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.)
• 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.)
Assignment Three
ReplyDeletePart One
1.a. Special memory
childhood at the kitchen table
my father’s shop
my school clothes
my sweaters
b. Family
mother
grandmother
great aunt
c. Pets
Otri
Freya
d. Favorite Place
Part Two
2. My dad was daunting because he was very tall. Second, all he had to do to get to work was go through one door; his filmmaking business and our home were connected.
It was special to go into his workrooms, because as children, we were rarely permitted. It was room after room of secrets, chemical smells, darkrooms filled with technical equipment, a soft, blanketed recording room and studio, cabinets and drawers filled with tools and supplies, and–my favorite—trap doors in the ceiling opening to a huge attic.
All these places provided my father with the best options to hide presents at Christmas. If the presents were too big to wrap, such as a bicycle or a Ping-Pong table, he would leave a trail of string from the Christmas tree to a faraway corner in his workrooms. And he had a helium tank taller than I was, to fill balloons for all the kids on Halloween and for birthday parties. This gentle, fun-loving side of my dad warms me to this day.
Observations;
1. I am a visual writer, seeing in my mind what I am writing about.
2. I reread as I write.
3. I found myself continually cutting and pasting words and sentences, “stripping away unnecessary words….to energize [my] language.” (Peter Elbow, p.157 in text).
4. I care about the reader, trying to communicate my experience through senses.
5. I care about my subject, because I have selected it myself, and that makes me care more about clearly conveying my piece, not only for others, but for myself.
Hi Jean,
ReplyDeleteI was able to clearly visualize as I read your piece. As you mentioned, allowing students choice (within structure) helps students take ownership of their story. They care about the topic because they were allowed some control in deciding what to write about.
As I read your story, I was also thinking how important it is for teachers to make sure they write just a little bit beyond what their students are capable of producing. (In first grade, it doesn't make any sense to write a 5 page paper in front of the students when most students are writing a few sentences or paragraphs.) Thanks for sharing.
Part 1
ReplyDelete1. Special childhood memory
- family beach trips
- favorite blanket
-neighborhood bike rides
2. Pets
-Lots of dogs growing up
-fish
3. Family
-mom and dad
-twin sister
-grandma
For part one I decided to write about my favorite blanket. Each month in my first grade classroom, I showcase an author and collect/checkout as many books as possible written by our “Author of the Month”. This month our author is Mo Willems. I always choose him for January because many of my students are beginning to be able to read more fluently this time in the school year, and his Elephant and Piggie books are great for beginning readers! They love them! They also enjoy Trixie in the Knuffle Bunny series and Knuffle Bunny tied nicely with my favorite blanket short writing piece.
I began my lesson by showing the book Knuffle Bunny. I said, “First Graders, when we listen to or read a story, it can often inspire us or remind us of something. Well, when I read Knuffle Bunny several days ago to you, I thought of my special blanket that I had when I was a child.” I briefly told my students a little bit about my blanket, and then began to write. Here is my short story I wrote in front of them:
When I was little I had a special blanket. I carried it everywhere I went. My mom had to wash it a lot because it would often get dirty. Now it is very old. It has holes everywhere and looks very torn up. I keep it in a box in my closet. Sometimes my daughter likes to take it out and look at it.
After writing my story, my students couldn’t wait to share their stories about their favorite stuffed animal or blanket. Many also shared about a parent who had a special stuffed animal or blanket. Next, before we began Writer’s Workshop, I said, “First Graders several of you have just shared a story that you too could write about during Writer’s Workshop.” I was so impressed with their writing. It was AMAZING! I would say at least 90% were writing about what we had discussed. I can’t wait to try this again next week with a different story and topic.
Part 2
Our car was finally packed and we were ready for the 3-hour drive. As we drove we talked about last year and all of the fun we had. The games, swimming in the lake, trips to the lake store for ice cream, and four-wheeler rides. It was time for our annual Labor Day camping trip with lots of family and friends. These yearly trips have been so relaxing for our family because building our dream home has taken up much of our summers, and summer lake trips have gone from 3-4 times a summer to once a summer. Once we arrived and unpacked, it was time to set up our tent. My daughter always enjoys this time. She helps and waits patiently with excitement until she can start setting up her stuff inside. Once the tent was set up, it was as if our vacation had officially begun. We couldn’t wait! It had been an entire year!
Writing observations:
To get started on my writing piece, I developed a list of memories from the last several summers. Then I thought about the event that brought the happiest memories to my mind. As I am composing, I try to put myself back in the moment and remember all of the feelings I had. As I wrote, I would stop and reread and often cross out parts that I thought wouldn’t fit or make sense. My rough draft consisted of sentences crossed out with new additions in the margins, and several eraser marks ☺
Hi Leslie,
ReplyDeleteI know, I think Mo Willems is AMAZING. I teach at a K-2 school and Piggie and Gerald are super popular. :) When I saw your topic, I immediately thought, brilliant. I love the idea of a favorite blanket, just for the reasons you wrote about. Most students will immediately relate and have a connection to their own favorite blanket or stuffed animal. I'm so glad the lesson went well and you and the students will be looking forward to next week when you share your next story.