This Is It...

Okay, here I go, my final blog for this assignment.  As I mentioned in the last post, the book Content Area Writing I've been reading and blogging about broke down writing into two major categories, writing to learn, and public (polished) writing.  The last two ideas I'll share here are two of the suggestions they give to provide teachers with alternatives to the traditional research paper.  So here they are:

1.  Social Action Writing Project - the authors start this section by saying, "By social action, we mean any activity in which students apply classroom lessons to address real issues in a community group, or organization...This could be as simple as a student's attempt to improve her family's diet or as far-reaching as the investigation carried out by a group of high school students on the wrongful conviction of an innocent man, decades past, in another state" (p. 216).  Now some of you will probably think, where would I find the time for this?  Which, I understand, it's a completely valid concern, with pressures to "cover curriculum" and get kids ready for the test, which is tied to our names, we are under a lot of pressure!  But, the authors made a great point, when they asserted, "We talk a lot as educators about preparing students to become responsible citizens in a democracy...Don't they learn by doing? We send a contradictory message if we imply, 'We're telling you about something that's really important for you to do, but we don't really have the time or inclination to do it here in our classrooms" (p. 217).  Now, for this idea to take the place of a different kind of research project, yes, it would take a lot of time.  But, I think many of us could incorporate at least small ways of having kids participate in social action projects, some of the smaller ideas they posed were:  promote public awareness of unrecognized local heroes or public figures, reducing consumption of a particular resource, like electricity, volunteering at an elder care facility, or participate in local environmental projects.  I think many of these could be justified by content areas such as social studies or science, and incorporating writing would help students research why those are important actions in society and reflect on their participation.

2.  Learning Fair - We've all seen (or even done ourselves) the parent generated and produced science fair projects.  This idea is an alternative.  The project they described most in depth is one that students produce for their English, Biology, and Geometry class.  When I first started reading, I was wondering how on earth the kids would utilize skills from all three of those subjects in a project based on a person in their family, but those teachers really made it work.  So, in a very abbreviated version, this is how it worked.  Students brainstormed one member of their family they'd like to know more about.  They interviewed that person at least once, and sometimes twice, or sometimes they interviewed a different individual as a follow up on something the first person said.  The writing for English was based on those interviews.  In Biology, students created a genealogical chart, then studied a specific phenotype, and in the end, created "a pedigree chart along with the monohybrid cross charts that illustrated one of the phenotypes" (p. 232).  The authors did mention that there might obviously be issues such as adoption, foster children, estranged family, but they did not give suggestions for dealing with those issues. And for Geometry? I thought this part was really cool.  Students had to create a scale model of "a structure that has some significant connection to the family member being studied in English class" (p. 232).  What about the fair?  All three pieces are worked on through the writing/creating process - drafting, revising, editing - and then students created a visual display with the information.  On the day of the fair, students had to be ready to give oral presentations to a small panel of judges, as well as answer any impromptu questions from anyone who attended the fair.  Students are scored by the panel of judges (they used other teachers and former students who were familiar with the project) based on a rubric.  And there is an appeal process if there is disagreement with the judges scoring.

Okay, I know this is already long, but since it's the final one I'd like to have some kind of conclusion.  I guess what I'd like to say is the book gave me a kind of "boost."  I'm always trying new ideas in my class, but a couple of rough years with a tough administrator really had me in a rut.  Taking this class and reading my book has me re-energized with new ideas, and theories behind those ideas to show that I know what I'm doing.  I'm excited to have students do a wide variety of writing pieces, which, as Rosenblatt mentioned, will allow students to practice writing at various stages of the efferent-aesthetic continuum.  I also took away from the Rosenblatt article, how important it is that writing, "should have as its first concern the creation of environments and activities in which the students are motivated and encouraged to draw on their own resources to make 'live' meanings (p. 27).  So with many ideas in mind, I'm excited to guide my students in writing A LOT this year, I'm sure they'll be just as excited as I am.

Big Project Ideas

I was thinking about my blog this weekend, and realized that I had been including a lot of what to do, or ideas to use in the classroom, but not a lot of why we need to do it.  I think this is because 1) I'm a language arts teacher so writing is an essential part of my curriculum and 2) I love to get new ideas I think will help my students.  So, before I give information about the big project ideas, I wanted to remind myself (and you) why writing is so important, not just in English, but in all subjects.

I revisited the Emig article and was really struck by Emig's comment, "Writing involves the fullest possible functioning of the brain" (p. 125).  When we are teaching, none of us want to look out into the classroom and see a room full of zombies, students with that glazed over look, that moment when you feel like the teacher in Charlie Brown, remember:

Charlie Brown Teacher Video

Instead, we want to have students who are active and engaged in our content.  Sometimes we think this means students have to be up, moving around, talking, which is true, sometimes.  But, according to Emig, writing actually engages the brain, both hemispheres.  We also know that ideas and concepts need to be reinforced if they are to be understood and remembered.  Writing is the perfect tool for this, as Emig points out, "writing, through its inherent re-inforcing cycle involving hand, eye, and brain marks a uniquely powerful multi-representational mode for learning" (124-125).

Okay, on to the big project ideas I promised.  These are examples of what the authors call public writing, which is "polished" writing that has been through the writing process.  The authors propose these ideas can replace the old, worn out term paper.

1.  Multigenre Project - this project entails students creating "a collection of five, eight, or even twelve different shorter pieces centered around a single important topic" (p. 205).  Some of the process is the same as the traditional research paper, students will have to choose a topic, then collect information about the topic, but the writing is done through a variety of products that will require students to put the information into their own words.  I scanned the list of project offered because I thought they were great ideas, sorry for the poor scanning quality:

2.  I-Search Paper - this is closest to the traditional research paper.  Students choose a topic, research, and then write a paper.  There is a lot to this process, so for those of you who would like to know more, I found a website that gives a lot of detail:

I-Search resource

One idea I loved in this section, was a way to help students organize the information they find while doing research.  After finding their information, students come up with four major questions about the topic.  "They write one question at the top of each sheet of paper... each kid gets a set of colored pencils or four different-color highlighters, color codes the questions, and then returns to the text, color coding what he's underlined, matching each piece of information with the color of the major question it best answer" (242).  I think this would really help students break down information and organize their writing.  The teacher uses this as part of their evaluation, checking steps along the way, which can help save us from grading everything at the end.

There are two other big project ideas, but since this blog is turning out to be really long, think I'll save them for next time!

Real-Life Ideas

Okay, I'm taking a break from blogging about my book technically to add in two ideas I've seen recently.  And these aren't completely random.  One concept in my book is writing to learn, which is having students transact with the text to make meaningful connections, and gain a better understanding of concepts.  Here are two ideas I saw recently that I think are good examples of writing to learn.

This one is on note taking, but I think it would really help students who struggle with note taking, which is, I think an example of writing to learn:

This one came from:  http://pinterest.com/pin/2251868536670088/

The other idea would be great for collaborative work.  I was thinking kids could find main ideas, identify character traits, create examples of a theory of...(sorry I am not a science person!), or put an open ended response to a math question on their post it, then come together and create the "group" answer.



This one was from:  http://pinterest.com/pin/2251868536661173/

Anyways, I hope this wasn't too much of a tangent, I just really loved the ideas and thought they fit in with my book.

Public Writing Projects

So in my book, the authors broke writing up into writing to learn and public writing.  This chapter focused on projects that can replace the worn out research paper, but still require students to research and write high quality work.  One point that really hit home when they talked about changing up the writing we ask kids to do was "traditional research papers plunge students into the hardest kind of research too soon."  I think that's true.  Even though I teach middle school and the kids have some experience with writing, they still have a hard time researching, disseminating what information to include, and organizing a strong piece of writing.  Here are three of the alternates the suggest:

1. People Research: Surveys and Interviews - the project is exactly what the title suggests.  Students either interview people and incorporate information from the interview into their writing.  Or, you can help students create surveys to administer, then they can write about the results.  There still has to be a tie in to your curriculum, in the example in the book, a teacher had kids interview doctors, with one of the questions focused on a specific disease or condition the doctor had dealt with, the students then researched that disease or condition.  I think this idea is cool, but the challenge would be to find a group of people that would be accessible for the students to interview, I know not all of my students would have access to a doctor.  But, there's the idea.
2. Faction - this idea is a blend of fact and fiction.  Basically, the students use facts (info from a time period or about a historical figure, science theory) and write a fictional piece.  Some examples include: a diary or journal entry or entries, an interview, speech (one idea was a dissected earthworm convincing other earthworms to give up their bodies for science, funny!), letter, dinner table conversation, or thank you note (the example was a nucleus thanking an organelle in the cell for their contribution to the cell).  The important thing is the product based on facts of an article or notes.  During one of the revisions, you could have the students underline the factual information to make sure students are including facts.
3. RAFT - I've heard of this technique as a reading tool, but not as a writing tool, but it makes complete sense.  This is used with the faction technique above, to help students understand the purpose for their writing.  The acronym stands for: role, audience, format, and topic.  These guidelines will help students think through their product.

Again, as in my previous post, the writing process was emphasized. Letting students have choice (within reason), modeling or providing examples, and giving time to revise, edit, and receive feedback is extremely important if you want students to turn in high quality work. 

I look forward to trying some fresh writing ideas in my class, I hope some of you find these ideas worthwhile as well.

The Writing Process

Since the focus of writing in my book shifted from writing to learn to public writing, this chapter focused on the importance of the writing process in the classroom.  The chapter was extremely detailed about the writing process, and my blog post would be very long if I tried to recap it all, but a couple of points I found really important were:

• Creating a supportive environment - make sure kids feel comfortable sharing their writing with each other and with you.  Equally important is setting the stage to show kids how to help their peers improve.  Sometimes in my class I've seen kids read a paper, give it back, and say  it's great there are no mistakes.  Okay, I know sometimes this is because they don't care or can't find anything to "fix."  But, I've come to realize that sometimes they are not comfortable making suggestions.  So one important aspect of improving students' writing, is to help students have confidence in revising their own work, and helping others with theirs.
• Write aloud - model for students how effective writers (in this case you!) compose a piece of writing.  Pick a topic, and model for students how you go about putting your ideas on paper, speaking your thoughts on the process out loud.  I know this sounds really uncomfortable for some, if it makes you nervous, practice ahead of time, but it really shows kids what the process should sound like in their heads.
• Looking at samples - sometimes, especially in the content areas, kids are exposed to a lot of textbook writing, but is this the kind of writing we expect them to produce?  Typically not.  Give kids examples of articles, blogs, or other high quality student samples to they have concrete examples to go by.
• Assessment - one idea I really liked is to set individual goals for kids.  If you are not required to do so by your school, instead of grading for every component, work with the kids on deciding which area(s) of their writing need the most improvement, and grade students on that aspect for a particular assignment.  If that seems too time consuming, trust me I know, I typically have around 120 kids, pick one area you have noticed needs improvement in students' writing in general, maybe organization or explanation and support of ideas.
• Feedback- I can truly say that this is one area I need to improve in.  Kids like and need individualized feedback, both from you and their peers.

So, that is a really condensed version of what I thought were some key points of the chapter on the writing process.  If you still need clarification on what all the writing process entails, here's a pretty good video that describes it in more detail (he's writing a blog, but the strategies are ones that can be used to write almost anything).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1pnpL8295E

Shifting to "Public Writing"

In the last couple of chapters, which translated into my last couple of blogs, the book Content-Area Writing: Every Teacher's Guide has focused on writing to learn, writing that is intended to help students build meaning and synthesize concepts we cover in class.  Chapter 5 in the book shifts to "Public Writing," which is "intentional, highly polished pieces that can go out into the world, connect with real readers, get some work done, and stand up to scrutiny...we expect students to take the time, do the thinking, and invest enough effort that they can say: 'This is my best" (p. 112).

One point that is emphasized regarding public writing, is that it is a process.  We shouldn't just give the students a handout or rubric with directions, say here you go, and expect high-quality work.  Sure, we all have students who would do fine under those conditions, but can we honestly say the majority of our kids would turn in high-quality work?  I know as a middle school teacher I hear teachers who leave out the process complain about how the kids "should already know this."  But, if we always assume someone else will teach them, will they ever learn what we feel is essential for them to know?  Okay, back to the idea of process, this includes (and this is veery brief) choice, giving kids time to write and allowing opportunities for feedback from themselves, peers, and us along the way.

Another aspect about the chapter I like was a box entitled "What About Plagiarism?"  We all know how much easier it is for kids to copy and paste now a days, no more poring over the encyclopedia with a pencil, now a few clicks and boom, paper done!  This box suggests that we rethink the writing assignments we give to help discourage the copy and paste; these examples they give on page 117 of topics that can be reworded to reinforce the same concept, but not as easily plagiarized:

Easily Plagiarized                                                           Forces Originality
Describe the functions of different parts                          Compare parts of a cell to parts of a car.            
of a cell.

Explain the importance of vectors in math.                      Show how vectors are involved in the game of
                                                                                     chess (in the layout of a city, etc.).

Why was the Twenty-fifth Amendment repealed?            Under what circumstances might the Twenty-fifth
                                                                                      Amendment be reinstated.

I love these ideas, and I look forward to the next couple of chapters, where they promise more ideas of how to get students to take ownership in and engage in public writing.

More WTL

I'm going to try to keep this blog short, as I am in the process of cleaning up from my son's one year birthday party...

I continued my book, which provided more examples and ideas for WTL (writing to learn) activities.  The chapter detailed 8, but in the quest to keep it short today, I'll list 4.  As I said last time, if anyone would like more information on any of these, let me know, I'll be happy to fill you in.  So here are the four:

1.  Written Conversation - this is pretty much what the name implies, a conversation the students have, in writing.  That means when students write, it should be done in silence, I know some would be skeptical of that, but the neat thing is, after the students have had their silent discussion on paper, a whole group, or small group discussion follows.  I think this idea might actually be good for those who are reluctant to talk in large group conversations, because it would allow them to gather their thoughts, and get feedback on their ideas before speaking.

2.  Write-Around - teacher gives students a rich, complex topic to write about.  After a few minutes of writing, students then pass their writing around, and respond to the person who wrote before them, this is done again, and possibly a fourth time.  Similar to the idea above, but now more kids are participating.  At the end, groups can look at the threads and highlight important/interesting ideas to share with the whole class.

3.  Carousel Brainstorming - Teacher prepares various prompts at different stations throughout the room.  Groups rotate through the stations for a time period the teacher picks, and add to the brainstorms the previous groups completed.  At the end, lists are revisited by groups or whole class.

4.  Nonstop Write - Timed writing, short, about 3 to 5 minutes, during which students respond to a prompt.  The important thing is to make sure students know you are concerned with content, not necessarily spelling, punctuation, etc., so they don't get bogged down with the tedious details.  Remember, they are writing to remember and synthesize information, this is not published writing, which will come next chapter.

So there they are in a nutshell...okay a little longer, sorry I'm a wordy person.