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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Jen Hunt
ReplyDeleteAssignment Three
When I write, I like to jump in. I like to get some ideas on the page even if they need to be taken out later. That’s why I love typing instead of writing- for the ease of moving sentences around. Typical me, I jumped in with a hook that first came to me.
I found that I was very critical of the writing I was doing while I was doing it. I was constantly fighting the voice in my head encouraging me to stop, reword sentences, take out commas, use better word choice. Is this how my students feel; bombarded by my critique?! It stunted what I felt the piece could have been.
When I got stuck, I stopped typing and went back to that place in my mind. I went back to the memory and asked myself sensory questions- what had I felt, smelled, touched, heard? I wonder if I would have done this five years ago, or if my own writing has been so influenced by how I teach my students (“think about your five senses!”). I write straight through. When I finish, I re-read in my head, then once out loud. I tend to make few changes. This is pretty in-line with how I teach. I know it’s important to teach children the writing process, but I am pleased when they have put ideas on a page.
The most difficult part for me was, as I said in my last post, the idea that I shouldn’t be writing more than I expect my students to write.
I accidently added this to my last assignment. I updated it and am reposting.
ReplyDeleteChapter 3: Part One
Special Memory: crashing on my mountain bike, getting married, favorite family dog dying, camping trip to San Juan Islands, trip to Disneyland, my sister’s pool (so fun!), childhood trips to see my grandparents (eating kielbasa and corn from the BBQ), picking blueberries at a farm that also raises puppies!
Start of School: Lucas’ birthday, setting up the classroom, putting paper on the bulletin boards (always a good story there ), meeting new colleagues, seeing my new class list, transition from summer
Favorite book, food, movie, etc.: The new Mysterious Benedict Society book, seeing the Hunger Games for the 4th time, eating at Bubba Gumps restaurant on the Santa Monica Pier, sitting by the pool in the sunshine
Last year I wrote two stories in front of my students. One was about my mountain bike crash in Laguna Hills and another one about putting my 14 year old lab to sleep. They loved to hear about my life and especially when I cried while writing about my dog. It always scares them and intrigues them a little when you cry in class. I cry mostly when I am reading aloud.
Chapter 3: Part Two
While writing I noticed that I reminded myself about the events. I thought about the order of my story. I asked my husband for clarification of what happened. As I wrote I added words and took out ideas when I didn’t like them. I wrote on a computer and wrote a few sentences and then went back and revised as I went. As I wrote I continually reread my piece to make sure it was going in the right direction and when I didn’t like part of it I changed it before moving on. As I went along I checked my spelling and corrected as I went along. When I was done I reread the entire piece and was pretty satisfied with the result.
Activity 3-
ReplyDeleteThe first thoughts I have when I write is the audience and purpose. My writing for class is very different than writing for a blog or my email to the soccer team. Specifically, I wrote about an upcoming family reunion for this activity. The difficulty was dealing with fun memories that are fun to think about and stories that have a purpose and can capture the attention of an audience.
Sometimes I plan my writing by creating an outline or a diagram. I prefer to sketch out a skeleton of the story and then fill it in as I write. I didn’t get stuck here, but when I am stuck on how to write something sometimes I will go to bed thinking about it and have a solution when I wake up.
When I write I tend to start and stop quite a bit and think about what I am going to write. Most often I come up with new ideas as I am writing. When I revise as I go it seems to be most often for the content of the story. I like to save spelling, grammar and fluency until I am done with the first draft. If I am creating a non-fiction piece that requires research, I will typically try and do all of my research first.
Michael
My list of topics started off fairly short. Once I got going though I realized there are endless stories that I could share with my students and my list got quite long. It also made me stop and think about the stories that I have shared with them. There aren't very many. Every time I have shared a personal story with them, they have enjoyed it and been completely engaged. It made me realize this is something that needs to happen more in my classroom!
ReplyDeleteWhen I looked at my list of subtopics it was very easy for me to choose one. However it took me a while to get started writing. Some of the things I was thinking about before starting were: who is my audience, what do I want the length of this piece to be, what details do I include or what do I leave out due to length, and what is my purpose for sharing this story with the students? Once I thought through all of these questions it became very easy to write straight through. Although I had a length in mind and wrote beyond that length. My solution to this is to perhaps chose a different topic or story next time that I could keep shorter.
Hi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteWe hope that you found this activity beneficial. :D
Jennifer said, she liked to "jump in" and start writing, while MacKenzie noted, "...it took me a while to get started writing." Both ways resulted in a complete piece but varied for the individual. This is very important to remember. Sometimes students just need time to think, plan and organize. Frequently, teachers think students are "daydreaming" or "wasting time." But if we keep in mind how we write and the time we need to think, plan, revise- it should help our students enjoy the process more and hopefully be more productive.
Students' writing processes vary (Michael noted he likes to plan his story with outlines, diagrams or graphic organizers and save his edits until the end. Kristian revised and edited as she went.) Discussing the different ways people write with students may be useful conversations to have with your students.
I am someone who used to think that I don't really have anything interesting to tell. However, after completing Reggie's list I saw that I had many stories inside of me. I have countless fun and exciting stories centered around my 2 year old daughter and I know that the children love hearing about her and the things she does.
ReplyDeleteI chose to write a story about my daughter and a dance class we attend. At first, I struggled with writing this story because I was trying to make this story about my daughter fit into the 5 paragraph essay form. Once I gave myself permission to just write a fun story about a time with my daughter the story flowed out quickly. I did notice that I reread my story frequently to make sure it makes sense and that I am including all the information I want in the piece. I don't read however for spelling or conventions until the end. Also, after the story was complete I checked it for things like word choice and imagery. I did notice that if I struggled with how to write a particular sentence I would stop and think for a moment but if nothing came to me I would just write the sentence and think "I will come back to that later."
I was not able to share this story with students since we are on summer vacation but I do know that the kids love hearing about my life so I think it will be something that captivates attention. I am also much more excited to share this piece of writing with students than I have ever been before. I truly feel that I was able to be an authentic writer during this exercise which is what I want my students to be. This was a very powerful and freeing exercise for me. I really have a renewed faith in teaching children what good writers do rather than teaching them a format.
Isn't it amazing how classes can really take on a love of something you treasure? I don't have children, so my students have heard a lot about my kitten and take her on almost like a mascot! They ask about her, and we write fictional stories and she is the star. . .all good, engaging fun!
DeleteHi Julie!
ReplyDeleteYou took away from the assignment exactly what we hoped students would. It is HARD to try to write a story and fit it into a specific format. As you discovered, when people have the freedom to write authentically the quality usually improves. (Now this is not to say that we don't teach students different formats, just to keep in mind that we want to focus on the writer and the process not just the product.)
Yes the students love to hear about our lives. I use to tell stories about my BAD dog Quandary. In fact, some day I imagine he might become the next Clifford or Marmaduke (sp?).
Jennifer I think it's great that your students have your kitten become the star of their writing. Fun, fun, fun...we all need more fun in school. :D
Part One: Topic Brainstorm
ReplyDeletePets
• My First Puppy
• How To Be a Good Pet-Sitter
• The Best Tricks to Teach a New Puppy
Special Memories
• Grandma’s Macaroni and Cheese
• My Best Friend Olivia
• My First Trip to Europe
• Finding My Own Italian Castle
• Climbing Mayan Pyramids for my 30th Birthday
Favorites
• Why I Love Thanksgiving
• Why I Love Sea Kayaking
• Things I Like About Autumn
Part Two
Since I don’t teach at the moment, I tried to do my best to mimic what this might have been like in front of a class and to talk out loud through my process. Because I was mimicking what might happen in front of students, I found that it was difficult to keep track of what age my pretend students were! I imagined third or fourth graders since that’s the age I have the most experience with. At one point, I used the word foliage and then found myself defining it out loud for my students in case it was new vocabulary. Although that makes sense, it did surprise me a little.
I noticed that I went back and reread what I had written at the end of each paragraph, which helped me gather my thoughts before starting the next paragraph. I also found myself wanting to use some more sophisticated sentence structures and punctuation (em dashes!) that probably aren’t appropriate for this demonstration. So I had to modify my style as I went along. Writing the closing sentence was difficult.
Finally, I found that I wasn’t as prepared as I thought when I sat down to write. I chose to write about the experience of climbing a Mayan pyramid in the Yucatan (a la Indiana Jones for drama’s sake). I wished I found a few more factual details to include in my story during preparation so I wasn’t looking up information during the time I was supposed to be demonstrating in front of students.
You made me smile, picturing you keeping track of the pretend students and defining words for them. :D I think it would be perfectly fine for the students to see you either note (to save time) or stop and look up information for your story. Or you could ask a student to find the information while you continued to model writing in front of the class. I think that having the students see what we really do when we write is powerful and also to realize that many of us write in a slightly different manner.
ReplyDelete