Maxmom’s Weblog

I can relate to Jack in Love That Dog. I agree that writing is “taxing and demanding”. I am stepping out of my comfort zone to write poetry. I am enjoying all that I have learned and look forward to trying new ideas and strategies with my second graders.

Thanks for sharing your writing and for “inviting” me to try something new and different.

Conferencing and helping students revise their writing has always seemed difficult for me. Students do not like to rewrite after writing and meeting with each child takes a lot of time and effort. Keeping the other students on task during individual conferencing is a job in itself. This is certainly something I need help with and would like to improve.

Revision Points

-changes made at any point in the writing process

-detecting differences between intended and actual meaning

-parallels good reading comprehension skills

Teachers should model and teach students evaluation criteria for various types of writing to aid in self-evaluation and peer revising. Just as teachers should model writing, it is important and helpful to model revision. Word processing is suggested for aiding in revision and limiting rewriting, but is not feasible for younger students.

I liked the instructional strategies offered by Charles MacArthur. The five step directions for the editor and the specific evaluation questions presented about character development would be helpful in guiding revision. The idea is for peer editors, but could be used for student/teacher conferencing, especially for younger children. I would like to have examples of evaluation questions for each of the story elements.

I really enjoyed the presentations tonight.  Everyone did wonderful work and I learned so much.  It was fun to see everyone’s creativity and each presentation was informative and interesting.  Toni’s interpretative dance and inspiration was amazing.  I can’t believe she had never danced before.  Jennifer shared interesting facts about our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln.  I loved the quotes-Abe must have been a fun gentleman to be around.  The wooden box from Lincoln’s time was an excellent idea.  Holly introduced me to Ada Byron, a Countess and the first woman computer programmer. I was intriged by the music played on the computer.   Heather created the cutest loggerhead sea turtle shape book to share the dangerous faced by thr ancient creature.  Amy shared a scrapbook on the life of her favorite Nascar driver, Matt Kenseth.  She even met him and found that he was a down to earth guy.  I’m certain her students love the racing theme she continues in her classroom.  “Driver of the Day” is an excellent idea!  Kari shared information on the cure cottages at Saranac Lake along with her family history.  She created a beautiful  heirloom for her father and family.  I was really impressed with the book Nicole wrote about Edgar Allen Poe.  What a neat way to share information about an author and poet.  Poe lived a difficult, but interesting life.  Elvis Lives – through Christy’s project.  I never knew he was a twin.  And thanks for the chocolate-one thing Elvis and I have in common.  Mary shared her family history and Ellis Island.  I loved all the heartfelt artifacts.   Kudos to everyone!

I enjoyed reading the articles by Cassady and Reese on using wordless picture books to teach writing and reading.  It was stated that “virtually every objective in the language arts curriculum at every grade level can be developed and enhanced through the use of wordless books.”  Through the use of wordless books, students can develop a sense of story, learn to use higher order thinking skills, and practice various writing skills.  I look forward to using wordless picture books as a springboard for writing activities.

Chapter 3 discussed four early-emerging narrative features are sequence with connecting words, stories are about something particular, actions are motivated by intentions, and character in dilemma. Two “landscapes” of writing- action and consciousness (an interpretation of action) are then included.   Students continue to build on this framework through elaboration and complexity of plot and actions.  The authors suggest students draw a sequence of the action in their story, depicting mental states with icons, and adding conjunctions.  The stories are then told orally and/or written and illustrated.   I am hearing such a variety of viewpoints on teaching writing- they sound good when read, but how will they really play out in a classroom.  Honestly, I feel confused and overwhelmed.  I want to improve my teaching of writing, but feel pulled in many different directions. 

Yes, teachers feel pressure! I understand the writers believe multi-genre writing will prepare our students for the test but I do not understand how it can work. It all sounds so good- so exciting, intriguing, and interesting. You know something that sounds too good to be true-probably is. Don’t get me wrong- I would love for it to work in my classroom. But the state narrative test is looking for topic, an interesting beginning, the problem, three events with details, a solution, and an ending. All genres do not lead to this end. I am all for preparing our students for “real writing tasks”, but someone must convince our educational decision-makers.

IMPORTANT IDEAS

Writing should be meaningful and intended for an audience. “Embedding writing in subject-matter learning”

Multigenre projects encourage students to read, research, and learn and then transfer and transform their newfound knowledge in a creative style through various genres. Not just the typical genres-fiction, nonfiction, historical fiction, biographies, poems-but letters, newspaper articles, obituaries, brochures, lists, advertisements-any form of written communication. Before beginning writing, students must first study and understand different genres. Then, they will research their topic and decide upon genres that represent what they have learned and important information to be shared. Students keep a writer’s notebook, a literary response log, and a draft book. Students meet for whole class instruction, in small groups, and in conferences with the teacher. Teachers model through “write-alouds and think alouds”.The multigenre project includes a cover, an introduction, an outline or table contents, defenses, 3-6 genres, and visual designs. (Writing Without Boundaries, page 35) In writing, the students must consider who the audience is, why the piece exists, characteristics of the genre, and the perspective and purpose. (page 37) Multigenre projects can be written as a response to literature, or as connections to social studies or science.A multigenre project sounds interesting and fun…but overwhelming! I don’t understand how it can be implemented into a heterogeneous, self-contained elementary classroom of 20+ students. So much is expected of classroom teachers; we are expected to teach a curriculum impossible to complete within a given year. And I am concerned that while multigenre writing would be enjoyable and motivating, it would not prepare our students for the narrative writing test. (I know I continue to refer to the test, but that is our (school/county) focus) I disagree with the importance placed on these tests from Washington and from NC. I would rather have the freedom to instruct using creative strategies. Often, I feel as f I am in a “traditional rut” and would like to escape. I need not to be afraid to “think out of the box”. I think it would be fun and exciting to try something new and different…such as teaching reading and writing through various genres. I also think it would be difficult. I am considering ways I could change my daily schedule and my teaching strategies. I look forward to “mixing things up”.

In multigenre writing, students do not simply regurgitate what they have read, interpret their research and present it in creative ways. So many genres- I like the idea of using “familiar genres pervasive outside classroom walls” (Kress, Writing without Boundaries, page 3) This makes writing reasonable and relative – ‘real life’ writing. In second grade, we basically teach narrative and expository texts, although I realize there are various types of each that we should introduce to our young scholars. I myself have a lot to learn about different genres. I know students will need direct instruction to understand different genres of reading and writing. I feel overwhelmed thinking of the task in front of me – how to teach such an expanse of information and model examples well so that my students can choose to write in various genres. WOW!I like the writing workshop layout, but look forward to example lesson ideas. And again, I worry about the time allotted during a school day compared to the time demanded. It seems it will take so long to read, discuss, and understand genres before writing. And we still must prepare our students for the test. How does it all integrate ???Sounds interesting! I think years ago, had this been my high school assignment, I would have enjoyed it. Today, I am somewhat anxious about attempting multigenre writing… But, I do enjoy learning new ideas.

“I” poems are written in first person point of view – the poet assumes the characteristics of the topic-becoming the person, place, or thing. “I” poems share information about the topic of the poem. “I” poems may rhyme, but rhyme is not necessary.

“I” Poems: Invitations for students to deepen literary understanding  by Linda Kucan

It makes sense! Asking children to apply knowledge learned in writing will help them remember, reflect, and respond with better understanding and comprehension. I feel apprehensive about trying to write poetry myself, although I look forward to trying this strategy with my class of second graders. Scaffolding by using the format for the “I am” poem makes this task seem less daunting. I hope my students will enjoy the invitation to be creative in constructing an “I” poem about what they know (background knowledge) and what they have learned. Too often we rush through our curriculum in order to “cover” everything, but do not take time to allow our young scholars to master, apply, understand, or explore their newfound knowledge.

I also appreciated the quote “We imitate not so much to be like someone else as to learn what she/he has already learned.” (Dunning and Stafford) Imitating authors will help young (and not-so-young J ) writers begin their writing journey.