ASSIGNMENT TWO: WRITTEN REFLECTION–Section One- The Essential Writing Life Chapters 1-3
BRIEFLY reflect on the following comments written below from Chapters 1-3 and any additional thoughts that you have after reading these chapters.
Chapter 1: Simplify the Teaching of Writing• Simplify our teaching
• Becoming more knowledgeable about teaching writing
• Examine your beliefs
Regie gets to the heart of her book Writing Essentials with this quote on the final page of Chapter One: “By reducing the clutter in our teaching lives-the over-planning, the unnecessary activities, the paper load, all the ‘stuff’ that takes our time and energy and does little to improve teaching and learning-we bring joy back into our work and the world of our students.” Many of us work very hard and spend many hours complicating our teaching lives. In this book Regie will help you simplify your teaching life for your benefit and that of your students.
One of the frustrations that teachers encounter regularly is the ever changing “latest and best” writing programs that districts or states force on them and their students. With this revolving cycle of programs, teachers are spending too much time learning how to use the program rather than becoming better writing teachers. Regie explains that in the districts where students are the best writers, they are writing for real purposes and audiences and publishing their writing; teachers are not using prescribed writing programs.
Look at Appendix A (page A-2.) Examine your beliefs about writing by reading the statements about the writing process and marking true or false in your book. (Go ahead and write in your book, it’s OK! You can even use a pencil and mark very lightly if you want to.) We found this activity very enlightening. Let us know what you think after you complete the activity.
In your reflection for Section One, please include your thoughts about the following questions or statements:
• Regie demonstrates how to use the Optimal Learning Model (shown on the front cover and page 11) throughout the book. Consider how the Optimal Learning Model fits into your own instruction.
• As you think about how to teach writing so that all students can become successful, effective and joyful writers, reflect on how you presently teach the “12 Writing Essentials” (as described on pages 13-14 in the text) during your daily writing instruction. As we continue to read through Regie’s book, hopefully you will begin to see how you might make changes in your instruction to better incorporate these “12 Writing Essentials.”
Chapter 2: Start With Celebration
• Make sure writing is meaningful not just correct
• Use stories as springboards and ensure that ALL students hear stories
• Write in front of your students and connect home and school
The title of Chapter Two simply states, “Start with Celebration,” and that’s exactly what we need to do for our students. The celebration of all students’ writing needs to be put into the forefront and be made our first teaching goal. Celebrations should happen school-wide, within our classrooms and with students individually. As children begin to see themselves as successful writers, they will take more risks in their writing and in turn will become better writers who enjoy the writing process.
Another key point that Regie highlights in this chapter is to “make sure writing is meaningful, not just correct!” Students need to understand that writing is “enjoyable and for a real purpose and audience.” She also reminds us “that teaching skills in isolation does not make student writers; neither does teaching to the test. And breaking writing into bits and pieces robs children of the joy of writing.”
Regie suggests using stories as a springboard for teaching and learning. Hearing and telling stories builds our students’ oral language skills and these stories are “an entryway into reading and writing.” Only when students are reading and writing real stories can they connect the “skills” based learning to their reading and writing!
Please include your thoughts about the following questions or statements in your written reflection of Section One:
• Regie explains how important celebrating student writing is. How do you celebrate student writing in your classroom? How might you add more celebration of student writing to your day/year?
• Consider what changes you could make in your writing instruction to make writing more meaningful and purposeful for your students.
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Essentials of Writing
ReplyDeleteAssignment Two
Irene Osterman Sussman
Regie’s quote about reducing the clutter in our lives to bring back the joy of writing can be used in all aspects of our lives, teaching and otherwise. The less clutter, the more joy. It is challenging to reduce that clutter when faced with a curriculum that is so full of “stuff” it can take all weekend to wade through the next week’s lessons to sift out what is essential. The challenge for me, as a newer teacher, is to have the confidence to follow that path and not be looking over my shoulders for approval.
I found the exercise of going through Appendix A enlightening. It would have been even more interesting for me to go through it first, then read chapters 1 and 2 and then go back and see what is different. I can say that a big change for me is allowing the children to talk during their writing. Prior to reading chapter 1 I mistakenly thought that if the children spent so much time talking about their writing they wouldn’t write. Now I can see how they need that time to process and most likely week out the “extra stuff” to get at the heart of their stories. This is something I can change in my classroom beginning day 1.
I spent quite a lot of time studying the Optimal Learning Model chart from the front cover of the book. I found the “Demonstration” part of the chart very helpful as I am looking thinking about the beginning of the year. I realize I need to spend much more time explicitly modeling and thinking aloud than I did last year. This makes so much sense and it’s something I did too infrequently. Studying the “shared Demonstration” portion has inspired me to include more “shared writing” experiences to give the students practice in participating, interacting and collaborating.
Last year was my first year teaching first grade which is considerably different from kindergarten. Looking through the list of the 12 writing essentials, I focused on five of them; determine an appropriate topic, Present ideas clearly, Elaborate on Ideas, Apply correct conventions. Quite honestly, I spent most of the time encouraging the children to write. I am excited with what I have learned so far because I believe with many of the ideas I have gleaned the children will be more encouraged to write so I can incorporate many more of these valuable ideas. I am especially encouraged to begin with showing students how to write for a specific reader, even if that reader is them.
In chapter 2 Regie talks about writing celebrations. In our Writers Workshop I try to either begin or end each day with two or three children sharing their work. I am careful to jot on a sticky note what it is I want to highlight/praise after they have read. For some it may be word choice or having an interesting beginning. For others is may be words on the page! I keep a record of who has shared and the date to make sure everyone has a chance at least once every couple of weeks. One way I would like to increase writing celebrations is working with the children to publish more class books. I think it’s a great way for them to be constantly validated as their peers can look through the books throughout the year.
One of the ways I would like to try making writing more meaningful is to emphasize the audience; who are we writing for. Often with first graders it’s their peers or family. I need to let go of their papers and let them take them home that day if they would like. I think it’s important for young children to get immediate feedback and some may be motivated by their family’s response and encouragement. I have tried to encourage students to read their work to table mates but sometimes the dynamic doesn’t work as well. Another thought would be to have a weekly partner or small group sharing on the rug where students can read their favorite piece to one or two peers and then listen to their peers writing.
I love that you recognized the importance of discussing writing! I had a hard time being ok with that, too. Sometimes, I think I STILL don't give enough time.
ReplyDeleteI also taught 1st for the first time last year! Except I went down from 2nd :/ I loved the kids, but their writing was SO different from what I was used to! Second graders really blossom in writing.
One idea for an audience is either the service who brings lunches, the principal, or even other classrooms. I have done a REALLY fun opinion/persuasive piece where they try to get something new added to their lunch options (chocolate milk, a special dessert, or once they wanted a salad bar). In the past, they have been really good about writing back! They don't always get what they want, but they write SO much!
Excellent suggestions! Yes, we'll talk about this later in the class, but writing for a real purpose and audience is so important. Students love trying to advocate for things they want at the school and LOVE getting replies from the staff members. :)
DeleteAmanda - What a great idea for opinion writing! How fun! I'm curious, do you do this as a whole class shared writing or does each child draft their own letter? Either way it's wonderful. Thank you
DeleteI do the planning and modeling as a whole class, then have them each draft their own letter. I might use a graphic organizer with firsties -- where they finish sentences with their thinking. I had them write full letters with several paragraphs in 4th grade where they fully developed their reasons :) It is REALLY fun! Any time they get to share their opinions on something they think is unfair, I have a writing-win :)
DeleteChapter 1 Assignment:
ReplyDeleteI really liked going over the beliefs about writing. Some things I have struggled with: letting go of not reading everything kids write, when to include/exclude formal prewriting (for 1st/2nd graders), revising/editing – again, at a 1st/2nd level…how deep do I go?, and how much time to give to quiet writing vs allowing talking and for the classroom to be a bit noisy (I can’t really write with a lot of noise, and I know some of my kiddos are like that, so how do I balance that?).
I use the Optimal Learning Model in my class in many ways already. One way I use it is by modeling my writing. I also read aloud and talk about how authors use writing. I use graphic organizers as scaffold when necessary. Kids self correct through author’s chair, reading to the teacher, and reading to a writing partner. Kids set writing goals with myself and evaluate their writing. There are many opportunities to write across a variety of genres. I make writing as authentic as possible; trying to find problems for the kids to solve, people for them to write to, or subjects that interest them.
I use all of the 12 writing essentials in my classroom. I struggle most with an authentic audience, and loved that the authors said it could be the author him/herself (why haven’t I ever thought of that??!!). I love that the author said to let kids “fool with words.” Too often, it becomes about the technical writing, not the content and developing the love of writing. I struggle with that because of the pressures from testing and the need to get kids ready for the next grade. Finally, I’d like to get kids to read with a writer’/s perspective more often. Even though we look at mentor texts, I don’t feel like the kids use them enough. I’d really like to get them in and reading/using them more for writing!
Chapter 2 Assignment
One way I celebrate is by letting kids read their writing to the class! Lucy Calkins had a great suggestion, that I use a lot. At the end, I let kids share (either I choose if I’m looking for something specific, or sometimes I just let them read if they want to), but I let the kids keep writing and adding to what they have if they want to (or if they hear a great idea). It motivates them to listen and change and keep writing! I also publish. I have published class books, which always go in my library. I LOVED the idea of asking kids, “Who tried something new? Who rewrote a part that didn’t work?” That would really get some of my strugglers to read their writing and we could celebrate them :)
To make writing more meaningful/purposeful, I could do a few things. One thing I could do is have the kids write more to other kids. There is a WHOLE school full of kids. They could write for advice from older kids or write to GIVE advice for younger kids. Kids love hearing from other kids! I’d also love to hear more about how to balance correcting student writing. I completely see how over-correcting hurts kids, but I want to make sure they are learning new things and developing their writing versus just learning a bad habit. Ideas? I DO teach spelling and grammar, so maybe that is enough? Or maybe choose a few to correct?
I didn't set writing goals with students last year and am inspired to do it this year. I'm wondering how it went for you transitioning from 2nd to 1st. I still struggle with keeping students on task during writing and find that most of my conferences are very brief.
DeleteI'm impressed that you get to all 12 writing essentials! :)
2nd to 1st was a tough transition for me. I only had 10/30 first graders. With my first graders, I had to spend a LOT of time at the beginning of the year just letting them write to increase their writing fluency. We talked A LOT about sentence structure. I used a GLAD strategy where I chose a noun, then they chose an adjective, verb, and we worked together on prepositional phrases (and eventually added adverbs). Once they really understood what a sentence needed, and we practiced A LOT, things got easier. I usually kept my conferences short, as well, and focused on goals they could really maintain independently. I also taped down a pocket on their desks and they keep all of their goals inside of those on a 3x5 notecard (they write them down on the card). It keeps them all in once place :)
DeleteAlthough I get to all 12 writing essentials, I don't think I get to them all, all the time...does that make sense? Sometimes I do a REALLY good job at them, sometimes I don't end up hitting all of them for all of the kids... I think it just depends on what kind of a class you have, too :)
Hi Irene,
ReplyDeleteI’m back from vacation and back to reality. So I’m going to work hard this week to catch up on ALL of my responses. ☺
I’m so glad you looked at Appendix A. We frequently have students tell us at the end of the class that they wished they had marked it before finishing the text. There’s no right or wrong answer but it’s interesting to see if anything changes after reading Regie’s book. We’ve even had quite a few teachers share they planned to bring the Appendix to their team or staff to jump-start conversations about writing.
Awesome, I’m glad you plan to allow students time to talk and share about their writing. If we think how we write, I know I like to check in with my husband or who ever is around about what I’m working on.
I’m thrilled you are finding the OLM useful. I think many of us need to examine (and re-examine) the model and plan specifically to incorporate all pieces into our instruction. With how much there is to do and how little time we have, it’s very easy to skip the middle parts and just set the kids loose. But, when we s-l-o-w down and explicitly model and guide the students lessons go smoother and students have a better grasp of the concept.
Writing on sticky notes specifically what you want to share about each child is really smart. We think we’ll remember, but the reality is with all that happens in a classroom, it’s easy to forget to mention some key points we want to highlight to the rest of the class. This is a good practice to get into if a teacher doesn’t do this already! Also, as you said, I’d recommend keeping a record of who was recognized on a check-sheet. (I’d actually put the dates if it were me, and not just checks, so I knew how long ago it was since a student was recognized.) Students note if they’ve been recognized or if they’ve been forgotten.
I agree, students LOVE class books, and not just their class books. They enjoy reading previous year’s books to see siblings, friends and neighbors.
If it’s not too overwhelming you can photocopy the writing if you want to keep a piece in their portfolios. You could even send them to the office and have the admin. asst. make the copy.
Hi Amanda!
ReplyDeleteI think some of your questions will be answered as you read through the book. If, not, def. ask again and we’ll share our thoughts. For me, it was liberating to realize I didn’t have to read and correct each writing piece the children did. It makes sense that we don’t correct every mistake they make when they are reading, why would we do that with writing? Students need A LOT of time to practice writing and it’s ok for them not to finish pieces sometimes.
I agree, I think mentor texts are so powerful. (At all ages!) Sharing great leads, or amazing endings, or vivid descriptions helps students to transfer these elements into their own writing.
Oh, I love that idea of allowing kids to keep writing. So clever! :D
Many teachers in this course ask about grammar and spelling. Regie will get to this in a later chapter. ☺
What I do regarding corrections is there are some No Excuse items, like a capital at the beginning and period at the end. Etc… Things your students should ALL know and use. Getting back to audience and purpose--I let students know if something is going to be published or hung in the hall it needs to be perfect. We need to respect our audience and not distract them with errors because it takes the readers away from our piece and what we are trying to share.
Later, when we discuss conferences in this class, we really want you to focus on one or two things that at that time will help move the writer ahead in their ability. Some things will have to be let go or touched on later. This method will be more successful in developing students who enjoy writing and want to write correctly for their audience.
I like your suggestions of no excuse items! I also like that you tell them it needs to be perfect to be hung in the hallway! I think that really sets the purpose and gives them the real life aspect, which is that errors DO distract readers from the amazing content in a piece of writing. Thanks for the suggestions!
DeleteOh, you're welcome! I like to consider all the types of writing we do as adults in our lives. My grocery list is scribble and likely not even spelled correctly but it serves the purpose to remind me to purchase something and usually it's just for me, not my husband.
ReplyDeleteWhen we work on a new class syllabus it takes TONS of drafts and we usually still find a typo or two…in spite of working hard to have it be perfect. :) So when we have students writing in the classroom, it can be exhausting if everything needs to be finished and perfect all the time. Knowing when it does need to be publishing ready--error free and grammatically correct helps students understand the purpose is so that their reader (audience) isn't distracted from their message and that we respect them enough to put our best effort into it. Now this isn't to say that sloppy is ok other times…if they or I can't read a draft or some writing then they need to work on it being legible.
Chapter 1:
ReplyDeleteI really like the overall message of this chapter - to simplify the teaching of writing. I know that I am guilty of making things much too complicated when I am teaching because I want to “keep up” with all the amazing teachers around me. However, I think this chapter is giving me the permission to start thinking about doing more for my students by doing less work. When looking at the optimal learning model I’m excited about trying some new things this year. I have mostly relied on the shared writing, guided practice and independent practice, but I think that in order to get some more efficient teaching done I am also going to add the demonstration piece in this year. As a special education teacher I have to teach to the student’s IEP goals that they are working on, which has often made me think that I have to teach the skills in isolation. Now I am starting to think that I should rely more on the first two parts of the optimal learning model than I have in the past (demonstration and shared demonstration) so that I can teach these skills to the students with a good model in a way that makes sense for them (is in context of actual writing). I really like how the 12 writing essentials are worded in the book because it makes it seem like all of these parts are connected and together, the way that they should be, instead of taught in separate skills lessons. It is definitely giving me a lot of inspiration for next year and how I will teach my kids to write and to love writing.
Chapter 2:
This chapter hit me kind of hard because it is very opposite of what I have been taught previously. While we all want our students to love writing, being in the special education world it is very much about being correct, and less emphasis on the meaning. I’ve always kind of hated it because of this - I felt like I had to teach my students the rules and writing has never been a favorite activity in my room. I really liked the part that we should make writing meaningful, not just correct. Yes, there is a value of having your spelling, grammar and punctuation correct so that people can read your writing. However, if you don’t have anything to say, then these things don’t really matter. My students love to tell stories about their families, their friends, their weekends, things that they love, etc. I would love to start giving them more choice about what they write so that they can start having some desire to actually write quality pieces. I love the idea of being able to celebrate the students’ writing. My students always get so excited to read their writing to me and to share what they have been working on, but I have never done this in front of the whole class to allow all of their classmates to share the time also. I think that this would be a great addition to our time each day so that students can gain some confidence, ideas, and some appreciation for each other as writers.
Chapter 3:
This chapter was definitely intimidating to think about because I do not see myself as a writer. However, as I thought about it more, I do see myself as a writer, I am just very self conscious of other people seeing my writing. I love to write letters and emails, I write in a journal, I love making to do lists, and I often take notes about what I read. Sharing my writing process is very vulnerable for me, which is making me understand my students’ feelings as well. The part in this chapter that spoke most to me is to use writing to bond with your students. I think it’s important to let them see you struggle so they don’t feel like they have to be perfect and to see the process that you go through as a writer. I want my students to love writing and to see it as a way to share what they are thinking and feeling. I believe that by opening myself up to them and demonstrating how I write it will help them to relax and to hopefully start to enjoy the activity.
Hi Tara,
ReplyDeleteGreat reflection. It sounds like you took away a lot of great ideas from this section. Yes, having students focus on meaning before mechanics is important for them to learn to enjoy writing. Regie will discuss spelling and grammar later in the text. You are a writer! Def. plan to write in front of your kids.