ASSIGNMENT TWO: WRITTEN REFLECTION–Section One- The Essential Writing Life Chapters 1-3
Briefly reflect on the following comments written below from Chapters 1-3 and any additional thoughts that you have after reading these chapters.
Chapter 1: Simplify the Teaching of Writing• Simplify our teaching
• Becoming more knowledgeable about teaching writing
• Examine your beliefs
Regie gets to the heart of her book Writing Essentials with this quote on the final page of Chapter One: “By reducing the clutter in our teaching lives-the overplanning, the unnecessary activities, the paper load, all the ‘stuff’ that takes our time and energy and does little to improve teaching and learning-we bring joy back into our work and the world of our students.” Many of us work very hard and spend many hours complicating our teaching lives. In this book Regie will help you simplify your teaching life for your benefit and that of your students.
One of the frustrations that teachers encounter regularly is the ever changing “latest and best” writing programs that districts or states force on them and their students. With this revolving cycle of programs, teachers are spending too much time learning how to use the program rather than becoming better writing teachers. Regie explains that in the districts where students are the best writers, they are writing for real purposes and audiences and publishing their writing; teachers are not using prescribed writing programs.
Look at Appendix A (page A-2.) Examine your beliefs about writing by reading the statements about the writing process and marking true or false in your book. (Go ahead and write in your book, it’s OK! You can even use a pencil and mark very lightly if you want to.) We found this activity very enlightening. Let us know what you think after you complete the activity.
In your reflection for Section One, please include your thoughts about the following questions or statements:
• Regie demonstrates how to use the Optimal Learning Model (shown on the front cover and page 11) throughout the book. Consider how the Optimal Learning Model fits into your own instruction.
• As you think about how to teach writing so that all students can become successful, effective and joyful writers, reflect on how you presently teach the “12 Writing Essentials” (as described on pages 13-14 in the text) during your daily writing instruction. As we continue to read through Regie’s book, hopefully you will begin to see how you might make changes in your instruction to better incorporate these “12 Writing Essentials.”
Chapter 2: Start With Celebration
• Make sure writing is meaningful not just correct
• Use stories as springboards and ensure that ALL students hear stories
• Write in front of your students and connect home and school
The title of Chapter Two simply states, “Start with Celebration,” and that’s exactly what we need to do for our students. The celebration of all students’ writing needs to be put into the forefront and be made our first teaching goal. Celebrations should happen school-wide, within our classrooms and with students individually. As children begin to see themselves as successful writers, they will take more risks in their writing and in turn will become better writers who enjoy the writing process.
Another key point that Regie highlights in this chapter is to “make sure writing is meaningful, not just correct!” Students need to understand that writing is “enjoyable and for a real purpose and audience.” She also reminds us “that teaching skills in isolation does not make student writers; neither does teaching to the test. And breaking writing into bits and pieces robs children of the joy of writing.”
Regie suggests using stories as a springboard for teaching and learning. Hearing and telling stories builds our students’ oral language skills and these stories are “an entryway into reading and writing.” Only when students are reading and writing real stories can they connect the “skills” based learning to their reading and writing!
Please include your thoughts about the following questions or statements in your written reflection of Section One:• Regie explains how important celebrating student writing is. How do you celebrate student writing in your classroom? How might you add more celebration of student writing to your day/year?
• Consider what changes you could make in your writing instruction to make writing more meaningful and purposeful for your students.
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Assignment Two
ReplyDeleteI use only parts of the Optimal Learning Model in my classroom. I initiate, but I have a difficult time modeling, demonstrating and showing how to “do it”. I do give time for students to apply what they learn, problem solve and work independently. I realize after reading chapter one in Regie’s book that I also need to allow more time for students to think, and collaborate with other students about their writing. Letting go of a quiet and everyone working independently writing environment has to be my priority.
In order to celebrate writing in my classroom, we have what we call “author’s chair” in which students may read their writing in front of the class, complete with podium and microphone. At first very few students were willing to read their stories, now my students can’t wait to share with the class what they have written. Displaying students’ writing will also help celebrate students writing, I need to find a place to display their work. Another goal of mine is to take a closer look at stories I’m reading during read aloud time and generate discussions on author’s purpose, and techniques authors use to capture their readers.
Several years ago I had my students write in journals every day. I moved away from that because I didn’t have time to cover all of the genres we’re supposed to teach in second grade. After reading chapter two, I think I need to go back to allowing my students time to write in journals, maybe not everyday, but at least a couple of times a week. Free writing time for students to write about their own interests also needs to be a priority in my classroom, I get so focused on what we need to accomplish for our district goals, I’m not allowing enough time for students to write for fun.
Assignment Two
ReplyDeleteThe lessons that I taught my 3rd grade included many aspects of the Optimal Learning Model. I began most of my lesson by reading or writing aloud. The first unit I taught was called the Launching Unit.
Early in the fall I read Thank You Mr. Faulker by Patricia Polacco to begin a lesson about writing for meaning. Then as a class we shared ideas about what was important to the author of the story and why it was it important to her. Then I asked to students to think about what was important to them. The students had many ideas such as birthdays, family, friends, pets, vacations, sports, etc. We began that day to fill in our heart maps, a heart shaped paper that the students filled in with topics that had meaning for them and that they might write about. They kept their heart maps in their writing folders for ideas and they kept adding to them as they got new ideas. For some students this was an easy and fun activity. For others it was difficult and tedious. The challenge for me was to reach all students and give them enough time.
I am thinking a lot more about writing since reading for this class. I subbed for a 3rd grade recently and when I taught the writing piece I made a more conscious effort to give the students enough time to share with each other and then time to share with the class. In the past I would have thought they were taking too long but not I am seeing how long it does take to think and get your ideas down on paper.
We were working on ideas to create an imaginative story. We started with ideas for a character. First they wrote down three real people they knew, them they wrote down three completely imaginary characters and then we brainstormed three people with a twist. First I shared some of my own ideas. Then the class wrote a few ideas of their own and then I gave them time to share with each other. Lastly they took turns sharing with the whole class. Most students just loved this and were very eager to share their ideas. There were a lot of laughs and giggles when they created people with a twist.
Assignment Two (continued)
ReplyDeleteI love the 12 Writing Essentials and intend to make more use of them. Although I didn’t have the list when I taught my 3rd graders I was using several of the ideas. We did a lot of planning for our personal narratives. Because I had a wonderful volunteer helping me three days a week I was really able to reach every student to determine that they had a valid idea for their story, something that they truly cared about and would be able to write about. The students all sketched a series of drawings to tell their story using descriptive words, color words, feelings and thought bubbles. The students were very engaged in this process and kept their sketches for the entire period that they worked on their personal narratives. It was their map so to speak. I tried to find the time to have students explain their sketch to me or to another student.
We also worked hard on creating good leads. I modeled this more than once. The class did a lot of sharing and the kids critiqued each other.
The class wrote a “small moments” piece in the fall that they revised and edited and revised some more. Most students ended up with wonderful short stories that I shared with their families at parent teacher conferences in November.
In my classroom I celebrated children’s writing by hanging their writing pieces around the classroom and in the hallways. During the first week of school each student created a self-portrait, which was hung in the classroom. Under each portrait hangs their most recent writing. We also had time for sharing in the classroom.
With my help a small group of TAG (Talented and Gifted) students created a student newspaper. Although their first issue (Jan 2011) was only two pages long they were very excited to create it and get it published. They wrote stories about OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry), a review of the latest Bone book by Jeff Smith, a few fun brain busters, a piece about the Silly Bandz rage, some jokes and interesting fun facts, and a few haikus written by their classmates. They were allowed to print a few copies for each class at school and they also have a copy posted in the hallway by their classroom. It was such a positive way to encourage writing and the joy of writing.
When I think of the Optimal Learning Model, I repeatedly think to myself: Model, Model, Model! Yet somehow days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months and I notice I haven’t modeled writing in forever. I realize that each year I start out modeling my writing, but as the year goes on, I gradually give them more time to write themselves. Following the model, it would be accurate to have this gradual release of responsibility but I still believe that I should be modeling what good writer’s do on a weekly basis. The majority of my students are so excited to write that many times they ask me “Can we just go write now?” How can you say no to that? I tell my students every year that my goal for them is to enjoy writing. Period. I tell them to throw out the idea that they hate writing and that this year writing won’t be painful. Obviously it still is painful for some of them. My writer’s workshop continues to get shorter and shorter every year because my schedule continuously gets modified. There is not nearly the flexibility that I used to have. Because of that, I feel like I use up precious time modeling my writing, when I really need them writing. Some days I just read excerpts of books or I read five books with great hooks or leads and then let them loose to try that strategy. On most days, they beg for the whole story because if there is one that my students treasure year after year, it’s being read aloud to.
ReplyDeleteIt appears that I use the majority of the “12 Writing Essentials” as I teach writing. While I do talk with the students about audience and purpose, I realize that I need to do a better job of making that a part of their daily vocabulary. For example, I use the phrase “As I was reading, this part sparked my memory by…” I frequently hear the students saying “When you read that, it sparked my memory and reminded me…”
I feel like many of my teaching moments happen when I just check in with students. That is when I am able to gently mention they need spaces between their words or if they need help getting started. I try to only focus on one or two things for them to correct because otherwise it can damage their self-esteem as writers. I always refer them as writers and we frequently take about where authors and illustrators get their ideas. I tell them that their ideas are the most important and after they have written something, then and only then can we fix it up. We do not focus on editing until they are ready to publish their writing. My students are at such different stages of writing developmentally that the “12 Writing Essentials” leaves it open-ended enough to allow those that are ready to take the next step. I have found that if their affective filters are low, they are more capable of taking the constructive criticism.
We celebrate writing daily in our room. Typically, because of time restraints, they share their writing from their seats. I prefer to gather again at the carpet to share, but I dislike wasting that time transitioning to the carpet. The students that volunteer to share their writing receive a sticker and that they usually display it on the cover of their journals. They enjoy counting the number of stickers they receive and it’s an easy way for me to see who has been sharing. In order to celebrate more writing in our classroom, we are going to publish their stories, laminate them and bind them into a classroom book. The first book we are making is just a random compilation of stories but we’d like to make a book with a theme.
ReplyDeleteSome changes that I need to make include telling them specifically what is great about their writing and getting them to buy into publishing a class book on a topic that they can all agree on. I rarely limit their choice as to what they can write about, so when I do, there are some grumblings. It is also challenging to convince some students that what they have to say is meaningful. I try to show them that the ordinary, everyday things that occur in their lives are interesting and can be turned into a story that they can be proud of. They don’t have to travel to far away places to have a great story and nobody can tell their story like they can.
Hi Karrie,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about giving them time to talk to each other about their writing. I have to admit that it always seems like an all or nothing deal in our room. Meaning that they seem to have a challenging time silent writing some days and working quietly on other days. So now I usually have them share their ideas with each other at the carpet, but once they get back to their seats, it's silent. They can chat again when they are peer editing and this process seems to work well then.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for all the thoughtful comments Karrie, Lisa & Beth! I loved the way all of you encourage a climate of “authorship” in your classrooms, by giving students opportunities to celebrate their hard work as writers. I think that the bottom line is that as good teachers in ALL areas of instruction, we KNOW that using the OLM is good teaching…but the struggle comes in when we need to decide how to fit it all in…as our curriculum continues to “march on”. There are just so many times when you know you really should be providing them more of that modeling, or independent practice depending on the skill and how the children are showing understanding….but you always feel the pressure of needing to move on, not wanting to get too far behind. I also see that in my building in general, the first thing to go is the writing block when everyone feels the crunch, as Lisa stated. It’s not that I’m voting for a longer school day, but there just isn’t enough time to teach the curriculum that’s expected to get taught. I agree that kids need to talk about their writing…and think it is a super idea to have them chat with writing partners before they go off to work independently!!! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAlready my head is spinning with new ideas for teaching writing in my classroom. I've already thrown out my lesson plan for next week. Over the years, I've tried to stick to the optimal learning model with "I do it", "we do it," "you do it." I see a great deal of value in sharing personal experiences with students and modeling story writing together.
ReplyDeleteOf the 12 writing essentials, I feel like I am stongest in helping students come up with engaging leads. Most of the time when we start a writing project, I have students volunteer to read aloud their story beginnings. As a few start to share, more and more hands go up to volunteer to read theirs as well. We comment on what we like about the beginnings that are most engaging. When a student is worried that someone will copy his/her beginning, I always say that "copying is a compliment."
The next section of the chapter brought to mind two students that I currently have in class. Both are 3rd graders. Last year's teacher told me that one of the students named Noah will never write. Noah definitely struggles with writing. I've decided this year, that I would only focus on ideas with him. He didn't need me to circle every spelling mistake on his paper and have him rewrite paper after paper. Now Noah is writing half page papers and feeling more successful as a writer. The other student is Alexis. I feel I may have squelched her love of writing by being over critical of her work. I did circle her mistakes on the last paper we did and I had her rewrite her paper over again. She had great ideas and I pointed those out, however, after she looked at her paper with the red marks all over it, the expression on her face broke my heart. After reading this chapter, I need to rethink how I correct student papers.
Last week we made "personal posters." On these posters, students post assignments that they are proud of. I noticed that many students posted some of their writing assignments. I feel that if I'm more positive about their work, more students will want to share writing on the wall. In addition, I do have students read aloud their stories if they want to. Many times I have them partner read or read to a small group instead of the whole class which can be intimidating for some. I'm anxious to start trying some of the ideas rolling around in my head.
I’ve been teaching writing for all 23 years of my career in grades first through fifth. What I find interesting is that I am still trying to get better, I’m never satisfied with my “writing program”!
ReplyDeleteAt one of our staff meetings a few weeks ago, our principal asked each grade level to list the top three problem areas we see in our student’s writing. It was amazing, every grade level, 1st through 8th, had the same main problems: spelling, organization, and conventions. So I went back to my class the next day and told my 5th graders what we teachers had discovered. I asked them, why! If they have been taught to capitalize every first letter in the first word of every sentence since first grade, why were they still not doing that? Why were they still spelling words like, there when it should be their, or with like whith, and because like becus? Their responses were very interesting. It took them a few minutes to gather the courage to speak, they were afraid that I would get mad. After reassuring them that I wouldn’t, one brave girl raised her hand to say that it took too long to look up words, reread, and revise their writing. Then another spoke up and said he just wanted to get it done.
I know what I definitely want to change right away in my writing program; not to teach grammar, spelling, and punctuation skills in isolation. I want to use the kids writing and even mine to model what is expected. I would love to use more mentor texts too. I need help with that though. I find it takes a lot of time to search out the right books to use for particular examples.
I love the “12 Writing Essentials” Regie outlines for us in chapter one. I need to have a copy displayed at all times so I can be reminded of them each day. Right off the bat the first essential, “write for a specific reader”, is one I am always forgetting to discuss with my students. It is so important to know who your audience is and why you are writing this piece.
When I taught the younger kids, I would allow for so much more “free writing” time, which was, they could pick any topic to write about, and there were no prompts or specific criteria to follow. We even took more time to celebrate writing! Now, in fifth grade, there is greater pressure to get my students to master all six writing traits so they meet benchmark, AND I look like I have done my job! I think the joy of writing has gotten lost, and my kids don’t put any effort in to it. With all the subjects I have to cover during our day, I haven’t found time to celebrate and share our writing pieces!
I will be making more time for sharing writing from now on! I remember how eager and proud the kids would be to get up and read a poem or story they wrote! I use to tell the class that they could only share finished pieces, but now I believe that it is important for kids to hear how their peers develop stories and even how they go back and change some parts.
One of my biggest fears was writing in front of my fifth graders, so I never would. But there were times that I was brave enough, and I would type up a piece of writing and share only my finished copy. I know now that I have to get over the fear and model, model, model. I even caught myself the other day when I was drafting a parent letter, thinking that I should be doing this in front of the class. I know they would see how even their teacher has to reread as she writes, and even look up some words in a dictionary.
I believe it is time to slow down a little and make my teaching about quality and not quantity!!!
Thanks Ann and Tracy for your reflections on the first section.
ReplyDeleteAnn – I’m glad that you are “spinning” with some great ideas…just don’t get yourself overwhelmed and too frustrated :) I loved your comment, “copying is a compliment”, when we study author’s craft, that’s exactly what we are trying to get kids to do – figure out what an author is doing in their writing…and then going to try it out yourself! As far as your concern with your student Alexis, I would talk to her about how you feel and that you would like to come up with a solution for the future. If her errors are in spelling, you could come up with some sort of “deal” together on what the bottom line for words that must be spelled correctly. You can build the list up slowly adding a word/words weekly. If the errors are grammatical or organizational…I’d pick one focus at a time to work on with her, and only correct for the work she’s worked on with you successfully (just a thought….she’ll be fine and love the attention from you!).
Tracy – I think that the best teachers are the ones who are reflective and ALWAYS know that there are ways in which they can improve their teaching. You might want to have kids peer review (without names) a classmates paper, noting what the common spelling, punctuation, and editing errors are. Then create common class list of “Non-negotiables” that you can add to weekly. All students in the class must agree to be accountable for these “non-negotiables” in all writing that they do. When I did this with my 4th grade class, there wasn’t 100% perfection, but there was a significant difference in the number of sloppy errors due to an increase of their awareness. “Yeah!!!” to slowing down and teaching for quality and not quantity…unfortunately, with the burden of impossible curriculums and state testing, our classroom can become very difficult for both students and teachers to breathe in!!!
Thank you Jackie and Mary for your comments. I will definitely have the kids peer review some classmates' nameless papers. I love the idea of charting a list of "non-negotiables". I will be implementing both suggestions first thing next week! Thanks again!
ReplyDeletePart 1
ReplyDeleteWow! These first three chapters really were a sigh of relief for me. Here I was pulling my hair out as to what to do with my kindergarteners. The basic theme I came away with was let the kids write what interests them! Seems so basic. We adults do that so why not let kids?! I thought the talking about writing was so important, especially in kindergarten where you are essentially setting the stage for their future writing attitude!! Although I have just scratched the surface of this book, I still have fears about how to teach them. I don't want them copying everything I write. I am already sensing frustration because they don't know how to spell words even though I have modeled what to do.
It is interesting how I am pretty focused on using the Optimal Learning Model in every other subject but I neglected to apply it to writing. I, as I sure most teachers are, am making it to hard!!! What an aha moment.
Concerning the 12 Writing Essentials list - well, lets just say I had to work very diligently just to get them to form letters correctly (and identify them) and how to hold a pencil correctly. Not that I force them to write, I know that pictures in kindergarten is developmentally appropriate, but I needed to start somewhere. I did a "Star of the Day" and we did rainbow writing. I felt it was a great start and kids loved it. But, we are beyond that, hence my reason for taking this class. We need to delve into writing as an integral part of our VERY SHORT morning!!!
Part 2
The way in which I celebrate my students writing is through authors chair. I choose kids who want to read their writing and then their peers (and I) give compliments. We don't give comments on structure or conventions, purely content. Thank goodness I have been doing that right!!! Ways in which I will further celebrate their writing is by having them read their stories to their 4th grade buddies, posting published papers on our hall bulletin board, making a class newspaper to send home to families, and compiling a class book(s) for our library.
Currently I have a mail station set up in my classroom with all the children having their own "mailbox". My idea was to have the kids write notes to each other with the rule being if you get one you have to give one. I have a big poster over the "mailboxes" of a postman putting mail into a mailbox. Very cute - my friend who is an artist drew it for me. My hope is this will be a fun and enjoyable time. I am hoping to keep it somewhat non-structured as I want them to write but at an appropriate time or maybe at home.
Finally, I wanted to comment on something I found interesting but sad. The little girls writing that differed from home to school. I definitely hope I can avoid that problem!!
Thank you for reading.
Sincerely,
Erin Dugan
The Optimal Learning Model is something that fits nicely with the workshop model that I use to teach writing. Modeling writing for the students is something I have been focusing on this year, and is so important for developing writers. I need to work on giving students more time to share their work with peers. A way to do this is to extend the time I allot for writing, we always seem to run out of time! In the 12 writing essentials, the most important thing for me is to emphasize the purpose of writing assignments I give my students. Knowing your purpose and audience makes writing much more meaningful! When I struggle with my instruction, the 12 essentials are a great tool to look at to get me back on track!
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at the writing beliefs in the Appendix, I found myself agreeing with many statements, but also questioning some statements that I wasn’t sure I should agree with! This exercise really got me thinking about my writing practices and areas where I need to improve or change my instruction.
I do not celebrate writing in my classroom nearly enough. The only time that I do is if a student has written something that stands out to me, and then I share it with the class. That’s not good! The day after I read this chapter in writing workshop I had students share leads for their legends they are writing. There was so much excitement in the room as we celebrated their creative ideas. I plan to continue celebrating writing in my classroom this year by inviting parents in during our poetry unit, and sharing our finished legends with our 5th grade buddy class. On a daily basis, I would like to celebrate by picking one student a day to share. Continuing to make sure that I give students choice in what they write about is what I am going to focus on, for students to feel that their writing is purposeful. As I mentioned before, modeling and sharing also makes writing assignments more meaningful and is something I continue to focus on.
It was interesting for me to read about the optimal learning model. I always try to hand over the responsibility to the students as the year progresses, but this was a great way to show that. Just thinking about who is holding the pen was interesting. It made me think that the students should be more involved even in the modeling process, using their writing as an example may be more meaningful for the students. The 12 writing essentials for all grades was so interesting, and I plan to keep referring back to this list all year. The one I am working on right now is Crafting Authentic Voice. We are looking at examples and sharing ways to add voice to our writing. The kids are excited about making their writing sound more life like!
ReplyDeleteI would love to start celebrating our writing more. Writing should be something that the kids enjoy and feel proud of. I can start the process by making sure that when I model a writing lesson, I am not only showing them the mechanic, but showing them how much I love writing. Sharing our writing with peers each day could be a great way to celebrate our writing. Having other classrooms, adults, or community members read their writing is a great way to celebrate their hard work. After reading this chapter, I realized that the writing we do is pretty basic- they are all stories. Usually stories that I tell them to write about. When I give them free time to write, they are usually so creative and love it. They make poems, lists, pretend newspaper articles and word searches. I realized that this is what I should be having them do during our writing time. Why not have them write about what they really love while we work on mechanics and voice, and other traits?
At a staff meeting at the very beginning of the school year, we had to write about ourselves. Two teachers had attended a writing conference and learned an interesting way to write biographies. We knew we would have to share in groups when we were done. I was so worried the whole time that my writing was not going to be as good, and so I was not enjoying the assignment. I didn’t want to read in front of anyone because I thought their writing would be better. That took away from the project. Afterward I realized that it was not as bad as I thought it was to read in front of others, and I thought that if I had to do this more often, it would probably become easier for me. If my students get used to sharing with others, then they would probably even begin to enjoy it.
Thanks Erin, Nicole and Kelly for sharing your comments.
ReplyDeleteErin – I think it’s great that you are so focused on using the Optimal Learning Model in most areas of instruction in your Kindergarten class. It is the heart of any grade’s classroom instruction, but in the primary especially, they need so much of the modeled, shared, and guided portion to acquire the independence necessary. All you need to do is tweak your writing instruction to include the same :) You mentioned your “short morning”…are you ½ day K? If so, it is so hard (if not impossible) to fit it all in. In the district I teach it is ½ day, but we are moving to full day in the 12-13 school year! I loved both of your ideas of having your Ks share with upper grade writing buddies as well as the “mailbox” and letter writing.
Nicole – Several years back, I moved from a reading coaching position into a 4th grade classroom job, just to put all of the great PD I’d been able to experience (and give myself) into practice….you know the whole “practice what you preach” idea. Several months into the school year, I decided I just wasn’t happy with the way writing was going, so… two things I focused on in my writing workshop – purpose & audience….and WOW!!! What a difference in the students writing there was. It was absolutely unbelievable how much better their writing had become. I’m glad that your students were so excited about sharing their leads, our schedules get ridiculously busy, and unfortunately, that share time and celebration of our writing seem to go first!
Kelly –That is absolutely wonderful if you have the flexibility to switch your writing instruction from prompted writing to a true writing workshop where students have choice & voice!!! I think so many teachers feel exactly the same way you felt about having to share some of their personal writing with peers. Several summers ago, I participated in the Connecticut Writing Project, and finally had the “opportunity” to write and then share my writing with colleagues. It was scary, but it the end, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment.
The Optimal Learning Model is a great reminder of the gradual release of responsibility. With first graders I think this is very important in my classroom. I model A LOT for my students, and it often takes multiple times for it to click with them. The handover can be hard with young writers, who need lots of support and guidance with the very basics of writing. However, I have come to realize that I need to keep my expectations high because with the correct support my students are capable of a lot!
ReplyDeleteThe “12 Writing Essentials” are a great reminder of how a writer’s workshop should be run. One of the most important to me is to write for a meaningful purpose. I think it is so important for young writers to know who their audience is and why they are writing something. I also make a focus on elaborating on ideas. It is so common for first graders to write, “I went to a birthday party. It was fun.” and then be done with their writing. I often have them think about questions someone would ask them if they were to read their writing to someone else. I am always trying to get more detail into their writing.
I agree with Regie that it is so important to celebrate student writing! I try to do this daily by picking two students to share their writing at the beginning of writer’s workshop the following day. This has led to improved handwriting, more detailed stories, and overall better craftsmanship. Each Monday I have my students write a “Weekend News” which I send home so their parents can see their writing and hear about what was important to them over the weekend. Any time we publish a book I try to incorporate it into a time to share with our older buddies, or parents. (Either during conferences or during an open house.) I also have my students share their writing with a partner so that they have a real audience. The ways that I could make my writing more meaningful would be to have more of a variety and choice each day. We mainly write in their journals, but having options would be great. Whether it be lists, how to’s, poems, or letters. I think that would add a lot of meaning to my writing time.
While reading about the Optimal Learning Model I realized how frequently I use it. Kindergarteners and first graders are very visual and before we begin any assignment demonstration is always the first step. I have found that the level for “handover of responsibility” tends to vary according to each class I have and their ability level. For example, this year my class seems to need a lot of extra scaffolding and guidance before they are comfortable doing an assignment independently.
ReplyDeleteAs I began reading about the 12 Essentials of Writing I realized just how much I have been leaving out of my writing instruction. I have previously learned about many of the different essentials and reviewing them reminded me of what I use to do with my K students and what I am not doing now with my first graders. I really hope to change this. There were a few things I noticed that I am doing, such as applying correct conventions and form, however, I feel like this is all I am ever doing. I could relate to the first grade teacher later in the chapter who tries to get her students to write but all they can do is tell her different mechanical rules. After I read that I have been very careful of the words and directions I give my students when I give them an assignment.
We also have been working on elaborating ideas. At the beginning of the school year my students would give me one or two word answers and say they were finished with their writing. I have been trying to get them to tell me more, give me more details, tell me why they like something, or who they did something with.
While I don’t specifically teach my students about crafting authentic voice, it is something I point out in their writing. When I am working with a student who is beginning to use humor or write with some personality as so many first graders do I compliment them, or if students are sharing their stories with the class and are receiving compliments from other students about their writing they are usually about the humor.
I really enjoyed Chapter 2, it gave me inspiration and ideas to try with my class. I love reading stories with my class, and in previous years we would read a book, then write our own class book and put it in the class library. This year I have not done this, something so simple, but I just have not thought about it. It was such a great way to celebrate and publish their writing, I definitely want to start working on one.
Writing in front of my class is something else I want to work on. While I do some writing, after reading this chapter I know I am not doing enough. This is a simple step I need to work on from my end that will make such a huge difference in my students writing.
I feel I am not celebrating my students’ writing as much as I could. Currently, my students are given the opportunity to share their writing with the class, I post their writing on the class bulletin boards, and I try to write individual, specific praise and comments on their writing assignments. I also found the story of first grader teacher Cindy Coronado helpful. It reminded me and showed me how important it is to celebrate ALL students.
Thanks Kristin and Jennifer for your comments. It's obvious you both understand just how important it is to use the OLM with your first graders. I loved Kristin's comment about how all kids can meet your high expectations with the correct amount of support....and as Jennifer pointed out....sometimes that amount of support required will definitely vary depending on class or individual :)
ReplyDeleteFor the first 8 years of my teaching career, I have strived to simplify my teaching. We are overloaded with the stuff of our school, district, and state. There is no more time in the school day or the small amount of sanity we teachers have at the end of the day for "more". Being able to simplify writing will make me be able to focus on it. The most difficult part for me, is to get meaningful assignments done in a timely fashion that makes sense for all students. For some it is 1 week or 1 day or three weeks. A 1-week assignment turns into a month-long process.
ReplyDeleteRight now I would say that I teach the optimal reading level on each assignment rather than as a gradual process throughout the year. I am not allowing students time to grow before they are challenged as writers. I try and put each piece into a slot of time in my day instead of with the actual writing assignment. Most of our assignments are focused on organization then sentence fluency followed by conventions. I assume too much about their ability to create with voice and purpose. We do play with words and elaboration, but that is often in poetry and spelling. I need to focus more on using our writing to teach these lessons instead.
Our district is focused on unpacking the standards and doing periodic assessments of our students writing at all levels. Every couple of years the writing team comes up with a curriculum to use. Many teachers have seen such things come and go with few buying in completely. My hope is to create an authentic model that allows students to focus on being writers first and the standard at the end of the timeline, rather than just prompts.
My lessons lean toward conventions and fluency since that is where the data leads. I might make one comment about the actual story, but am so focused on fixing, since that is where pressures come in. I love the stories. But then I spend a second telling them about it because we are trying to work towards the assessment. I wish we could do it in May. We have to make up for 4 years of teaching for a variety of reasons.
My hope is that working with the staff at the beginning of the school year we can do more celebrations. But my own responsibility needs to be focused on the student who hates to write or the 1 who struggles to write one sloppy paragraph. I need to recognize even the small gains and create small goals (beautiful adverb/descriptive sentence) for those students.
I have made it a goal to share more of my own stories with my class. I try to make them entertaining as well as relative to them. My issue is that I take too long writing at times. I wonder if I should purposely make mistakes as I write to show them the process. I try to make topics that students will like to write about, but that is an area where I need to allow them to have more input. I also wonder, do I just give the mode and let them choose or do I work within a topic at all times? I want them to have fun and enjoy it. If they don't, I already see they are giving up without a care. I need to allow time for the students to grow before teaching the conventions.
The idea of writing as a staff is the 1 that scares me the most. It has taken me almost 8 years to come out of my shell. My fellow teachers, other than a couple of close friends are coworkers, and not the people I make myself vulnerable to. Writing is very personal with many topics, and I am not one to just open up. Our staff did a staff write a couple of years ago about a childhood event. At that point we shared our drafts anonymously on a bulletin board. This was much more comfortable to me.
Scott continued:
ReplyDeleteI do a decent job of modeling writing through my own stories, but I often skip the most important step: brainstorming ideas. I just jump right into a story that matches the prompt. I need to keep my own journal of ideas and questions as well. I freeze when I think of journaling, so why wouldn't my students do the same. I should make an effort to complete writing assignments with my students as they do theirs.
Thanks Scott! It is so frustrating that testing takes control of so much of the teaching that happens in our classrooms. I wish that as teachers we were allowed to be confident that if we taught our students to be GOOD readers and writers that they would perform well on all state tests. Unfortunately, the stakes are so high, and not many of us are willing to take the risk. I think that working in units of study where we take our writers through the entire writing process within a genre of study is the most effective, because you move students through the gradual release in each phase of the process. I hope that you are able to find the balance!
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