Friday, August 28, 2009
Group C Ch. 9 & 10 Blog
View AND Read the first sample chapters (available on line) (Chapters 9 & 10) 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,
ReplyDeleteChapters 9 and 10:
I thought chapter 9 was important because it reminds teachers of upper grade students (Grade 4 and above) to remember to read aloud to your students. Many times teachers of students in the upper grades feel as though their students would not benefit from read alouds. However, this chapter says that students need a lot of exposure to rich language every day and that one way we as teachers can do this for our students is through read alouds. Ashley, I'm curious, because you teach high school I was wondering if you do read aloud to your students? How do they respond to this if you do? For Reading 594, my case study student who is a junior in high school told me on a reading inventory survey when asked if she would like her teacher to read aloud to her she responded "no." I was wondering if she said this because she has never had it done in high school and feels it is babyish, or if she truly does not want to be read aloud too. So, I thought if I knew how your students felt toward read alouds it would answer my question.
I liked the idea of having students gather language they liked at the back of their writer's notebooks. I had my students do this in my classroom last year. Any words or language they came across that they liked I had them record it in the back of their notebooks, that way they could use the words in their own writing.
Chapter 10 was all about poetry. I created a poetry unit with my fifth grade colleagues last year, which we implement for approximately 4 weeks at the end of the school year. After reading this chapter I see that students should be surrounded by poetry all year, not just for a unit at the end of the year. When I have my next classroom I plan on including poetry more frequently. What do you girls do at your schools to include poetry in the curriculum? How does it work?
Sincerely,
Heather
Hi Ladies,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading both of these chapters, they both provided good examples and reminders of how to engage students in different writing styles and genres.
Heather,
I agree with your comment about the benefit of using read aloudso fill students word banks. Lucy Calkins recommends many read aloud stories in the first unit that provide students with great examples of descriptive language and incorporating the five senses. My personal favorite from her list is Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. I use this story as a mentor text throughout the year with my class to help them see how using descriptive language makes a story come alive. When I read this story to them I don't show them the pictures, I just have them close their eyes and listen. Then we discuss what they visualized.
Last year I had students use a thesaurus to look up different words and create a list in the back of their journal. They could then refer to this list when they were creating or revising their stories, to change out everyday words. For example instead of using the word happy in their story they could use joyful.
In regards to poetry, I expose students to poetry through different author studies, like the Jack Prelutsky Scranimals unit that I spoke about in our blog for chapters 7 & 8. I also expose students to poetry in a literacy station. In this station students get to read a variety of different poems, then they select two poems to comapre and create a Venn diagram. After identifying the similarities and differences in these poems, they create their own poem in response to one of the ones they read. There is also a poetry unit in our Houghton Mifflin basal, that exposes students to a variety of poetic styles. After learning about these different writing styles students get to create their own poems.
In chapter 10 the author dsicussed how it is important for students to know that poems can be about anything. I have discovered that it is important to emphasize that poems do not have to rhyme. I often have students focus on the rhyming aspect of poetry, and get frustrated when they can't make the words rhyme. They seem to enjoy writing poetry more when they realize that it can be about anything and that the words don't have to rhyme.
Mary
Mary and Heather,
ReplyDeleteI must say i truly enjoyed chapter 9 and the way they explained how students must notice and appreicate language. The chapter continued to explain that students need to be immersed in the language. I have found this to be extremely important. I am currently reading The House on Mango Street with my sophomores. This collection of vignettes is extremely rich in language especially in terms of using similes, metaphors, and personification in order to illustrate ideas. I am finding that my students truly appreciate these vignettes. After reading 5 vignettes as a class, I asked the students to write their own vignette where they needed to include similes, metaphors and personification. I found that the students were truly inspired by Cisneros' book and were proud of the vignettes they created.
Heather in response to your question, I read aloud to my students quite a bit. I find that when I read aloud to my students they all seem to stay engaged. When I asked my students if they liked it when I read out loud to them, I recived a chorus of "Yes". When I asked why they said they could understand and appreciate the stories better.
With regard to collecting words... I had never thought of doing this before. I think I might try this out with my students. I am interested to see what types of words they enjoy.
In chapter 10 I enjoyed the discussion about poetry. Once I finish my unit with The House on Mango Street, I plan on conducting a poetry unit with my sophomores. I think the move from vignettes to poems will be a smooth and seamless transition. In a previous unit, I asked my students to create a poem about one of the main characters in Whale Talk. I found that many of the students became frustrated because they thought there was only one right way to create a poem. I tried to explain to them that there is never one right way, and poems DON'T have to rhyme. I am finding that my students are already making progress towards understanding poetry as they create their personal vignettes. I am also fiding that The House on Mango Street is a great mentor text. There are so many rich ideas that students can use in order to inspire personal poems. I try to encourage my students to get in touch with their senses and bring their words to life.
Mary, I am looking forward to reading the book you mentioned...Owl Moon I know it is probably intended for younger grades, but I have recently learned that the older students appreciate these younger level books, and usually get a great deal from them.
Mary I also agree with you about students enjoying poetry more when they realize that it can be about anything and it doesn't have to rhyme! That is agreat point you made!
Ashley
Mary, I liked your idea for having your students actually use the thesaurus as a guide for finding words that they like and writing them down in their writer's notebook. I've had students do this when they come across a word they like, but never using the thesaurus. The thesaurus seems like a better way because they will be exposed to a lot more words that they may find interesting that they never knew about before. This would be a great idea for a day when students have writer's block, which was discussed in the next chapters 11-13. That way the students are still working on a writing activity and the words they stumble across may lead them to an idea to write about and will definately come in handy when they are writing.
ReplyDeleteAshley,
I was happy to see that you do a lot of read alouds in high school. I don't think a lot of high school teachers do. I've heard high school teachers say "thats babyish." What do you think other teachers in your buildings thoughts are about reading aloud to their students? I'm going to ask my husband what he plans on doing in his classroom because he will have his masters and certification for high school English in May of this year. I'm curious to see what he says and I will let you know.
Mary and Ashley,
Both of you mentioned that your students had trouble with poetry until they realized it did not have to rhyme. I found this same problem in my fifth grade classroom last year. In my poetry unit I tried to include a lot of modelling and examples of poetry that did not rhyme so that students could see this type of poetry. I also told my students they could write in "free verse" if they wanted too. I agree that students like free verse, ecspecially when starting out writing poetry, which is new to them.
Sincerely,
Heather
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI love the lesson for The House onMango Street, it really sounds like you found a great way to inspire your writers!
I think you and your students will enjoy Owl Moon, you are never to old to experience a snow trip into the deep woods!
Mary,
Heather, I will definitely try and model more. I think you are right, modeling samples to the students will really help a great deal.
ReplyDeleteHeather, I must say that I don't think all English teachers at the high school use read alouds. I know many teachers like to read plays out loud to the class because they are meant to be read out loud, however I don't think all teachers do particpate in read alouds, because I truly believe students enjoy being read to by their teachers, even in high school.