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ASSIGNMENT FIVE: WRITTEN REFLECTION-Section Three- The Essential Writing Day Chapters 7-10
Chapter 7: Be Efficient and Integrate Basic Skills
• How might we integrate skill work into student writing rather than teaching it in isolation?
• Daily Oral Language exercises – THEY DON’T WORK!!!
• The importance of focusing on meaning and quality first
• All writing needs both a PURPOSE and an AUDIENCE
• How thinking aloud can make your teaching more explicit
• Teaching WRITING – not just the language of writing (process, process, process)
• What about writing standards? In your District and State?
• Key writing minilessons
• Revision – how to get students to care about it
• Letting kids in on the secret that – Yes! – Conventions do matter!
• How can we effectively use word walls?
In Chapter 7, suitably titled “Be Efficient and Integrate Basic Skills,” Regie gets to the heart of what so many teachers struggle with: “Fitting it all in!!!” Many of the elementary teachers that we work with are beginning to feel as though their personal motto is: “Jack of all trades; master of none.” We just don’t have the time to teach well what has to be taught. The only answer to this problem is to modify our instruction so it agrees with Regie’s stance that isolated skill work (such as Friday spelling tests, DOL, grammar worksheets…) will not help our students grow into writers (or readers.) On page 144, Regie shares four components for an integrated Writing Workshop:
1. Identify writing genres that would interest students (and meet district requirements)
2. Decide who the audience would be for each piece of writing.*
3. Model your own writing process and show students how you struggle.
4. Have students share writing regularly (for both celebration and great teaching moments.)
*This created the biggest change in my own class’s writing - once my students began to write with an audience in mind, the quality of writing shot right up!
Regie also gets to the heart of what writing with “voice” really is and addresses how to teach children to write with an honest voice in their own writing. She describes voice as “the writer’s unique personality on paper, his own melody in words, her ‘mark’ as an individual. To write with voice, the writer has to be interested in the writing.” We think that many teachers and students are unclear as to how to add true voice to their writing. Regie suggests, “Voice is in the details – but details that show the real person and story behind the words, not just details for the sake of adding more words…”
Integrating those isolated editing skills such as grammar, punctuation, and spelling into our writing will increase the efficiency of our instruction. Bottom line – if the students care about their writing, are writing for a specific audience, and understand that “the importance of editing (and spelling conventionally) is to make their message clear and easy to read for their audience – or reader, they take this job seriously and work hard at making their writing clear.”
Chapter 8: Organize for Daily Writing
• What is our definition of Writing Workshop? What does Regie say?
• How can we have student choice within a structure?
• The importance of writing talk (teachers and students)
• The ultimate nightmare for all of us…scheduling…finding the time to write everyday
• The importance of routines, organization and modeling expected behavior
• Genre study – why it’s important to have both school-wide and district-wide conversations
• The possibilities within genres
Figuring out a way to “fit it all in” is usually one of the most frustrating things many of us face. It starts at the beginning of the year as we first plan our daily schedule and continues throughout the remainder of the year. Considering how you will create your schedule to include a solid chunk of time for both reading and writing will probably be the most stressful piece to the start of your year.
Create a Comprehensive Literacy Framework: Play with your time and consider what changes you might make in your daily literacy framework for next year. Take a look at the samples that Regie provides on pages 185-187 for some possibilities. You do not have to post your schedule, but we believe this is a worthwhile activity to complete on your own.
Chapter 9: Conference with Students
• What is the purpose of a Writing Conference?
• What are the different types of Writing Conferences?
• How can Share be used effectively?
• How to conduct a productive conference
• What about management and routines?
We are so glad that this chapter talks about Share during Writer’s Workshop. Too often this component is skipped by teachers who feel there isn’t enough time in the day to “fit it all in.” However, it’s a vital piece of the workshop and beneficial to all the students. Share sessions are an additional time to teach. The teachers in my school are quite comfortable using Share as their mini-lesson if the need arises. Given the reality of daily schedules they were finding that they couldn’t have a mini-lesson, confer and share everyday. They then realized that their Shares sometimes were the minilessons. For more information about Share we recommend looking at Leah Mermelstein’s Don’t Forget To Share: The Crucial Last Step in the Writing Workshop. In this slim book, Leah explains in detail four types of Share: Content Share, Craft Share, Process Share and Progress Share.
The “Tips for Successful Whole-Class Shares and Conferences” on page 215 are excellent ones to keep in mind. The bottom line for Conferences and Shares is that students should feel successful and want to continue to write. Make sure what you say to the child encourages them to keep on writing. “The conference is secondary; the student as writer and confident learner is primary.”
Chapter 10: Make Assessment Count
• Understanding how rubrics work
• What about Test Prep? THE BEST TEST PREP IS EXCELLENT TEACHING!
• How can we collect reliable data on students’ writing throughout the day?
• Guidelines for grading and providing evidence for parents, administrators and the public
“There is lots of writing assessment going on these days, but little of it actually improves the quality of students’ writing.” As Regie continues she points out that this ‘assessment’ “is seldom used to improve daily instruction.” This chapter is about becoming more knowledgeable about assessments. Regie notes, that unless teachers know how to teach writing well, it can be a waste of time to examine students’ writing and place students on a writing continuum. She encourages you, as a staff to “write together, study together, converse together, gather school-wide data, analyze these data and set goals for improving writing instruction. There is no shortcut to helping students become effective writers and there is no program you can buy that will do it for you.”
Remember to use rubrics judiciously and not overdo it. They should be “used as an evaluation tool, not as the driving instructional force.” “Use professional common sense. It is not advisable to apply rubrics to ALL writing nor to score ALL writing. Just as our students need lots of practice reading many texts without the expectation that they will be assessed on everything they read, they need lots of practice writing without being assessed on everything they write.” (Page 243)
Have your students do a lot of writing! “Extensive writing across the curriculum as part of an excellent writing program is the best preparation for doing well on (standardized) tests. Readers have to read avidly to become readers and the same holds true for writers. Kids who write a lot develop higher-order thinking and understanding that translates to higher achievement on all types of tests.” Be sure to check out “Try It Apply It” on page 246 and throughout the chapter for ideas to incorporate into your program.
As Regie points out in this chapter, “The joy has gone out of writing.” We need to “concentrate on developing kids as learners rather than kids as test takers.”
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Mary posting for Jennifer:
ReplyDeleteAssignment Five (Ch. 7-10)
“Only isolate the skill if students know how and why that skill is used” (p. 143). “…exercises work; they just don’t transfer” (p. 143).
I start each year with an essay. This year was a personal narrative on “my most memorable experience”. Students are asked to revisit this paper when we study grammar. We use these papers to find areas in need of improvement (for example, comma use) and to identify parts of speech, etc. I still have students take notes and complete grammar packets in addition to this. It is difficult to find authentic examples of all the grammar I must cover. When we write new papers (after studying grammar), I continue to ask students to identify, say, complex sentences, in an effort to reinforce the idea that writing is improved by understanding and applying grammar rules. I am still expected to teach sentence diagramming, and – when learning how to do this – we work first at diagramming given sentences and then, after some practice, creating our own sentences using pre-formatted diagrams. Later, for extra credit opportunities, for example, they can choose a sentence from a paper to diagram. I am expected to address specific skills/knowledge under the broad standard; the more I can do so using their authentic work product, the better. With grammar, though, it seems that either kids “get it” or they don’t, and there are not too many that fall in between. It is for this reason that I don’t grade the work in their grammar packets. We do have a final assessment after the study, but I feel any work done before that quiz/test is practice and in preparation for the test. Each exercise is an opportunity for further understanding without penalty.
“A school writing program of rigid requirements and formulaic writing constrains students’ real voices” (p. 146).
Let me preface by saying that I believe “voice” is the hardest convention to teach students and the hardest for them to convey in their writing given my focus on academic/objective papers. I do not grade students on “voice” when I assign this type of paper, and I do provide opportunities for students to write more personal papers, ones that either tell their stories and/or allow them to write in a more personal style (say, a persuasive piece on a topic of interest). For the most part, the "voice" of our students is simply a conversational tone with sloppy grammar, slang, and a lack of variety in sentence form and word choice. In an attempt to provide all students with the opportunity to be successful writers, it is important to teach all kinds of writing. There is a difference, though, between creating a love for writing for one’s own pleasure and skill at writing (for efficiency, for high school/college, for a career) effectively for other purposes. One can create voice, even within the constraints of rigid requirements and objectivity, using word choice and other conventions/writing techniques. This “voice”, however, takes much time and practice to develop. [It’s a good thing writing is a skill that can be developed over a lifetime.] I assign far more writing that is objective and rigorously organized than I do those pieces that are from the heart. Do they enjoy those objective and rigorous papers? Most likely not. Would they rather write from the heart? Absolutely. That is why one must take care to pepper a program with opportunities for subjective, creative, and persuasive pieces, with activities/assignments that foster the love of writing (or, at least, of exploring one’s thoughts, dreams, etc. through writing), in addition to the objective, confined pieces of academic assignments.
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteAgain, some really great points. Learning to write for a variety of purposes is essential for students' continued education advancement. Just as there is an acceptable way to dress and speak in the classroom, work environment, with friends or different social situations, learning the different formats of writing is an necessary skill. Yes, I would agree that Voice is one of the hardest convention to teach. But as you pointed out, writing is a skill that is developed over a life time with much practice. (I can think of my own experiences writing in high school, college, graduate school and professionally; my husband has commented how much my writing has improved over time. I attribute this to the many instances that I had to practice and develop this skill.) Offering students a variety of writing pieces gives them the opportunity and practice needed to hone their skills.
Eileen Wali
ReplyDeleteI am starting to see a voice in my student’s writing! I read their journal writing today after they could write whatever they chose. I could see their personalities shining through. I also feel that I don’t have enough time in the day to teach everything but I have learned to go with what I feel is important. For example, we have these awful spelling books that I don’t think do anything for the students except make them angry! I consider them busy work and they don’t help. I put them away in a corner never to be used again. At our school parents pay for books. I had to choose one book to do away with. This has freed up a lot of our time. They are generally good spellers and I told them not to worry about spelling in their writing. I tell them we can go over spelling during our conference.
After reading Chapter 8 I feel that I have a pretty good balance in my schedule with reading and writing. Each day I read aloud to my students at least 20 minutes per day from a chapter book. We also have time at the end of each subject for independent reading throughout the day. I do have writing across my curriculum. My students have a Math journal to answer problems of the day, a Science Journal to answer simple questions during their Science activities and a Social studies journal to answer comprehension questions. My weakness has been not showing them how to properly answer the questions. After reading Regie’s book I now know that I also need to model how they answer each question before we begin. I just assumed they could answer the question. I am grateful that I learned how to guide them in answering the questions and next year I will start out by doing this.
I was very impressed by the idea of the mini lessons and the instructions written by the students. During my mini lessons I am writing on the board and then it goes away. It’s great for them to have information to look back at and have for themselves in the future.
I have started a student complement book. I choose a student each week and we all write what we like about the student and why we admire them. I created a special publishing page where they draw a picture for the student and I put all the papers together, bind them and make a special cover page with a picture of them on it. They keep asking when is it going to be their turn!
I have been generally pretty happy about how my conferences have been going. I usually reserve this time to celebrate how great their writing is, especially two of my lower level students. At the beginning of the year I would struggle to have them write a few sentences and I would walk them through it. Lately they have been coming to me to show me their work. There is small improvement but I am overjoyed.
Recently I attended a writing workshop that our High School Language Arts teacher presented at my school. I admire him and I asked him how he felt about having quiet writing time. I asked him because I was having trouble giving one on one conferences because I taking time out to quiet the students. He suggested that I let them talk quietly because they like to share their work. I have tried it and it has been helpful during my conferences because I can more attention and help to each student.
I have a hard time with writing rubrics. I feel that if I get too involved in scoring papers I go crazy! I spoke to my Language Arts mentor and he understands. We use the rubrics from the book Six Traits of Writing. We also talked about the goal as a class. Do we want them to score 5’s on the rubrics before they move to third grade? I want them to be able to score in the 3’s or 4’s. I learned from reading how important it is to include parents in the reading rubrics. I have parent conferences coming up. I will show them their writing portfolio’s along with a simple rubric so they can what to look for in their child’s writing.
I have been looking forward to reading this section and finally had time to sit down and really focus. The following is my “stream of consciousness” during my reading/digesting/cogitating of this section. If the colors show up, the green are reminders for me, the blue are questions for you and the black are just thoughts. OK, so the colors didn't show up. I will underline my questions for you and re-post.
ReplyDeleteChapter 7
I have started to have the kids write for their audience. I guess I don’t always know who to tell them their audience is so that is something I have to work on. When she talks about patterned texts, I am thinking of all the great Todd Parr books. I also have some others I like to do like”If you give a mouse a cookie” etc. “ Why I was late for school.” I don’t always seem to get the best writing this way though. Even though I think the kids would enjoy this kind of writing as it gives the ones who say they can’t think of anything to write about something to write about. It’s almost like they are trying to fit into a pattern they can’t understand. Maybe I need to model it more. Ah, now I just read the part about voice and that is definitely missing when I give them patterned assignments; even simple ones like “What I did over Winter break”. They sound bored and contrived and never have any voice. So perhaps this is them missing writing for an audience.
Need to do a “What do good writers do?” mini-lesson to first see what they think. This seems like a dumb question this far into the book but I am going to ask it anyway: When they cross out or erase or add, are they supposed to eventually write it over again? It seems like if we are talking about publishing a piece or really writing something for an audience, then the piece needs to look nice and tidy which generally means a re-write of an edited piece. When I am modeling, can I erase or do I need to line out and add? What do I expect them to do? Where do I draw the line for first graders? Perhaps the answer is coming up…
That’s a nice sampling of common mini-lessons on page 155. I am happy to say I have taught many of these already as I respond to my kids writing but it’s nice to have the list to refer to. I will focus on some more short pieces so the kids can practice their re-reading as they write. I will model this a lot. I am still stuck on the question: Who is their audience?”
I need to review the word wall and start emphasizing it more. We spent time and effort with each word we put on the wall but we haven’t added anything for a while and some of the kids are still misspelling words they shouldn’t be. Adding each of the kids names to the word wall is brilliant. My kids get up and go to their friends desks and ask if they can borrow their name tag to write their names. Good strategy but it bugs me when they are out of their seats during writing time.
Do another lesson on what to write about when you can’t think of anything.
Chapter 8
ReplyDeleteDemonstrate how I choose a topic, randomly or within structure.
Start Writing workshop giving the kids time to think/talk about what they are writing about our what they are going to write about. Lot’s of modeling about what this looks like.
Try some “Remember when?” letters.
Encourage “acts of kindness” letters. Some of my kids do this now but a lot of it is, “you are my BFF. Am I your BFF?” Ask them to think about more specific things they like about that person. Model, model, model this!
I like the student directed guidelines for editing expectations on page 204. We have some on the board right now but those are really more my expectations.
Chapter 9
I am looking forward to reading this chapter. I have tried many different strategies for conferences and am not in love with any of them.
I hadn’t thought about having the kids keep track of what we talked about as their next goal. I have been making a note myself but it makes so much more sense to have them have a special piece of paper (a different color) that goes in their writing portfolio so they can always check for what their 1 special goal is.
I like the idea of a whole class share although I am thinking it will take an awful lot of modeling for the kids to be able to say something constructive to help the writer along rather than “I like your pictures” or “I like the part where your face got all dirty”. I would definitely like some of your thoughts and ideas about how to model this to teach kids how to be constructive listeners.
I love the part about telling the kids how carefully I listen to the writer in order to really hear what they are trying to say.
Doing sharing at the end gives me the opportunity to tell the students they need to be prepared to share if they want to; that is they need to be able to read their writing easily. Also, they don’t have to share their whole piece; they can just share the part I want the other kids to hear.
I could try again the anecdotal notes for my roving conferences. Tried it before with my one-on-one and I liked it but I guess the added time it took and my inexperience made those conferences go on too long so I didn’t get to everyone.
Do I want to give the kids the chance to sign up for a 1 on 1? This didn’t work well for me before as I let it take too much time and kids had to wait days sometimes longer to meet with me. I don’t think I want to do this again but, I like using the example of Regie using her editor having to work with 20 other writers and the care she takes before she turns something in. I do 1 on 1’s mostly from papers they have turned in that I want to talk to them about. I think this is working well as it lets me skip over the more prolific writers when I need to and focus only on specific teaching points. I do keep track of who I have met with by date so I get to everyone. But I am not tracking my roving conferences so I need to include that too. I think a lot of this goes back to asking for higher quality writing before they turn in their work. There is a group of kids I need to slow down as they are not putting the time and effort into it anymore but are just trying to write as much as possible.
Discuss the routines of Writing Workshop again. What do they do when they want my attention or they feel stuck or don’t know what to do?
Repeat the actual language the student used that I like so they hear it aloud and know exactly what I am referring to.
Keep in mind in my teacher talk to ask the kids what more they could do to “fix up” their paper before they turn it in or show it to me.
Chapter 10
ReplyDeleteI Write Like I Talk Finally, a good way to talk about voice to 1st graders. That is a way I can get them to begin to understand voice.
All I really need to say about Chapter 10 is that I agree with it 100%. Our district has a rubric which has been re-done over and over and over although I have to say it has improved in each iteration. However, I think some of the “standards” on the rubric are still asking too much and others are not asking enough. I know it’s awfully hard to come up with a reasonable standard so I am not criticizing; just acknowledging. The district backed off this year about whether we had to go through student samples and score in 1st grade. It is optional now. I don’t do it because I think I am better off spending my time with my students, prompting them where I know they need prompting.
Hello Eileen,
ReplyDeleteYeah! Good for you for putting those spelling books away. We def. don’t want to upset the students needlessly. I love compliment books and know the students enjoy receiving them. ☺ I would be thrilled as well if my students were feeling confident enough to share their work with me. Well done! I’m sure your parents will appreciate seeing the rubrics at the conferences.
Hi Ann,
For your question about erasing and crossing out… Having taught 1-4th grade, I would say to train your students to cross out (with a single line) or to use a ^ or * to add longer insertions. This way you as the teacher can see what they were thinking before. In fact, I’ve seen teachers give students pens to use for their writing because they didn’t want them to erase. Another thing is to give them paper that has room for corrections or train them to skip every other line. (Personally I was never good at enforcing the skip every line but you can have them write only on one side of the paper that leaves the backside for any additions. When you are modeling I would cross out and not erase. No, they student does not have to re-write the piece just because they have made additions or corrections. The whole experience at the first grade level is learning how to write and add details. You don’t want to alienate them or make them upset by having them re-write something that doesn’t need to be. (They really don’t like re-writing at any level. ☺) If it is a published piece you can use corrective tape (white tape to cover a section and they can write right on it.) Or white out or have them write on another piece of paper and you paste or tape them together. If it’s a minor correction or addition, I think it’s fine to have a cross out or ^ or * inserted. If it’s a lot then the piece will most likely need to be re-written or typed by an adult. (Which is fine depending on the needs and skills of the child. For this you can give them a choice, some kids might want to re-write if everyone else has hand written pieces.)
I’m not exactly sure what your question is about audience. If the students are writing to put publish in the hallway or a class book or for their parents, then I would say that you or their classmates or parents are the audience. Who ever will be reading the writing is the audience.
At your level, practice, practice and more practice. Model and role-playing. Giving them examples and sentence frames might be a good way to help the students. Also having visual prompts on a poster or cards or on the board (sort of like a menu) to help them move beyond the “I like…” comments. Also, keep in mind it is first grade, so you are also building a foundation for the upper grades even if you don’t get the exact results that you hoped for.
We agree with Regie that we need to trust our professional judgment. Sounds like that’s exactly what you’re doing. ☺
In my classroom, I have already incorporated Regie’s suggestions for teaching writing, and it is making a big difference. Currently I am taking two graduate level courses, which are helping me rediscover my writing abilities. I can connect with my students, because, like them, I'm also going through similar struggles and successes with my writing. I definitely see the value in teaching my students that their writing must have a purpose and an audience who participates in the writing process. I think my young writers will take their compositions to the next level when they have a passion for the topics they choose to write about and know the reason why they are writing about those topics.
ReplyDeleteThe information contained in chapter seven through ten reenforced my personal belief that isolated skills work is not an effective teaching strategy. I get into the habit of teaching isolated skills, because I think I need to make sure I taught the learning targets. However, it makes more sense to discuss these skills in shared writing exercises and within the content of my students' compositions. This way my students will understand why they are learning these skills.
Recently, in our class, we wrote our own individual pieces explaining the process of doing something we're good at. This exercise was inspired by Regie's topic How To Be An Expert. In sharing my piece on How to Hula Hoop, my students were able to see the importance of having an introduction, body, and a conclusion in their writings. They were impressed by my work and shared their thoughts on why they believed my writing was great. In complimenting aspects of my composition, my students actually modeled how positive feedback is an important part of building a writer's confidence.
Then we moved on to collectively constructing a shared writing piece. Of all the topics we came up with in our collaborative brainstorm, we chose one topic, which we were all passionate about, How To Get a Good Star in PE. Our PE teacher gives a gold star to any class that follows directions and cooperates as a team during PE. We picked this topic because we currently have the most gold stars. Being proud of our success and wanting to share our skills with other classes gave our shared writing exercise an audience and purpose, thus raising my students' motivation.
Throughout this process, we talked about strategies to hook the reader, such as making an organized paragraph, writing a good conclusion, and using interesting words. Students noticed repetitive words and how effective transitions create a smooth flow in our writing. This shared writing exercise was very meaningful and covered so many learning targets. As a community, we were able to discuss and understand the characteristics of a successful composition. Although the process took more time than the time that it takes for a mini lesson, it was an effective maximized lesson. In fact, I broke our shared writing exercise into several mini lessons. This way my students didn't get overwhelmed when working on their own writings. I had roving conferences and praised students for revising effectively and using the strategies we discussed in our shared writing process.
Reggie asks, “How can I engage my students’ hearts and minds so that they want to write and do their best writing?”Meeting this fundamental challenge is the goal of teaching any subject, and I find myself frustrated that my students are not wanting to do their best writing and I can’t seem to engage their hearts and minds. This is not to say that I am never able to engage them in such a profound way, but it’s really hard to do most of the time. I think a lot of the time it’s just hard to read them, what with their adolescent angst going full-tilt, or their brains being sleepy from staying up all night playing games online, or their blood sugar levels peaking and dipping due to massive quantities of energy drinks and/or frappuccinos. But some of them do engage with their writing, and the ones that don’t at first will, hopefully, at some point. Maybe the key is to keep offering opportunities to engage in real writing and to share their voices, and to remember that, like younger children, they need to be celebrated and supported all along the way.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense that teaching skills alone without context wouldn’t work for kids. It seems obvious that “Our lessons should arise from what you see kids doing, or not doing, in their writing” (143). This is the basis for teacher research, and it just makes sense to plan your teaching around what the students know, don’t know, struggle with, etc. Let them make mistakes so that they can learn from them, and use their writing to teach skills, like spelling, conventions, organization, and transitions.
The idea of springboarding off of favorite texts is important, and I like that the “favorite texts” in chapter 7 are texts that the students have read and embraced. I think springboarding off of the teacher’s favorite texts is important, too. When I share a favorite piece of writing with my students I am modeling my love of reading for them and I am building trust between us, a bond. This is can be a painful thing to do, though, because teenagers sometimes default to stubborn rejection of material if it is not immediately to their liking. I try to remember that their sharing their opinion, good or bad, is part of learning and becoming independent. It’s funny though, when you offer up something tried and true, like a Whitman poem, and the reaction is something along the lines of, “Who is this guy, anyway? He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” I both enjoy and feel frustrated by the black-and-white teenaged opinion. But, after the initial wall comes down, the initial protective barrier against new and therefore confusing material, there is often real enjoyment. Failing that, there is still real learning, even if the student still despises Whitman.
On page 160 Regie talks about students getting through high school with an understanding of revision as a “teacher-directed step in the writing process.” I see this all the time in my high school classes! Keeping the idea of producing quality writing before editing occurs is interesting to me, since I often consider quality writing as writing that is free of errors. I know that we’re talking about “quality” in the deepest sense here, and that it fuels a desire to revise. This sounds great in theory, and I strive to achieve it, but I have a hard time seeing it working all the time. I guess the ideal is not always the reality, and the point is to implement best writing practice anyway.
A writing workshop is what I, as an adult, would want to engage in. If I imagine putting myself in my students’ shoes, what kind of writing would I want to do? I would not want to do rote daily exercises or practice skills in isolation. I would want to write about topics that are interesting and meaningful to me.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAs I read, I thought of our sons and how they have been affected by misinformed teaching of writing. Connor’s writing tends to be very formulaic (a product of the rigid structure he was taught). Recently, we’ve taken a much larger role in his education (just this side of home schooling) and we have worked tirelessly to undo some of his poor practices. In doing so, his voice (his REAL voice) is emerging and he is beginning to see the power of writing with more flexibility and honesty. Our most recent challenge has been getting him to understand the power of re-reading his writing. He NEVER does it on his own as part of his writing process, but he always asks us to read his writing for him. As soon as we begin reading aloud, modeling this as an important part of writing, he leaves the room. We have had to really convince him that there is power in hearing your work read aloud. He’s beginning to come around…slowly. Gavin, our youngest son, has always struggled with working within rigid structures…sort of a square-peg-trying-to-fit-in-a-round-hole type of guy. But, I think he’s benefitted from this. His writing is authentic, interesting, honest, and his voice comes through loud and clear. However, the poor kid has been stifled by over-focus on conventions. Spelling has never been his strong suit, and we’re not sure that it ever will be. He’s an avid reader, he loves to write, his vocabulary is amazing, but there’s something getting in the way of correct spelling. He was unable to pass last year’s writing assessment (darn conventions), so now as a fifth-grader, we have shifted our focus with him and have begun to teach him how to compensate for this weakness (word processing has been very powerful for him) and we’re seeing great results. He has come to enjoy writing instead of it just being something that he has to do for school.
ReplyDeleteMuch of the teaching of writing that I see is happening within the confines of rigid structures, compartmentalized lessons, and contrived pieces. I’d really like to see our building move more toward “excellent teaching of writing”, as described in the text, with students writing about interesting topics, for audiences that they care about, and where skills and mini-lessons are taught within the context of students’ real writing. Shifting our focus will bring about more meaningful teaching, and therefore more quality writing by students. “Excellent teaching of writing will take students beyond the standards.”
“So when teachers say to me, ‘I don’t have time to teach writing every day,’ my response is, ‘Yes you do, if you value it; if you don’t have time, you’re valuing something else more.’” Writing can be incorporated in so many ways, across the curriculum if a teacher is willing to do so. With that said, I’m not sure that there has to be a set time in the schedule for writers’ workshop. It seems to me that aspects of the workshop may be happening all day long in different contexts. However, I do see the importance in establishing structure and routines so that students know what to expect. “A successful writing program requires a knowledgeable, organized teacher with excellent classroom management skills.” I appreciated Regie’s suggestions regarding how to organize student writing and the types of record-keeping teachers should be most concerned with. I also appreciated the focus on student choice and setting a purpose for writing…two key components that lead to quality writing by our students.
I think writing conferences are a key component of writing workshop. This is the teacher’s opportunity to have meaningful conversations centered on students’ work. The teacher should always find cause for celebration with students’ writing as a way to build trust before moving into other areas of the conference (re-teaching, affirming, demonstrating, etc.) Conferencing with students in a meaningful way requires the teacher to establish clear expectations and routines, both for the student that she’s meeting with and for the other students who are working in the class. I think this is what makes writing conferences so daunting for some teachers, but without the conference, the students’ growth will be limited. I appreciated all the examples of teacher talk presented in the text and how language can be so critical in getting students to become more confident and competent writers who are able to work more independently.
ReplyDeleteAs a new teacher, teaching seventh and eighth grade language arts, I was charged with “improving test scores”. I had 150 students and the job just felt overwhelming. I wish I’d read this book! Had I done so, I might have felt okay about not grading every piece that came across my desk. I might have asked the students to engage in more meaningful, daily writing. I might have put more focus on the daily, formative assessments to improve teaching and learning, rather than spending so much time asking students to write according to a rigid and specific prompt for the purpose of one summative assessment. Test scores went way up, but writing enjoyment (by the students and myself) went way down. “Excellent teaching is the best test prep.” Moving forth, I would like to see our teachers establish some common goals regarding writing, solicit and analyze student data for evidence of our effectiveness, and shift our intense focus on high-stakes testing of writing to more meaningful and effective teaching of writing. As I read, I couldn’t help but think of Dr. Suess’ “Hooray for Diffendoofer Day”: “We’ve taught you that the earth is round, That red and white make pink, And something else that matters more, We’ve taught you how to think.” “Excellent teaching is the best test prep.”
The purpose of writing conferences with students is to celebrate, validate, encourage, nudge, set goals, and assess student writing. I believe they are extremely valuable. Offering quality, timely feedback is one of the most important instructional strategies you can use. Conferences can be done in several different ways. Conferences can be one-on-one student-teacher conferences, or they can whole group or small group conferences. But the important piece is, begin with celebration so you don’t turn the student off.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading chapter 10 of the Routman text I was reminded of a statement I use with any football team I coach – “Let the wins take care of themselves.” What this means is shift your focus from “winning” the game, to the things you can actually control from moment to moment. It also means judge yourself and your performance on something other than the end product. If you focus on the “win” or end result as the criteria to judge yourself you lose the opportunity to make yourself the best you can be. This is similar to writing towards the test.
If teacher just focus on the assessment of writing required by states, districts, or schools as the sole important measure of how they are doing then they are selling themselves, students, and their school short. They will not reach the potential they have. Great instruction and teaching leads to great results. Develop assessments for learning and instruction that are more meaningful and allow you to become the best writers and instructor of writing you can be.
Chapter 7: Be Efficient and Integrate Basic Skills
ReplyDelete• Teaching WRITING – not just the language of writing (process, process, process)
Teaching the process is extremely important for kids. I have noticed in my ¾ blend that my third graders have a really hard time with this. They are so used to just writing and not following a set process. The first time I took them through the writing process they couldn’t stop talking about how long it took. Often times kids write to just write and they don’t fully understand why. With the writing process they are able to select what they want to write about and really think through each idea and thought.
• Key writing minilessons
This section really spoke to me because it is what I do most often with my students in writing. I believe that students become better writers by writing more. It is through miniliessons that kids are able to write more. A typical lesson for me focuses on one specific area that takes about 15 minutes of instruction. After that the kids are given the chance to just write. Regie did say that these lessons shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes and she also suggested setting a timer. I plan on trying this and think the kids would really get a kick out of the timer.
• Revision – how to get students to care about it
I believe that this is so important and it really falls into the modeling your writing for students piece. It is something that I don’t do enough and after this course I can see how truly beneficial it is to all students. I really like the little checklist in the book on page 157. It is a great resource for me to use and is also very kid friendly. Regie talks about how so many students will complete an assignment and turn it in without ever looking back. This is so true and I think the revision piece can help them to take pride and accountability for their own writing.
• How can we effectively use word walls?
This section really made me think and made me want to implement a word wall in my room. I always thought that word walls were for primary students but reading Regie’s section on it made it clear that it would be valuable for older grades as well. I really liked how she said that the words need to be relevant to your class and kids. This really is important and will enhance overall learning of all students. I’m very excited to get a word wall up and going in my own classroom.
Chapter 8: Organize for Daily Writing
This chapter was very valuable and gave some great ideas for everyday writing within the classroom. One thing that I really enjoyed about this chapter was the importance of writing talk. As a new teacher I find myself just trying to grade the work and I often forget this very important piece of writing. This chapter also made me think a lot about how I could schedule my writing in different ways. Regie sets up a schedule that has students writing throughout the day in a variety of different subjects. I love this idea and it is such an easy thing to build into the schedule each day. One big area that I know I need work on is allowing my students the opportunity to share.
Chapter 9: Conference with Students
ReplyDelete• What is the purpose of a Writing Conference?
The purpose of a writing conference is to meet with kids and discuss their writing. In a conference Regie talks about several different things that can be included. A few of my favorites were celebration, encourage, assess, and set goals. Having individual conferences with each student is not only valuable to the student but to the teacher as well. Conferencing allows the teacher to see where the student is at writing and can also be a great way to give kids the help that they need. An important part of conferencing that Regie talks about is peer editing. This form of editing is one that I find myself steering away from. I;m not sure why I do this but I think it is because I often don’t see the outcome that I would like. After reading what Regie said I can easily see now how it does take a lot of training to be successful. The example she gave about redirecting really stuck out to me. I notice that my students always want to say I like this or that but they never use specific examples. Requiring them to use specific examples will give the writer more feedback and will always ensure that the student responding was really paying attention to their writing.
Chapter 10: Make Assessment Count
Working towards student self assessment really stood out to me in this chapter. As teachers we are constantly self- assessing ourselves. Asking what would I change? How could this have gone more successful? Asking yourself these sort of questions is so important in the learning process. If we can notice are own mistakes then we are going to grow more in that area. Regie lists some great questions to use with your students. The questions are very to the point and lets the lids pick put the good and the bad within the piece. Although it is hard at times it is so important for kids to recognize their personal best work. I know in my class my students often want my approval and they want me to confirm that it is their best work. I have worked hard to turn this back on them by asking if they think it is their best work. As they get older they won’t get that immediate feedback from a teacher so it is good practice to recognize and grow on your own.
If we use students’ writing as a way to integrate skill work into student writing than we can avoid the trap of teaching skills in isolation. For example teaching Daily Oral Language exercises is not an effective use of instructional time and energy. Teaching daily language through the writings that students’ produce will have a more meaningful, connected, and impactful result. Mini-lessons should not be separate from authentic writing, retrieved from some writing canned program, but derived straight from the students’ writings on issues the teachers sees. Teachers should focus on the meaning and quality of writing initially, and avoid focusing on conventions and editing at the start. We want students to generate quality ideas, organization, and sentences that focus on the purpose of writing and audience to whom they are writing first, without the burden or stress of focusing on spelling, grammar, and editing. Once a good foundation with a purpose and audience that is meaningful to the student is laid and the student truly cares about the writing, then successful editing, revision, and an emphasis on conventions may occur with greater success. One way to accomplish this goal is through the continual use of think aloud activities in writing – through modeling important lessons can be taught. This is how you can get students to care and focus on revision – you need to model it. Also through modeling, and good instruction, you can teach the importance of conventions if you stress and keep in mind that audience and purpose are the most important focus a writer should have. Conventions are about respecting your reader, if you respect the audience like good writers do, then conventions will come. Authentic truly learning writing comes through experiences with writing. Write, Write, Write. Don’t chop it up in some disconnected string of processes; writing is a living, growing, evolving progression. If good quality writing instruction occurs using the model presented in the Routman text, Regie believes that district and state standards will easily be met and exceeded. The students will transcend the standards, not just reach them.
ReplyDeleteTypically teachers operate a writing workshop separate from the other subjects taught. They dedicate the same time slot and the same amount of time each day that best fits within their schedule. During this time students engage in a writing workshop, writing on topics that maybe unconnected from anything else they are studying in school. This doesn’t sound like the most efficient or effective way to do things, and Regie would agree that writer’s workshop should be imbedded in the other instruction in the classroom. Make writing a part of the other curriculum, but when you write within those other contexts, then the class takes on the environment of writer’s workshop. It doesn’t have to be something in isolation, a separate thing you study. Use it as an effective teaching strategy. Regie offers some guidelines to effectively implement a writing workshop, among these suggestions is conferring with students to celebrate, respond, and teach. Another suggestion is the purpose and audience should be stressed as the most important elements of the writing. Excellent writing for a real purpose and a real audience is the most authentic.
Hello Niji,
ReplyDeleteOh, we’re glad to hear that you are noticing a difference in your class from Regie’s ideas. That’s exciting!
Jordia,
I believe that educators should often try to think like their students and put themselves in their shoes. Would we want to do this project? Would this assignment intrigue and interest us? Obviously not all work in school can be designed in this manner, but keeping it in mind, especially for writing assignments, should help to give students choice and interesting and meaningful topics.
Hi Sarah and Brad,
Thank goodness you are helping your boys develop their confidence as writers. I think it is so unfortunate that correct spelling, or the lack of it, equals poor writing scores. I happen to be a terrible speller (you may have noticed ;) ) but I never let it get in the way of my writing. I know to get my ideas down and that I often need to re-read my drafts at a later time to catch my errors. I also know that I will use spell check, ask my husband (or any adult that happens to be around) and use dictionary.com. These are my strategies that I use to help with me being a poor speller. It really doesn’t bother me too much; I know I can write well. When I teach I always tell my students that I have a hard time spelling but I think I’m a good writer. I will model on the chart if I’m not sure how to spell something by circling it. I want them to know that even teachers can have a hard time with spelling but it shouldn’t stop them from getting their ideas down. They just need to have strategies in place to make sure if a finished product is required that it is correct and error free for their audience so the intended meaning shines through.
Brad, absolutely! You said it so well. I truly believe we want students to focus on their meaning first and not be burden with the stress of spelling, grammar or conventions. We’ve said it again and again, but having the students keep in mind their audience and purpose for writing coupled with modeling and teacher example will help them meet and exceed the standards.
Hello Brittany,
It sounds like you were able to take a lot away from these chapters. We’re glad you found the section informative.