shared writing using our vocabulary words. We write a short story and then I type it up. Kids take it around school and home and get a signature for every person that they read it to. Students are motivated to do this.
Read alouds exposes students to a higher register of language and increases language acquisition for ELLs. During read alouds, I like students to listen and sketch. They sketch an image they make in their mind. I stop at several points in the text and let them sketch. They also identify any vocabulary words that they heard.
The more we integrate reading and writing, the better off the students will be. Teachers can maximize the amount of time students spend reading and writing.
Ch 4
ReplyDeleteAs I visit many of the other classes in my building, I see many teachers using worksheets. This becomes a problem when they enter classes like mine, where I rarely use them. Many of our students have difficulty managing their behaviour when working in small groups and thinking on a critical level. Worksheets rarely get students to the higher levels of Bloom's, such as analysis, critique, and especially creativity. I read in a recent article that CEOs value creativity above all other aspects of desirable employees. So, getting students out of the worksheets not only helps them learn to a higher degree, but will also allow them to be more marketable as employees and citizens.
I find that many administrators believe raising expectations means allowing more students to pass the classes, which actually means LOWERING standards. The way state testing is administered is moving more towards requiring formulaic writing that fits set criteria of mechanics, while ignoring the message. Computers will be used to grade high school writing next year, which will be unable to assess thought, creativity, and argument. I fear this will cause more and more teachers to focus on the mechanics of writing, rather than raising the expectations of communication and audience. However, as Regie adds in other chapters, raising the expectations for communication and using Shared Writing will also assist in raising performance of mechanics. I hope more teachers realize this.
Ch 5
I like the theory of Shared Writing allowing disadvantaged and struggling writers the safe opportunity to offer their writing as examples. Of course, we write longer pieces at the high school level, but I know we can apply the Shared Writing approach on small assignments and portions of larger pieces. No matter how many times I cover referencing sources in research papers, it seems like my students just don't grasp the concept. Citation-Maker does not help, as the students believe it is 100% correct. The problem lies in how to find the information. I will use Shared Writing to explore this process and use more shared demonstrations next year, allowing us to cover small bits of information.
I am still a bit frustrated by the elementary focus of the book. Most of the concepts are applicable to high school, but I would like to have some examples of how they can be applied to the high school schedule and advanced concepts we encounter.
I liked the "Tried and True" list Regie includes in this chapter. I found about 28 ideas that I would like to incorporate into my curriculum for next year. These will help me design my units to include more writing and varied assignments.
Ch. 6
I like the section on teaching students to reread their writing. I don't know how many times I find papers that have many errors that would be caught when reread ("sit" with an extra letter is still a word, but is not something you should do in a theatre seat), but are not even spell-checked. When I have students read elements of their papers back to me, they notice their mistakes, which tells me they do not do this on their own. I will use more reading pairs and small groups to use this next year.
I would also like to implement more informational text into my classes. Students believe that research writing is bland and un-creative, which is not the case. Finding entertaining pieces of non-fiction could help them with their own writing. Also, since I don't have my students all day long, I am going to try to have them write about reading materials from their other classes. ("Explain what you learned in your last class", etc.)
My students also have problems summarizing information and finding the central argument in pieces they read. Regie's section on teaching summary writing will come in handy.
Amy Jensen
ReplyDeleteWriting Essentials
Assignment #4
A couple of years ago I was bogged down by all these writing papers to grade, which take an especially longer time in the intermediate grade levels. Basically, most of it was worksheets and those pointless types of assessments. A teacher mentor/our Reading Coach asked permission if she could show me how to handle the problem. Of course I said yes, please help me and she threw them all in recycling. It was the best feeling ever to be free of all that work that truly was pointless! I whole- heartedly agree with the end to worksheets. I HATE busy work. That is what I give my sub in a desperate situation. Real assessments are the authentic work that has true meaning and directly relates to what you are teaching and standards you are assessing and like she said helping students truly write!
I had many moments of "aha's" reading these three chapters! The biggest area I need to change and focus on next year is the shared writing. I am very good at modeling and assigning independent work, but the shared writing is HUGE! So many times last year I kept telling my teaching partner they just don't get it! That's because like her camera example they needed much more practice and the shared writing activities are perfect for meeting that need! I am really looking forward to implementing more of that next year!!! Woo Hoo!
I admit, I accepted sloppy work from students last year. Did I have low expectations? NO!!! I set very high expectations for EVERY student in my class so I feel good about that. I also feel good about the writing map our district has in place for all grade levels. It allows each teacher to see where they should be and what should have been taught before you, what they need to know from you and where they are headed. Our writing task force worked very hard on it and I am impressed with what they did! The handwriting issue though, needs to be addressed from the get go. That was my fault last year. I agree that their writing is a first impression and published work should be their absolute perfect best. After all that is the way it is in the real world. These are great things for me to start the year with next year. I think at the beginning is when you really set the tone and I plan to do that this year!
All the reading/writing connections I do all the time. However, the lessons about summary writing and book blurbs is great. I have struggled so much with teaching summary. This was so helpful and again that shared writing piece is key! Great chapters!!!
I hope these are actually getting posted???
ReplyDeleteI keep getting messages that they are too large.
Hi Leon,
ReplyDeleteWe’re glad you enjoyed the chapters. Absolutely! Writing across the curriculum seems to be the only way to fit everything in. It does sound like your school is headed in the right direction! A comforting thought I’m sure!
Hello Kirky!
For the children who struggle with knowing what to write about I think it’s easiest for them to write about things that happen during school that the teacher also knows about. This way the teacher can guide the student and remind the student of important pieces to include in the writing piece. A field trip, as special speaker, an accident on the playground. Another thing to do is to use stories as a framework; like a happy-sad-happy story, or a happy-scared-relieved story. I also have students keep a list of ideas to write about, but have found that struggling students don’t use them. Also, working with the child and having them orally tell you the story and repeat it will help them. You can even have different pieces of paper out to help the child visually see where the story segments would go. You can use post-it notes to also assist the child. If you believe the child is capable of writing, but just stuck, maybe you want to tell them to quickly sketch out what they are thinking about. Sometimes a quick picture or jotting some notes down can help jumpstart the creative juices.
Kirky,
ReplyDeleteI’m not thinking of any books off the top of my head that are a resource of picture books to use with writing genres or skills. I keep a file at school with lists, but what I do when I need a specific example and I can’t think of one is that I Google it. I also ask the other librarians or literacy coaches if I’m stuck.
Hi Shawna,
I think as educators we all know that we should be asking higher order thinking questions, but in the race against time, often we just try to cover the curriculum so we can move onto the next subject, lesson, or unit. It’s good to be reminded of things that we already know are important. It might take keeping a list of Bloom’s Taxanomy near by, in order to remind us to really think about what we are asking our students to do.
Chuck, I think you touch on an important point that teachers in all grades could use a reminder… teachers need to review lessons later to reinforce the concept or point. In addition to the many other important components teachers need to remember for effective instruction, time must be given to review. If we just breeze over lessons and expect students to retain and have a deeper understanding of what we are trying to teach them, there is little chance that real learning is taking place. This applies not only to writing or behavior expectations but all areas of instruction.
Hello Rachael,
ReplyDeleteNonfiction or “Informational Texts” are a great way to reach reluctant readers. Maybe you or others in this class might want to ask their principal, PTO or Director of Curriculum for some funds to beef up their collection. It can’t hurt to ask. Be specific and explain why you need more informational texts in your class. Make sure to give an amount that you would like.
Hi Heather.
I agree with you. I also never wanted to know about my new students. I wouldn’t open their files until I got to know them and make my own judgment. I found this worked best for my students and me. Bundling makes a lot of sense. With our time constraints it’s smart, efficient teaching.
Hey Jessica,
You are so right, high standards result in better quality work. As Chuck said, we need to have the supports in place to allow this to happen. Just wishing it so isn’t enough.
I love the idea about the signatures! I can see how this is motivating for the students.
Great point James! As you said students have a hard time managing their behavior in small groups- collaborating is another highly desired skill by businesses. We’re glad that you are able to find useful ideas to use next year in spite of feeling that the text is geared more for lower grades. The course is actually supposed to be K-8, which is how TINT has it listed, but PSU had it as K-12. I emailed them to fix this in the catalog when you mentioned your concern earlier in the summer. Hopefully you will continue to find material that will work for you and your program.
ReplyDeleteLast term, we had a high school teacher who shared that he would return any paper that had 5 mistakes on it. His practice was not to correct anything with this many errors and the students needed to reread and fix the errors before receiving a grade. Another couple of students shared that they had their students read their paper backwards to catch mistakes. I know that I can reread something over and over and once I send it or print it I’ll find more mistakes. Great ideas to find interesting well-written research writing and having the students write about what they learned in their last class. Simple, quick, informative!
Amy, I remember when my principal showed me the “circular file.” I also felt a sense of relief. Your posts are coming up just fine. Glad you enjoyed the chapters and found useful information!