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.

WTL

So I made it into the third chapter of my book, it's actually a very easy read.  This chapter was great because it started giving specific examples of writing to learn, or WTL activities.  These are short writing prompts designed to help students actively think about whatever topic or concept is being covered.  They are not full lessons, just ideas that can easily be incorporated into teaching pretty much anything.  I could write pages if I covered each idea in detail, so I think what I'm going to do is list the ideas given with a very brief overview of each.  If anyone has a question about one, or if you want further elaboration on one, please just let me know, I just don't want to write pages and pages of blog that no one will read, or that will take anyone too long to read.  So, here they are:
Exit Slip - in the last one to five minutes of the day, have students write a response to a prompt over the day's learning on an index card (or a slip of paper, I've had kids halve papers with a neighbor).  On the slip, students respond to the prompt, which can be simple recall, Why did..., a prediction, What else do you think we need to cover..., an explanation, If you were going to teach this to someone else, what would you add to your notes, or a check-in, How can I help you learn this concept better?  I'm sure there are numerous other ways to use this quick, simple method.  I've used exit slips before, but after reading this explanation, realize I had been missing a piece, which was to address what kids have written often to help validate their work/concerns.

Admit Slip - opposite of the exit slip, this method is used either as homework, where they kids complete is as a part of homework, or at the start of class to either review or set the stage for the day's lesson.  It was recommended that for many of these ideas, we pair students up with a peer, and they can switch papers and either comment in writing, or discuss what they've written.  Also important is to address what students have written in whole class discussion, to help students feel that the work is meaningful and valid.

Drawing and Illustrating - "students can make quick drawings, sketches, or diagrams to illustrate ideas, events, science experiments, real-world situations involving math problems, and so on, in order to help themselves and others understand something they are trying to learn" (pp. 48).  The idea behind this is that students, especially our visual learners will understand complex ideas better if they've drawn/sketched about the idea.

Clustering - "non-linear brainstorming" (pp. 55).  Now wait, before you think, I'm not an English teacher, I don't need kids to brainstorm, this idea is not only for English teachers.  The concept asks kids to write down a key word in the center of a page, and write words connected with that word around the key word.  Depending on how far you want to take this idea, kids could then add on to that second strand of ideas, or maybe see connections between two ideas they hadn't seen before.

Mapping - this is something I alluded to with the clustering, as it requires kids to arrange groups of ideas visually and find relationships.  One basic map that many of us have probably used is a Venn Diagram.  The book has a great example of a math mind map on factors that one student created.

All of these ideas help teachers get a quick check in during a unit, rather than waiting until the end of the unit test to see where learning gaps are.  As I mentioned, the important thing with any of these ideas, is to use the data you receive on where students are and where you need to go, validating that they are doing meaningful work, even though they don't take more than a few minutes to complete.

Writing to Learn

The main focus of Chapter 2 in my book was what the authors dubbed WTLs, no nothing like WTFs!  WTL stands for writing to learn.  These are short, spontaneous, informal, personal pieces of writing that help students synthesize information.  And even better, the authors claim that it's best not to grade them, so no sitting, poring over papers to find a zillion spelling, punctuation, grammatical errors, if one feels they have to grade them, or is mandated to grade by your school, they can easily be considered participation grades, you do it, you get the credit.  How is this different from taking notes or answering standard end of the chapter questions?  These activities are more than just simple recall of information, the authors ascertain that these activities are more beneficial because they require students to act on ideas and think, something that is sometimes left out in more traditional assignments.  Getting students to act on and actually think about whatever the topic of study is, will help students learn more and retain information better.  This chapter explained what WTLs are and why they are effective, they promise to provide examples of what these activities look like and how they can be used in the next two chapters, I'm looking forward to it!

In the beginning...

Hello!  I'm an seventh grade English teacher in Las Cruces.  I have two kiddos, ages 3 and 1.  This is my second attempt at blogging, so we'll see how it goes.  I'm definitely not a consistent blogger.  I haven't written a blog since I was required to for my Reading and Writing Digital Texts class last semester.  But, as I restart the process I am actually excited to get reacquainted with blogging.  The book I'll be referring to in these blog is Content-Area Writing: Every Teacher's Guide by Harvey Daniels, Steven Zemelman, and Nancy Steinke.  So far I've only read the first chapter, but just the first chapter got me really excited about reading the rest.

The first chapter begins by discussing how we are currently in a writing crisis...or are we?  With headlines decrying our education system regularly, and standardized test scores remaining stagnant (yes, they say, stagnant, not declining!) it would seem that our students are not learning a thing about writing.  According to the tests, they cannot articulate thoughts in an organized, informed fashion.  However, the book's authors point out that our students are actually writing, and writing a lot.   "They are texting their friends on cell phones, writing and receiving instant messages, maintaining robust email correspondences, blogging, creating websites, updating their MySpace pages, publishing their poems or stories online, creating labyrinthine fantasy tales and games, composing songs and lyrics with software like GarageBand, making and sharing video clips, hanging in chat rooms, or joining threaded discussions" (p. 3).  Of course, we are all aware that there are is a real digital divide, but many of our students are doing these writing tasks, and without anyone making them.

So what's the problem, why do our kids say they hate writing?  The book claims, "We are not tapping kids' vast out-of-school authoring experience.  The kids are busy composing and publishing with us or without us and we are not building a bridge from what they are writing to what we know and can share" (p.4).  The authors promise that in the remainder of the book, they will offer activities that will help students in the areas of writing to learn (note taking, journaling, outlines, diagrams) and public writing (speeches, poems, editorials, historical accounts), what teacher wouldn't be excited about that?

The book's focus is middle and high school, which is also exciting to me as a middle school teacher.  As I continue to read and blog, I hope to find some useful ideas I will be able to use in my class, and that I can include in this blog for others to "steal."