Friday, August 28, 2009
Group C Ch. 5 & 6 Blog
View AND Read the first sample chapters (available on line) (Chapters 5 & 6) 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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Ashley and Mary,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed chapters 5 and 6 of the Writer's Notebook reading because I loved how they applied to how students could use their entries from their writer's notebooks to choose from when taking their writing through the process. Also, the chapters looked at using the writer's notebooks in conjunction with the Writing Workshop, which was first proposed by Donald Graves and is what I use in my own classroom to teach writing.
I loved all of the examples of mentor texts that I could use in my own classroom to teach different lessons and ideas for generating entries in my students writer's notebooks. I also liked how the book asks teachers to focus on the writer's notebooks for the first 4-6 weeks of school. I always hop right into the writer's workshop, but I think I would like to alter my routine and use the writer's workshop time frames such as mini lesson (5-10min), independent writing (40-60 min), and sharing (5-10min.) while using the mentor texts suggesting and having my students add seeds (ideas) to their writer's notebooks. Then in October I could start with having students take their writing through the process toward final drafts and publishing. I think this is very important because if my students don't have enough ideas in their writer's notebooks I'm going to have students saying, "what should I write about" or "I don't have anything to write about." How do you girls teach writing in your classrooms? Did these chapters led themselves to anything you already do or would do differently in terms of writing in your classroom? If so exlpain.
I also loved the reminder in chapter 6 that not all of a students final drafts will be published. I forget sometimes that students should take several pieces to a final draft without publishing. Then, after several pieces have been acquired in students writing folders they can decide which piece to publish. I was thinking I could have a due date by which students would have to have at least one piece published. In the mean time students would just be working on writing and adding to their final drafts. Also, the reminder to teachers that a final draft will not always be perfect was refreshing to hear. I knew this, but sometimes got caught up in feeling the need to "correct everything." I need to remind myself that it is more important to teach the writer and help the writer grow than to perfect a piece that looks adult generated. Do you guys find that you sometimes try to make a students writing "perfect?" How do you go about conferencing with your students and making sure you are not over focusing on every little mistake? Can you share any with me? I liked the advice given in chapter 6 to have your students find five words they think are mispelled and check those five as opposed to correcting every mispelled word in their document. I will keep this in mind as a goal for myself.
Sincerely,
Heather
Hi Ladies,
ReplyDeleteAs I read chapter 5 I noticed that these strategies are ones that I use in my writer's workshop. These strategies are the same ones that Lucy Calkins suggests in her Launching the Writer's Workshop book.
Heather,
In response to your question, I use many mentor texts with my students to demonstrate examples of descriptive language and seed stories. One of my favorite ones is Fireflies by Julie Brinkloe. I mentioned this book in our last blog. She uses a lot of descriptive language to make you feel a part of the story. You can also connect with how the character struggles with making the right decision about letting the fireflies go.
I use this book to model for students how to create a small moment. I refer to this book and other mentor texts as I confer with students. After we discuss their story and identify for example, that they need to use more descriptive language in their story. I refer back to the mentor text and discuss how that author used certain words to paint a visual picture. I encourage them to go and get the book and use it to assist them with their writing. Using these mentor texts has proven to be a very useful tool in my workshop. It gives students concrete examples to refer back to throughout the school year. It also encourages them to find more mentor texts through their independent reading.
When my students are stuck on a topic to write about they have a few options to go to for ideas. I have a workbook entitled Giant Write for Every Day which has writing ideas and activities for every month. Each month has a page of quick write topics and sentence starters that I copy for my children. They keep these in their writing folders and refer to them as needed.
Heather, In regards to your chapter 6 comments, I also used to feel the need to have students publish every piece of writing. It takes a while to break yourself of this. I don't find myself trying to make students writing perfect. However, I do have many students that worry so much about spelling words right that they don't focus on their story events. I coninuously emphasize to them to just write and get the story out first. Then during editing worry about the spelling. I did like how the author suggested to have students select 5 words to fix, as opposed to the entire piece of writing. It provides them with practice editing and learning more words, without frustrating them. I model how to use a dictionary to look up the spelling of a word, and encourage my students to do this during editing.
In regards to conferencing with my students; I start by asking them how it's going with their writing. Then I have them share with me what they've written so far. After listening to their stories I comment on what they did well, and then identify what I think they could work on to improve their stories. I use the 6+1 writing traits as a guide and focus in on the trait they need to work on. I usually check for organization first, if students have created a well organized piece, then I usually look for elaboration and use of descriptive language. It really varies depending on the students' writing. In addition to the 6+1 Writing Traits, I also use the Empowering Writer's for narrative and expository. They have a lot of great ideas for mini-lessons. I decide which mini-lesson to teach based upon the needs of the majority of my class. I've also pulled small groups during writer's workshop to teach a targeted lesson.
I really enjoy the writer's workshop approach because it provides it is a flexible and meanigful approach to teaching writing. I have used this workshop model for the past four years and have found that my students are more excited about writing.
What strategy or idea that we read about in these chapters did you ladies find to be most beneficial in your classroom? I'll check back in a few days to see your comments!
Mary
Mary and Heather,
ReplyDeleteAs both of you ladies have already mentioned, I too enjoyed reading chapters 5 & 6 of the writer's notebook. I felt as though I gathered more ideas that could be implemented in my classroom. Furthermore, I liked how chapter 6 illustrated a possible way to go through the writing process. Yet at the same time chapter 6 made it a point to mention that the writing process is a highly individual one. I think that while students need guidance during the writing process, they also need to discover their own process and style of writing development.
I liked the way chapter 5 explained the difference between a memory and a memoir. Personally, I think writing down memories is such a great way to plant seeds for future writings. Furthermore, I truly enjoyed the way the writer's notebook discussed the importance of mentor texts. It is one thing to write down a memory, however it is quite another to demonstrate to the students that their memories can turn into future stories. The next unit I will be doing with my sophomores will be focused around poetry and Sandra Cisneros' House on Mango Street. I look forward to using her vignettes as inspiration to the students and encourage the students to explore their abilities as writers. I feel like I will be able to help students see many connections between their own lives and the vignettes illustrated in Cisneros' book.
In response your question Heather about how we teach the writing process... Unfortunately, I don't think I have really used mentor texts to inspire student writing. However, I look forward to using mentor texts to help inspire the writing process.
On a different note, I too, like the way writer's notebook encourages us to begin during the first 4-6 weeks of school so students can plant more seeds that they can go back to later on in the year. The more seeds they have planted the more ideas they can choose from later on.
One thing I continue to notice is the way the writer's notebook emphasizes the importance of sharing. I think if students know that they will be sharing their writing with others, they may put a little more effort into it becasue they want to feel proud of what they have produced. Do you ladies find that students are reluctant to share their writings?
Heather in response to your question about conferencing, many times I find that I conference with students in a very informal manner. For example, if I am reading over and grading a students essay, sometimes I will invite the student to sit with me as I am reading over their work. I like to do this so I can have individual mini lessons with students based on their specific needs. Another way I conference with students is during the writing process. If the students have class time to work on an assignment, I will invite a student to come sit with me and share some of their ideas being expressed during writing. As we discuss, I write down notes, and ask students to elaborate. I find that during these discussions, students expand and develop on what they have already written.
Chapter 6 mentioned the importance of helping students get into a rhythm when writing. Do you have any strategies to help the students get into a rhythm or routine of writing? I find the first 5-10 minutes are the most difficult. Even if students anticpate writing that day, it is difficult to help get the students into a rhythm.
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that you will be using Sandra Cisneros' book The House on Mango Street with your sophmores. This reminds me of when I used the book with my fifth graders. However, I did find that the book was a bit advanced for my students and will be much better suited toward your high schoolers. I did use the book as a way of challenging my advanced students. In the vignettes Cisnero's inferred many things that were just way about even my advanced students' heads. They did not pick up on as many things as I thought they would even with my propting. For exmaple, one of the stories talks about the narrator pooling her money together with some other kids so they could buy a bike and share this bike together. Each child would get the bike on different days. I asked my above grade level reading group what it might mean for the narrator in the vignette that she had to pool her money in to share the bike with the other kids in the neighborhood. They totally missed the boat that the girl might be poor. I was shocked when I asked them about another vignette that tells that the narrator's family didn't have a car and what that might mean. I got responses such as "she likes to walk." I think that this book just had ideas that were perhaps to abstract for them to understand in upper elementary school. I did love the vignettes and thought they would be the perfect challenge for my students.
To answer you question about how I get my students into the rhythm of writing I do have an idea I use in my classroom. I got this idea from CCWP with Dr. Valerie. It is called SSW. I have my students take part in a 5-10 min. Silent Sustained Writing every day. (I do 5 min. for elementary schoo, but you could probably do 10 min. However, the point is for it to be a quick write and shouldn't be a 20 or 30 min. ordeal.) Every day during CCWP someone different in our group had the opportunity of offering the prompt for the day. Many times the prompt was a quote or a poem that someone had found that they enjoyed. We could chose to either write to the prompt or do our own thing. Basically, the poem or quote was just their to guide our ideas if we needed it. One time someone brought in pictures that they had taken and placed the pictures on our tables. Each person received a different photograph and we had to write about the person/people, setting,e vent going on in the photograph. People wrote some great stories just based on someone elses photgraphs. This SSW I found was a great rhythm to start off the writing block for my class. It kind of got eveyrone in the writing mode and mentality. Try it out for a week or two and let me know what you think. The kicker is that you have to do it everyday to see a change in the rhythm and routine of writing.
Heather
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI have found many of my students are reluctant to share their stories, initially. I allow them to hand it off to a friend to read or I will read it for them. Once they realize that they won't be judged by their peers, they usually begin to volunteer more. Although I do still have a few shy students who continue to have a friend share. I also create a class book of their published stories that I keep in the library, so their work is also shared that way.
I usually start off the year introducing them to writer's workshop and we establish what it should look like in the classroom. Then I post what writer's workshop should look like on a chart paper so they can refer to it throughout the first few months.
I love the SSW to help promote fluency and to allow for students to use writing as a thinking tool for brainstorming and drafting. Do you have them share their writing- with you? with each other? Do they enjoy this process? What ideas have you tried from Chapter 5 and 6? Don't forget to try something out from one of the chapters.
ReplyDelete