I agree, the writing workshop videos were really a neat tool to see. It gave me some ideas as well. So just curious here; have you experienced inventive spelling with your own child? I work with this age of kids now and I see it fairly frequently. It's fun to watch that process unfold. Jessie
Learning to reread and rewrite are great tasks to master and are more necessary as the student progresses through school. I find most children in this age category trying their best and getting disproportionately upset with themselves if they make mistakes; trying too hard to be perfect. Knowing from the beginning of a lesson that they will be able to sketch and write drafts to extend and finalize their ideas is freeing and less intimidating to undertake. It also allows the process to be more important than the product, which is a great goal. Finally, having more and smaller tasks to complete offers more chances for individual success in writing (IE: pre-writing, draft, rewrite, final).
Mike, I was also struck by how big a part visualization plays in the writing process. Helping students put their thoughts and ideas into words seems like it’s the hardest part. I thought some of the techniques used in the second grade classroom could be particularly effective as they encouraged students to write about their feelings and experiences. Both those ideas play into what the teacher called “stretching out” the story and developing an idea into a beginning, middle, and end. I thought she did an excellent job of helping her students expand upon an idea by asking them direct questions that helped them consider aspects of their idea they hadn’t previously.
It looks like you all got a lot out of the resources from this week's class. I'm glad about that. I hope that you can draw upon these "tools" next year when you get to create and implement your own lessons. I think that writing workshop can be a fantastic approach at all age levels (in fact it was the funnest part of teaching for me). Some schools and districts mandate writing workshop. The problem with this is that there isn't necessarily buy in from the teachers. When teachers don't discover the possibilities for themselves, then they aren't going to teach it effectively. There is a lot to an effective writing workshop program. Seeking mentoring can help with implementation. Also, you may not be in a student teaching classroom where you can use writing workshop. But, don't forget that you can integrate elements of it into most teaching scenarios. You want to be sure to note the elements that stick out most to you( as you have done here in this blog).
I agree, the writing workshop videos were really a neat tool to see. It gave me some ideas as well.
ReplyDeleteSo just curious here; have you experienced inventive spelling with your own child? I work with this age of kids now and I see it fairly frequently. It's fun to watch that process unfold.
Jessie
Learning to reread and rewrite are great tasks to master and are more necessary as the student progresses through school. I find most children in this age category trying their best and getting disproportionately upset with themselves if they make mistakes; trying too hard to be perfect. Knowing from the beginning of a lesson that they will be able to sketch and write drafts to extend and finalize their ideas is freeing and less intimidating to undertake. It also allows the process to be more important than the product, which is a great goal. Finally, having more and smaller tasks to complete offers more chances for individual success in writing (IE: pre-writing, draft, rewrite, final).
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteI was also struck by how big a part visualization plays in the writing process. Helping students put their thoughts and ideas into words seems like it’s the hardest part. I thought some of the techniques used in the second grade classroom could be particularly effective as they encouraged students to write about their feelings and experiences. Both those ideas play into what the teacher called “stretching out” the story and developing an idea into a beginning, middle, and end. I thought she did an excellent job of helping her students expand upon an idea by asking them direct questions that helped them consider aspects of their idea they hadn’t previously.
It looks like you all got a lot out of the resources from this week's class. I'm glad about that. I hope that you can draw upon these "tools" next year when you get to create and implement your own lessons.
ReplyDeleteI think that writing workshop can be a fantastic approach at all age levels (in fact it was the funnest part of teaching for me). Some schools and districts mandate writing workshop. The problem with this is that there isn't necessarily buy in from the teachers. When teachers don't discover the possibilities for themselves, then they aren't going to teach it effectively. There is a lot to an effective writing workshop program. Seeking mentoring can help with implementation.
Also, you may not be in a student teaching classroom where you can use writing workshop. But, don't forget that you can integrate elements of it into most teaching scenarios. You want to be sure to note the elements that stick out most to you( as you have done here in this blog).