Chapter 3: Share Your Writing Life
• Write together as a staff
• Note your writing practices
• Tell students why you write
Chapter Two of Regie’s book segues right into her third chapter, “Share Your Writing Life.” In this chapter Regie drives home the importance of teachers sharing their writing process with their students. She encourages teachers to become writers in front of their students, on their own and with their staff, and also to share their daily writing practices with their students. The purpose of the assignment below (Assignment #3) is to get you writing.
ASSIGNMENT THREE: Sharing Your Writing Life!
For many of us, writing is not enjoyable and/or is very difficult. Perhaps it is because we ourselves were never celebrated as writers. Or perhaps we only remember the “skills” based comments written in various colored pens on our papers…that always sliced deep (and turned many of us into “non-writers.”) These comments never really helped our writing become any better. As a requirement of a summer writing institute (which I was conned into attending “so that I could become a better teacher of writing”) I (Jackie) bit the bullet and wrote extensively throughout the course. What they say is true: the more I wrote, the more I enjoyed it, and I believe I grew as a writer. The goal of this two-part assignment is to get you writing.
Part One:
For the first part of this assignment you need to think about topics for your own writing (ideas/stories that you can share to excite your students) and then actually write a short piece (ideally in front of your students.) If you do not presently have the opportunity to write in front of your students then please complete the activity on your own.
1. Use the topic idea list from Regie’s “Try It and Apply It” on page 26. Choose several topics, and then create a list of sub-topics for each.
2. Choose the sub-topic that most interests you and write a short piece that you can use to model writing in front of your students.
Part Two:
1. On pages 45-46, Regie gives suggestions for writing exercises for the start of school (or really anytime you need to get writing started.) Follow her criteria for “Capturing A Moment” (from the summer or any other time ) and draft a short piece. Follow the directions in the chart on page 46.
2. After completing the draft, which should take no more than 10 minutes, take a moment to write down some of your observations of your writing process. Again, use the suggestions from the chart or the bullets below:
o What are you thinking about as you are composing?
o What exactly did you do to plan, to get started writing, when you got stuck, or when you completed your piece?
o What does your process look like? Do you write straight through? Stop to re-read? Revise as you go? Look up information? Edit?
The goal of this activity is to get you to write - which will hopefully get you more comfortable writing in front of your children! Complete this activity and let us know how it went by sharing your answers to some of the bulleted questions above.
Please post your comments to the course blog. (We don’t need to see your writing piece. We are more interested in your thought process as you completed the exercise.)
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Mary posting for Jennifer:
ReplyDeleteFor part one of the assignment, I modeled how to write an essay for Catholic Schools Week (which isn’t until the end of the month) for my sixth graders. This was not a topic (on page 26) suggested but one that was pertinent to my students’ work in class. I began with addressing this year’s topic of “Faith, Academics, Service” , identifying the purpose of the essay (to celebrate what makes Catholic schools great) as well as the audience (members of the Catholic community, church and school), and thinking aloud about how I could best organize the essay (into a 5-paragraph essay format). I modeled organization of paper and created a 7-sentence skeleton for that purpose. [A seven-sentence skeleton is a tool I implemented this year to help students with organizing papers before writing; it forces them to think about and compose an attention-grabber, thesis statement, topic sentence for each body paragraph, thesis restatement, and concluding statement.] After I worked through this pre-writing (with my students’ help at times), they worked on their organizers and composition of these paper elements. The next day, we worked on our introduction paragraphs. This is a big struggle for the kids as they often have difficulty transitioning from the attention-grabber to the thesis. I wrote two examples in front of the class before they worked on their own (and with input from other students and myself). Students enjoy providing suggestions to solve my writing obstacles, and I think it makes it easier for them to ask for help if they know it takes me multiple attempts at times to accomplish a task.
For part two, I composed a paragraph on “Faith” for the Catholic Schools Week essay. It was great because my faith journey and perspective is so different from where they are that it served as a springboard for discussion. Since I am in such a different place, the content of my paragraph was nothing like theirs (would be). This actually forced them to take much more responsibility in the writing of their paragraph as mine was a template in form/organization and for details, word choice, etc., but not so much a paragraph they could mimic easily regarding ideas. As I composed the paragraph (expressing myself out loud and visibly, projected with the document camera), I talked a lot more than I wrote. I already started writing with a topic sentence in place, so my thoughts were tethered to it; but I had to work through what I wanted to write as I spoke about my experience at the school in relation to my faith. I constantly revisited my work, re-reading what came before, inserting, drawing arrows (moving around), squiggling out items, etc. There were times when I just stared at the paper in silence with a perplexed look on my face, but it eventually came to completion. Writing has always come naturally to me, and I am thankful for that. Grammar and spelling have always come with ease. I usually don’t have that sort of error or dilemma, so I find myself offering advice or drawing attention to what I have done in that respect. It was enjoyable to not only share my life experience and the writing experience with my students.
Eileen Wali
ReplyDeleteWe have been talking about our fears in class for the past few weeks so I thought I would have them write about their fears or a fear that they might have. I had planned on the students drawing a self portrait of themselves with a scared face on a folded piece of legal size card stock. I will place their finished drafts on the inside. They love art projects so I thought this might get them excited about the topic.
I purposely did not think about what I was going to write so I could write from the heart just like the students. I brainstormed on the board three of my fears and they helped me choose. I had a hard time thinking of fears and I wanted to be honest so we chose the subtopic “I am afraid of being a victim of a robbery.” I honestly do not know what I was thinking because I didn’t want to scare them but as I said before I was writing from the heart. I tried to make the subject light. They were excited to help and wanted to finish my sentences and add sentences. I started with a catchy opening sentence and asked them if that makes them want to read more. I kept writing and it flowed. My last sentence was “If you know what’s good for you, robbers-stay away!” I tried to make a few mistakes on purpose to teach them that it’s alright to cross out and write it again. We had fun and I told them it was their turn to brainstorm and decide what they wanted to write about.
These are observations I made on a separate piece of paper while I was writing “The Catch”. I did this one on my own.
ReplyDeleteNotice-too much detail-background that wasn’t about the moment. I want to just get to the essence of that particular moment.
I keep re-reading to see if I am adding to many extra details or if I have built the tension of the moment enough.
I make a lot of changes to wording as I re-read.
More re-reading for flow.
Changing words for a more clean visualization.
Is that a good enough ending? The point is not who won the game but the catch itself so I don’t want to steal the thunder by adding superfluous details.
I did a story about getting a dog with my kids. These are the separate things I noticed that I quickly jotted down after the live experience with them.
I re-read a lot, looking for making sense, better flow, more interesting or less awkward wording. I always end up making changes that make the writing less awkward.
I used the thesaurus to find another word that meant “excited”.
I always start at the beginning when I re-read.
After I wrote, I cut out what I thought were extraneous details so that the words I had written would have more impact.
I will admit to having thrown in an extra word or two and writing a sentence that sounded very much like the preceding sentence so I could share my thinking about changing those 2 things.
The key for me as an adult writer is re-reading. In my experience, first graders do not like to re-read, even though it is a part of our process. After they finish each piece, they are supposed to read their work to themselves using a whisper tube. If I could get them to re-read and make changes, my work here would be done!
Assignment 3 Writing Essentials Part 1.
ReplyDeleteThis assignment will fit perfectly with what I want to do with my students. I had a great time going through this process of writing, because I can help them with ideas and talk through the struggles I went through. I first started with a list of what to write about. Then, I picked the topic from my list and made my topic more specific. Please take a look at my example below.
My Topic -What we’re experts at
Subtopic How to Hula Hoop
Hula hooping is one of the best forms of exercise for creating core body strength. It is also fun, because you can dance and learn many moves, as you start to feel more confident with the motions. Hooping is not just for kids and is becoming a popular trend amongst adults around the world.
The most important step in becoming an expert hula hooper is to buy the right hula hoop. The hoops sold at stores for kids are usually not the best. The best hoops are actually sold by professional hula hoopers online or at stores, and are usually made from PVC pipes. Colorful electrical tape is added to create a grip to your body, so the hoop does not fall as easily. Especially for adults, hoops made from PVC pipes are heavier and easier to control than lighter hoops. The fun part is to find a hula hoop with the right color combination for you, because you're going to be so close to your hoop, and in a sense, it'll become a part of your body.
Once you have the right hula hoop, you will start with the basic move. The first step is to have the hoop go around your waist. A lot of people think the more you shake your hips, the longer the hoop will stay up around your waist, but this is not true. The correct way is a subtle motion, which is a diagonal right and left movement. When you start to feel comfortable with the hoop going around your waist, you won't even notice your body is moving! As you master this basic move, many people will already think you are an expert.
The last step in becoming an expert hooper is to learn new tricks to add to your repertoire. There are so many tricks you can do with the hoop. You can move while hooping, bring your hoop up and down your body, roll around your neck and basically dance with it. It may take months for a person to really master these tricks. The best thing to do is to take classes from hula hoop teachers and practice a lot. But most importantly, you need to have fun hooping!
Part 2. Capturing A Moment I had a hard time getting started with this exercise, because Regie’s example was about summer, and I had to dig deep to retrieve my summer memories. Instead, I decided to reflect on my winter break and remembered a moment best described through using my different senses and painting a picture. I started my piece by describing the setting and scenario. I had a lot of feelings running through me at this moment, so I added those as well. The process was hard, so I made many revisions. However, this assignment gave me the perspective of what students will face as they tackle their own compositions. The writing process may be hard initially, but I can see that the more I write, the more enjoyable and rewarding writing will be for all of us. Please take a look at my example below.
ReplyDeleteIt was a cold and clear winter night by the river in the countryside of Japan. I could hear the sound of the river roaring in the background. My friend and I were ready to head back to our hotel. My friend wanted to take another way to get back, so I followed him. However, this route was not the clear path, trees and branches were everywhere. I felt like I was on walking on a trampoline as I stumbled across a vast and shallow stack of long branches. It was fun at first, but then fear hit me pretty quickly. Darkness surrounded me, and I started to wonder what might happen if I made a big mistake. I began to cry and wanted to give up. However, I believed in my friend and had faith we were going to be okay once we were out of the bushes. It was one of the scariest and magical nights in my life.
Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences writing. Niji, you mentioned that you now knew what your students went through when they were assigned a topic. This is exactly what we wanted to happen. :D Most of you mentioned that your students enjoyed helping you write. And I would say it is def. fine to add some mistakes into your example to help make a point to your class. We hope that you will continue to model and take the time to write in front of and with your students.
ReplyDeleteAssignment #3: Sharing My Writing Life!
ReplyDeletePart One: Come up with a topic to write about for my short story class (an advanced high school class).
Idea list:
• Summertime adventure:
o Bike touring in France
o Getting lost in the woods
o Getting chased by a bear on the 4th of July
• Hawaii
o Jenny’s mean husband almost ruined it all
o Swimming with turtles
o Snorkeling
o Eating a mango on the beach, hunting for prawns
• Living in New Jersey
o Our kind landlord
o “treasures” on the beach
o Ticks
o Working at the animal hospital
• Car breaking down in Nebraska
o The swimming pool rash
o Visiting with campers
o Eating at a sketchy Chinese food place
I think I’d like to write about getting chased by the bear on the 4th of July.
Part Two: Let students see me struggle
I decided to go for it and skip the writing on my own for this one; instead I did my composing ‘on the spot.’ This is something I haven’t done much of, and I have to admit it felt risky! I spent some time thinking about what I wanted to write before class. Then I bit the bullet and wrote for 5 minutes on the overhead while my students observed. It was a challenge to keep my handwriting neat enough for them to easily read. I did think about this at times, which was distracting. I also felt distracted by the bright light of the overhead. I ended up scratching out my very first line, “It was the fourth of July,” and replacing it with, “I found out what it’s like to be a rabbit on the fourth of July.” I went on to describe a hiking trip with my dad and three dogs where I accidentally came between a black bear cub and its mother. I put a few asterisks in where I thought I might need more descriptive detail, especially around the part where the bear locks eyes with me and begins running at me. I paused to think several times. I ended up stopping just as I was out of danger, but the students wanted to know what we did next so I told them the rest of the story. I didn’t get a final, ending sentence in and so I asked them what ideas they had. I told them my ideas for an ending scene.
Afterwards, I re-read what I had written, pausing at parts I liked or thought needed work. I told them that before I started writing I had given myself some time to think about what happened, what I wanted to say, and how I might begin the story. I also told them that I liked the “action” part of the story, but I felt the set up could use some work, as in more description and some dialogue, maybe.
I don’t currently teach writing, so I did this assignment by myself. I chose to “capture a moment” from our family’s most recent trip to Europe. The only planning I did for this piece was to quickly brainstorm about which portion of the trip I wanted to write about (riding bikes in the countryside of Northern Holland). From there, I settled in at my computer and just began typing. As I composed, I thought about my word choice and ways to really describe the day as I remembered it. I thought about things we saw, smelled, and ate. I thought about people we encountered; the colors of the fields, the sheep, and the sky. I thought about our interactions as a family and focused on all the things that make that day so memorable. If I became stuck, I would just pause and think for a minute, then move on. At one point, I pulled up a photo from that day to give me a little more inspiration. As I typed, I would often delete or change things I wasn’t happy with. This process of revising and editing continued throughout my writing session. By the time I was finished, I had, what I would consider to be, a solid final draft. Not the typical linear process that I’m sure I was once taught, but rather an all over the place, interwoven process. This really makes me think that we need to be aware of individual writing styles and provide flexibility for students who may not work their best when tied to a rigid, linear process.
ReplyDeleteo What are you thinking about as you are composing?
ReplyDeleteAs I was writing I was concentrating on many things. First, I felt I was really focused on the organization of the writing – how do I want to organize this piece. I was also thinking about whom I was writing to and what they would think. I wrote a letter to my 91 year-old grandmother-in-law for this exercise, so I was constantly thinking of how she would perceive what I was writing her. I started out asking how she was and how she’s been to show her that I was thinking about her before writing all the things about the family and me. So, the audience was on my mind. Next, I was really cognizant of my sentence structure and flow. I was less concerned with word choice on this particular piece because it was rather informal, and it was a friendly letter, so playing with the words and what they meant was not in the forefront of my mind. Since I was writing to Grandma E, I was really focused on the presentation of the writing because she comes from the era when hand-writing letters was common, important, and serious – I didn’t want to let her down.
o What exactly did you do to plan, to get started writing, when you got stuck, or when you completed your piece?
Well I didn’t do too much playing for this piece. I modeled how I would write a letter about my weekend to someone special. The students did the same writing in the morning, so in the afternoon during our writing workshop we circled up in meeting mode, shared our writings, then I explained that I would like to show them how I would “tackle” this piece of writing. There was no real pre-writing that needed to happen since the memories of the weekend were fresh in my head.
I had the students remain in meeting mode. I used a large post-it lined set of posters on the wall to write and demonstrate how I would write the piece. I placed the date and explained to the students why I might put a date on a letter to someone special. To get started I really did a great deal of thinking aloud, I thought it was a little too much actually. I was explaining every little detail. Shortly into the piece I realized I was being too detailed and backed off a little. When I completed the piece I read it completely with the students and chose some things I would do differently if I wrote it again.
o What does your process look like? Do you write straight through? Stop to re-read? Revise as you go? Look up information? Edit?
I write, edit, re-read, and revise as I go. I don’t mind going back and re-reading and editing after it’s done, in fact I usually do. But, I prefer to do it as I go. I usually go back and wordsmith after each paragraph to make sure my word choice is the way I want it. I fix any errors as they happen. It seems to work the best for me.
Jordia,
ReplyDeleteAll of the topics on your list had me wondering about the story behind them. I bet your kids wanted to hear the rest of the tale! :D Do you think you’ll try writing more in front of your students?
Sarah,
We agree that it is important to consider individual writing styles!
Brad,
Did you send your grandmother-in-law the letter? Do you think you’ll do more writing and thinking in front of your students?
1. Use the topic idea list from Regie’s “Try It and Apply It” on page 26. Choose several topics, and then create a list of sub-topics for each.
ReplyDeleteList of Topics:
Start of school
Setting up
Meeting with colleagues
Special Memory
Childhood memory
Hiking in Hawaii
Birth of children
Backpacking trip with kids
Family
Daughter
Son
Sports
Cycling
Being an expert
Bike repair
Home maintenance
This is a topic that I actually wrote in front of my students. Last summer, I hiked down Pololuu valley in Hawaii. I tried to think out loud and write as I spoke. It felt natural and I asked the students about a couple of different options. I crossed off what did not seem to work.
As I began to write, I visualized the hike as I remembered it. I focused on the beauty of the natural surrounding, the terrain of the trail, and the memorable events along the way. As I wrote, I was cognizant of opportunities for deeper description, quotes, and specific noun selection.
o What exactly did you do to plan, to get started writing, when you got stuck, or when you completed your piece?
The first thing I did when planning my writing was to consult my list. This reminds me how helpful it is for kids to have a list as a starting point. I thought about a few options from the list and chose what I remembered the best. I made a mental list of things I thought would be helpful but for the most part I just started writing my experience. I tried to “hook” the kids with a good lead by describing the setting in detail. I can see where kids would really benefit from frequent short writing that is not graded or edited. It seems this would really get their writing flowing. When I got stuck, I thought about other parts of the experience or wrote anything related to what I was trying to say. If what I wrote was not very good, I revisited it and re-worded it. When I completed my piece I reread it to check the fluency, message, and conventions. I asked the students if they had any feedback and if they would help me create/choose a conclusion. I offered a few choices and we voted on our favorite. Finally we re-read it once more.
This exercise helped me to see how valuable writing in front of the students can be. The talking about my topic first, helped me to come up with the general structure of my paragraph and I see how kids benefit from talking before writing. I think seeing me cross off words and passages was beneficial as well and even a bit surprising for some. I think this really freed the students of some preconceptions that writing is somehow static once on the page despite what I have mentioned in the past. Another realization I had during this assignment is that I often have kids work with graphic organizers but I myself rarely use them! I can shift my teaching to include more spontaneous writing where the students share before, during, and after writing.