What is something new you have tried in your classroom writing instruction? What is something you have experimented with in your own writing?
Remember to sign your name after your comment. Also, check back to the blog and comment on 2 responses.
-Lindsay and Deborah
Something I tried in my own writing last week was to read some children's poetry books for inspiration. After visiting the four stations set up in class last week, I thought looking at poetry might motivate me. I adore Jack Prelutsky and others of his ilk. They make me laugh. Reading several of the poems from the book If I Ran the School, led me to write a silly poem about sheep (one of my favorite animals).
ReplyDelete~Lynn
What a great idea! Last year in my 2nd grade classroom I would read aloud silly poems from a great book that I got at the Green Valley Book Fair. It has the craziest, funniest poems for kids, and my students absolutely loved them. I could really see using them as either inspiration or as a mentor text with them!
ReplyDelete:) Melissa
This past week in my classroom, I tried the storytelling approach to SPARK interest in my students writing. I was amazed at how great it actually went with them. I told a story about my camping trip and crossing paths with a bear...I "tried" to draw illustrations as I was telling my story and they were laughing and loving it. We had so much fun, and of course it SPARKED many of them to want to tell a great story...so we just spent the time telling stories to each other. We didn't actually get to write, but that will be the next step for us....GREAT ideas from the text I am reading for this class.
ReplyDelete:) Melissa
My 11th grade students have been working on researching their families'/cultural groups' immigration stories. Students are required to use an interview with a family member as one source of information for their research. After some of US made OUR lists of motherly advice a couple of weeks ago, I went back to my students and suggested that using a quote from their interview to "anchor" their paper might be an effective option. Several students had a wealth of information but were unsure how to organize it or where to begin with their story. Focusing on the words provided to them by family helped many to find their thesis. Suddenly, it seemed the assignment was much less about their own writing ability or lack thereof and much more about the family's story and sharing of it. A worthwhile experiment! :c) Cathy S.
ReplyDeleteI actually basically changed everything I started doing with writing this year in my classroom. I wiped the slate clean and am slowly putting together my own 4th grade writing workshop. I begin with a mentor text/mini lesson then have them go into independent writing time (which I use a rubric for their proctivity and behaviors) and then we have 5 to 10 minutes to share at the end. I'm still tweeking of course.
ReplyDeleteAs for my own writing, I haven't purposefully tried anything new. I have a goal to write about something other than my current life this week though.
Jen G.
Lynn and Melissa- the poetry idea is fantastic. I am hoping to use Antarctic Antics which is a penguin poetry book to start off a poetry unit. Melissa I definitely want to try to find that poetry book you used with your 2nd graders. It would be nice to get a variety I think. Good ideas, I never thought about looking at poems for inspiration for myself though!
ReplyDeleteJen G.
Much like Jen, I have been restructuring my writing time with my 3rd graders. Just last week I introduced "books" as an option for writing and the excitement in the room was almost tangible. In our room we now have a student writing a book about when she was little and another writing his own pattern book following the example of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." Even my newcomers have grasped the idea of writing books and have begun experimenting with using a few English words to accompany their pictures. They seem much more likely to look through books that we read in class to get ideas now. It is very exciting.
ReplyDeleteIn my own writing, I have enjoyed experimenting with different formats- short stories, poems, lists, even drawing a picture using words. Sitting down with my notebook is becoming a much more creative time than I could have foreseen.
-Jenny
How exciting Jenny! I am wanting to bring "books" as an option for writing into my classroom as well. It sounds like you have had a lot of success with it, and I would love to hear more. I am anxious to try out the Mentor Text for our assignment in my class this week to see how it goes. My class is so different that writing for me is really a trial this year.
ReplyDelete:) Melissa
One thing I started last year was journals back & forth with my students. Each student has a notebook, and we write back & forth. I write to each student individually. Last year, it was just sort of whatever they wanted to write about, etc. This year, since taking this course, I pulled in the storytelling element from personal experiences in my writing. Although it's not sparking interest the same way as a free write, it it working as far as students then writing to tell me about personal experiences. They read mine, make a personal connection, and then respond (usually with a story of their own). Tomorrow I'll be completing my first try at" writers workshop"...I'm so excited, but just hope the results are as exciting!!
ReplyDelete*Tonya
Jenny, that makes me so excited that your kids have found so much success with bringing books into the writing! Lynn & Melissa-I'm going to try the poetry idea too!! Awesome idea:)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy two goals for teaching writing this year are to use mentor texts more often and to LET GO. To introduce the idea of making books (a new thing for me as well) and tie in with our unit of the 5 senses, I brought in a bunch of touch and feel board books for my students to check out. Then we used scraps of fabric to make our own touch and feel books together as a class. I'm trying to get brave enough to put the scraps out at the writing center again so students can make their own touch and feel book independently.
ReplyDelete~Katie
(sorry for removing the previous post--I had forgotten to sign my name)
Cathy S.--I love your idea of using a quote to anchor the organization of your students' writing! So often I feel like our discussion centers around younger writers--what a great way to stretch an activity to make it high school appropriate!
ReplyDelete~Katie
Something New:
ReplyDeleteSomething new that I've done in my classroom is that I've included more of it. I've started a "writing notebook" with my students in which we write back and forth to each other. I've always wanted to do something similar, but always had 800 students, which didn't make daily journals and notes back to students attainable. This year I approximately 13 students in 2 classes, which makes writing back-and-forth much more feasible. I have really gotten to know my students on a personal level, I'm able to comment on their writing topics, and I can encourage the "good writing" that they do. I feel that some of them has used it as an outlet to write how they felt, even though they couldn't express it orally. Some of them are even starting to look forward to writing time. I'm trying to structure it a little bit now and will eventually give them more choice later.
My favorite prompt that I gave them the other day was "Reasons why you don't have your homework." I got some wicked awesome responses. They really took it and created a great list. I'm going to type some of them up and create a list in my room of their writing ideas that were the most creative. That's also something I've never done.
I'm experimenting more with writing and I'm not as secure with teaching it as I am with reading, but I am learning a lot about my students and how they write, which is an improvement from what I've done in the past.
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ReplyDeletehave found myself giving up more control in what the student I am tutoring wants to write about. I have given suggestions but let him choose what he wants to write.
ReplyDeleteI have often thought of writing in a journal for myself as something where I spill my guts, so to speak-however, with this journal I write lists, notes, as well as a start to a story, letters and so on. I'm allowing myself to write whatever, whenever without too much direction, much like what I'm trying to do with my student.
Heather
Tonya, I like your idea of back & forth journals. My adults had to set some official goals last week for reading & writing. 4 out of 6 of them decided that they would fulfill their writing requirements by writing to me in their journals. They can't write to anyone back "home" because their families are Spanish & they don't really have any other authentic reasons for writing, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I'd love the name of that silly poems book too! It sounds like it's right down my alley! I agree with you on the storytelling - the next step of writing should be easy. Bruce Morgan (author of Pyrotechnics on the Page, which I'm reading for class) would approve!
~Lynn
If my students don't have time during our 30 minute block to a longer writing activity, I have let my students draw pictures as I read the mentor text. At the end of the story, I show the students the pictures in the book and let students sit in "my teacher chair" and share their pictures that they have drawn. I have encouraged students to make captions with their pictures. Also, students have started to think out of the box when they draw their pictures. They have started to draw comic strips, make books out of their pictures, and really enjoy sharing during this time. I have noticed that the kids have been paying attention and are really understanding the most important details of the book. My next step is to really incorporate time for my students to write and freely create their own writing pieces.
ReplyDelete-Amee :)
Tonya,
ReplyDeleteI love the writer's journal back and forth. I feel like our kids will benefit from being able to write personally and have a trusted individual, like yourself, respond back to the students. It reminds me of Freedom Writers! Some of the students in your class may use this as a safe outlet, where their work is not being judged and where someone will read their thoughts!-Amee
Katie,
ReplyDeleteI understand your point about letting go! I totally can see where your coming from and it is something that I am trying to work on as well. I could see how this could be a difficult challenge especially because they are in Kindergarten. You could always do more of a gradual release. From last week's class, it was reassuring to know that other teachers in Greene County have the same concerns about relinquishing control. Keep up the good work. Your students are lucky to have you as a teacher!
-amee
Ladies, I won't lie, making books scares me. I like the idea but it makes me nervous. Currently I have students who like to write short stories, comic strips, and non fiction information pieces. I want to try the books but I also feel like I would LOVE to see examples so and get pointers so I can do it more effectively.
ReplyDeleteJen G.
Lynn, I think I'd like to borrow your Pyrotechnics on the Page book! :c)
ReplyDeleteKatie, thanks for your kind comment and I LOVE the idea of kids making their own touch-and-feel books. I mentioned that to my 7-year-old son, and he immediately went to my sewing kit and got busy! Like you, one of my goals this year is going to be to "let go" and teach more responsively--difficult for a type "A" uber-planner like myself!
Cathy :c)
Jen G.-
ReplyDeleteI was really nervous about making books too, but was VERY pleasantly surprised at how well it's gone so far. For one thing, it sort of helps with differentiation in that your strong writers will write more and maybe spend more time on their work while the weaker ones can still feel that they've accomplished the same thing because they have also made a book...it just might not have as many words on the page. I was also happy with how focused students seemed to be on their work because they seemed really motivated to be doing it. What a change! I don't have any pointers yet, but I'm happy to bring in a couple of books that they've done already this year.
~Katie
Amee, I like your idea of having students illustrate while you read. This could be a great visualizing lesson. Out of curiosity, which books have you done this with?
ReplyDeleteKatie and Cathy, I appreciate your goal of becoming a more responsive teacher. It is a challenge I am excited to take on as well although I hadn't named it until now. My first mini-lesson will be Wednesday and I'm interested to see how it goes.
Jenny
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ReplyDeleteJust trying to make more purposeful time for writing activities with my ELL students has been new for me. Using a mentor text to teach a mini lesson and suggest possible writing ideas has been fun. The students all enjoy being read to and seem more eager to do their own writing. I have also tried including the response questions( What did you learn? What will you remember?) to share time after journaling. I was surprised at much the students were able to remember and relate about their classmates. I even found myself paying closer attention to what they had written. I would like to try making books with some of my groups.
ReplyDeleteI can't say I've really tried anything new in my own writing, but I have been jotting down ideas in my notebook that I might want to write more later.
-Patsy
I have not had the opportunity to teach writing more than once since the class started since I am not working right now. I did do a lesson for the mentor text and something new I did was offer students different types of paper and ready-made books. Five out of the six students chose ready-made books and no one chose lined paper. I thought that was interesting.
ReplyDeleteI have been using my journal to write in a variety of ways including personal narratives, list making, and scheduling. I have also used it to write stories my children will want to read about themselves when they are older. That has been fun.
Mari
Heather,
I have been more open in my journal writing as well. Making lists has been helpful for me. It seems to reduce stress and keep me organized at the same time.
Mari
Tonya,
I like the back and forth journal idea. My son’s teacher had a back and forth journal with parents last year and I loved that form of communication. I think students would love it too.
Mari
After circulating through the centers in our class, I decided to try letting my students listen to music to encourage writing. They loved it as much as I did! Everyone was busy writing and they didn't want to stop when our time was up. They asked if I would let them do this again. I've never had such eager writers and it was very refreshing.
ReplyDeletePatsy,
I am also trying to make more purposeful time for writing activities with a small group of students. I don't teach writing so I've had to plan a time to fit it in. It has been a challenge to find the time.
Heather,
In the past I've found it was always hard for me to give up control about what my students where journaling about. I like that you are trying to do that. I like your journaling idea and how you're allowing yourself to write whatever you want. I'm trying to do the same and it's very refreshing to mix it up. Not all journal entries need to look a like and I think students would enjoy this too.
Kim
Jen--I was thinking that when I get back into the classroom that I would want to work on my writing time as one of my year long goals. I have always felt that my teaching of writing has been my weakest area because I lacked the resources to know where to start.
ReplyDeleteLynn---I might have to try your idea of poetry as a starting point for my writing. I have used song lyrics before but not poetry.
~Heather
Thanks to everyone for so many good ideas!
ReplyDeleteCathy S., I really like the interviewing idea to learn more about the family cultural and immigration stories of your students. My older ESL students would probably enjoy and learn so much from this activity. Do you have an outline or specific interview questions you could share with me?
Melissa, your storytelling idea to SPARK ideas and excitement was wonderful. The students always love to hear stories about their teachers, and I can see how this would lead into them writing their own great stories.
Erin, "the reason why you don't have your homework" prompt was hilarious. Maybe you could share some of the stories with us. This reminds me how we can use humor to motivate our students.
Kim, the music idea sounded like a success. Did they use song lyrics as ideas for writing, or did they relax to music while writing about something else?
-Patsy
I LOVE the ideas that are going on here. My middle schoolers are a little to "cool" for picture books right now (I tried and was met with copious complaints), but we are reading Hunger Games aloud and so I have been trying to connect their journal writing with that (ie. What would your strategy have been during this time in the arena? How would you have said goodbye to your family?). They're connecting now more to the book (SUPER COOL) and writing about it (EVEN COOLER!).
ReplyDeleteMelissa: I have not heard of this SPARK idea that you speak of. I would love to know more. Is it appropriate for middle schoolers? And how do you draw the line between sharing awesome stories and writing because my kids certainly love to talk talk talk.
Tonya: It sounds that you and I are doing very similar things. I would love to know how your writing workshop went. Do your students tend to simply write you notes? My boys do a good job of writing stories, poems, cartoons, and everything else, but my girls treat it like the gossip column and just talk about who's cute and who's going out with whom. Do you experience the same? Or is that just a middle school girl thing?
jdfjdaskl
ReplyDeleteI did try using music for my students while they were writing. I couldn't use headsets, but let them listen to the radio while they worked. Three out of the four classes did really well with this. They worked for the entire time with little redirection. I had one class though that the music caused more distraction than help. It may have been that this class was at the end of the day and they just couldn't concentrate in general. I want to try it again and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteCathy S. I'd also be interested in getting more information about the interviews about family and cultures.
Erin, I plan on using this prompt!!
Kathy B.