ASSIGNMENT FOUR: WRITTEN REFLECTION-Section Two- Teaching Essentials Chapters 4-6
Read Writing Essentials, Chapters 4-6 and briefly reflect on the following thoughts written below and any additional comments that you have after reading these chapters. Post your reflection to the course blog.
Chapter 4: Raise Your Expectations
• Why we need to raise expectations – ESPECIALLY for our minority and lower socio-economic students
• How to raise expectations in your classrooms as well as in your grade level and throughout your entire building
• What about handwriting, spelling and editing expectations?
• How to use the Optimal Learning Model to support your students’ needs
“Raising expectations” for our students is a big push in all of our districts. Under “No Child Left Behind” many schools have been identified as “in need of improvement” and have been working furiously yet unsuccessfully for over ten years to “close the gap” for our minority children. But more important than improving performance on high stakes tests is remembering that if we raise our expectations and teach explicitly, then our students will rise to the occasion and astonish us with the high quality work that each of them is capable of.
Regie has some great insight into the need to raise expectations of our students and feeling comfortable and confident with the decision to set high standards for all learners. She raises the question, What are our clearly articulated, rigorous yet reasonable expectations? This is a question that we should reflect on as individual teachers, and one that should be the starting point for a conversation within our grade levels, buildings and across entire districts.
We’d like to know what you think of one of our favorite quotes from the book: “Worksheets aren’t good enough. The students who can do them don’t need them, and the ones who struggle with them feel defeated by the red marks, which only reinforce their feelings of inadequacy. WORKSHEETS FOSTER MEDIOCRITY!” (We personally wanted to shout out when we read that!) Please include your thoughts in your Section Two Reaction.
In this chapter, Regie also sheds some light on several topics that teachers often ask about. “What about handwriting expectations?” and “Conventions, Editing and Publishing?” It’s always helpful to get another professional’s point of view on these pressing issues! Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 5: Do More Shared Writing• Where does Shared Writing fit within the Optimal Learning Model?
• For which learners is Shared Writing appropriate?
• How can we link Shared Writing with Shared Reading?
• How can Shared Writing be used to support word work?
• What are some “Tried and True” ideas for Shared Writing?
Regie's idea of Shared Writing is very different than that of many other professionals in the field. So often we use Shared Writing only with the primary grades. As Regie states, “What a great way to teach and engage all students in all aspects of oral and written language.” If we are to consider teaching through all phases of the Optimal Learning Model, we can begin to see how important Shared Writing is for our students. We think that the idea of using Shared Writing in both upper elementary and the middle schools is a new way of thinking for many of us.
One of the reasons Regie encourages teachers to use chart paper and an easel, instead of projecting to a screen with an overhead or document camera, is that the children are seated right with you on the floor, which usually holds the children’s attention a little better. Another idea that has worked great for me is to move the overhead machine to the group area and place it on the floor in the middle of the group in front of the easel. I then project the machine onto the white space of the easel. It’s great because you’re able to be right there in the middle of the group and have the benefit of writing more quickly onto a transparency rather that chart paper. You’ll need to consider which of your Shared Writing activities you’ll want students to be rereading (don’t forget that you can hole punch transparencies and put them in a binder for future reference) and which you may want posted to your walls on charts.
Regie’s list of “Tried and True Ideas for Shared Writing” (page 112) is very extensive. It would be helpful to take a look at Regie’s list as you create your curriculum map for the year. Where would some of her suggestions fit within your science, social studies, math, reading and writing units across the year?
Chapter 6: Capitalize on the Reading-Writing Connection
• How can we become more effective integrating our reading and writing instruction?
• Are we as efficient as possible with our responses to reading?
• The benefit and necessity to integrate our content area teaching with both reading and writing
• The importance of writing (and reading) more nonfiction
We know research shows that reading achievement affects writing achievement and vice-versa, and we also know that it continually gets harder to fit “it all” into our day. Effectively using reading and writing connections throughout the day in all areas of language arts, math, science, social studies, and even specials such as art, music and library, is our only option.
Regie’s suggestion of taking a closer look at how we use written response to reading is a very important one. Careful consideration is needed to decide if what we’re asking the students to do is “worth their time.” For example, if the response we’re looking for will “deepen comprehension, cause the writer to reflect on the content, and/or foster appreciation for the text” then it’s worth it. We whole-heartedly agree with her statement that many of the overly structured assignments such as book reports can alienate our readers! While response journals do have their benefits for us professionally Regie states, “they also take up a lot of our time!” It’s a very organized teacher who can effectively keep up with their responses without feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. Don’t forget the bottom line – “Be sure that students spend more time reading than writing about reading!” (Page 126)
We are so glad that Regie addressed how to effectively teach summary writing. We know that many teachers have a difficult time differentiating between a summary and retelling – I (Jackie) was one of them until several years ago. The snapshots and procedures that Regie shares on how to teach summarizing are invaluable and should be a reference that we all refer back to throughout our teaching year.
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Chapter 4
ReplyDeleteI have been a strong believer in setting the bar high for kids and then seeing what needs to be done in order for the kids to reach it and move beyond. I believe that having low expectations for any reason, sets kid up to fail. I liken it to team sports where a team tends to play to the level of the competition and not always with good results. I don’t think I expect less of my minority students but I know that the language issue is huge as it relates to their success in writing. I am not sure of all of the differences between ESL and ELL, etc., but the majority of my minority students struggle at first with “articles” and verb endings, etc. I try to teach basic sentence structure through modeling and the use of student work of all types. Maybe I am fooling myself, but I think that all kids benefit from seeing work displayed and critiqued for both positives and negatives or ways to improve.
I love the statement made on page 53 about the kid who succeeded beyond what the teacher anticipated. The teacher said in effect “I didn’t know he could do that” and the answer was “I didn’t know he couldn’t”! TALK ABOUT PROFOUND! I try not to label kids based on family name! I have younger siblings of kids I have had before and I do my best NOT to have the same expectations of them.
I also believe that a teacher needs to look for QUALITY versus QUANTITY and that more isn’t always better! I hate worksheets and found total validation in Regie’s words of encouragement and the stories she tells. I am committed to asking kids to do assignments that are meaningful and not always lengthy so that they can conquer necessary skills before they move to longer writing pieces/essays. I believe that a lot of the behavior issues in a high school classroom are due to the fact that the kid doesn’t understand the language well enough to express themselves and therefore feel “stupid” and either act out or stop showing up. Neither is acceptable to me and I try to make sure that I hang out with the minority kids and create a positive and warm atmosphere so they feel safe in admitting what they don’t know.
Affluence doesn’t always breed solid, hard working kids, but poverty often does I have found. The disconnect between kids who have everything and hard work is immense. I try to instill relevance in all I do, as that is the hook for kids. If they can connect it to their world, they often buy in to the writing.
ReplyDeleteHandwriting: Oh my goodness! Is cursive taught anymore in elementary school or are they consumed with I Touches and all of that jazz that limits their writing skills to lol and jk? I am a stickler for handwriting and require kids to rewrite if something is illegible. If there is a “real” reason for the poor quality, I adjust to that, but otherwise, I have targeted handwriting as a huge emphasis this year.
I can’t spend every class period as Gail Westbrook does, each day writing, but I can show samples of various writing styles and provide numerous opportunities for students to be exposed to all kinds of writing, formal and informal, so they can see solid writing and know what it looks like and sounds like. Our writing curriculum offers the kids the opportunities to write different lengths and for different purposes and we use the proficiency model which definitely set the bar high in the first place. The kids see the rubrics and can easily identify the pieces they need to work on to improve.
I know that kids with little at home in support, tend to not do so well on tests especially state testing. We teach those kids how to answer prompts and to direct their writing through graphic organizers and lots of practice. I let kids use my computer at school and take them to the labs for further typing if the whole class needs to be there. I do any Internet searching as a class or in a lab and rarely assign an assignment dealing with the Internet. If I do, I check around and see who will need more time to use the library as they might not have computer access at home. Not everyone does and it irritates me when teachers assume they do and give homework accordingly. Then the kid can’t do it. Doesn’t turn it in and fails. Why not just take them to the lab instead or make it okay to handwrite the paper?
chapter 5
ReplyDeleteShared writing is a bit different at the high school level as they have moved beyond the chart type activities, but they still need to see writing in action, so I try to group them ability wise and write specific answers to an overall class question or two on butcher paper and inform the class as a whole. For instance today we were "unpacking" Homer's The Odyssey and this was their first solo attempt at either a line by line translation or a summary in modern language. This is pretty funny the first time out! After reading the shared type activities in the chapter, I had the kids grouped into 3s and they had to collaborate on the best translation/summary and talk through their own work and then combine their work into a new piece of writing and present to the class. Everyone completed the same task, but the results were vastly different and it was a great chance to focus on strenths and weaknesses as a group as we all followed along as they read their papers and put them on the Elmo. It worked. So I agree with Regie that shared writing is valuable at upper grade levels also. If everyone is experiencing the same jitters about presenting their work and nothing bad happens, kids tend to breathe easier. High schoolers hate to be wrong! We can talk about word choice and language and formal and informal writing in a relaxed atmosphere and today I also read straight from the original writings of Homer AFTER they had presented the same stanzas and we had analyzed them and they UNDERSTOOD THE PASSAGES! Yahoo! I had never done that before. Thanks, Regie! We read a lot in my classes but I have never done "reading circles" and I am not sure why. How do they work for you guys? Do kids interact more and read more avidly if the book is of their choosing? I don't do "book reports" as I feel that kills their love of reading and I am all about TEACHING THEM TO LOVE TO READ/WRITE!
I recently had the kids write an analysis paragraph that involved several steps and rewrites and edits based on a specific rubric. It was a challenge as they went from simple quotes, to analysis, to rough draft 1, to peer edit 1, to rough draft 2 and peer edit 2 to final draft. The final copy was typed in the computer lab and printed off without a name on it and stapled together as a whole so they could see how the process impacts their grade. I am hopeful that they will see the benefit of rewriting and letting the paper sit over days and then going back to it to rewrite. I am scoring the papers "blindly" which should be interesting, so handwriting won't get in my way! I told them this was the most unbiased approach I could think of ! I will let you know how it all turns out! I am in the process of grading now.
ReplyDeleteOne of the other things I have tried is to have my kids who speak different languages, respond to questions in both English and their own language and share with the class. It was fun and certainly was an eye opener for kids whose native language is English! It was for me too as not one of the kids stumbled over discussion in his/her own language!
ReplyDeleteChapter 6 had a lot of interesting ideas but not sure how I incorporate them into 9th grade without seeming like the activities are "too young" . I will try a couple of them in the next few weeks and see. I do enjoy reading all of the information and the one I will for sure try out is cutting up the sentences activity as that is a good one for all language level speakers/writers. I have used the activity involving rewriting an ending or changing an ending to a short story and that seems to work well also.
Essentials of Writing: Assignment 4
ReplyDeleteJenny Lucas
Reflection of Section 2: Teaching Essentials
I loved reading Section 2 of Writing Esentials! Regie solidified my thinking about rigor and expectations in writing. I agree with Regie that, especially in schools where kids live in poverty or are English language learners, teacher expectations need to be high. All too soon these children will be competing for jobs with children from a higher socioeconomic environment and their best chance at succeeding is to have well developed literacy skills. I love Regie’s no-nonsense approach to writing. There is no excuse for sloppy handwriting, poor use of conventions, or writing too little during independent writing. I have noticed that the teachers who get great results are those who truly believe that their students are capable of performing at or above grade level from day one. They don’t use their poverty or the fact that English is their second language as an excuse for poor performance. They see themselves as a model for success and set the bar high for all of their students.
I work in a high poverty/ high ELL school and we have come a long way in our expectations for our students. As the poverty level increased and as more and more ELL students moved into our school, teachers became increasingly frustrated with lower and lower student performance and expectations began to decrease. Many of our teachers started to “lower the bar” for writing performance. It became easy to blame parents and home environments for poor student performance. Over the past six years, we have worked hard to turn our thinking around and create a rigorous environment for our students. We realized that we had to teach in a different way than we had in the past. Our study of the gradual release of responsibility helped enormously. (Regie calls it The Optimal Learning Model.) Realizing that our students needed scaffolding was a big ah-ha. Students needed to see good models of writing and then be guided through the writing process rather than fill out worksheets about sentence structure and paragraphing. Many of our teachers have begun to share their writing with their students. This has provided some great opportunities for powerful modeling. Teachers are “in the struggle” with their students and can talk with them about their own process. One thing we had to do is let go of some of the old assumptions we had about our students and replaced them with new ones. One of our old assumptions was that poor students had few experiences outside of school, so they had nothing to write about. Of course, this turns out not to be the case. All children come to school with stories in their minds and hearts and, as it turns out, they also have experiences worth writing about. What they needed were teachers who could model for them and work with them in order to get those stories and experiences down on paper. Another assumption we had was that English language learners would always struggle with writing until their language level became proficient. What we discovered was that, in order for their language level to become proficient, they had to write well. That was a really big ah-ha!
Jenny, I appreciate your insight into the teaching of writing especially to the ELL/ESL kids and kids of poverty. I have noticed a huge increase in my homeless kids and kids on Free and Reduced and some of those kids are my hardest workers though they don't have resources at home. They do want to improve their lot in life, however, and if they believe they can be successful and tell their stories and other kids listen and learn from them, it empowers all.
DeleteEssentials of Writing :Assignment 4 continued
ReplyDeleteJenny Lucas
I love that Regie wrote so much about shared writing. Remembering the gradual release of responsibility (Optimal Learning Model), shared writing provides that all important “with”. Students with little experience in writing or with English language challenges need a lot of
“with” before they can write independently. The suggestions Regie gave in Chapter 5 are perfect for our students. Scaffolding our learners through shared writing experiences is key in helping them reach independence. I know that I will try some of these shared writing experiences out when I model for teachers and refer them to her book for more ideas.
The reading-writing connection is something I find myself coaching teachers on a lot these days. Chapter 6 offered some insights for me to pass on to my teachers. It’s seems so simple, but we don’t always think to connect the two for our students. Looking at a text through the lens of a writer can be powerful when writing in a new mode or genre. Also, responding to text in writing can solidify thinking while creating authentic reasons to write. We use the DRA three times a year to assess our students in reading. A few years ago, it was discovered that many of our teachers neglected to written response part of the assessment, opting for taking oral responses. When the administration realized this was happening, the guidelines were reviewed and the expectation for completing the written portion was required. This caused quite a stir for many of our teachers. They were certain that students would not perform as well and, of course, they were right. But this was because they had never asked their students to respond to their reading in writing. (lower expectations again) Once teachers provided opportunities for students to do this and taught the important skill of summary writing, DRA scores came up. It was a great lesson in how kids will rise to the occasion when we raise our expectations of them.
As I read chapter 4, all of my beliefs that we need to give children more credit for what they are capable of doing were confirmed! Regie’s writing on raising our expectations for students was inspiring, and should be read by every teacher, pre-service to veteran. All students, regardless of their circumstance in life, deserve excellent teaching with high expectations. We must expect more from our students to get the results that we want. This can’t happen without good explicit teaching (optimal learning model) so that students know and are capable of meeting our expectations. I can remember being shocked when a guest teacher came in and taught a lesson to my first graders about how to use quotation marks in their writing. I had never thought about introducing this convention so early, and yet my students grasped the concept and began applying quotation marks in their personal narrative stories. I felt like the teacher that Regie mentions in the opening of the chapter!
ReplyDeleteI was glad to see Regie discuss the matter of conventions in this chapter. If students have the opportunity to write daily, things such as handwriting, spelling, editing etc. can all be meaningfully incorporated. We don’t have to teach these important skills in isolation, or overlook them entirely for the sake of not interrupting the writing process. These skills can and should be expected all students. When I expect students to spell certain words correctly (high frequency words we have worked on) and teach/give them strategies and tools for success, they become confident writers who take pride in their work. When we show our students that we believe they are capable of “big” concepts/ideas and explicitly teach to our expectations, they will rise to meet the challenge. Nothing bothers me more than when I go into a school and see sloppy, error-filled writing proudly displayed. I cringe for the teacher and question why the bar was set so low.
As for worksheets, I think we as teachers need to always have in mind what our final end goal is for our students. If a worksheet is only going to be used to fill time, will never be looked at again or even sent home, then it should not be a part of the curriculum. If a worksheet is going to be done as a part of a shared learning activity where students are interacting with the teacher to learn a particular skill that will advance students to a particular learning goal, then perhaps it would be worthwhile. In general, I don’t think that is not how many worksheets are used. I was appalled at how many worksheets I had acquired (and unfortunately used) when I cleaned out my files a few years ago. I now know a better way!
I really enjoyed reading more about what shared writing looks like in the classroom. I mentioned earlier that this was often missing in my writing instruction, as I tended to do more demonstrations for students, but not with them. I wish I had the opportunity to jump back in time so that I could incorporate more shared writing experiences in my classroom. There are so many applications for this valuable teaching tool, as I read Regie’s list my mind went wild with possibilities. I would use shared writing to re-tell stories, to make collaborative class books rather than having each student make their own page, and classroom procedure charts/directions. I would love to make expert books that cross the curriculum, about our town, birds, rocks, balance, how to solve word problems. There are so many ways to get students writing in ways that are meaningful and shared writing is such a powerful teaching tool.
Cont'd
ReplyDeleteThe connection between shared writing and reading is reason enough to add more into our daily schedules. It was often a struggle to find suitable reading material for my non-readers and beginning readers. Using shared writing that can then be used as shared reading and independent reading makes so much sense and helps young writers see what the intended goal is for writing…to be read!! It also enhances classroom community and raises the confidence of struggling writers and readers. I thought that the framework provided on pg.88-89 was an excellent starting point for how to implement a shared writing experience, and I really appreciated the examples she provided towards the end of the chapter. Reading Regie’s language and how she interacts with students while engaged in the writing process with them encouraged me that I can be capable of doing the same with students and my own children.
By providing more opportunities to read in school, and time to be read to, students are experience how authors craft stories, hear rich language and sentence structure, and just enjoy the written word. This translates to their writing and gives them more examples beyond shared writing to draw from. Non-fiction texts can be so engaging for students and can turn struggling students into readers and writers; they should have equal presence in our classrooms. Providing opportunities for informational/non-fiction writing is critical to make sure we reach all of our writer’s interest areas and strengths. Some of my students who struggled to write narratives and poetry wrote beautiful non-fiction pieces. I had to constantly challenge myself to share non-fiction books with students, as I gravitate towards fiction in my reading life.
It just makes sense to integrate reading and writing instruction; it’s unfortunate that there isn’t more focus on this natural connection in professional resources. There are so many ways for students to respond to their reading through writing, enriching their literacy experience. One of the most meaningful ways I took away from this chapter is the idea of using writing notebooks in guided reading groups to monitor reading comprehension. I did a lot of oral comprehension checks, but as Regie points out, one student is in the hot seat and the others have the freedom to check out. By holding the entire group accountable for responding to well-crafted questions, I would have had a much better pulse on how students are doing with their reading skills/ comprehension and could re-teach as needed. We should all be striving to enhance our students reading through well thought out writing activities so that students can reach their full reading/writing potential.
Chapter 4-6 Response
ReplyDeleteRaising expectations provides more opportunity for success. When I was teaching a k-1 in a school serving children from poverty, I saw how our expectations influenced the education of the kids. I wanted the children to understand that ideas should be organized in order to present a clear message. We worked on beginnings, and conclusions and when we completed the writing process, we posted them in the hallway. I thought the end result was a good start but what really made an impression was the reaction of the teacher across the hall. She was amazed at the finished product and brought her kids out to see what writers could do. What struck me was not that my expectations were all that high but that the other teacher’s expectations were very low! Yes, we need to raise our expectations for all children because all too often, we believe the kids are incapable. I remember teaching second grade in another school that also received title 1 funds, and during conferences, the teacher next to me said, “I have not really taught writing yet. These kids really just aren’t writers.” This was said to a parent during the conference! On the other hand, I have seen many teachers who really excel in teaching of writing (in my opinion) as evidenced by the work produced by the students. I have seen this in schools teaching children of poverty as well as students from affluence. One factor that is changed is the expectations and expertise of the teacher.
I am glad there are many practical suggestions in this chapter. For example, Routman suggests using shared writing to create charts for writing expectations. I have been trying to make more of these charts this year so kids can have them as a reference for: improving sentence fluency, getting ideas, or effective word choice. Two charts from this chapter that stood out for me are: “What makes our writing interesting?” and ”What does it mean to write more/tell more?” I know I am guilty of “helping” students who are struggling, by asking them to write/tell more yet I offer nothing more! These lists will help, especially after we create them together and I refer to them as I model frequently. Frequent modeling and thinking out loud can improve my instruction. Since reading this book, I have made it a point to model and access good writing though shared writing and reading aloud and I believe it shows in the students writing.
I think the best way to raise expectations throughout our buildings is first by raising one’s own expectations and expertise. I have implemented suggestions from this reading and already I feel I can see results. For example, I have provided students more models of good writing through shared writing and by reading poetry. I wanted the kids to see that they can improve their writing by including more colorful/figurative language. I demonstrated including similes and metaphors in writing first in a poem and second in my imaginative writing piece. That day, a student wrote, “I ran to the soccer ball like a sparrow diving for a worm!” Another wrote, “Jupiter and the other gas giants are a shield that protects the Earth from asteroids!” From the reading, I also really like the notion that messy handwriting is disrespectful to the reader. I have been using this one in class and having those few kids rewrite their pieces. It only took once for their neatness to improve. When I read exceptional writing from other classes, I want to know how it was accomplished. Through improved teaching with higher expectations combined with collaboration throughout the grades, we can significantly impact the quality of student writing.
Worksheets are everywhere and it’s hard to miss the quote in the reading, “Worksheets aren’t good enough. The students who can do them don’t need them, and the ones who struggle with them feel defeated by the red marks, which only reinforce their feelings of inadequacy. WORKSHEETS FOSTER MEDIOCRITY!” I can see how the author feels about worksheets and I totally understand how worksheets are not the most effective way for kids to learn to write. After all, they really aren’t writing to express themselves when completing a DOL grammar sheet, for example. That being said, I like worksheets! Ha! I said it! This warrants further explanation. When worksheets are purposeful, brief, and align with curriculum, they can provide an earmarked opportunity for introducing concepts. For example, our adopted curriculum, Scott Foresman: Reading Street includes a grammar book. As we work our way through the units, different skills are embedded in: The book of the week, Song/chants, and leveled readers (which by the way do not constitute the entirety of my reading…feeling defensive here). Each week, we take a moment to review the concepts presented in the grammar book. The exercises are brief and most kids are able to complete them. Even the brightest students don’t necessarily already know what a pronoun is. I sit down with the 3 or 4 who don’t quite get it, and review the concept. Since the worksheet is short, the review takes little time. Without having this resource, I don’t know if I honestly would touch on: parts of speech, contractions, rules for capitalization, etc., in a clear, coordinated and consistent manner. We also follow through by highlighting these elements in the writing of others and encourage it in our own writing. I understand the focus of “meaningful teaching of writing” and next we add the skills to support it but I still like having my reminders in the form of integrated grammar practice.
ReplyDeleteAll writers can benefit from shared writing. Shared writing fits within the Optimal Learning Model when teacher is holding the pen and directing the conversation before handing over responsibility. Although I have always included shared writing as part of writing instruction, I include it more regularly since reading this book. The notion that students need repeated exposure to good writing and modeling of the writing process, makes sense. I can see where it is especially beneficial to ELL’s and children who lack basic funds of knowledge. It reminds me of using sentence frames for ELL’s in order to give them the tools they need to speak only here we are giving all students tools and models so they can write. In class, I really enjoy the occasional pause to let kids participate through interactive writing. When the suggestions come from them, the other students seem to “tune in” more and see the possibilities. Although I have always taught grades K-3, I can see how shared writing can benefit any student who has not experienced various modes of writing.
I liked the idea of linking shared writing to reading. My initial impression of the link between reading and writing is that readers are exposed to good writing through reading and this shows in their writing. Writing lists, stories, poems, etc. to be read as resources is a different perspective. I have in the past had students create books for our libraries and we have certainly shared our writing but I can see there are more opportunities in the form of charts, newsletters, pamphlets, etc. I have many computer-generated charts/lists on our walls. By creating these charts together during shared writing, students would see the process, probably refer to the chart more often, and develop a deeper understanding of concepts the charts convey.
ReplyDeleteThe section on word work reminded me of when I taught K-1. Routman suggests using tiles for letters/digraphs/blends. This works great as it temporarily removes the motor requirements of writing with pencil and paper (added later). I used a book that had sequential lessons. For example, students were given the letters: e, o, d, h, p, p, and s. There were scripted instructions that asked the students to create words by adding, removing, or substituting letters. The teacher was to supply the letters (magnetic, tiles, etc.). In order to avoid having to search for/obtain all of the letters for each student, I typed rows of the letters they needed and they simply cut them apart. This was a huge timesaver and they could take the letters home to practice.
The list of “Tried and True” ideas for shared writing is a great resource. I have tried a few of them but all seem like good ideas. I love the welcome letter for a new student. I have a new boy coming this week and I think I will try some version of it. Also, my partner teacher and I used shared writing to demonstrate how to create a science fair project and we have a research report coming up. Currently we are working on “How to” writing and I think recipe writing along with directions, would be fun. Next year I will be glad to have this list when planning for the year.
Chapter 6:
ReplyDeleteRoutman clearly shows how we can integrate reading and writing instruction and she provides a practical resource I can easily access to improve instruction. Reading and writing a lot are mentioned as essential ways to become a better writer. I love this because it seems so simple. It reminds me of the poster, “Ten ways to become a better reader: Read, Read,Read, etc.” It’s not rocket science! Of course, we can be purposeful in our instruction. I like the idea of writing our own texts for struggling writers. I have had some success with this and the kids are very excited to have written books and to read books friends have written. When I was at a school that used Accelerated Reader, we wrote our own books and quizzes. Then I had a parent input the quizzes into Accelerated Reader so other kids could read the book and take quizzes on the computer for that book. This was a great motivator for writing. This chapter mentions how children’s writing reflects the quality of the reading they do. This has made me rethink SSR time and I need to give them more time to read. During SSR, I generally let kids choose what they want at their level. I need to revamp my library to assure there is quality fiction and non-fiction literature available. Time to make good use of those scholastic book order points!
Routman sites that written response to reading improves comprehension as well as writing skill. I incorporate “Reading Logs” into our day but after reading this chapter, I can see ways students can make their responses more purposeful and less time consuming. One idea that struck me is to have kids write briefly about passages read during reading groups. I can see how this would force kids to think more about reading and their written responses. I try to incorporate more challenging, well written literature into our guided reading groups and I do notice some kids really struggle with comprehension. Frequent, brief written response and sharing could help. In this chapter, I am grateful for the detailed procedure for teaching how to summarize. This too is something I mention to kids but all to often do not model!
The administration at my elementary school stresses the importance of writing expectations, but it is always accompanying the idea of student performance on our state’s writing test. I know that I need to prepare my first graders to perform well on that test, but not at the expense of creativity. I do have high expectations for my students and I communicate that with them and their parents. I expect my first graders to write a 4-sentence paragraph about any topic, with correct grammar and spelling and good voice. My students have a dictionary they can reference, which I will write in a word if it is not in there. My students and I love those dictionaries. However, I have to remind my students to try and figure out how to spell the word first before coming to me or they come to me with words they should know how to spell independently. I was surprised to see the “What Makes Our Writing Interesting?” chart on page 58 is quite similar to the chart I wrote with my students about making their writing more fun to read. I think next year I will add the “Write More/ Tell More” chart as well. Instead of limiting my students to only four or five sentences, I should challenge them to write as much as they want. I will still check for quality, but perhaps not on every writing piece. If I don’t at least check for some quality, I believe that my students start to get lazy with their work, especially their handwriting. Here it is May and I find myself, still stressing legibility of student handwriting. I feel that when a student’s work is displayed, if it does not look nice, it reflects poorly on me. My students get frustrated with me when I say that I want nice work to be displayed and that they have to try again. I am beginning to wonder if students now a days are not receiving enough fine motor skill practice. About one fourth of my students’ handwriting is either too big or messy. My principal expects good handwriting and so do I, but some of my students just cannot seem to form letters correctly every time. If they focus on letter formation too much, I find that they lose focus on what they are writing.
ReplyDeleteOne way I help model good handwriting is through shared writing. My students love to do this activity and I think that certain students shy away from it because of their poor handwriting skills. They do not want their peers to see how long it takes them to write or how messy it can be. I try to distract my students when another student is taking a while to write by telling them “heads together” about what to write next. This seems to help my shy student concentrate on what he is writing and not on all the eyes that are watching him write.
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ReplyDeleteAgain, it was nice to see a strategy in this book that I am already using in my classroom. Each week, my students and I collaborate on building a sentence around each new word wall word. I then type these sentences up, cut and laminate them, and put them out at our literacy center for students to practice during reading choice time. My students can work with a partner or independently and reassemble these sentences. However, they need to read the sentences to me in order to receive a sticker in the weekly word wall book for completing those sentences. I like it when students think they have it right, read the sentence, and figure out that it does not sound correct. I do not help them figure it out and they do not want my help either. What an easy activity to build word and sentence fluency.
Reading and writing fluency has become easier for me to bind together since I became trained on Guided Language Acquisition Development (GLAD) strategies. This was primarily thought to help ELL students gain content reading, writing, and vocabulary fluency, but I use it with all my students. With the help of graphic organizers that my students help write and illustrate, they can go back and read these posters to help them gain further content fluency. This GLAD program helped me incorporate more science and socials studies literacy into my everyday lessons. Students are gaining deeper understanding of content vocabulary and writing interesting pieces about specific topics they are studying. Incorporating reading and writing into each lesson does not have to be that difficult. For math, I sometimes stop and have my student write about how they got their answer instead of telling me or I may have them write a sentence about a graph they are referencing. This is a good beginning to what my students will be expected to do in third grade on the state test.
Hi Everyone. Wow, is what I thought when I saw that there were 16 comments on this section. :D
ReplyDeleteMary, I would agree with you that students benefit from seeing examples above the standard as well as below the standard. The key, I would say is to make sure the examples are unidentifiable (from another school or different year or class) and that there is conversation around the examples so it is clear why the piece met standard, exceeded the standard or why it fell short.
As you can tell Jackie and I also felt validated when we read Regie’s comments about worksheets. Now mind you, this is not to say we NEVER use them, but thought needs to go into the reason for assigning them. Is this activity worth my students’ time and my effort to correct and comment? If not? Pass on it.
Yep, I’m with you regarding the behavior issues in high school (or any level for that matter.) I believe it was Leah Mermelstein who said in a training at our school that “Lucy Calkins (I think) said there should be no ‘struggling’ readers. If the students were reading books at their correct level then they wouldn’t be struggling. The students may be at a lower level, but they shouldn’t be struggling.” I found this to be profound because when I thought about it, it fell on the teacher to make sure the students were working at a level where learning could take place, not where the majority of the students were. It takes more effort and knowledge to teach this way but it is the best for our students. We tell the students that everyone learns at a different pace but often our instruction and curriculum doesn’t allow us or the child the time to learn at that pace. I know we have to move kids along and “get them ready for the next year” but is this system really working for all children???
Mary, have you brought up the accessibility issue with your administration? It is terrible that any child should be penalized for not having access to the Internet and as you said teachers need to keep this in mind and either give time for the student to use the computer lab or provide alternate sources of information (like printed out articles) for the student to use at home. Maybe a conversation with your staff might be a good reminder for the teachers who are assuming that all people are connected.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that research says that groups of three are the most beneficial for students?
Yeah!!! We want all students to love reading and writing!
I think that’s a great idea to staple all the different versions and drafts together without names. You could then pass them around to show the class many examples of the writing process at work. I think if the students were able to look at each other’s packet the process may be more clear as they are so attached to their own work and story. Sometimes they are not able to see pass their efforts to get to the overall big picture that writing takes time and revision. How did the assignments turn out?
My family just went up to Montreal over Spring Break (us Eastcoasters get our Winter break in Feb. and Spring Break in April.) They speak French in Montreal and as someone who doesn’t speak French it is quite the experience not to understand what people are saying or to be able to read signs. (I do have to say that most people spoke English and were very kind to switch to English when I asked.) Having your ELL students speak in their native language is a wonderful thing to do for them as well as the rest of your students!
Hello Jenny!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your examples about raising expectations for students. We’re glad you are finding information to share with your teachers! It sounds like some great things are happening at your school!
Hi Amy!
It’s amazing what the students can do when we get out of their way. :D How great that after your sub was in you saw that they were ready and able to use quotation marks.
The reading-writing connection is so important. Plus the students love hearing stories. There are so many wonderful books available to share with our children. Plus reading and writing across the curriculum is the only way to fit everything in these days.
Hi Don!
Charts are a wonderful reference for students and all the more meaningful when they help create them! (Oh all the money I spent when I first started teaching on all those fancy posters and charts from the Teacher-Parent Store…oh well. :D)
How exciting that you are seeing results from Regie’s book. We love that her ideas are so easy to implement and show results quickly!
I believe that it is essential to have collaboration and conversations among and between the grades as well as training (in some form, either from a consultant, writing coach or veteran teacher) for significant improvement in writing instruction at a school. There may be an amazing and talented teacher here or there but what we really want is for ALL students to have exceptional reading and writing instruction.
Don, it sounds like you know exactly why you are using the worksheets and have a purpose for them. As I said above, Jackie and I don’t avoid them always, but we make sure there is a purpose to them when they are used. ☺
I don’t think you are alone in “telling” kids to summarize but not modeling it enough. I think many of us are (were) in the same boat as you. It’s a worthwhile skill to teach the students!
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ReplyDeleteHi Megan,
ReplyDeleteThat’s an interesting observation regarding the students handwriting and possible lack of fine motor skills. It would be interesting to research that further or see if other primary/elementary teacher are noticing a similar trend.
So many students in our classes have had GLAD training. I haven’t but wish I had. They also comment that they find it beneficial not just for ELL but their whole class as well.
Thanks everyone for your thoughtful comments on this section! ☺ Mary