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."