Saturday, January 24, 2009
Writer's Notebook ch. 5&6 group c 650pm
View the first sample chapters (available on line) 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. 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 (ie Keep your own notebook and share your response to it), 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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3 comments:
QUESTION:
In ch. 6 when Elliott goes through the process of developing a notebook entry, she talks about sharing; "If I skip sharing,I lose 50 percent of my teaching and learning potential". I was a little surprised that the percentage would be as much as 50%-how do you guys feel about that statement? I know that it is important to share but I have a hard time managing the time, my students get carried away and sometimes I feel like we loose valuable time in other subjects. They like to share too much-I really try to set limits but someone always has to add one more thing. Do you have this problem?
CONNECTIONS TO MY TEACHING/WORK AS A WRITER
As I read ch. 5-"Writing about Memories", it made me think of my childhood when I spent time with my grandparents fishing. I have been writing a lot about my grandmother in my own writers notebook because she has been ill and she is on my mind a lot lately. I do cherish those memories because they were special and I spent a lot of time camping and fishing with my grandparents and cousins.
One of the things I thought was most helpful in ch. 5 & 6 was the list of books she provided for both students and teachers. The book list is such a valuable resource to have when planning specific lessons,and read alouds. I love Elliot's example as she quotes Erasmus's words, "When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes". (That sounds like me!) I am inspired to visit the Barnes and Nobles web site to look for books!
In the section about Books and Friendship, she suggested a book called Rosie and Michael by Judith Viorst which is a poetry book about friendship (and a great read for two voices). Since this is poetry month I would like to add this new poetry book to my collection and try-out this writing activity with my small group of students. It sounds like it could be a lot of fun and since we just did this in class it was fresh on my mind. I think most students like this kind of activity.
CONNECTIONS TO INTEGRATED SCIENCE UNIT:
I did get a good idea for my science unit in ch 5-I'm using the book "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs", It's about a town called Chewandswallow, the sky supplies all the food for the town and no one has to go to the grocery store. This could be a great book for a fun activity in our science notebook using weather vocabulary words and combining our senses.
RESPONSE TO GROUP MEMBER’S ENTRY:
Rene, in response to your question, I agree, as I was also surprised by her statement that losing the sharing portion of writer’s workshop accounts for 50% of the lesson. While I understand that sharing is a crucial part of growing as a writer, I would think that the mini-lesson and the independent writing would account for more than the other 50%. I would think that sharing is a great way to motivate students with writing, but I am also a bit puzzled how that accounts for so much. You also asked, Rene, if we have similar problems with your students wanting to share so much that you have trouble setting limits. I unfortunately do not usually have that problem. For my students it seems to depend on the writing assignment. Sometimes all my students want to share and comment on one another’s writing, but much of the time my fifth graders are timid about getting in front of their peers and reading their personal writing. Sometimes my students prefer it if I read their writing for them, as that still allows their piece to be heard, but they are then not on the spot. This actually leads to one of my questions:
MY QUESTIONS:
I understand the benefits of having students share their writing, as it aids in the development of stronger writers when they can share and comment on one another’s writing. What I struggle with, however, is whether it is okay to require or even suggest students share if their writer’s notebook is supposed to be a personal piece that will not be read or judged by others. Isn’t that then going against that principle? Do either of you agree? Do you have any thoughts on that?
My other question ties in with the ideas presented in Chapter 6. Elliot begins discussing how to have students pick entries from their notebooks to rework, make stronger, and publish. Again, I feel like this goes against the ideas behind a writer’s notebook. I feel if students want to do that on their own then that’s fantastic. Once teachers require it, conference with them, aid in the editing of the final piece, and have the students publish it, then isn’t it no longer a personal and private entry? What are your thoughts on this? I really am just puzzled with how to handle this situation.
CONNECTIONS TO MY TEACHING:
In Chapter 5 Elliot explains a wonderful variety of topics/assignments a teacher can give his/her students to help them generate ideas and get accustomed to their writer’s notebook. Possibly my favorite one that I plan to use with my students in the beginning of next year is writing about names. I really liked Elliot’s suggestions of having students possibly find out the meaning and/or story behind their names as well as explain what they would like their name to be. I think this is a great topic to get the students thinking about a part of their lives they probably haven’t thought too much about before. I also think this is a motivating and fun topic for the beginning of the year that will help students just get used to writing in their writer’s notebooks. In addition, it also gives the teacher more information with which to better understand his/her students if the students do opt to share those pieces.
CONNECTIONS TO MY WORK AS A WRITER:
I personally enjoyed Chapter 5 because it gave me some ideas with which to write about in my notebook. While I do go to my notebook when ideas strike me at random, I am finding the vast majority of my entries tend to be more negative as I seem to be venting about things that are stressful in my life. I really want to write about more happy and peaceful events in my life, and this chapter gave me some ideas. For instance, I really liked the idea of writing about a special place. I have found that lately there have been some places in my dreams that I haven’t been to in years (some of them since I was a child), and I almost forgot about these places until I “saw” them again in my dream. I think writing about such places and my memories of those places could be really interesting as I relive some past experiences.
CONNECTION TO MY INTEGRATED UNIT:
I have already planned to have my students write in their writer’s notebook as if they were a person in the American Revolution. I mentioned in my last entry that this would help them understand the person’s perspective. After reading these two chapters, however, I have two more ideas. After reading Chapter 5 I was thinking it would be really neat to have the students write entries using some of the topics presented (i.e. A Special Place, Friends, Family, and even My Name) from that person’s perspective. Not only will that help students think from the point of view of that person, but it will also help them think about specific events and topics in that person’s life. Then, after reading Chapter 6, I thought of an interesting idea for when students pick an entry from their notebook they want to revise and publish. Perhaps it could be a nice challenge for students to pick an entry they wrote about their own lives and then rewrite it as a person from the American Revolution. This will not only help students think about that person’s perspective, but it will also help them gain a stronger connection to that person, as they would be melding one event into two different people’s lives.
RESPONSE TO MY GROUP:
I also think that sharing is important for the students and the teacher as well. It can be time consuming so I try to have my students ask for specific feedback on something so that they aren't sharing a whole piece. Perhaps they need feedback on their lead or need help coming up with a great adjective. This helps to focus the share and gives them an incentive to do their best as they know they will be sharing. I think that by giving the students the option of passing on a share we are respecting their privacy. I also think that letting students know ahead of time that they will be using a specific entry to take through the writing process, it shows that you are respectful of their privacy and aren't going to look through the whole notebook but will rather be focusing on a certain piece.
It is funny that you are thinking about using the poetry book Rene, when I read that section I had the same thought. I love using poetry with my students for developing reading fluency and interpretation but haven't had them really write it as often as I would like. I am looking forward to trying this writing activity as well.
CONNECTIONS TO MY TEACHING/WORK AS A WRITER
I used to love to write poetry as a child and haven't written in quite a while. This chapter made me go back into the poetry genre in my own writer's notebook and I used a childhood memory of my summer vacations in Cape Cod to get me started. I found poetry to be more challenging as an adult than it was as a child but it is something that I will continue to explore in my notebook. It is also something that I will bring into my teaching. I found a book called "Colonial Voices" by Kay Winters and have had my students read the poetry that is written in the voices of Colonial Americans. It is a great book becasue the are poems written in the voices of Native Americans and slaves and these are voices rarely written about in textbooks.
After reading it I had some of my stronger students write poetry in the same style in the voice of colonial figures.
CONNECTION TO MY INTEGRATED UNIT
I found that this colonial poetry activity was very meaningful for my students. They had to do a bit of research on the figure before they began and it really forced them to put themselves in a colonial figures shoes. This is definitely something I plan to do next year as well.
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