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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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Assignment 5
ReplyDeleteChapter 10
Assessment
At Sunset, we have Standard Based/Proficiency oriented writing and reading Targets, so I was curious what Regie had to say about assessing student work.
In high school, my job is to hone the skills the kids have learned in the lower grades and then prep them for extended essays and critical analysis of literature and writing classes such as Writing 121, etc. I was happy to read that what we are doing is validated by Regie’s research and in what’s keeping with what is best to encourage kids to write articulately and to provide the necessary words and evidence from their text to support their views/opinions.
We have Reading/Writing Targets (Rubrics) that are fashioned along the lines of what Regie is describing. As an English Department, we met in grade levels and spent many hours crafting Targets that are more than just a check of skills and guidelines for kids to follow. Our Targets are calculated to take kids from the simple sentence structure to complete body paragraphs, which include “evidence” in the form of quotes from our text and analysis involving thesis and all parts in-between. I call it “proficiency” or proving proficiency and a level of performance. We agreed on the standards and identified the writing and reading qualities of a basic entering 9th grader and what he/she looks like and then what growth we need to see to prepare him/her as a prepared for Sophomore year and beyond as an exiting student at the year’s end.
We promote an analytical paragraph style of writing that involves independent thoughts and conclusions and supporting those opinions with quotes from the text. We work a lot on voice and “sentence fluency” . Getting kids to think independently and “outside of the box” and to be able to write clearly and concisely given the prompt, is a goal of our’s.
I assess as I teach and use the Elmo a great deal to have random kids (popsicle stick idea in which each kid has his own stick with his name on it and the class set is in a cup on my desk and I draw one out and that kid has to present whatever it is he has)
Show their work and explain the process or answer or whatever the task. I find I can see quickly as I walk around the room and we listen to a variety of kids, who has the right concept and who needs help. Right now we are reading and trying to “translate” into modern language Homer’s The Odyssey out of our lit anthology and it has been fun and exhausting to work with them on understanding it. ☺ As a rule, I break down the writing assignment into chunks and then build from there.
The kids work in pairs at times and independently and then check with a neighbor or group to see if he/she is on track. With 37 kids in a class, running a writing assignment like this is helpful for me, as I know right away who has it and who does not.
When the kids are working independently, I circle the room and conference with kids that I have identified as needing extra help. These can be ESL, ELL, SPED, and the “average” and “TAG” kid. Everyone needs help. ☺
I like the idea of assessing as we go and catching errors or misdirections before the assignment veers way off track. I believe kids get the most out of seeing peer writing and my writing modeled for them to see all kinds of writing styles.
Would love to read other ideas, etc!
I also enjoyed reading the information about getting kids to love to write/read (my take on Regie's words) and to take pride in their work. I believe that if they care about what they are doing, then they will want to express that passion and excitement to others through their words. That is one of the reasons, I try to choose reading material that resonates with them and the lives they lead so that they can relate to the characters and understand the situations they are involved in and write about it knowledgeably. When they can put their own personal experiences in a piece of writing, they take more pride in the end product. Peer editing can be useful but also can be not so useful depending on level of skill and the degree of friendship between the editing partners! Any helpful hints on this process are always welcome. Kids get attached to their words and ideas and take offense (as we all do) to a suggestion for change. ☺ When it is a buddy of their’s offering the opinion or a secret crush or someone they don’t know, it gets dicey! Lol I instruct them to be “kind” but critical and to offer both positive critique as well as “room for improvement” responses. I also suggest to everyone that each kid read his/her work out loud and see if what they have writing makes sense when read out loud. I have found that kids pick up on common errors in structure that way and can generally “hear” what is not making sense. I tell them that their brains often insert the correct words on its own. ☺ Those are just general thoughts about writing and getting kids to love it. Positive feedback is KEY, I think. I am in awe of the elementary teachers who start from scratch and instill that language and structure into the little ones. Thank you for a job well done!
ReplyDeleteEssentials of Writing: Assignment 5
ReplyDeleteJenny Lucas
Reflection of Section 3
Section 3 of Writing Essentials was full of practical advice for teaching writing in an efficient, yet comprehensive manner.
In Chapter 7, Regie counsels us how to integrate writing skills instruction within authentic writing experiences. I know from my own experiences as well as from research that isolating skills and teaching them via worksheets or activities such as Daily Oral Language is ineffective as students rarely transfer these skills into their own writing. Teaching these skills through authentic writing experiences is a much more meaningful approach as it gives the writer a reason to use the skills. I think one of the most important things Regie said was on page 145 where she wrote that “writing for a real audience is one of the best ways to get quality writing”. I’ve experienced this in my own teaching. When students have a purpose and audience for their writing, they pay more attention to all aspects of the writing process. When they see themselves as authors, they begin to talk about their writing in a purposeful way and they take their readers into consideration. The purpose of revising and editing is to adjust a piece of writing in a way that makes it more comprehensible for the reader. It is really for our audience that we even bother to revise and edit. When a teacher uses his or her own writing as well as student writing to model the writing process and traits, s/he is working within an apprenticeship model that can have a powerful impact on students. They take ownership of their writing because they see themselves as writers, not just a kid who is doing something the teacher has asked them to do. This adjustment in their thinking about themselves leads to lifelong growth in their writing skills
In addition to modeling writing skills through authentic writing, conferring with students about their writing process is a powerful strategy a teacher can use to grow student writers. I think it is critical that teachers confer with the writer, not the writing piece. It can be tempting, especially when looking at a piece of writing full of “room for improvement” to go directly to the piece and talk about what the student should fix. This is a sure-fire way to, at the least create dependence and at the most, discourage students. Instead, approaching the conference like an interview of an author can create a sense of agency and self-reflection in our students. When we ask questions like “How did you decide to write your introduction this way?” or “What made you think of using this word here?” we are reminding students of their own power as a writer. They will re-read their work and make adjustments more readily when they value their own writing process. The language we use in conferences instill this value.
I agree about getting kids to write authentically. I find kids do better when they aren't being graded for every little detail. I believe they have to be held accountable for spelling, grammar, etc, but to score each time for all of that, gets in the way of the ideas and expression of those ideas. However, in the second semester of high school, after separating out a lot of different sills and the kids writing solid paragraphs, we do include sentence fluency, as we call it, in most assignments as they need to be able to write clearly and concisely and grammatically correct eventually! :) As they gain confidence in their writing, it is easier to connect the way they write to their future success in school and college and the workforce.
DeleteEssentials of Writing: Assignment 5 continued
ReplyDeleteJenny Lucas
Assessment is a valuable tool for both teachers and students when it is used for learning. I like Regie’s suggestion in Chapter 10 to make student-friendly rubrics. This is yet another way for students to take ownership of their own writing process. Used correctly, a rubric can give the writer valuable feedback that will help them stretch their thinking about their writing process and make adjustments to their writing as needed. Conferences also offer an opportunity for assessment. Teachers can give feedback to students immediately in a conference and students can make adjustments just as immediately.
In Chapter 8, Regie writes about organizing the Writer’s Workshop in a way that I would consider a true apprenticeship model. There are clear routines and expectations, writing is modeled by the more expert writer (he teacher), lots of time is provided for students to write and for teachers to confer with them. Formative assessment drives the instruction and gives immediate feedback to students. Teachers consider how to grow their writers through a variety of studies (author, genre, traits) in which students experience authentic writing for real purposes and audiences. In a well organized, apprenticeship approach to writer’s workshop, young writers will flourish and grow to value themselves as writers.
After reading half of this book, and one of Regie’s other books entitled Reading Essentials, I have realized that the way my former school district approached literacy was part-to-whole-to part, instead of what Regie counsels teachers to do. We often wondered why students didn’t engage themselves in literacy activities or just read or write for fun. The part-to-whole model just doesn’t encourage or give them any reason to enjoy these life-long activities. Students had the skills; boy could my kids write a grammatically correct sentence in isolation, but applying their skills to real writing just wasn’t happening. If we let students in on why they are writing a particular piece of writing and for whom, and give them some choices in what they write, there will still be room to address all the details like grammar and spelling, it can be done! It comes down to excellent teaching along the optimal learning model to give students everything they need to be successful writers.
ReplyDeleteThe “Efficiency of Context” approach that Regie mentions in chapter 7 is exactly what is missing in so many writing classrooms, mine included. It seems like such a revolutionary approach, especially since a lot of teachers focus on how to make students successful on state writing assessments, but it is really a common sense way to teach skills to developing writers. So much can be accomplished when students are engaged in meaningful writing. I think I would have been a much more effective teacher of writing if I would have integrated the skill work that I forced upon students into our writer’s workshop. It was there that I had student’s attention, and where the real writing took place. I would have had plenty of time if I had just skipped D.O.L.!
I was really happy to see the extensive attention to spelling in this chapter. At our school, it was a goal for all first graders to master the “First 100 High-Frequency Words”. We had weekly spelling tests covering 4 words each week, and the words went on a word wall after each test. We practiced the words various ways throughout the week, but most students, while able to spell the words correctly for the test did not transfer their knowledge to their own writing. It was frustrating to say the least, but now I think I know why…I never emphasized the importance of correctly spelling words they knew in their writing. My expectations were low for this area, and so was performance. We need to help students understand why correct spelling is important in their writing, and once they are writing with a real audience and purpose in mind, it is much easier to draw these connections for them. I found her suggestions for word walls very helpful. Like anything, it is not enough just to have the word wall up; you must teach students how to use the wall before it will become a part of their spelling strategies.
When I was teaching, I always viewed my writer’s workshop time as writing time for the day. If I got it done, we had done writing for the day. After reading chapter 8, I see now how limiting that thought was. Good writing classrooms have writers engaged in writing (either actually writing, or thinking about writing) all throughout the day. There are so many opportunities, and in my case, missed opportunities. I thought a lot about the schedule that I had when I was in the classroom as I read this chapter, I even pulled out old lesson plan books to remind me where I spent my time. The biggest change I would make to my schedule to allow for more writing time would be to engage students in writing about reading activities during my literacy block. Students had up to 45 minutes of independent time while I rotated through reading groups. Instead of doing seatwork/skill work, students could have been writing. I would also integrate more shared writing into my day, eliminate some of the journal prompts that I used to start the day, and I would find more time in the science/math block for students to write within those content areas.
Cont'd
ReplyDeleteSomething that I did not do enough in my writing instruction was scaffoled conversations with students in front of the class. I can see the benefit of doing this, especially for topic selection, which is where many of my students struggled. When peers have the chance to listen to another student’s thought process and teacher guidance, I think it increases the likelihood that others will apply that information to their own writing. I often modeled my own thought process with topic selection by thinking out loud, but there is something about peer modeling that can go so much farther than the teacher’s efforts!
Also in chapter 8 was the discussion about genre writing. I really agree with Regie’s take in that there are so many consistencies (essentials of good writing) throughout all forms of writing. If we as teachers focus on quality instruction of the essential skills of writing, students will easily be able to apply those essentials across all genres. I also agree that we should focus on the purpose behind the writing, whatever genre it may be, teach the most important parts for the writing to be successful and then label what was done afterwards so that students don’t get too hung up in the official name of the genre…they just write quality writing with a real purpose!
Prior to reading chapter 9, my definition of a writing conference was a private meeting between teacher and student to assess student progress. I found the whole process tedious and the information I gained was superficial. I love the concept of whole class shares! I can see how beneficial they are to students and for the teacher to be able to convey writing essentials in a meaningful way. Add to that the community building that the sharing brings, along with the development of critical thinking among students and I’m 100% sold on using whole class shares! Most teachers make time for sharing writing anyway, why not add some teachable moments in to benefit everyone?!
I now understand when to use the one-on-on conference, and see the error in my thinking that everyone needs one on a regular schedule. I know that I could be more informed about student’s progress with more roving-informal conferences. By taking a few notes in these casual encounters, I can determine who needs some additional one-on-one time with me to move their writing forward. I like the idea of having students request a conference if they feel they need additional support. Teaching students how the conferences work and what you expect during that one-on-one time can help to make it more effective for both teacher and student.
As always, Regie provides wonderful suggestions on how to speak to developing writers to that they are first affirmed in their efforts, and then provided with necessary feedback on what to work on. It was often a struggle for me not to address the mistakes in student’s writing first before listening and commenting on the content. I also like the idea of having separate content and editing conferences so that students do not become too overwhelmed with corrections and discouraged leaving our meeting.
Cont'd once more
ReplyDeleteWhat a challenge it is to teach writing today, especially above grade 3. There is so much pressure to make sure students perform on writing assessments, I am often grateful that I did not feel this pressure so intensely. When looking at rubrics and checklists, we have to be so careful to use them for what they are intended…evaluation and not a writing program. The most meaningful rubrics or checklists are the ones that are developed through shared conversations with the entire teaching staff, and are then put into child-friendly terms so that everyone understands what is expected. This was missing in my school, I would have loved to see the results of everyone, K-6 working towards a common goals.
While the best writing test preparation is excellent teaching and lots of writing, I liked that Regie included ways to address the test taking process with students so that they understand what will be expected of them and can practice ahead of time. This does not mean wearing students out on test-taking skills and limiting writing time to just practicing for the test, rather it is giving students practical tips on how to tackle writing in a test-taking situation (which will come up many times in their school and life career).
A single test score does not represent what a writer is capable of, which is why I really like the idea of displaying student writing from each grade in a continuum to highlight growth and accomplishment. This would communicate so much more about a writer than one single piece. It is hard not to think about assessment as the final step in the writing process…the time when a piece is judged. When we remember that good assessment should guide our instruction to help our writers become more successful, excellent teaching will take place because it will be informed and tailored to our writer’s needs.
Teaching to the writing test is a challenge. We have tried to mesh our rubrics and targets with what they need to be able to do to be successful in career and life and have tried to map some of those to the writing test. We have switched to more narrative writing sophomore year to prep for this and done some other minor adjustments. Do you feel the topics on the writing test are easily understood at your grade level?
DeleteChapter 7-10
ReplyDeleteStart with the meaning and keeping it whole makes sense. To focus on the message first and worry about skills later seems to free up the writer. I enjoyed reading how one 5th grade teacher changed her writing goals from skills like: subject/verb agreement and comparative adjectives to goals like: poetry and Hero Writing. I can see how this would excite kids more. Routman posits that skills writing leaves out audience. This makes sense. I was interested to read that including audience in all writing is the best way to improve quality. I personally have not conveyed this enough to kids and I am anxious to integrate this into my writer’s workshop. Another aspect of writing I have struggled with is teaching “Voice”. I like how Routman explains it. You can imagine the writer behind the writing. I would like to highlight this in class. One idea could be to read a piece that has good voice and then ask the kids if student a, b, or c wrote it. We could have some interesting discussions about what makes the piece sound like the writer.
Another concept I found particularly liberating is the notion that writing topics are student generated. If they are interested in the topic they writing will be better. I am so used to giving the kids guidelines from our district binder, that to open it up to choice and more free writing makes me feel guilty! I need to remember that good writing is the goal. I love the idea of more free-writing to develop flow. The notion that not everything needs to be edited makes sense as well.
I enjoyed reading how Routman views writing workshop. In her definition, two things stood out for me: “Sustained, daily writing across the curriculum of mostly self chosen topics” and “Writing for purposes and audiences.” The sustained writing seems exactly what several of my kids need. They are so stymied by spelling and rules that they don’t produce much. Routman goes on to say that by not consistently writing for extended periods of time daily, students loose the “flow” and ability to write. Just like an engine or instrument, it needs to run or be played in order to work well. We need to keep our kids “In the groove.”
The section on genre offered practical ideas I can implement in the classroom. Our district has pretty much decided which genres are taught in each grade level in our district writing binder but it would still be helpful to discuss this as a staff to at least revisit what we are doing and coordinate our efforts. Again, I like how Routman puts the focus on meaningful purposes to real readers. I like the list of purposes in the reading. As a class we can focus on these before we write for our audience. “The purpose of writing determines the genre or form, not the other way around.” Oh yeah.
7-10 cont.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do conduct writing conferences, this chapter provides specific suggestions on how to make improvements. I like how Routman chooses to focus on content first. As I mentioned before, students sometimes are stuck when worried about mechanics. When meeting with children as a whole group, roving through the classroom, or one-on-one conferencing, we can begin with the content conference first. I feel I am somewhat successful in implementing the different kinds of conferences but I am guilty of immediately focusing on mechanics and the “incorrectness”. I am probably sending the wrong message. I am grateful for the reminder to start with the positive and focus on the content and message. The reading also states the importance of student independence in terms of editing and that sometimes we make kids too dependent on the teacher. I appreciated reading this reminder and feel I can instill more independence by using the suggestions from this reading.
The chapter on assessment offered insight into how assessment can be used. In our district, we have a rubric written for each grade level that outlines (in not so kid friendly terms) what needs to be evidenced in student writing. We (my second grade partner teacher and I) have rewritten the rubric in kid friendly writing and students use it periodically to help them write. What most struck me from the reading is that good writing is not a function of correct conventions but rather the result of, “The use of language, the way the piece flows and is organized, and the impact the words have on the reader.” The second grade rubric presented in this chapter highlighted these qualities over conventions and I am eager to shift our (mine and the students’) focus to emphasize making our writing interesting. In terms of test taking, I like how “Aiming for fluency,” can benefit students. Also, it is interesting that when students are unable to write a page of text in 20-30 minutes, it is often because they are not asked to write frequently. Although I know becoming a good teacher of writing is like honing a craft (doesn’t happen overnight), I take heart in the notion that this is not rocket science. Write more often, focus on message, become a better writer.
As soon as I started reading chapter seven, I found myself writing down ideas for the next school year on how I would change my writing instruction. The biggest change I need to make is to do more smaller pieces of writing in which I incorporate the sound of the week, rather than use the boring worksheets that come with our reading curriculum. I might still use these as supplemental activities, but not hold them higher in importance, but instead focus on my students using the newly learned sounds in their everyday writing. I feel that if my students engage with the sounds, instead of just completing a worksheet, that retention of those sounds will happen more successfully. I have had students that can spell words correctly, but often are stuck when they are trying to use them in their writing.
ReplyDeleteI also want to try to have my first graders read aloud or at least partner share their writing pieces. This should help them gain confidence in their own abilities and allow them to hear different types of voice in writing. I know that this process will take lots of modeling and patience on my end, because I want my students to really listen for confusing parts or parts that were exciting and be able to comment on them with each other. This partner sharing time would allow me to conference with students about their writing. I like the idea of conference with students, but was struggling with what to do with the rest of my class as I do this. I came to realization that I do not have to conference with every student each day. I will try and let my students dictate when they are ready to conference with me. I also like the idea of roving conferences where I take one or two minutes to check in with each student and take notes on their topic and where they are in the writing process. This will serve as a guide to let me know what students are nearing the conference stage.
I reflect back on my college classes and how I learned to teach writing feel like I was not prepared fully for this task. Perhaps it is now do to my own experimentations with writing instruction that I can now see what works and what does not work for my instructional methods. I do like to try new strategies every year because my students change and so should my methods. Just after reading these few chapters, I feel a renewed excitement about writing instruction. My district my tell me what literacy curriculum and graphic organizer to use for writing instruction, however it is my decision as to how I am going to present that material to my students in order for them to continue to develop their writing proficiency.
Hello Everyone!
ReplyDeleteHope you are all enjoying these last days of the school year. It’s a busy time for everyone!
Mary- I’m just curious, as I’m always looking for ways to improve my record keeping, do you keep notes on your observations and assessments as you walk around the class and if so, what format do you use? A notebook, one sheet for the whole class or index cards??? Oh, The Odyssey, I remember it well. :D I agree with your statement, yes, all kids do need help! It’s unfortunate when teachers feel like they have to chose between their below level student over their “average” or “high” level students. I am also a big fan of document cameras, for their cost I feel that they have so many uses across all the subjects.
As to your question about peer editing…I think it takes a lot of role modeling and practicing. I would find the document camera a useful tool for demonstrating respectful and constructive comments. This is a little off topic, but as an elementary librarian I also feel that it’s so important for students to learn how to comment respectfully and constructively online to blogs and newspaper articles. Having some of their work “published” online for the “world” to see and comment on also brings it to a different level. Much of this work should be done at the elementary and middle school levels so that by the time the students get to high school they are adept, comfortable and confident in their skills. However, in my experience, I am not seeing this as the standard.
Yes, having had a duty in the Writer’s Workshop last year at the high school I worked at I was amazed how similar the students in high school were to elementary students; regarding their “finished” pieces and not wanting to revise or change any part of their piece. It is a delicate process to maintain their confidence yet show them how their piece could be much better organized or clearer to the audience. One thing that the humanities department did was to require the students to have three adults read their paper and edit it prior to handing it in to the teacher. The adults needed to sign and date the paper to prove that we had in fact worked with the student. I actually really liked this requirement and as I was in the library we often had many students ask us to help them with their assignment. It was also interesting to see what other staff members noted and commented on.
Hi Jenny!
ReplyDeleteYaahooo, Jackie and I agree with you 100%. YES, we also feel that one of the most important things Regie says is to have students write for real audiences to improve quality. Also, as you said, that if we can get student to think about revising and editing as ways to make their piece more clear for their reader a lot of the fight would go out of the students when they were asked to do so.
Great points Jenny regarding the importance of conferring and focusing on the WRITER not the writing. So many students are discouraged, but if teachers were able to take to heart what you wrote on the blog then I absolutely believe we would have many students with a different attitude towards writing. The primary years are so interesting to me and I often wonder where, why and how does things change for students. If you ask Preschoolers and Kindergarten students if they are artists, writers, readers, singers, smart, etc… you get a yes, yes, yes. It would be wonderful if we were able to hold on to that enthusiasm and confidence through out the school years! However, somewhere along the way many students lose this perception and become discouraged and lack confidence.
Mary, I also think as the second half of the year rolls around, the teacher and students have developed a relationship and have a sense of trust so that the conversations about mechanics and grammar can take place in a way that doesn’t overwhelm and defeat the students.
Hello Amy,
You’re exactly right; part to whole to part doesn’t transfer or work. As you said, it does come down to excellent teaching and it’s not easy. Following a scripted program or copying pages from a workbook to say that you “covered it” is not the best way to teach or to develop successful writers. Telling students WHY it’s important to spell correctly and having high (right) expectations for our student around spelling and grammar will improve students’ results. Great reminder that we all need to be reevaluating our schedules, seeing where we can adjust and find more time and writing across the curriculum.
The benefits for student to hear the teacher working/conversing/conferring with other students are huge. It does increase the likelihood that other students will apply the information to their own writing.
I have also seen amazing results when students are included in the development of rubrics. Now I’m not saying that every rubric needs to be developed by the class, but every now and then it’s a powerful motivator and students are often much harder on themselves than we would be.
Hi Don!
ReplyDeleteVoice is one of the more difficult traits to teach. Here is a link to site that has some ideas of ways to teach Voice. It might be interesting or useful to some of you elementary teachers. I like the questions the site has for explaining Voice to students and also the link to the picture books for “Sparking Voice.”
http://www.edina.k12.mn.us/concord/teacherlinks/sixtraits/voice.htm
Don, I think most of us are grateful for the reminders to focus on the positive, content and message. In the jam-packed day with the pressure to cover curriculum, many of us rush along thinking of the finished publish piece or the next assignment we need to complete. Giving the students the time and encouragement to develop their writing skills is time and effort well worth it. Our goal should always to be to cultivate successful writers.
I’m sure you and your students will appreciate the shift the focus in your room to make writing interesting!
YES, we can all become better teachers of writing if we have students write more, write for a purpose and write for an audience! :D
Hello Megan,
Every time I read the text I note new areas and get excited about literacy! You might want to start at first with some modeling with you and another adult on the partner share and how to focus on confusing or exciting parts. First graders will need a lot of modeling and practice. I agree with you that many teacher programs do not prepare students how to instruct writing. ☹ (There are quite a few other areas that I personally feel that teacher programs let student down on but I will save that soapbox for another time.) You are lucky that you are allowed the freedom to decide how to present your content to students, not all teachers are allowed this luxury. ☹