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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I really enjoyed reading Section 2 of Writing Essentials. Now that CCSS has been implemented in our district there can be no more lowering of expectations from teachers. All students are judged by the same standards so we need to have rigorous/high expectations for all students; especially for students/schools of poverty and for students who are ELL. Regie’s no-nonsense approach to writing is fabulous! Teachers should accept no excuses for sloppy handwriting, poor conventions, or not producing enough work during independent writing time. Last year I, along with our Literacy Coach, created a student friendly writing rubric. We set our expectations according to CCSS. I introduced this rubric to my students along with high quality examples and non-examples. Once students became familiar with the rubric they were required to use it when they completed a piece of writing. They scored their own paper and then I scored it. We discussed the outcomes. If their piece of writing did not pass the rubric then they needed to revise their writing. It was a great tool that showed students exactly where their writing needed improvement. I was amazed at how setting high expectations yielded brilliant results. I am excited to use this tool again next year with my students! If we set the bar high for our students and model success then they too will be successful.
ReplyDeleteI work in a high poverty/high ELL school and although we have come a long way in our expectations for our students; we still have work to do. Our school is classified as a priority school. This means for the next 4 years our school is creating and implementing a plan for improvement. Part of our realization was that we have to teach in a different way than we have in the past. Our study of the gradual release of responsibility (Optimal Learning Model) helped enormously. Finding out that our students needed a lot of scaffolding was a big realization. Students need to see good models of writing and then be guided through the writing process rather than fill out worksheets. I am happy to share my writing with my students and show that everyone, including me, can struggle with the writing process. This demonstrates to my students that we are in the process of writing together. It is important to remember that all children come to school with stories in their minds and hearts that are worth writing about. Students need teachers who can model and work with them in order to get their stories down on paper.
Regie provides such wonderful advice that is exactly what my students need. In chapter 5, she presents the idea of shared writing. Scaffolding our learners through shared writing experiences is key in helping them reach independence. I provide my students with many shared writing experiences and I know that I will try some of Regie’s ideas for shared writing experiences. Chapter 6 “Capitalize on the Reading-Writing Connection” resonated with me. Over the past year, I have been working along side my Literacy Coach to develop ways to present and emphasize the Reading-Writing connection. I believe this is especially important in the primary grades as students are learning to become confident readers and writers. I dabbled in teaching note taking last year with my students using the Cornell note taking format. I appreciated Regie’s insight with regards to note taking and I am encouraged to continue presenting note taking to my students next year. I will refer to Regie’s “Try it, Apply it” on page 134. I also really appreciate what Regie says about looking at a text through the lens of a writer. This can be powerful when writing in a new mode or genre. This goes back to the importance of the Reading-Writing connection. If we expect our students to write in many different modes or genres of writing then we need to present them with stacks and stacks of authentic examples (good books). Students will rise to our expectations. It is our job to make sure that our expectations are set high enough so we do not cheat our students out of learning opportunities.
Writing Essentials Assignment # 4--Joyce Reynolds-Ward
ReplyDeleteOne of the challenges I have with the rhetoric of "raise your expectations and the students will rise to the bar you set" is that such rhetoric often leaves out the "explicit teaching" piece. High expectations without the appropriate teaching and supports mean nothing. They are merely lovely words and goals with no supports. Yes, students can and will rise to the level you set, if you prepare them for the work.
I am not ready to condemn all worksheets. Most worksheets, yes. But for certain academic tasks such as geography place learning, a well-constructed worksheet which does not rely solely on T/F, cloze procedure questions and answers can serve a purpose. In fact, sometimes a well-constructed worksheet can throw students off of their stride AND it can be a useful exercise in "learn to read your instructions" because they take the task for granted…and totally miss what they are supposed to do (these are usually worksheets with open-ended tasks/worksheets tied to foldable or other kinesthetic projects). Still, even a cloze procedure worksheet with the textbook/passage reading reworded can catch the kids out--I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've gotten feedback from the kids saying "That answer isn't in the reading!" and I have to stifle a giggle because it IS in the reading--it's just paraphrased. Caught ya', kiddos. You didn't do the reading!
Regie's concept of Shared Writing is very similar to what I have done in writing single act plays based on a holiday picture book with some of my classes. I fell into doing this accidentally while working with a Functional Academic class and it worked well, so I've done it with my Study Strategies and in a general academic push-in class. However, I think I will modify it in the future so that small groups are working on their versions of the play that they then perform for other class members. We've tried performing for kindy and first grade classes and that can be hard to schedule.
I am going to expand the Shared Writing into other realms, however. I want to incorporate it into class procedure discussions at the beginning of the year and I think I want to do it at least once a month with my group using different tasks (remember that I am looking at a 40 minute class lasting 5 days a week--down to 4 days during PLC early release season, which is October-April). I think I also want to work on a class newsletter for parents and others.
I hollered a great big AMEN about the reading-writing connection. I have always felt this connection existed and I have noticed the biggest reading success happens in conjunction with writing. However due to various administrative pressures I've backed off on doing combined reading/writing activities. I am going to work on teaching summary writing as well this year--it's a missing piece that makes sense.
I also have another hearty AMEN about graphic organizers--as long as we move past webbing! I do not, not, not like webs. They lead to sloppy organizing and thinking on the part of student writers. They work for brainstorming but not for writing organization. That said, using them for BOTH reading and writing helps students figure out their effective application. Starting by teaching how to use an organizer to understand a reading passage, then using that same organizer to write a summary about the passage is a technique I want to use.
Assignment #4 Lori Fossati
ReplyDeleteChapter four focuses on raising expectations for all of our students and expecting that all students will rise to the occasion and produce great work. I totally agree. If I set the bar high, even if some of my students do not reach it, they will still perform higher than if I set my expectations bar low. Regie suggests that through repeated modeling and practice, students will be able to improve their writing. She emphasizes that before writing is published or displayed, that it needs to be great. That means that as educators we need to have high standards when it comes to spelling, grammar and handwriting for our students, especially when that writing is going to be read by others. When my first graders write, I always have them think about the, “Author’s Purpose” and the “Audience” before they start writing. This carries over from our discussions from our shared reading times when we discuss why they think the author wrote the book.
My students can write in their journals everyday. They are required to write in them at least three days a week. When students are journal writing they must stay seated and not bother other writers. They are to do their neatest writing and spell to their best ability. Every couple of weeks, students’ choose one writing piece from their journal to publish. We then spend the next week or two revising and editing. I teach a mini lesson and then students work on that part independently, as I conference and assist.
I agree with Regie’s statement that, “Worksheets foster mediocrity”. The times I have used them, I did notice that my strong students finished first and my struggling students finished last or not at all. I have found that there are better options than worksheets, not that I don’t use them at all, they just must be worth the time.
I found more success with the shared writing, it was easier to teach the skills in actually content areas then in isolation and expect that it will carry over to their independent writing.
Chapter fives focus is on shared writing. Shared writing fits into the Optimal Learning Method in the shared demonstration portion, before the students begin writing during guided practice. The best thing about using shared writing is that it is appropriate for all learners. Everyone can feel success and participate at their own level, even those that are hesitant to participate can be asked to share their thoughts and ideas. I use our shared writing spelling sentences and our science observations are part of our shared reading and our word work. Having students reread what we have written and also getting the chance to manipulate the words during our word work helps them build language skills.
After reading this chapter and the list of “Tried and True Ideas…” I can see that I am on the right track as I have used a few of them; like letters to the principal and our school cook, fictional stories, poems, and science observations to put into our science journal. The new ideas that I will use this year are the school alphabet book, the class journal, and the book reviews.
Chapter six discusses the benefits and the necessity of integrating our content area teaching with both reading and writing. In the last few years I, along with many other teachers have been doing this more and more for the simple reason of time, or not enough of it during the school day to teach all subjects in isolation.. In first grade we do a lot of shared reading and writing. However, after reading this chapter, on the reading-writing connection. I can see that there is a lot more that I could be doing with my students that would help build their comprehension skills as well as improve their writing. I do spend some of my instruction time on teaching summarizing with my students; we do this as part of our shared reading and writing lessons. I am definitely going to spend more time having my students write and read nonfiction, using some of the ideas Regie has mentioned so far, and I am sure that there are more in the next six chapters.
Hi Lori,
DeleteThanks for sharing how you implement journal writing in your class. I have been trying to figure out how to keep my students writing regularly and yet still have them work on editing. When students publish their journal writing, do you create class books using a theme or are students sharing their finished pieces orally? I would love to know how you celebrate their finished work. Thanks, Kristin
Hi Kristin,
DeleteI do both.
I compile the finished pieces into a class book and I have three or four students daily, sit in the "Author's Chair" and share their work.
Lori
Hello Tricia,
ReplyDeleteI love that you created a kid-friendly rubric AND then shared examples of high quality work AND unacceptable pieces. Being clear with students about what meets expectations and exceeds expectations with student examples (and what does not meet expectations) helps clarify for children the quality of work they must produce. And if a student requires more specific examples, it is helpful to pull samples of their work and privately have a conversation about what you expect them to produce, showing them their own writing.
With this being said, I do not feel that students have to use “best” writing all the time. If it is drafts I expect that they and I are able to read it. I know that I quickly scribble things down just for myself…but when I’m writing for a formal or specific audience I make sure that my writing is neat and correct. I don’t like the term “sloppy copy” as this indicates to me that you can be a total slob and it’s all right. But I do explain to students that there are different times and requirements for the presentation of their work.
I am a fan of having students score their own work. (In fact, at most grade levels I like to have them help or create their rubric.) They are usually much harder on themselves than the teacher. :D
Yes, your point about the teacher also struggling with writing (or reading, or math, etc…) is a valuable lesson for students to learn. Often they view teachers as all knowing and I think it’s important to see that adults struggle and have to work at the same things that they do. ☺
Another point that is so important to remember with our younger and struggling or ELL students is that their brains move much more quickly then they are able to get down on paper. So supporting them and scaffolding as needed using methods that help them to feel successful and record their thoughts/story is critically important. This is why focusing less on mechanics and spelling in the early stages of the writing process and more on the content is so important. We want students to feel successful and know they are good writers with important and funny stories to tell.
Two years ago I was volunteering in my sons’ Kindergarten class. Burlington has a high population of Newcomers and ELL students. One little boy, who was new to the United States that year, wrote the funniest story I have seen in a while. It was only a few sentences long, maybe four or five at the most and I remember it was about his brother and hiding behind a tree. :D Of course the spelling was incorrect as he was in the emergent/letter name stage, but he did a good job sounding out the words and I was able to read the story as he intended. This often seems more acceptable in the primary grades, but there are older student who still struggle and need similar support.
Again, Shared Writing is much more common in the primary grades. We often have teachers in this course tell us that they plan to incorporate more Shared Writing across the levels.
Note taking is one of the areas that I’ve become particularly interested in in the past few years. I agree that introducing a method (or methods) to the students in elementary is important with the understanding that they may alter the method to best fit their learning as they get older. At this point in my thinking, I think having a system, like the Cornell format (you can find many sources and videos online and on Youtube,) used district wide would be the most beneficial way to teach students this important skill. I def. don’t have all the answers regarding note taking but it is an area that I continue to research and read about. Any ideas from anyone else regarding note taking and or successful methods you use with students are welcome!
ReplyDeleteAnother source, if you are interested in this topic is Robert Marzano’s book A Handbook for Classroom Instruction That Works. (The first edition, I haven’t purchased the second edition yet.) In this text two of the nine instructional strategies highlighted as proven to improve student achievement are Summarizing and Note taking. (There is also another chapter on Nonlinguistic Representations that you may be interested in reading.) The chapter for note taking starts off saying, “Note taking and summarizing are closely related.” It is suggested that teachers teach a variety of note taking formats, as there is no one correct way to take notes. The chapter then goes on to demonstrate three different formats for taking notes: informal outline, web and combination notes. The text also states that providing students with notes before exposing them to new content (teacher-prepared) is a powerful way to introduce students to note taking and provide a good model for students.
The Summarizing Chapter discusses steps for Rule-Based Summarizing (including steps for younger students.) The chapter also goes on to explain the use of Summary Frames. From another class that we instruct, many teachers share that they find these sections of particular use and help.
Hello Joyce,
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! We MUST explicitly teach if we expect students to learn. Not only do we need to raise expectation but we also need to set the right expectations for students.
Again, I agree with you. There are some worksheets that serve a valuable purpose. It’s the over-reliance on dittos/worksheets that is the problem. Especially when it comes to learning and transferring language skills. They simply do not transfer.
How fun for your students to do the one-act plays. I am a HUGE fan of Reader’s Theater. You can find many free scripts online. What I do to organize them is that I keep on folder with all the play originals in it in a file so when the student versions are destroyed or no longer usable I can run another set.
I then keep the copies of the play (depending on how many parts it can be) in another two-pocket folder. I write the name of the play, how many parts it can be, say 3-7 (depending if one student does all the narration) or if it’s a whole-class play. Then I use three colors for the folders, indicating easy, average or difficult (green, yellow, red.) When I offer or ask for participants I can, with a glance, know if a student needs to have an easier play without anyone else knowing my system. (I also note a few parts that are easier on the folder or more difficult to guide a successful rendition. Some of my plays have the parts highlighted so it is easier for students to track their parts.) Reader’s Theater is a great way to work on fluency, expression, volume, pace and clarity. Plus it’s a lot of fun. “Captain, O Captain” is one of my favorite ones to have students do. They love it and it’s silly and short. It’s listed on the PBS link of other scripts if you interested:
http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/playhouse/
I have also written my own plays for favorite picture books. I did Piggie Pie by Margie Palatine some years ago as I couldn’t find a script and love this book.
Excellent! We’re glad you are inspired to add more Shared Writing into your curriculum. I said it before, but I believe the families (and students) would love a newsletter where they helped to contribute. You can also make it available online.
We love to hear when teachers feel validated from the reading, especially if they’ve felt administrative pressure in the past few years to deviate from what they know to be best practice!!!! YEAH!!!
Yep, I have to agree with you about webbing. I think it does a fine job for brainstorming but doesn’t really help students with organization.
Hi Lori!
ReplyDeleteYes, “Shared Writing is appropriate for all learners.” ☺ If we can look at things with a silver lining, the time crunch we all face has forced many of us to look out side the box and teach across the curriculum, rather than subjects in isolation. We’re glad you are picking up some new ideas to use in your classroom! We do believe you’ll find even more in the next few chapters.
I appreciated Regie’s comments on raising student expectations and setting reasonable and rigorous school wide expectations in Chapter 4. I totally agree that our students can accomplish more than we think. However, I struggle with what to expect and require of my students because I’m not sure what happens in the grades around me. (Our school is small; we only have one class per grade.) This past year I worked pretty closely with the first grade teacher, which was wonderful; but I would really love work with each grade level to establish school wide expectations for writing instruction so we can develop the quality of writing at each grade level. I was also singing a happy song when Regie discussed the need to raise expectations for conventions, editing and handwriting. I have had many discussions about being a “stickler” for handwriting, and Regie has given me more fuel for my fire. It is not just about the work being legible, good writing is also about personal pride and commitment. Regie’s explanation on using the optimal learning model is really helpful; “shared writing experiences make it possible to write challenging text that no single child could write independently; they raise the expectations for what’s possible.” All students, including minority and lower socio-economic students need a goal or a standard and shared writing is a great way to motivate students to achieve more in their writing.
ReplyDeleteI really loved what Regie said in chapter 5 about shared writing. “it is a safe context where struggling learners can shine. Students who are weak in organization, structure and form are strong in ideas. “ (Page 85.) All students have great ideas; it is my job as a teacher to scaffold my instruction so the student can communicate their thoughts well. I think I practice using the optimal learning model, and scaffolding learning, when writing unfamiliar pieces, but I don’t necessarily do that for every lesson. I particularly appreciated Regie’s ideas on supporting word work and her tips for shared writing. I did an alphabet journal with my second grade students last year. I’m kicking myself for not having taken our project a step further. Next year I will do the journal again, but I think I will have students create a book with their ABC entries. I’ll need to figure out the details on how to organize that. I also loved Regie’s ideas on book summaries. I plan on writing book summaries this year. I think it would be really fun to have students write summaries about their independent reading too. I was in the bookstore the other day and was reading the employees’ summaries about their favorite book choices. Students can write summaries to help their peers choose interesting literature too. This chapter gave me some great ideas.
I need to do a little work in the area of integrating reading and writing. I was frustrated in my class last year because I think I fell short in this area. In particular, during our reading rotations, I would be working in small group and look over at my independent reading corner to see students not actually reading. I did not have any way to gauge what they were learning, or thinking about during that segment of time. A fellow teacher suggested a reading log; students write down how many pages they read and then wrote a sentence to summarize what they read. The log was somewhat helpful, but I still don’t think it is the best way to develop better readers or writers. Regie’s lesson snapshot on summary writing was fantastic, and I plan on writing more summaries and book review this year, but I would like to find a more simple way to check daily reading.
It is not purely coincidence that I am the last to respond to each reflection. I can’t tell you how valuable it is to be able to read the responses of those more experienced than I. I get to examine the information as provided in the context of each of your classrooms/strategies and envision how to apply these in my future classroom. So, a quick thank you to everyone for providing such thoughtful responses!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the concept of raising our expectations of our students. The students are capable of so much more when no limits are placed upon their growth. There is no reason to teach to the lowest common denominator or lower our expectations for certain groups of learners. However, I liked what Joyce wrote about raising expectations. Simply raising our expectations of the students alone is not sufficient to achieve this. “High expectations without the appropriate teaching and supports mean nothing. They are merely lovely words and goals with no supports.” I would be willing to bet this is exactly why the majority of us are making the investment of time and money for a class just like this. I am here because I want to raise the expectations I have of myself as a teacher. I will refrain from any comments about expectations for the entire building. Until the time that I get my own classroom, I just do not have the experiences to comment on this.
In the first grade classroom that I worked in last year, the teacher continually used shared writing as a tool. Therefore, I was already inclined to use the shared writing extensively. Now after reading this book, I feel better prepared on how to effectively use this method. I witnessed the reluctant writers and their willingness to participate in whole class shared writing. Shared writing engaged all students. I realize now I could have used this more effectively in one-on-one situations as well to support the challenged writers as a step in the process to becoming an independent writer. Somewhere in the reading I recall Regie state that we want the writers to emulate not imitate. This was a challenge at the first grade level; imitation not emulation was more likely to occur.
I am a proponent of integration in the classroom. As Lori stated, it is becoming a necessity due to a time issue. So, I would like to envision an environment in which reading and writing are an everyday/all day focus. Sometimes, I will read something that was intuitive to me, but I need to be slapped in the face to realize its significance. That moment was in the discussion of the connection between reading and writing. It was as simple as reading provides the students with the means to completed writing in action: for a specific audience, use of different techniques, use of language. The statement, “Being an avid reader is the best preparation for becoming a writer,” was the proverbial slap in the face. I think this was something I was likely aware of but needed to see it spelled out to bring the significance to the forefront. The writing capabilities are connected to the quality of reading.
The importance of nonfiction books as noted is integral to developing an understanding of expository writing. This point is also connected to having quality reading choices available for the students. There needs to be not only quality choices but various choices. I am also biased, as I was a history major and my son is into science. So we do a lot of nonfiction reading and I have always vowed to make sure that I include quality nonfiction choices in my classroom reading selections.
Hello Kristin and Todd!
ReplyDeleteKristin, it sounds like vertical alignment is the next step for you and your co-teachers. Perhaps you can bring this subject up with your administration or at a staff meeting. At my last school we started with sharing samples of student work at staff meetings on the document cameras of examples that met and exceeded the standard or benchmark from each of the grade levels and also coming to a common understanding of definitions. Like, for example, what strategy groups mean and guided reading and how we fit conferring into our packed schedule. We were very surprised that though we worked with amazing teachers some of us had different ideas of what the terms meant. The time spent on developing a common language was worthwhile.
I think the easiest way to check in with students is to confer with them. Just a quick 3-5 min. conversation can yield so much information. And students know that they will be held accountable for getting work done. What about having a simple bookmark where all the students have to do is record the date and page number they finished on and then couple it with a check in or quick conference to see if they understand what they are reading? I personally don’t like to have student stop too much when they are reading as I think it takes some of the joy out of it. The one other thing I would highly suggest is taking the first six weeks of school to very clearly and explicitly teach and show the students what you expect during reading and writing time. I would demonstrate and role-play with another adult, if possible, and then have the students role play themselves. I would also brainstorm the typical situations that might happen during this time and what solutions the students could use to solve any issues. Like having to go to the bathroom, someone talking, not sure of a word or what he or she are suppose to be doing. For reading and writing time students are expected to be prepared and this means having all supplies and tools with them so they don’t have to take work time to get organized. Some students may need extra support in this area like a check list (which may benefit the whole class) or you may have a student or two that needs to be near you where you are working so you can give them the hairy eyeball. ☺
If you take the time early in the year to set the expectations and procedures then the rest of the year should flow more smoothly and you and the students can get on to the business of learning.
Todd, we also like the blog format so that participants (and us) can learn from each other. Jackie and I just consider ourselves the facilitators for the course. It’s the participation and discourse between the students that makes the class meaningful. ☺
I know what you mean about the “slap in the face,” or, as I like to say, an “ah-ha” moment. ☺ I still have them. I still remember when I realized that I should be purposeful in choosing my read aloud book to the class and tie it to the curriculum. Duh!!! When I first started teaching I’d just grab any old story off the shelf to read. Now I plan and have a reason as to what and why I am reading. Yes, nonfiction is so important for students. The other thing that I’ve come to realize in my teaching is that teachers need to read and know the books that the students are reading so that they can make good book suggestions to students. This is one area where we need to spend our time, reading great grade-level books, so when we confer we can know what the story is about or make a suggestion for a similar type of book. I don’t know how you can be a good teacher without reading what your students are. ☺
Like everyone participating in this class, I too firmly believe in having high expectations for all learners in my classroom. I in turn expect nothing but the best from myself when teaching the students in my classroom. (As Todd mentioned, the reason why many of us are taking this class.) What I appreciated from this chapter is that it isn't enough to simply say that we set high expectations for our students, but how do we then support students and explicitly teach them so that they are able to give us their best? This year I will be working with two new teachers in my grade level team and I am excited to have this discussion with them - to see what their thoughts and ideas are and to also share with them what I've learned from this class. I know that our building principal is working on establishing building expectations for writing(teachers have been supplying anchor papers of student writing samples at each grade level so that we can look at this in depth during our PLCs in the fall). I think this has been a gray area for us in writing - establishing where our students are, where we all want them to be and how we get them there. (Even calibrating student writing among a group of people can be challenging.) I'm anxious to see where this will all go and excited to be a part of these conversations after participating in this class.
ReplyDeleteTeaching in a first grade classroom, we use shared writing a lot. I definitely see the necessity of the shared writing experience in the classroom. I use it when setting up classroom expectations for independent reading, choosing just right books and writing lessons. We often revisit them if I notice we need a "refresher" on a specific skill or classroom expectation too. What I really took away from this chapter were the teaching tips on how to increase student engagement during the process. I know that if not effectively managed, the time can draw out or go in other directions where I then feel like I have to pull it back together again. Keeping it quick and looking for ways to effectively engage all students is critical. I liked Regie's ideas of using shared writing for important word work. I typically use our reading anthology text for this, but would like to try doing the same with shared writing.
Reading Chapter 6 was just like talking to my one of my grade level team teachers who just retired this year. One summer she visited classrooms in New Zealand and trained in reading instruction. She would always speak about what she learned and how she taught reading and writing instruction in her classroom. Her classroom was rich in literature and while she always used the district mandated curriculum, she was great at integrating daily oral language opportunities for students and time to read and respond to literature. She would always tell me that our students needed to be great readers first, then they'll become great writers (just as Stephen King said on p. 120). And, this teacher got results - she always produced great readers. I learned a lot from her last year. How I'll miss her experience, but know that I can always visit and bounce ideas off of her.
Megan Downey
ReplyDeleteWriting Essentials Assignment #4: Written Reflection Section 2
Chapter 4:
The idea of high expectations for student writing seems so simple. Yet, I wonder, how have I never thought of it? I like how the text illustrates how explicit teachers need to be with expectations for handwriting, spelling, and such. I never have really been this explicit with my students. I would compare myself more to the teacher who didn’t want to correct students who wrote “i” for fear of hindering the process. I often find that I’m just ecstatic that students are writing and don’t want to get in their way. But being clear of expectations prior to setting them on their way, will help this.
Thinking about the quote, it makes sense that worksheets (for things like handwriting or spelling) don’t really help students. The most important thing is to have those high expectations and model the expectations for their daily work.
Chapter 5:
This past spring I went through the full GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition and Development) training. This training comes to mind when I think of shared writing and English language learners. One of the things we learned was about cooperative writing (I don’t recall if that’s the official name of the strategy), and is very similar to shared writing. Both the text and the training discuss how important this process is for ELLs. I like the idea of using shared writing to write a book review, this is something I’d like to remember for next year. In general, shared writing seems like a really powerful way for kids to be able to put their words into print when it is often difficult for them.
I’ve often cut up words with students from text we’ve read, I’m thinking specifically of a 1st and 2nd grade group I work with who are still working on 1:1 correspondence. I like the idea of using your own writing for this type of activity and additionally using those words in a sort.
Chapter 6:
I too am glad that Regie addresses summary writing in this text. Many of my students struggle with retelling information that they learn. Often students have difficulty with determining the important points (therefore include ALL the points) and have very disorganized thinking (therefor they don’t retell the story in a sequential order). Since I only see students, typically, 30 min a day 4 days per week, integrating writing into our reading lessons often falls by the wayside. Knowing that many of my students need support with summarizing, the ideas that Regie provided in the text (i.e. shared writing) will be a great way to incorporate writing into our reading groups and help students with a lagging skill. Additionally, the procedures will be really helpful for me when it comes time to (more explicitly) teach summarizing.
Written Reflection Section2 Chapters 4-6
ReplyDeleteCh. 4-I really like the fact that Routman discusses raising expectations. All kids can learn and improve. Even our struggling learners need to be held accountable for their work and be pushed ahead to make growth. I am glad she addressed hand writing. That was a question I had earlier. Often with my kiddos they just don’t care about their writing and you ca’nt read what they wrote purely because it is so messy. We do a lot of work on letter formation in my groups. It surprises me how many kids want to write/print from the bottom up. This takes much more effort and fatigues the arm and hand so much. Many of my kids believe periods are the only punctuation at the end of a sentence. When I try to work with them on exclamations and questions they are totally bewildered. I am looking forward to implementing the “optimal Learning model” for writing this coming year.
I just found out today that I do get to move to the larger classroom next week. That means I can have multiple groups in my room at one time and my EA’s will be back with me. I am interested in doing whole group writing and then there will be three of us in the room to float, encourage and support the student’s efforts once we move to individual, small group or partner work. I agree with Routman’s statements about worksheets. However, I have used them frequently. I have taught rules of writing in isolation. It was how I was taught and I never questioned it until I read this text. Now I feel like I have cheated my students of the past that I don’t have any longer.
I don’t have all the pieces of shared writing down concretely yet. After my last assignment is in I am going back and rereading that section (like good readers do) to get a better grasp on the activity and how to help my students grow. I use the dry erase board in my room, a lot. I don’t have an overhead and I haven’t used chart paper for some time. That will be one of the first things we set up in my new room when we go back next week. I like the idea of the chart paper to refer to later and the fact that it can be posted in the room. I think it would be great to have the chart paper up from the start of an activity and surround it with finished copies of the assignment from several students.
I have basically used summary and retell as interchangeable terms until reading this text. I’m having to analyze many of my practices when it comes to teaching writing and make adjustments before the school year starts. What I have been doing with my students was what was done with me when I was in school and went with what little they discussed teaching writing when I was getting my degree. It never occurred to me to question some of these practices or how to improve them. But they led to frustration on my part and my students. I like the ideas of the book reviews. Since I want to promote more books in the classroom this year I think the book reviews will be a great way to accomplish that. They’ll be able to review books that they read in my classroom for assignments, books from the classroom library and books from their classroom for assigned reading or choice reading. I frequently pick what I read by what my students are reading. Then I make recommendations to them based on what they have discovered that they liked. What a great way too share. Since I get to move into the new classroom and will have a much better reading area what a great way to promote reading and share new and old favorites. It is a little harder for me to teach across the curriculum since I don’t have a standard classroom. I can definitely bring my reading and writing together more-but not all of my students who are in a reading group are also in a writing group and not all writers are in reading. Also, I have students from different classes at one time and things are never done exactly the same in each class even when they are working on the same concepts so it is difficult to pull from the classroom to support what is going on in there.
Hello Stacey,
ReplyDeleteI wish teachers had more time to discuss professionally our thoughts and ideas around expectations and instruction. The recent emphasis on PLCs is hopefully a step in the right direction. (I know PLCs are worthwhile, it’s just how they actually are used and evolve at a school where I hesitate. Sometimes the time given for PLCs is called PLCs but really it becomes another staff meeting or a platform for certain individuals to monopolize.) Sharing this text or parts of it with your new team (or the whole school) is a wonderful idea.
I have also had the fortune to work with several people who went to New Zealand to learn more about their reading instruction process. In fact, the first person was when I was in grad school and student teaching. It is on my wish list to be able to go there and also learn more about literacy and the reading/writing process.
You are lucky to be able to still connect with her and bounce ideas off of her.
Hi Megan,
OH, I wish I have had GLAD training!!! I know it is so big in Oregon, but I don’t hear much about it in Vermont. Maybe, now that I’m working again I can look into if there are any seminars or trainings available on the East Coast. So many of the teachers in our classes mention GLAD.
Karyn,
Space…having the space you need makes such a huge difference in our instruction and programs. That is excellent that you will be able to have a larger room and have your assistants back with you. Have you thought about having them read some sections from these texts to help them grow and develop as educators?
In the last few years I have become very interested in learning more about summarizing and note taking.
Note taking and summarizing are two skills that are difficult for students to learn. In addition, many teachers struggle with how to effectively teach summarizing and note taking.
If you are interested in learning more about how to teach note taking and summarizing you may be interested in reading Robert Marzano’s book A Handbook for Classroom Instruction That Works (First edition.) Two of the nine instructional strategies highlighted as proven to improve student achievement are Summarizing and Note taking.
(There is also another chapter on Nonlinguistic Representations that you may be interested in reading.)
The chapter for note taking starts off saying, “Note taking and summarizing are closely related.” It is suggested that teachers teach a variety of note taking formats, as there is no one correct way to take notes. The chapter then goes on to demonstrate three different formats for taking notes: informal outline, web and combination notes.
The text also states that providing students with notes before exposing them to new content (teacher-prepared) is a powerful way to introduce students to note taking and provide a good model for students.
The Summarizing Chapter, in Marzano’s book, discusses steps for Rule-Based Summarizing (including steps for younger students.) The chapter also explains the use of Summary Frames, which many teachers have shared that they find of particular use and help.
Also, the Cornell note taking system may be a method you might investigate further. This format provides a system for condensing and organizing notes. While there is no one absolute best method for taking notes, offering students a proven system or two that they can eventually alter to best fit their learning style is important to teach. You can find more information online if you search the Internet or YouTube for “Cornell Notes.”