Saturday, January 24, 2009
Writer's Notebook ch.5&6 group b 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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7 comments:
Meaty Questions-
1) Chapter 5 mentions using mentor texts to teach students about writing. Do you have a favorite lesson with a mentor text/author? Why do you really like it?
2) Chapter 6 talks about the writing process. Have you ever used a discovery draft for writing before? Do you see it as an essential part of the writing process? I've never incorporated it into our writing, however it seems as though it might have some value in the revision phase where third graders don't typically want to revise.
Connections to Teaching-
I was really able to connect to the part of chapter six that talked about sharing. It mentions that teachers are tempted to frequently not use the last minutes for sharing, but to rather allow students to keep writing especially if they are focused and on task. I am frequently guilty of this, especially if I want to meet with just one more student. I think that the students and I miss out when I do this. I am not able to check in on students progress incorporating the mini lesson when I do this. I also always have students running up to me at the end of the day with their notebooks. Sharing helps to validate them, thus making the end of the day less crazy with students waiting to share and talk about their writing. Appreciating each student's effort is especially important in the third grade, and students miss out when they are not able to share.
I also enjoyed the graphic organizer that shows the writing process. It helps to show students that it is not a cut and dry process that goes from first draft to final draft. Writers are constantly looking at their pieces and tweaking them until the very end.
Connections to my own writing-
As a writer, I enjoyed reading about the mentor texts. Often I use them for mini lessons, but thinking of them in terms of my own writing is great especially when looking for seeds. Because of our immigration project, I think I am going to try to focus on traditions and writing about traditions this week in my notebook. Traditions are so interesting to both research as well as write about. They can be powerful pieces of family history.
Support of L.A. Unit-
I think that chapter six will help with my unit because the writing process is something that the kids will have to go through. I found the publishing part interesting because the author noted that the piece didn't have to be perfect, just up to the expectations for that grade level. This helps to take off some pressure from the teachers when helping to edit and revise.
On page 41, Elliott states that, "Literature has an impact on readers in different ways. It connects us to past experiences, stirs our emotions, and causes us to react, wonder or chuckle." I am wondering if I can get my students to write something in our rocks and minerals unit that would cause this type of reaction.
Meaty Question: How can you make the time in your day to allow for such a long writing workshop model? I try to squeeze as much as I can into my "reading block" every morning and I see the value in making time for students to actually write, but I find it very difficult to give my kids time to share on a regular basis.
Meaty Question: Do you all feel it's important for all written pieces to be edited and revised? I don't have my students do this( only to pieces they are working towards publishing) but I was wondering what you all thought?
Connections to teaching: Chapter five reminded me of many things that I already do in my classroom as well as ideas that I'd like to try in my classroom.
1) I find myself sharing memories of my own childhood and experiences when making connections because I often use these examples to model character education or model making connections to stories. I never really thought how valuable this sharing is for their writing as well. Kids love to hear about their teacher's personal lives and experiences, especially when they were kids. I often laugh when I share memories with my kids and one time I even cried. This was after reading Charlotte's Web. At the time I thought that I had shared a little too much but I can see how this sharing is actually really good for them to hear. It shows them how vivid memories can be and how much these memories stay with us. I should write a memoir or two and have my kids try their own!
* I like using the book "Chrysanthemum" at the beginning of the year as an ice-breaker read aloud to help the children understand my expectation of being kind to each other. This was a book that she suggested for writing about names. I'll definitely try this next year in September. It'd be a great way to start the writers notebook and will give kids a way to share something about themselves.
2) Chapter five stressed the importance of how personal memories are to each of us and how even though the class can be writing about the same topic perhaps, the people, places, traditions, and experiences can be and are so unique. I was thinking about the holidays that all of my students celebrate and how in the past, I've focused so much on the comparison of the holidays versus comparing and contrasting our own experiences of a certain holiday.
3) I really liked the idea of using senses to trigger memories. I could completely relate to how smells and songs especially can take us back to another time. I never thought to share this with my students. I would love to just say the word popcorn and have them imagine the smell of popcorn. I would love to hear of a memory that popcorn makes them think of. This would take some modeling but I think the kids would catch on fast.
In response to Allison's question about discovery texts, I don't usually use "discovery texts" on a regular basis for writing. I have a few for elaborative detail lessons. One I know off the top of my head is "A chair for my mother". I'll have to let you know the author. I often use specific texts for modeling certain reading comprehension strategies but I'd like to compile more books for writing. I bet a lot of the books that touch upon reading strategies, especially books for making connections would work perfectly. Nothing wrong with double-dipping and using the same text for different purposes.
Connection to my own writing: I am enjoying writing about old family memories. It's funny how certain memories are sparked at different times. Sometimes it's something I see on t.v that reminds me of something that happened in my family and other times it can be just something I see. I came across a snickerdoodle recipe the other night and instantly wanted to make some. It instantly took me back to my old kitchen and the way my mom made me such an important part of the cookie-making process. I was so happy to have that memory on paper. They can be so fleeting and it was nice to capture one of those old precious memories.
Connection to unit: In my unit, it's my hope to have my students relate their learning about great African American people in history to their own lives. When I read the section about writing about friends, Elliott suggested the book "Freedom Summer" by Deborah Wiles. I haven't come across this book yet, but based on her summary of it, it would be a great way to show how we can overcome differences and ignore the color of someone's skin. I can't wait to take a look at this book!
Meaty Questions:
I was wondering how you fit everything in to the writing block. I only have 40 minutes and reading a story as a lead could easily eat up a good 15 minutes. That would leave little time for writing, conferencing and sharing. My problem is always fitting everything in and feeling pressed for time, and also conferencing with students. I always feel like I don’t have time to conference. I give a short mini lesson right now, then teach a small group and coach them during the writing process. These students get most of my time. They are my neediest writers. How do you fit everything in and find time to meet with every student?
Connections to teaching:
Chapter 5 talks about the book fireflies by Julie Brinckloe, I used this book in my BEST portfolio. This text is great for making text to self connections. I used it after we had our Science unit on butterflies. The students made so many meaningful connections to the text. Some were thin connections and they could relate to playing outside, catching fireflies. Others were thicker and they connected to an emotion like feeling guilty when you did something you knew you weren’t suppose to. Some students even made some very powerful connections to letting something go you love, doing what’s right even when its hard to do…
I enjoyed all of the ideas for writing topics. I find it hard to come up with some good topics at times that the students will really enjoy writing to. Writing about names was a topic that really struck me as engaging. I think it will be great for identity and self esteem. Students may not know how they got their names, so it can stimulate rich discussions at home as well. I liked the literature tie-ins as well. The book The Name Jar was suggested to lead into this topic. It is a good idea to set students up with a story first and stimulate discussion and interest in a topic then have them write.
One suggestion I really found helpful was having students circle five words they think are misspelled to fix. Currently I had students edit their whole piece. This was discouraging to many students. I think five words is fair and manageable for second grade.
Connections to my writer’s notebook:
In chapter 5 a suggestion was to write about pets. I actually did not think about that before but could easily write chapters about my pets. There are so many cute adorable moments in life that you share with your pets that those are definitely things you want to remember. My pets bring so many laughs and joyous moments that I could see myself writing seeds that could turn into stories about my pets.
I also have been writing a lot about my family. I love Patricia Polacco because her books are so touching. I remember getting teary after reading many of her books which are based on family memories. I think that so many of our family memories are touching and deserve to be written and shared.
Connections to my unit:
For my unit I am planning on having my students write and it was helpful to learn more about the writing process and especially the editing piece. I always am so concerned to have students work perfect with spelling and punctuation and handwriting that it takes away from the love of writing. It was helpful to know that I can lay off on that a little and just let them write and get their thoughts down.
Response to Allison:
Allison, as I read about discovery drafts in Chapter 6 I also thought about this could be incorporated into my workshop model. The more I thought about it I feel as though I kind of use discovery drafts, but just have never called them that. After my students have picked a seed topic and begun to think about their topic have them just write about it. I tell them not to worry about any spelling or grammar. At that time in their writing I want them to focus on getting their thoughts out while keeping in mind what skills we have been focusing on. We then take that piece and move to the revision stage. I find that it helps me hesitant writers and spellers because they don’t have to stop their flow of thoughts every time they want to look a word up.
Response to Rhiannon:
I completely agree to you with finding the time during the day to use such a large block for readers and writers workshop. Just as Elliot spoke in the text, I think it is crucial to allot time for students to share. I find my students feel a piece if more authentic and put more effort into a piece when they know they are going to share. On days where we are running shy on time I have students do group shares, this way all students are able to share with four or five peers, but it only takes about 7 minutes. For me I have found that I squeeze every possible minute out of my day and stick to that schedule in order to fit everything in. At first it may need some adjusting, but I feel as though I have worked it out after a few years.
Meaty Questions:
As Allison also mentioned I really liked the visual aid that Elliot provided on page 55 that demonstrates the writing process. For me as a reader and writer I found that it made a lot of sense, but I’m not sure how my students would respond to it. Do you think that this visual aid is too much for some students to grasp. I was thinking that maybe if there were two different colors to show the different paths that might help. Thoughts?
I enjoyed how Elliot provided so many mentor texts in chapter 5. I often find that I tend to stick with the same texts or authors, but when I am looking for a specific text for a unit I can have a hard time finding one that fits. There always isn’t that time to spend hours looking for a perfect text. Are there any places that you have found helpful for locating great mentor texts?
Connection to Teaching:
I really enjoyed the discussion about the difference between memories and memoirs. I find that students have a hard time writing a memoir as opposed to just writing about their memories. I love all of the mentor texts that were provided for the various ages. I have also never thought about the various writing topics that could be related to memories. I am excited to try some of these specific memories with my students. I think this will help some of them focus their thoughts.
I have just begun working with my students about writing for two voices. We have begun to write a few poems and the students have loved acting them or reading them for the class. I am excited to pick up Rosie and Michael for my class to read.
Connection to my Writer’s Notebook:
As I read chapter 5 and got to the section about names, it made me curious where my name came from. I knew that it was one of those topics that I’m sure I was told before, but couldn’t remember. I spoke with my mom and this lead to me writing a whole reaction entry to what I found out. My mother shared with me that they didn’t really have any strong reasons as to why they picked my name, but she also informed me that if I had been born a boy, my name would have been Tad! This sparked a strong reaction from me and I really took off writing about it.
I also find that I write a lot about my feeling or moods that I am in. It is a great place to express that and I find it helps me work things out. I have also noticed that when I go back and read other pieces again I can tell what type of mood I was in at that moment.
Connection to my Unit:
Since my unit is dealing with the Water Cycle when I read about memories triggered by sense I thought about how I could possibly have students write some memories based off of things that are triggered during our water observations. When working with water, I think it will have students think about how it feels, looks, or smells.
Response to Rhiannon and Diane,
I agree finding the time for extended writing is a huge challenge. Mini lessons often take a chunk out of that time and we are constantly evaluating the worth. One solution I sometimes use is that I reuse our read aloud text from Reader's Workshop in writing that day/week. This way we spend more time analyzing the text then reading and analyzing. It is hard to make sure the text works for both focuses, but you can usually find something that ties them together.
Response to Tracey,
I think the color changes would be a great help to students' understanding of the graphic organizer. For mentor texts, I love Ralph Fletcher's Teaching the Qualities of Writing program. It is a file folder system. Each lesson has a card tied to a quality of writing. He frequently includes a mentor text that is tied to the lesson. Equally cool, he also includes pieces of kid's writing that the kids get copies of to analyze. I think it is powerful for students to see what other kids outside of Deep River are writing.
Response to classmate:
Rhiannon, I don’t think that students need to edit and revise every piece they write. Sometimes they need to write just to enjoy it, and not worry about the mechanics…I also think it just isn’t possible to edit and revise every single piece. There just isn’t enough time in the day. I do worry about parents though; some may not appreciate a student piece sent home that isn’t perfect.
Response to classmate:
Allison, I use the mentor text, Dear Mrs. LaRue when I am teaching letters to students. It is a fun book that the students get into. I like the way it has funny letters in it that I can use to point out the components of a letter while reading. Then I ask the students what they notice on each page as we continue reading. Another good book to reinforce this skill is Dear Mr. Blueberry. This is another cute story that is written with letters.
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