View AND Read the first sample chapters (available on line) (Chapters 1 & 2) Using the Writer's Notebook in Grades 3-8: A Teacher's Guide at (http://www1.ncte.org/library/files/Store/Books/Sample/35006chap1-2_x.pdf) and begin your writers notebook then post entries on Class Blog
( Keep your own notebook and share your response to it AND try out an idea in your class)
Engage in an online discussion group on our class blog. Please read designated chapters and 1)propose “meaty” fat questions to discuss,2) make connections to your teaching and work with students, and 3) make connections to your work as a writer ). 4)Please respond to two of your classmates’s entries in your study group.4) Consider how what you have learned from this book might support the work of your integrated language arts unit
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Questions for Annie and Molly:
ReplyDelete-How do you ladies currently use writer's notebooks in your classroom?
-How do you feel about students carrying writer's notebooks outside of school? I see the value in this, however, I am weary of allowing my students to take their writer's notebooks home...in particular, the students that don't bring homework back...what if they lost their notebooks? I know that the students value them, however, accidents happen and then writing ideas would be lost!!!!!!!!!!!
-I like the idea in the book that the students do a lot of writing in their notebooks before begining writers' workshop, however according to East Hartford writing curriculum the students should publish a piece of writing by the end of each month...how can we make this work?
My connections to my work with my students:
ReplyDelete-I currently use writer's notebooks with my students. At the beginning of the year, I purchase I writer's notebook journal for each of my students. I always make it a big deal to spark enthusiasm for writing. I put them in a basket with tissue paper and reveal them like I am unwrapping a present. Then I explained to the students how each journal will "pick their writer" by telling me the student's name...much like Harry Potter and the sorting hat. This worked extremely well. We decorate and personalize the covers and the students love to bring family pictures.
-I use Lucy Calkins as a resource for most of my writing mini lessons. In addition, I use my anecdotal notes that I collect from individual conferencing to plan mini lessons that address class needs. We end by sharing what we have learned as writers that day or by sharing writing. I agree that sharing is pivotal. It creates a community of writers and raises the overall quality of writing.
-I often share my writer's notebook with my students. Like the book said, it does allow the students to get to know you on a personal level. This notebook is primarily a notebook that I teach from, however, it is mostly "school" writing, not like the writer's notebook that I am keeping for this class.
-This year I incorporated the use of cozy writing spots around the room that I use to reward dedicated writers.
I use a writer's notebook set up that follows the Lucy Caulkins' workshop model. We have had a lot of training in the district on it and now that I have used it for a few years I am becoming more comfortable with the idea of both writing workshop and the writer's notebook. I am excited to report that the students keep their journals in their desks this year instead of a bin (which I have done in previous years). This allows them to grab their notebooks out whenever they have an idea or impulse to write, of course not during instruction :)
ReplyDeleteAnnie:
ReplyDeleteI know you shared with me that you changed the way you address writing this year and was wondering how it was going...
Annie and Kathleen:
How do you ensure a 'safe' place for students to write and publish? I fear that sometimes I concern myself too much with editing and revising and need to better focus on their thought and ideas.
My connections to my work as a writer:
ReplyDelete-I recently purchased a new writer's notebook for this class. I notice that I am more motivated to write on white lined pages...I actually was deciding between two notebooks and the color of the pages made me choose this one!
-This notebook will be different from my previous notebooks because it will reflect my writing as an educator and my new understanding of what a writer's notebook is and what it should look like. My previous notebooks have been created during high school, college, and during a writer's workshop conference (this one is mainly used for teaching with entries that I have written as a typical third grader might write and revised them).
-I am excited to write in my notebook! I already have great quotes that I will incorporate into it. What about great lines in songs? I think that might be a good entry!
Kathleen
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that it is important to share your own writing notebook with your students. It helps them see it as important. I also want to comment on what a great job you do making the unveiling of the notebooks engaging for the students. It really helps their enthusiasm to writing.
How I will integrate this into my unit:
ReplyDelete-As the book mentioned, the writer's notebook could be used across content areas. I plan on using it to record thoughts during experiments and new learnings. The students could record vocabulary words that they have learned that they could later incorporate into a science ficition story or nonfiction story. Any more ideas for me lovely and intelligent ladies?
Molly:
ReplyDelete-I really like your idea about having the students keep their notebooks in their desks...that makes them more accesible when they want to record a "small moment" that occurs...I have them in a bin this year, but I am reconsidering this decision now! HMM.....
-I create a safe writing environment by allowing the students to self-select their writing topics and share only if they want to. If the students know that their ideas are valuable and worth writing, I think they will feel safe to write and explore writing! I also had the same concern as you did and I found myself focusing on the editing/revising piece more than the actual quality of the writing. I still struggle with this, however, I have learned to let go when I attended a writer's workshop training two summers ago and they said to hold the students accountable to what you have taught them to edit and revise. What I am going to do this year is each time I teach something in editing (in particular) I will add it to a checklist. After heterogeneously grouped partners have carefully proofread for the items on the checklist, they are done!
Kathleen;
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the letting go on editing and revising. During this round of publishing I have really stepped back and looked at the students' writing as a whole to see where to focus my next strategy lessons.
In my own teaching and writing:
Attending the writing project conference this weekend allowed me to look at myself as a writer, something I haven't done in a while. I model a lot for the kids but it is structured and not from my own notebook. Saturday I was able to put my first entries into the notebook and i do feel that it has brought a new enthusiasm as I teach writing. Also from this lesson I already had a chat/lesson with the class about all the different things they can put into their notebooks, everything doesn't have to be a personal narrative! That is just what we are focusing on as a class, but not exclusively. I did notice their eyes light up when I was sharing my notebook with different looking entries, sometimes a list other times just three lines.
For my unit:
ReplyDeleteI was wondering ladies what you thought about putting their math reflections into their writing notebook. It would be helpful for them to see how the writing is related and other types of entries, but I feel it will also get messy with the different entries all together with their personal narrative. On the other hand I do want to show them different purposes for writing.
Molly-I think it is a great idea to incorporate the math writing into your writer's notebooks...I think they are really flexible as far as what you include in them. Just as long as it is meaningful to them. You also had a good point that it would show the students different purposes for writing. I would do that if you feel comfortable with it! Maybe sectioning off the notebooks would be a good idea if you were worried about the math writing getting "lost." There is value to keeping the same types of writing together to look back and build upon ideas...hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteHi Ladies,
ReplyDeleteI will post about how I currently use Writer's Notebooks, then respond to some of your earlier posts.
I have to say that I feel like I struggle A LOT with teaching writing. It is definitely the area that I feel least comfortable with teaching, probably because I have never done a lot of writing myself other than school assignments and diaries. The idea of creative writing, in particular, still makes me uncomfortable, and I think that that feeling has influenced how I teach writing and how my students perceive writing.
That being said, I think that this is a good opportunity for me to begin changing my perception of writing and myself as a writer. Maybe creating a Notebook the way this author describes will help ease my anxiety and help me to reach the goal we want for our students-to be "writers".
I have made good attempts to use notebooks in the past, but somehow my good intentions always shifted to using the notebooks to draft only the types of writing that needed to be taught for the CMT-I definitely felt the pressure to edit and revise that you both mentioned. By the end of the year, I always realized just how little writing was actually done in the notebooks, and regretted that I did not know how to make them more effective and meaningful for the students. They just always seemed to be forgotten in the push to prepare the children for personal or fictional narratives.
This year has been an improvement-I taught the students the RAFT technique and we discussed different formats that might be possible entries in their notebooks. I have also made it okay for them to sketch in their notebooks, which I kind of frowned upon doing too much of in the past. WHile students seem to be more enthusiastic about their notebooks than in previous years, and are already writing more and asking to take their notebooks home, I know that there is still a lot more I can do.
I have not shared my notebook with my students yet, mostly because I am starting from scratch creating it, and I really want it to represent authentic writing coming from me, not contrived to fit the standards or test criteria. I would love to hear more about what you are including in yours....I am nervous about creating my notebook! :)
I am struggling with how much time I should devote to using Writer's Notebooks. Currently, I have 2 one-hour blocks of writing scheduled during the week, and two 1/2 hour blocks also. In answer to Molly's question, I have not been teaching using the workshop model, because I found that by individual conferencing in a class of 23 students, I was not getting enough time to reteach those essential writing skills for Tier 3 children. I have recently been using my 2 one-hour blocks to teach students how to use the writing process (brainstorming, planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing)for personal narratives. This writing does not go in their notebooks. During these writing blocks, I conduct small groups. On the other 2 days, that is when my students do notebook writing and share their ideas. I also plan on using Kathleen's idea of integrating the notebook into the subject areas, especially for freewrites and reflections.
ReplyDeleteI guess my question is, do you use the notebooks during every Writing Workshop that you do? I am having a hard time integrating the notebooks into formalized writing practice (i.e. genres the district expects us to teach).
Kathleen!
ReplyDeleteI loved that idea of wrapping the notebooks and presenting them like a gift to the students. THey must love that. It really sets the tone for writing, and probably makes even the most struggling writers feel more comfortable and excited to write.
Also, in response to letting children take their notebooks home, a teacher in my school purchases little mini pocket notebooks to give to the children which they keep in their pockets and take with them anywhere to capture ideas and thoughts. This way, their big notebook stays in the classroom, but they still have transportable pages that can be pasted in the notebook later.
ReplyDeleteMolly,
ReplyDeleteI definitely think the notebook would be a great place for math reflections. Not only will it save extra paper, but students might see their reflections as being more authentic and less "graded" if they are in their own notebooks. Maybe I will try the same for my unit!
Annie:
ReplyDeleteI use my notebooks during every writing block. To me it can include any writing no matter the subject matter or style of writing. The notebook in my room is used to pull our publishing ideas from.
Annie:
ReplyDeleteI love the idea for the pocket notebook. I may borrow that idea. Thanks for you comment on the math reflection, you have given me the courage to try!
Well, I finally finished designing the cover of my Writer's Notebook and starting a few entries! I wanted to experience this as my students would if I asked them to design and write in their notebooks. I used photos, newspaper clippings, and lots of words and quotes taken from magazines to cover a composition book. At first, I was kind of reluctant and stressed out about designing the cover, but once I started, I worked on it for a few hours! It is really exciting to look at, and I think it says a lot about me. I started to take it with me because it looks so cool!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I was hesitant about writing in it because I am so uptight about things being correct and sounding good...so I used some of your advice Molly about including favorite song quotes, and I got on a roll from there. I found random things that I have written through the years (things people have said that I jotted on sticky notes because I like the way they sound, a translation of a Spanish song by Paulina RUbio) as well as some photographs that speak to me-I pasted those in and plan on writing a little bit in regards to why they are important.
I'm really excited to share this with my students on Tuesday. My goal is to have materials ready for them to design their own notebooks this week. Then from there I will share some of my entries and let them try a few. I think they are going to love it.
I'm having issues about crossing things out in my notebook-I wrote in pen and I keep messing up! Now I know how my students feel when I tell them not to erase. :) I guess I need to get over my expectation that everything needs to be written perfectly the first time. Do you ladies allow your students to erase things from their notebooks? What do you do about students who are "chronic erasers"?
ReplyDeleteAnnie-
ReplyDeleteI think that keeping your own writer's notebook will rejuvenate your love of writing and help you reevaluate how you teach writing. It does for me!
I love the way you decorated your notebook and made it your own...this will improve the quality of your own writing!
My advice to you: Everything that you write is of significance to you...that's all that matters! Don't worry about it being perfect. It's through revision and reflection that you will come up with your best ideas. That's what I would tell my "chronic erasers"....I would say...flip to the next page and rewrite it! Don't waste time erasing! I show them how I have rewritten the same story, each time focusing on a specific part or viewpoint.
I also have them write everything in their writer's notebooks until we begin drafting. In other words, their seed stories and ideas to write about as well as their planning for their stories are all contained in their journal. Does this make sense?
I love how your share the benefit of your experiences with each other and are thinking about using the writers notebook in relationship to your own settings.
ReplyDelete