Chapter 11 was about writing. I found this extremely interesting because I never really thought about the fact that kids can write before they are able to read nor did I think about the reasons why. The text informs us about the components of writing which range from learning to form the letters to writing a sentence. I find it very interesting to see the difference in what kids can do at the age of 5 (learning to copy) and the age of 7 (full sentences and conventional spelling). It is absolutely amazing how their little minds catch on to things so quickly! I absolutely love the idea of teachers having writing workshops for their emergent writers! I’ve said it before but I will say it again…I love the resources that the textbook gives and really enjoyed checking out the websites and online references for teachers and students! I definitely think that portfolios are the best way to assess writing!
I like the idea of teachers using writing workshops, too! Regular writing sessions give students the opportunity to practice writing and practice it often. Allowing students to choose what they write about allows them to write about their interests which will result in good pieces of writing. Teacher and peer feedback allows students to receive constructive criticism while give other students ideas as well. Finally, direct, explicit instruction will give the students the opportunity to learn what they need to learn to improve their writing and the skills to advance on what they already know.
This text is great a great resource. As I was reading, I was recalling the art stages that students will go through and relating them to writing. Some were very similar! I'm not sure if I like the portfolios just yet, but maybe down the line when I have a better handle on what I'm teaching, I'll change that opinion.
I also found it interesting that kids can write more before they are able to read. When you think of a kid in preschool and kindergarten you don't really think of exactly what they are learning to do, you just think they are learning a little bit of everything (going to school, colors, coloring, alphabet, etc). As a watch and observe more of my two preschool kids, I am learning and corresponding alot with information reading. And they are learning their alphabet but putting it to use for writing instead of reading. One of the things they do first is learn to write their name.
-Chapter 11 is about writing. Reading and writing depend on the same cognitive systems (semantic, syntactic, graphophonic, and pragmatic) in addition to sharing many of the same goals or skills. However, there are two big differences between reading and writing. First of all, reading is considered a receptive language art because it involves receiving a message; writing is considered an expressive language art because it involves creating and conveying a message. Secondly, readers must comprehend what others have written; writers must know their audience, choose words that their audience will understand, and choose how to share their writing. There are seven stages of emergent writing: drawing, scribbling, letter-like forms, letter strings, copying, invented spelling, and conventional spelling. The writing process has five stages: 1) prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Finally, students and teachers at all levels use the 6+1 Trait Writing Assessment to discuss the qualities of writing. -I do not have any questions at this time. -This chapter made me look at the components of writing a little differently. First of all, the students need to know how to form the 26 letters correctly. Students who have trouble with letter formation do not write legibly for others to understand. Secondly, since the English language is symbolic, young children think big objects call for big words. For example, they may string together many letters together for the word, and only a few letters for the word mosquito because of the physical size of each creature. As students progress in their writing, they are not concerned about the length of the words but about the use of vivid verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. In order to understand the graphophonic component, students need to learn letter-sound relationships and how one sound may be written in a number of ways. Finally, students need to learn how to be concise and organize ideas into paragraphs. -I definitely remember using the 6-Trait writing method in elementary school. I remember seeing posters of each trait hung up in the classroom since at least second or third grade. Anytime a writing assignment was assigned, we were instructed to always look at the 6 traits to complete our best work, and we were always given a rubric based off of those traits.
I also remember the 6 trait writing posters! That's funny because you don't really think about things like that until you are studying the reasons why you had the posters hanging up in the classroom to begin with! I love that you mentioned that children think that big objects call for big words.
1. Analysis of reading/issue. Chapter 11 is about writing. It starts with showing and explaining the reading-writing connection. I found it interesting the similarities. I knew there were a lot of similarities, but didn’t realize there was such a close connection. The stages of emergent writing made me think of the different stages of art, and being able to see those stages helps me understand the different stage and age to connect it with. I thought Figures 11.4 and 11.5 were interesting and helpful in understanding the stages and how to connect reading and writing better. The writing workshop is a fun idea, and something I would use for older students, but I’m not sure the younger students would benefit from it as much as the Reading Recovery. 6 + 1 Trait Writing is taught in the Reading Methods class, but I don’t remember discussing the ‘1’. Also, Figure 11.11 is very helpful because these are sites to help our students keep writing, and saving ideas. This allows parents and teachers to see their students work without the paperwork—easy and economical! Once again, the intervention ideas are helpful to get our students to write. 2. Questions/contradictions about the reading issues. I do have a question about the sound boxes used in Figure 11.3. What are the numbers underneath the boxes? I’m confused! 3. How did the reading reflect you or allow you to look at an issue differently. This chapter really didn’t make me see anything differently, but I did learn some new things. Some of the websites mentioned throughout the chapter I want to look into using with my students and I didn’t know there was a ‘+ 1’ with the 6-Trait writing. It was fun to read this chapter because of the instruction I can give my students and how I can better evaluate their writing and presentation. 4. Connecting the reading to you. Examples of your own experience. This chapter came at a good time because my tutoring group will be writing their presentations VERY soon. I’m very excited to see what they come up with, and to see them perform in front of their families. I also kept thinking about my high school years when I was in drama and my college composition research paper. I chose the topic Chernobyl. I learned so much just from that paper that I will never forget because of the impact it made on the area and world.
Katie - Thank you for sharing your thoughts about your tutoring students presentations. What grade are you tutoring? However, I still was unaware that there was a (+1) with the 6-Trait writing. It has been a long time sense I was introduced to 6-Trait writing and I am eager to see how it has changed.
To answer your question about the sound boxes on figure 11.4 the numbers underneath the letters in the box are the order in which Bill identifies the sounds. So for example he knows the word starts with a /g/ sound and then he hears the /n/ and so forth. The boxes help the student limit the amount of letters that are possible for the word and then helps them put the correct sounds in the right order. I hope this helps. I also didn't realize that there was a different type of 6-trait. I only remember using the original 6-trait. The main difference is that they added presentation into the format. This was interesting to learn.
Chapter 11 is about writing. In order for a child to write they need to know how to read and understand what they are reading. With that being said there are two huge differences between reading and writing. Our book states that Reading is considered to be a receptive language art because it involved receiving a written message. While writing is considered an expressive language art because it involves creating a message. When you are writing you simply have to understand what you want to say and make it so your readers can read what you are writing. While when you are reading you are on the other end of the spectrum you have to understand what others have written. Our book also goes on to state that there are seven stages of writing there is the drawing stage, scribbling stage, letter-life forms stage, copying invented spelling stage, and the conventional spelling stage. While the writing process only has five stages the prewriting stage, the drafting stage, revising stage, editing stage, and the publishing stage. After reading through all the different stages of both reading and writing it really made me look at writing differently. To be honest I struggled as a young reader and writing and I am still a little hesitant to teach students to read and write. I am thankful for resources like this book that allow me the confidence I need to teach students in subject that I myself struggles at as a young learner. Throughout my internships reading and writing are in forced no matter what the grade level is.
Matraca, I honestly dread writing papers or even essays to tests questions. I feel like my grammar is so horrible even when I go through what I wrote and proof read. I am very thankful of all the instruction and materials we have to refer to. I will definitely need to build my confidence in writing before teaching this to my future students but I am sure I will.
I thought this chapter was full of resources to use later on down the road. I also was a struggled when reading and writing when I was younger, to be honest I still struggle today and don't feel as confident as I should. Im so glad this book gave us so many resources to use in the future.
Matraca, I feel the same way, I am terrified of teaching students how to read and write because I am not extremely proficient in this area. There are many good tips and explanations in this book and I am glad for that.
One thing that I really noticed in this chapter is how much reading and writing are similar. This is funny to me because I’ve always loved to read but I’ve never enjoyed writing. I’d rather take a take then right a paper. When I was in high school I took a creative writing class which I did enjoy but that’s mainly because of the teacher and because we usually got to chose what we wanted to right about. I’m glad this chapter points out that it’s important to let students write what they want. I never had heard of the five aspects of language when writing. Obviously we all know the big five in reading by heart and will never forget them but it was nice to read about these aspects. However, all of the aspects relate to phonics and phonemic awareness. I enjoyed reading the paragraph about the activities appropriate for invented spelling because this is what my first grade students in my tutoring group do. I love it when they try and spell out words themselves instead of asking how to spell every other word they don’t know. I can’t even imagine how hard it would be to learn to speak in another language let alone write. The English language has so many rules to remember that I can only imagine how overwhelming it is for them to write a sentence. It was interesting to look at the characteristics of skilled and unskilled writers in figure 11.6. They’re so many steps in the writing process that I could see how kids who suffer from ADHD or any kid really would lose interest or get bored with it. I believe this is why it’s important to pick topics that interest them so they can stay engaged. Also, it will be important to really break down the process in smaller steps to keep their focus. I did 6 trait writing as early as I can remember so that was a nice review for me. They added presenting to the process which makes complete sense. I’ve always really liked the idea of keeping portfolios for students to show their growth. It really shows the student’s growth to their own and it’s great to have these to show to parents. One of the ideas at the end of the chapter I’d like to try with my tutoring students is the “sharing the pen”. This would really help my ELL student, Adan, with writing sentences.
I am with you Amanda... I love reading and hate writing. I took an alternative English class my senior year, and we did a lot more writing that the regular English classes did. I enjoyed the class, but I think it was because of the teacher and the types of writing we did. I think the only assignment I wrote comparable to an "essay" was a graduation speech.
I also agree with hearing the various aspects. Clearly we all know them, but I have never been told this is A, B, and C.
Invented spelling is awesome! I'm interning in a kindergarten class, and see it all of the time. Of course sometimes I find it funny, like when they don't use any vowels (had a girl today spell squirrel S-K-R-L), but you are right it's nice to seem some independence, versus every student bombarding you with questions on how to spell this or that.
Andrea I am the same way when it comes to writing a paper. I have never enjoyed writing and have not been very good at it. I have sympathy for students struggling in the writing department. Thank goodness for creative spelling, looking back on many of my own assignments and even now I have a very hard time spelling cat.
I am the opposite! I enjoy writing more than reading. I think I like writing more because I do not struggle with it as much as reading. Writing is a way for me to express my thoughts and ideas. I struggle with comprehension during reading.
I think everyone knows that reading goes hand in hand with writing, or vice versa. This chapter simply stated the relationship these two things have, which includes similarities and differences. I found Figure 11.1 on page 285 to be insightful in describing the seven different stages of emergent writing. I have heard about the emergent reading, so this concept was new to me.
One thing that stood out to me starting on page 297 was the 6 + 1 Trait Writing Assessment and Instructional Model. I was first introduced to this briefly in Reading and Language Arts Methods, and two weeks ago I actually was able to attend a meeting at my mentor school with my mentor teacher and the other teachers in the school, where we actually graded third, fourth, and fifth grade state writing assessments. It was definitely a good experience to be able to use the 6 + 1 Trait Writing in a real life situation versus just some sample essays on the Internet.
The strategies and activities section provided me with a lot of information on how to incorporate writing, and the various aspects of the 6 + 1 Trait Writing. I have been trying to incorporate writing into a few of my tutoring sessions because I know it is not something that my students are incredibly strong in. If I can strengthen their writing a little bit it will also strengthen their reading.
Chapter 11 talked about writing. Writing sessions help students practice their writing skills. By letting students pick what they write about it’s a great way for them to write about what interests them. I don’t have any questions of the chapter at this time. I remember when I was younger we had journals that we would practice our writing in. Sometimes the teacher would give us a prompt to write about and other times we would choose. I remember on Monday’s we would always tell in our journals what we did over the weekend. These were not for a grade she would just look over them to help us find our mistakes and fix them. I loved the resourced that the text gave us. I can’t wait to use these ideas and sites in my future classroom.
By letting them pick what they want to wirte about, I believe makes them love writing. If they have to write about what the teacher gives them, they start to dislike wriring. Yes, I also remember writing in a journal when I was in First Grade. I also love the resoures they test gives us!
I try and let my student choose what they want to read for guided reading and I think this helps them enjoy it a little more. I also give them many choices just like the book said to. Its good to know I have been doing what I should be. I have my kids write in journals as well. We don't do it a lot, but I know they do it in school as well.
There are seven goals/skills in reading and writing. These seven goals/skills include have students automatically recognize or write words without conscious awareness, have students read and write words without focusing on every letter, connect unknown words to known words, focus on chunks of words, use root words to help determine meaning, connect spelling with meaning, and focus on the main purpose of reading and writing, which is to communicate meaning. Graphic, semantic, graphophonic, and syntactic are four components of writing. Zecker studied young children and found seven stages of emergent writing: drawing, scribbling, letter-like forms, letter strings, copying, invented spelling, and conventional spelling. Process of writing has seven stages. These seven stages include prewriting, structuring the material, writing to an audience, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. This chapter gives assessments to writing. It then gives activities for writing, goes on to writing and technology. I have no questions; I took Reading and Writing Connections at ESU. While in that class we had to write a book, we did brainstorming, first draft, revising, second draft, and then finally publishing. I still have that book, and am excited to have my elementary students when I get my own classroom to write a book!
I found it so amazing when I learned that scribbling is such a positive tool for kiddos. Five years ago I would have never thought anything about it, until going into education.
In chapter 11 it compares reading and writing and how they have two major differences. I knew that reading and writing obviously were different but I never really considered what their differences were. The reader must be about to comprehend the material they are reading, while the writer must think of their audience and how to express their ideas so that the reader will understand. Also, readers decode the words while writers encode words so that they can focus on expressing their ideas. Students go through a series of stages when developing their writing skills. If a student is introduced to writing utensils and technique before school age they would be at an advantage to those students who have not have this experience. As a teacher it is very important that we are aware of the stage that each student is at and how we can help them improve to move to the next stage of writing.
It was nice to see the stages of the writing process on pgs 286-287. I know the chapter talked about it, but it was neat to see actual examples of them all. Most of the stages seem pretty clear cut, as you can see the differences between them. Some though, as 5-6, there seems to not have many differences at all. Crazy!
The title of Chapter 11 is none other than Writing. THe chapter, however, starts off with the similarities between reading and writing. The chapter then talks about the differences between the two.
I did find it interesting that the author broke down the components of writing into its three stages, and then goes into detail about each of them. The graphic stage is when students know just how exactly to form each of the 26 letters of the alphabet. The semantic stage goes through the symbolic meaning of letters and words. The graphophonic stage has to do with letter-sound relationships. Finally, the syntactic stage has to do with organizing thoughts and sentences into correct sentences and paragraphs.
The next few pages were nice to look at, as it was actual pictures that showed the writing process, drawing, scribbling, letter-like forms, letter strings, copying, invented spelling, and conventional spelling.
I think the most important thing to me, when it comes to writing, (and reading for that matter) is to find a topic that each student enjoys. If they enjoy what they are doing, they are more likely to continue to work on that concept.
I liked that the chapter had the actual picture of the stages of writing as well. I remember from one of my classes having to analyze drawing, it was not in seeing that they are part of the writing process. I agree that finding a topic that students enjoy is very important. If a student is interested in what he/she is reading then he/she will stay engaged in the learning process.
1. Analysis of the reading/issue. Chapter 11 discusses writing, style of writing, teaching students to be good writers, how to assess writing, how to help students, and many strategies to help students become successful writers. This chapter provides examples of how to use strategies, such as in the beginning it mentioned two strategies POW and TREE after reading the majority of the chapter; you find how to implement these strategies to help young writers. Students struggle with five aspects of language during writing they are: graphic, semantic, graphophonic, syntactic, and pragmatic. One strategy that teachers can use is sharing the pen to help students get their ideas down on paper. Another strategy that teachers can use is a writer’s workshop. This is very helpful to students, because they receive one on one or small group time with the teacher. This chapter had a lot of good information in it. I really like that it gave several ideas about writing rubrics and locations to find or create your own. This will come in useful when I am in my own classroom, but also when I am working on lesson plans during student teaching. Six trait writing +1 is something that I know I will use in my classroom. From everything that I have learned about it, I think it helps students become better writers. I also like how the book says teachers should make a rubric for it, but not writing poor, instead it should be: exemplary, acceptable, developing, and unacceptable. Another part of this chapter that I will utilize in my classroom it a wall chart with an editing and proofreading checklist. 2. Questions and/or contradictions about the reading/issue. I don’t have any questions about this chapter. 3. How did the reading reflect you or allow you to look at an issue differently? One thing that really stuck out and made an impression on me was the part in the text that talked about ESOL students and how it can take them two years before they acquire oral communication skills and five to seven years before they acquire reading and writing skills. I was amazed at the amount of time. I know it is a big change for someone to learn a new language, however I thought that if they were immersed in the language the process would be quicker. Good information that will help me if I ever have ESOL student and the probability of that is very good.
4. Connecting the reading to you. Examples of your own experience. As a student I was worked very hard to write my papers. I had trouble with proofreading and finding errors in my own work. Mostly because when I would read what I had written I would read it the way I wanted it to sound, not the way I actually wrote it. I found in the text that one strategy that teachers can use it to: peer edit, then edit you and then have the teacher edit. I think this process would have helped me a lot more than just trying to figure it out myself.
I was also amazed when I first found out that and ESOL student can work to acquire reading and writing skills for up to seven years before they master them. Then when I thought about it it sort of makes sense. Even though the students are immersed in English at school and the language is pounded in their heads they go home and, most of the time, English is not spoken there. So when they get home it's easy to just slip back into their first language and forget many English language concepts. I also thought about how I would be if I were learning a new language and I'm sure the second I got home I would be slipping back into speaking my own language quickly. I've heard that it is harder for adults than it is for children to learn a new language. So if that is true then that would give reason to why many of the students parents do not learn English and continue to speak their first language. I know I would greatly struggle if I tried to learn a new language now but I can't imagine how much a student who is learning English at school must struggle when that language is not spoken when they get home, or all summer. It's crazy to think about but you're right, knowing this information will help us as future educators. Great post!
Chapter 11 is about writing. Which is something I will admit I have not been doing my best of implementing in my tutoring sessions. After listening to class notes this week and reading this chapter though I realize that I really need to start implementing more writing activities. The section on writing instruction talks about teaching writing by giving students time to write about a topic of their choice. This made me realize that I have been implementing a bit of useful writing instruction in my lessons. At the beginning of every session my students write their daily news, something good that happened to them that day, on sticky notes and post it on our board. They share that news and we discuss it as a group. This always gets our sessions rolling and it helps me get to know my students further. A little further into the chapter reinforced the fact that students need to be taught how to use organization, voice, and word choice properly. Teaching them this not only aids their writing but it can help them understand readings better as well. The most interesting part in the chapter to me was of course the strategies and activities part. I’d be interested in implemented guided writing at some point, if there is time. I think it would really help students learn a concept with hands on practice. I also absolutely love the parodies activity! I’m definitely going to use these. Students could do one of these even for a simple activity if they get done with an assignment before their peers. This activity would be both education and fun for the student. I also like the idea of biopoems. I’ve been working with poetry in my lessons and I’m thinking a biopoem would be a fun activity to close the unit. The only question I have is if any of you have used any of these activities yet and have any advice for me before I implement them?
Shannon - My tutoring kids were very hesitant to do any real writing when I first started incorporating it into our lessons. But...after a little practice and some explanation of why things are done in a certain way, they have actually come to enjoy writing. They are only 2nd graders, mind you, so they aren't writing anything too lengthy. Writing their own mini books, though, is now a favorite activity. They keep asking when they will get to do another one! I let them pick their own topic for the first one, so I think I will do something with the same topic as our guided reading book the next time to challenge them a bit. This may mean the difference between them liking the activity or not...we'll soon find out! Good luck with implementing writing into your tutoring group. I'm sure you will find a way to make it fun for them!!
After reading your post, I love your idea of having the students write mini books of their own topics. My students in my tutoring class would love this activity! I hope you don't mind if I borrow this idea! Thank you Nicole for your post.
Nicole Schell 1. Analysis of the reading/issue: I was very happy to finally get to the writing aspect of RLA in Chapter 11! One of my favorite things to do is write. This is not the case, however, with many children. It was very helpful to see the comparison between reading and writing and the process of teaching writing to children. It made sense that the goals of reading and writing are similar, but I had never really thought about it before. Being able to recognize words without laboring through letter by letter and connecting meaning to those words so that the child understand and comprehend things is important for both reading and writing. I like how the text broke down the components of writing and the stages of emergent writing. It’s important to know what stage your students are in so that you can help them develop their writing abilities and learn how to evaluate their own work. Finally, the 6 + 1 writing model and rubrics breaks down the writing process so that children know what is expected of them in each step and teachers are able to recognize which skills their students have mastered and which skills need more work. 2. Questions and/or contradictions about the reading/issue: Is it usually better to use a rubric for writing assessments? I understand that by using a rubric the student and teacher have a guideline to go by, but I wondered if there are less formal ways to assess some writing that would be just as effective. 3. How did the reading reflect you or allow you to look at an issue differently? As I said above, I hadn’t previously thought about the similarities for of reading and writing goals. I also enjoyed reading about the stages of emergent writing. We have all studied Vygotsky’s theory on development. It was interesting to see how the emergent writing stages match up with Vygotsky’s developmental stages. You can see that children, even at an early age, are fascinated with writing and drawing. It makes complete sense that children who are allowed to experience working with writing and drawing tools and have been taught sounds and letters have an easier time when they enter school. They are able to make the connection between those things and the instruction they receive for reading and writing. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all young children were exposed to these things before entering school? 4. Connecting the reading to you. Examples of your own experience: My own experience with the writing process goes back to my experience with subbing for various grade levels. I spent a lot of time in one particular kindergarten classroom one year. They used the writing workshop strategy of having students draw a picture of something and then attempt to write a sentence about their drawing. The student then shows it to their teacher who listens to the description of the picture and the “sentence” the student wrote. The teacher then writes the correct version of that sentence on the back of the page so that parents know what their children were trying to write. There is definitely a lot of invented spelling, but it’s amazing to see how each student’s writing abilities change from the beginning to the end of the year. I have also experienced the 6 trait writing process in the upper elementary. They always have a rubric to guide them through the writing process. Once they get the hang of the whole process, they usually need very little help deciding what they need to do once writing activities get started. It’s fun to see those older kids take ownership and responsibility for their writing!
I found chapter 11 to be very beneficial as a guide between the similarities of reading and writing. It is important to know writing can benefit reading abilities. On the flip side, I like that the text identified writing as an expressive art, in comparison to writing which is a receptive skill. This chapter also outlines the components of writing and the stages of emergent writing in an easy way to understand the content.
I have not had much experience teaching writing skills, I have had more opportunities to teach guided reading strategies; thus why I find chapter 11 to be one of the most beneficial chapters of the book. As of now, I do not have any questions about writing; I am assuming that I will accumulate them after I have had an opportunity to implement the strategies of the writing process.
Personally, I did not enjoy writing until I was in high school. I always found it humiliating when the teacher would display the poems or short stories for other classmates to see. This is why I want to encourage students to practice collaborative writing until they are more comfortable with their writing skills. “Sharing the Pen” on page 302 is one strategy that I would implement with a collaborative writing plan. Another strategy I would like to try is guided writing, I think this would boost the student's confidence in their writing abilities.
I found the stages of emergent writing to be incredibly insightful. I have heard of and learned the various stages of emergent reading, but until I read Chapter 11, I couldn't have told anyone the stages.
Like you I also haven't had much experience teaching writing skills, but this chapter has definitely opened a new door for ideas when it comes to the lessons I'm writing for tutoring.
After reading Chapter eleven covering the topic of writing, I felt that I had learned a lot more about how to teach writing than I previous knew about this topic. The book stated that students need to become fluent writers as well as becoming fluent readers. Some students need extra help to develop these skills and this chapter stated several ways to encourage and build confidence in these students with specific strategies. All the activities mentioned in this chapter, starting on pg.302, are great ways to increase students skills with writing. One strategy that stuck with me after the reading, was the six + one trait writing assessment and instruction model. I like this method because it is simple and easy step procedure in remembering what needs to be in their writing. Chapter eleven will really help me with my tutoring lessons and as a future teacher, when instructing in writing. Writing is such an important skill to attain while in school and as a teacher this chapter will help me implement the best strategies to teach writing to my students!
Allison, I agree that writing skills are important to attain while in school. I have found that individuals who did not attain these skills really struggle as adults. There are so many opportunities to use writing skills and some are crucial for future success in higher level schooling or on the job. Those who do not attain these skills while in school find themselves lacking confidence when writing opportunities present themselves. This can cause them to miss out on college scholarships, entrance, and even employment opportunities.
Chapter 11 discusses the relationship of reading and writing, along with the importance of writing. Just with reading, some students need special attention to develop skills and confidence to express themselves with writing. This chapter discusses that there are 7 stages of writing. Teachers need to understand these stages and how to assist students struggle with particular skills. Learning to write and write well is an important skill that should be taught just as be taught to read or spell. I have no questions. The material provided in this chapter did not change my mind about the facts, it just opened how I viewed the material. It all makes sense and I agree with it, I just never really looked at the material in detail until now, having to read about it and then being able to observe it and be put it to perspective. One of the things that brought back memories from school was the 6-Trait writing. When you walked in a classroom room there was something about 6-Trait in every room just like having desk.
Sheena, I agree. It does seem like every elementary and secondary classroom has a poster or a board present that outlines the steps of six trait writing. One thing I did like was that there were also four elements that the educators must also ensure that were present within the classrooms in order to make these writing experiences meaningful and relaxing. Classroom environments must foster a creative outlet for students. This encompasses their surroundings as well as being presented with materials that they actually want to write about. Another thing I gained from this chapter were the assessment possibilities. Just as each student is unique, so should the assessments. Yes, rubrics allow us to see if they students are following the step as assigned. However, portfolios allow the teacher, student and parents to see how the student has approved throughout the academic calendar.
6 trait writing was also brought back from school days. It's a lot like reading where you learn it and as you get better at it you forget how you do it, you just do it. Following the 6 traits just makes writing so much better. It gives the kids a way to move through their writing.
Growing up I had always enjoyed when our teachers had us do writing workshops. I think the primary reason why this is so is because they always either provided us with interesting topics, related the topic to a story that had caught our interest or it was a topic of our choosing that specifically interested us. The connection to all three elements is obvious – it had to interest the student! I believe that that is the first key in getting strong material from a student. It must be a topic or surround a topic that captures the students’ attention. Once the attention is grasped, the educator can then ensure that proper structure is being implemented by initiating the topics of the four step process of writing in addition to six trait writing. If the student is not interested in the topic at hand, the educator will find that content is lacking and therefore the students’ ability to construct material of value is also lacking. In regards to the best way to evaluate a students’ progress in writing, rubrics allow educators to keep all students on a level assessment field. However, because each student is their own unique individual, so is their writing style and progression as a writer. The school district I grew up in was a small one. When I graduated high school, we were presented with educational portfolios. Within this portfolio, there were assignments that I had completed, dating all the way from preschool. Yes, this is unlikely to occur in larger districts, yet, I believe this is the strongest way to assess the progression and success of a student in a single academic calendar. Additionally, portfolios are a way for teachers to monitor progression, keep strong works that show student success, and they are beneficial ways to show parents and the student of the progress made at student/parent teacher conferences.
One element of this chapter that I specifically enjoyed was the intervention (strategies and activities) segment. We were provided with tools and ideas that can work for any ages in addition to those that would target specific tools for students of a certain grade. Technology is a vital element that must be addressed within any classroom, and this element can be implemented as early as kindergarten! The writing activities can be as interactive as putting together comic strips to more complex and pleasing activities such as creating Wikis and international pen pals. These tools allow students to achieve an element of technological release within lessons while also presenting educators with an opportunity to instruct students on proper keyboarding techniques. Essential elements they will be forced to acknowledge in their real world settings outside of the classroom.
Megan, I loved reading your post. What a wonderful treasure you were given when you graduated high school. To see the progression of your portfolio from a young child to a young adult is amazing and rewarding. You make a wonderful point that keeping these portfolios is a great tool for teachers, but also a great tool for communication with parents. This type of tool can give parents a visual to refer to, and can also help teachers guide parents on how to help their child at home.
Chapter 11 discusses the reading-writing connection. according to the text, reading and writing share the same cognitive processes and many of the same goals. The difference between reading and writing is reading is receptive whereas writing is expressive. Readers decode whereas writers encode. It is interesting how the writing process has changed with the use of technology since I was in grade school. Before, the focus was on penmanship and correct spelling which is still very important but now, with the use of computers, there is a focus on teaching kids keyboard skills so that their individual speed in typing does not slow down their thought process. Spell check is also a good tool to prevent misspelled words and loss of meaning in a text. The chapter provided a lot of information about the writing process and strategies for teaching. I did not have any questions or contradictions about the reading. I must say that now have a different viewpoint for the bilingual writer. I can’t even imagine how difficult it must be for younger students to distinguish between their home language and the many rules that apply and their newly acquired language at school. Like confusing a \v\ for a \b\ or the letter i for the long \e\ sound. The book suggests that bilingual students be given extra time in writing and have the opportunity to choose their own subject. I agree. I am studying conversational Spanish and I find myself confusing the rules and mixing up sounds like \v\ and \b\. It is a difficult task, especially when you are used to doing things a particular way for so long.
Chapter 11 was over writing. A large part of this chapter was explaining the reading writing connection and comparing the two. One of the most beneficial comparisons was that reading is considered a receptive language are because you are receiving information while writing is considered an expressive language art because you are creating and conveying a information. One of the most impressive facts was that children at age 5 are only learning to copy while students at age 7 are already learning to write full sentences with conventional spelling. I think it is amazing how quickly student pick up on things. One fact that I learned was that the 6-Trait wiring method has changed. I remember always using this in school and I think virtually all of my writing was graded using this. I just learned that there is another aspect of this rubric which includes presentation. I think teachers have been enforcing this for many years but it just had never been formally put on the rubric. I can remember our teachers telling up not to use bright colored paper, to double space, to use a specific size font, and other things that made papers hard to look at. All of these elements would be included in this category. I also thought it was interesting to learn that many students think of English language as symbolic meaning that we write words that are big or loud bigger than words that define smaller objects. Now that I think back to look at students works I can see this. Any time a student writes an onomonopia that describes a loud sound that word is always bigger than the rest of the sentence. Also this chapter discussed the seven different stages of writing; they are very similar to the seven stages of drawing with the age group for each stage. Finally a key point when teaching students about writing and when incorporating it into the classroom is to teach them about the five stages of writing. I was always horrible at following these stages and I can tell that it is one of the reasons that I still struggle with using correct grammar and sentence fluency when writing long papers. I have gotten better with following these steps as I have gotten older but many times I just want to dive right in and I think this is one of the biggest problems that I will face as a teacher. It will be my job to explain the importance of going through each of these steps and monitoring students to make sure that they do.
Chapter 11 Writing. I think after watching in the schools I have been in that it is so important to make sure you integrate writing into as much as possible. The schools are so focused on reading and math that we forget that they need to be able to express it in writing. Seeing that reading and writing take the same cognitive systems and skills shows how linked they are to each other. The same skills; chunking, not focusing on every letter, connecting spelling and meaning, automatic recognition, and focusing on main purpose learn for both reading and writing will help the student in both. It is important to understand the seven stages of writing on page 285. There are 5 stages for writing among English-speaking, Spanish speaking, and bilingual children. The precommunicative stage – knowing the difference between writing and drawing, semiphinetic stage – letters to represent some of the sounds, phonetic stage – letters to represent most of the sounds, transitional stage – written according to common spelling patterns and include silent letters, and conventional stage – writing is generally correct. This is so important considering that ELL learners are lacking in experiences that help in writing. Knowing and teaching children the 6+1 traits is very important. It takes all the content we love in our reading; organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation and puts it into our writing so that we will enjoy reading our writing and so will others.
Chapter 11 talks about writing. Specifically the connection between writing and reading and the components of writing. Personally, I always loved to write. As a child I can remember writing stories for fun. I loved the creative freedom that it gave me. This chapter gives many good activities for incorporating writing. I have been fortunate in my internships to see some amazing writing activities. One that sticks out in my mind is a squiggle write. The students are given a piece of paper with a squiggly line on it. They begin by taking that line and creating a picture around. Then they write a short story about their illustration. It was amazing to see how many different illustrations and stories came out of just one little squiggle on a page!
I think that children also love the freedom that writing gives them. It gives them a chance to write down all the stories they have and let their imagination go. I love the squiggle line activity that sounds like a great idea.
I think that reading a writing go together in a very important way. The book says that when students read and write, they use cognitive processes such as gathering ideas, questioning, and hypothesizing. All of these things together make a very good reader a long with a very good writer. Writing instruction has changed a lot since I was in grade school even. Now days students are given the option to what they want to write about and then given the time to write and be graded. I remember all of the stages of writing that I went through. It is kind of cool to go back and see how you developed. The book maps it out great so you can see how a certain child developed into a great writer. This chapter also gives a lot of activities for teachers to do with students to get them more excited about writing.
Yes, students are given time to write, but I think that students need more time to be creative in the writing process. As a teacher I hope to allow my students adequate think time in order for the creativity to flow on to the paper or computer screen. I think the chapter gave some great ways to get students to write more. For example, the international pen palls was a wonderful idea for students to connect with other students as well as practice writing.
Chapter 11 explains the importance of writing. Writing is a very important skill to have; I believe being a good writer involves having good fluency and comprehension. This chapter explains more in depth the similarities between reading and writing. The text lists seven goals/skills when it comes to reading and writing. Some of these goals/skills I would not have known until I read this section. I really liked how the chapter explains the writing stages. I am always unsure before I start an internship of knowing how well their reading and writing skills should be at. The section over the writing process was familiar to me. I remember in grade school writing a few sentences over a book and illustrating a picture to go along with it. This is such a great way to teach drafting, revising, editing, etc. Who knew that’s what the teachers were getting across? I just found it as a fun activity! These papers would be posted up in the hallway and I was so exciting for everyone to look at mine. I was not surprised to see the 6 trait writing assessment in the chapter. This is very to know, especially when assessing your students. My favorite assessments that the book listed were portfolios and informal assessments. I like these forms of assessments because I believe the students and teacher can use their creativity more. My question for this chapter would be dealing with children that have dyslexia. What are the tools to help them learn to write better?
Marei H--You have a great question about this chapter that I did not even think about asking. Wanting to know information for students with dyslexia is a great question to have. That information would be nice to know before you encountered this situation in your classroom. Great question you had!!
Chapter 11 was over the subject of writing. I really enjoyed reading this chapter because it was filled with information I was unfamiliar with. For the analysis of the reading, this chapter provided great detail as to how reading and writing were so much alike. I was surprised to find that without the skill of one, it is hard to be successful at the other skill because they are so closely related. I also enjoyed reading the different methods and the section over the writing process. This will be a great resource in the near future because this textbook did do a great job breaking down this process and showing ways to teach each step and why it should be taught. I do not believe I have any questions/contradictions, I just hope that someday I can successful teach the writing process because after reading this chapter, I know how important it is to students to learn at an early age. This reading allowed me to look at things differently because writing is a skill I believe I took for granted because of how much I enjoyed writing as a child and still do to this day. I work at a school district and it amazes me how many students struggle with writing and how many of them do not even try because they dislike the subject that much. It also amazes me how many students cannot free write. In sixth grade, they are required to write in morning journals and many of them have trouble choosing topics to write about during free writing days which is when they get to choose their own topic to write about. This text has definitely provided me with much, useful information that I will take with me and implement in the near future when I have a classroom of my own!
"Only the educated are free." Epictetus Annother wonderful quote. I like to tell my own children this exact quote when they are struggling to understand why they need to learn a concept or skill. No matter what type of situation life brings us, no one is able to take what is in our minds. I find writing to be an extremely difficult skill to teach but a beautiful skill to watch develop in a student. So many students struggle with what to write when given a topic. I saw this first hand when students were writing their writing CRT's a few months ago in elementary school. Writing is a skill that can only be matered by practice, practice, and more practice. The 6 trait writing model is one that I will display in my future classroom. 1. ideas/content 2. organization 3. voice 4. word choice 5. sentence fluency 6. conventions and presentation. These 6 traits need to be taught in order for students to fully understand how to accomplish a well written paper. My favorite part of this chapter was the section titled: Assessing multimedia projects with rubrics. Although short I find that information on rubrics is increasing in awareness lately. On page 308 figure 11.15 shoes an expository text frame for sequence. The teacher gave 6 pictures and had the student write the order of events in complete sentences. The chapter has given great resources for how to use expository text in allignment with writing standards. I think that using computers is a great way for students to feel at ease with writing. When a student is typing on the computer they don't feel like they are knocking out just another paragraph. Why not start a class blog and have it private only to the students in the classroom and give daily writing assignments. Just like Mr. Spilchal does in social studies. His blog is more like an on-going conversation but it gets the students to write and think about what others are writing about.
That quote is very powerful and I completely agree with you that no matter what waves we must overcome and challenges we face, those who are educated will succeed.
I also enjoyed Mr. Splichal's blog that produced on-going conversation, but I also believe that we must choose the proper technique to meet the needs of the students. In other words, Mr. Splichal chose a perfect technique for collaboration given the circumstance that the classroom is full of virtual learners, making it nearly impossible for any other type of communication to take place.
While I support your view that it would be fun and interesting for students to have a private blog to collaborate on, I feel that the art of writing is diminishing as students begin to use computers more than pens or pencils. I still think it is critical for students to put in the manual labor of hand-writing papers and assignments (hey, it builds character!).
What an awesome blog! I will definitely remember the quote you gave and Jessica's further explanation. I agree, very powerful. Not only do students struggle to write when given a topic, but the first grade classroom I work in struggles when they are given time to free write. They are always saying, "I don't know what to write". So there is a discussion among our teachers right now about if giving prompts is a good idea or not. I believe many of them do better when given something to write about. I used the technique Ms. Stoppel talked about in class the other day with a student and it worked! It was the use of a picture and then having the student write about what they see. This student has written very little all year, but when I put a picture of a colorful parrot in front of him he had all kinds of things to say. Great blog!!!
Chapter 11 discusses the writing process and how it is interrelated with the reading process, as they both require the same cognitive systems (semantic, syntactic, graphophonic, and pragmatic). Furthermore, reading and writing share the same goals and skills, which are also outlined on page 284. It is evident that writing and reading however do differ considerably in that one is receptive (reading), and one is expressive (writing). Each requires its own set of challenges that students’ must overcome in order to become effective readers and writers. The first stage of writing is drawing, which for me is very expressive and sometimes says more than words, just take in account at how many conversations are sparked about one individual painting in a gallery or museum.
On a side note, I feel that the writing process has evolved incredibly over the last few years as the internet is popularly becoming a more preferred resource for reading and writing content. Not only are students’ having to learn how to read traditional books, but must also be able to acquire the skills to proficiently read and write within the guidelines of the internet. The way that we view content on the internet is much less traditional and even more “live” than ever before. On an even further side note, I believe that text messages have greatly reduced the reading and writing abilities of many individuals, as the use of shorthand becomes more accepted, which I still will not use.
Jessica, I completely agree with you about the atrocity that is texting. I too refuse to use it when texting. I am greatly disturbed at the erosion of the English language occurring at the thumbs of America's youth. I feel this is a problem as it becomes not only a quicker way to send messages, but a part of everyday speech as well.
One of the things from this chapter that I especially like is the interactive writing activity of sharing the pen with the student. This is something I have done with my daughter who is in preschool. This activity got her excited about being able to write stories she would otherwise be unable to write without support. Since we have been doing this she has begun writing on her own using invented spelling. I also like the list of websites and online resources given on page 296. I can't wait to go through all of these.
I agree that the interactive writing activity is a great way to get students excited about writing. As you said, students are able to write stories that wouldn't have been able to write otherwise. This is a great way to introduce writing to young students.
I really enjoyed this chapter because I feel that writing is an area I am still weak in. This semester has taught me a lot on how to integrate reading and writing together. One of the many new things I learned from this chapter was the components of writing. There were several words I had never encountered before. Then the well written explanations of each stage of writing was so helpful. I work in a first grade classroom and I know there are times I have looked at the students' writing and wondered if this was age appropriate or not. The writing process and the 6+1 writing traits are both used in my school district, so I am very familiar with those but it is always good to have a review. And as always, the activities at the end of the chapter are the best. Finally, the websites that our text gives at the end are great. It is nice to know that when we have our own classroom, we will have lots of resources to go with us.
Angela ~ you are lucky, first graders ROCK! Some of their writings are challenging to read and make sense of. I am also learning how important writing is in the younger grades and what we should expect of our students.
Writing is something that was on the back burner to me I guess. I have never given much thought to how important writing is to our students. The part that stuck out to me in this chapter was the fact that graphics were apart of writing. In the hallway of schools, I always see art of some sort accompanying the writing of the students in the lower grades. After reading this chapter I understand how important the graphics are to the writing!
Chapter 11 was about writing. I found this extremely interesting because I never really thought about the fact that kids can write before they are able to read nor did I think about the reasons why. The text informs us about the components of writing which range from learning to form the letters to writing a sentence. I find it very interesting to see the difference in what kids can do at the age of 5 (learning to copy) and the age of 7 (full sentences and conventional spelling). It is absolutely amazing how their little minds catch on to things so quickly! I absolutely love the idea of teachers having writing workshops for their emergent writers! I’ve said it before but I will say it again…I love the resources that the textbook gives and really enjoyed checking out the websites and online references for teachers and students! I definitely think that portfolios are the best way to assess writing!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of teachers using writing workshops, too! Regular writing sessions give students the opportunity to practice writing and practice it often. Allowing students to choose what they write about allows them to write about their interests which will result in good pieces of writing. Teacher and peer feedback allows students to receive constructive criticism while give other students ideas as well. Finally, direct, explicit instruction will give the students the opportunity to learn what they need to learn to improve their writing and the skills to advance on what they already know.
DeleteThis text is great a great resource. As I was reading, I was recalling the art stages that students will go through and relating them to writing. Some were very similar! I'm not sure if I like the portfolios just yet, but maybe down the line when I have a better handle on what I'm teaching, I'll change that opinion.
DeleteI also found it interesting that kids can write more before they are able to read. When you think of a kid in preschool and kindergarten you don't really think of exactly what they are learning to do, you just think they are learning a little bit of everything (going to school, colors, coloring, alphabet, etc). As a watch and observe more of my two preschool kids, I am learning and corresponding alot with information reading. And they are learning their alphabet but putting it to use for writing instead of reading. One of the things they do first is learn to write their name.
Delete-Chapter 11 is about writing. Reading and writing depend on the same cognitive systems (semantic, syntactic, graphophonic, and pragmatic) in addition to sharing many of the same goals or skills. However, there are two big differences between reading and writing. First of all, reading is considered a receptive language art because it involves receiving a message; writing is considered an expressive language art because it involves creating and conveying a message. Secondly, readers must comprehend what others have written; writers must know their audience, choose words that their audience will understand, and choose how to share their writing. There are seven stages of emergent writing: drawing, scribbling, letter-like forms, letter strings, copying, invented spelling, and conventional spelling. The writing process has five stages: 1) prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Finally, students and teachers at all levels use the 6+1 Trait Writing Assessment to discuss the qualities of writing.
ReplyDelete-I do not have any questions at this time.
-This chapter made me look at the components of writing a little differently. First of all, the students need to know how to form the 26 letters correctly. Students who have trouble with letter formation do not write legibly for others to understand. Secondly, since the English language is symbolic, young children think big objects call for big words. For example, they may string together many letters together for the word, and only a few letters for the word mosquito because of the physical size of each creature. As students progress in their writing, they are not concerned about the length of the words but about the use of vivid verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. In order to understand the graphophonic component, students need to learn letter-sound relationships and how one sound may be written in a number of ways. Finally, students need to learn how to be concise and organize ideas into paragraphs.
-I definitely remember using the 6-Trait writing method in elementary school. I remember seeing posters of each trait hung up in the classroom since at least second or third grade. Anytime a writing assignment was assigned, we were instructed to always look at the 6 traits to complete our best work, and we were always given a rubric based off of those traits.
I also remember the 6 trait writing posters! That's funny because you don't really think about things like that until you are studying the reasons why you had the posters hanging up in the classroom to begin with! I love that you mentioned that children think that big objects call for big words.
Delete1. Analysis of reading/issue.
ReplyDeleteChapter 11 is about writing. It starts with showing and explaining the reading-writing connection. I found it interesting the similarities. I knew there were a lot of similarities, but didn’t realize there was such a close connection. The stages of emergent writing made me think of the different stages of art, and being able to see those stages helps me understand the different stage and age to connect it with. I thought Figures 11.4 and 11.5 were interesting and helpful in understanding the stages and how to connect reading and writing better. The writing workshop is a fun idea, and something I would use for older students, but I’m not sure the younger students would benefit from it as much as the Reading Recovery. 6 + 1 Trait Writing is taught in the Reading Methods class, but I don’t remember discussing the ‘1’. Also, Figure 11.11 is very helpful because these are sites to help our students keep writing, and saving ideas. This allows parents and teachers to see their students work without the paperwork—easy and economical! Once again, the intervention ideas are helpful to get our students to write.
2. Questions/contradictions about the reading issues.
I do have a question about the sound boxes used in Figure 11.3. What are the numbers underneath the boxes? I’m confused!
3. How did the reading reflect you or allow you to look at an issue differently.
This chapter really didn’t make me see anything differently, but I did learn some new things. Some of the websites mentioned throughout the chapter I want to look into using with my students and I didn’t know there was a ‘+ 1’ with the 6-Trait writing. It was fun to read this chapter because of the instruction I can give my students and how I can better evaluate their writing and presentation.
4. Connecting the reading to you. Examples of your own experience.
This chapter came at a good time because my tutoring group will be writing their presentations VERY soon. I’m very excited to see what they come up with, and to see them perform in front of their families. I also kept thinking about my high school years when I was in drama and my college composition research paper. I chose the topic Chernobyl. I learned so much just from that paper that I will never forget because of the impact it made on the area and world.
Katie - Thank you for sharing your thoughts about your tutoring students presentations. What grade are you tutoring? However, I still was unaware that there was a (+1) with the 6-Trait writing. It has been a long time sense I was introduced to 6-Trait writing and I am eager to see how it has changed.
DeleteTo answer your question about the sound boxes on figure 11.4 the numbers underneath the letters in the box are the order in which Bill identifies the sounds. So for example he knows the word starts with a /g/ sound and then he hears the /n/ and so forth. The boxes help the student limit the amount of letters that are possible for the word and then helps them put the correct sounds in the right order. I hope this helps. I also didn't realize that there was a different type of 6-trait. I only remember using the original 6-trait. The main difference is that they added presentation into the format. This was interesting to learn.
DeleteChapter 11 is about writing. In order for a child to write they need to know how to read and understand what they are reading. With that being said there are two huge differences between reading and writing. Our book states that Reading is considered to be a receptive language art because it involved receiving a written message. While writing is considered an expressive language art because it involves creating a message. When you are writing you simply have to understand what you want to say and make it so your readers can read what you are writing. While when you are reading you are on the other end of the spectrum you have to understand what others have written. Our book also goes on to state that there are seven stages of writing there is the drawing stage, scribbling stage, letter-life forms stage, copying invented spelling stage, and the conventional spelling stage. While the writing process only has five stages the prewriting stage, the drafting stage, revising stage, editing stage, and the publishing stage. After reading through all the different stages of both reading and writing it really made me look at writing differently. To be honest I struggled as a young reader and writing and I am still a little hesitant to teach students to read and write. I am thankful for resources like this book that allow me the confidence I need to teach students in subject that I myself struggles at as a young learner. Throughout my internships reading and writing are in forced no matter what the grade level is.
ReplyDeleteMatraca,
DeleteI honestly dread writing papers or even essays to tests questions. I feel like my grammar is so horrible even when I go through what I wrote and proof read. I am very thankful of all the instruction and materials we have to refer to. I will definitely need to build my confidence in writing before teaching this to my future students but I am sure I will.
I thought this chapter was full of resources to use later on down the road. I also was a struggled when reading and writing when I was younger, to be honest I still struggle today and don't feel as confident as I should. Im so glad this book gave us so many resources to use in the future.
DeleteMatraca,
DeleteI feel the same way, I am terrified of teaching students how to read and write because I am not extremely proficient in this area. There are many good tips and explanations in this book and I am glad for that.
One thing that I really noticed in this chapter is how much reading and writing are similar. This is funny to me because I’ve always loved to read but I’ve never enjoyed writing. I’d rather take a take then right a paper. When I was in high school I took a creative writing class which I did enjoy but that’s mainly because of the teacher and because we usually got to chose what we wanted to right about. I’m glad this chapter points out that it’s important to let students write what they want. I never had heard of the five aspects of language when writing. Obviously we all know the big five in reading by heart and will never forget them but it was nice to read about these aspects. However, all of the aspects relate to phonics and phonemic awareness. I enjoyed reading the paragraph about the activities appropriate for invented spelling because this is what my first grade students in my tutoring group do. I love it when they try and spell out words themselves instead of asking how to spell every other word they don’t know. I can’t even imagine how hard it would be to learn to speak in another language let alone write. The English language has so many rules to remember that I can only imagine how overwhelming it is for them to write a sentence. It was interesting to look at the characteristics of skilled and unskilled writers in figure 11.6. They’re so many steps in the writing process that I could see how kids who suffer from ADHD or any kid really would lose interest or get bored with it. I believe this is why it’s important to pick topics that interest them so they can stay engaged. Also, it will be important to really break down the process in smaller steps to keep their focus. I did 6 trait writing as early as I can remember so that was a nice review for me. They added presenting to the process which makes complete sense. I’ve always really liked the idea of keeping portfolios for students to show their growth. It really shows the student’s growth to their own and it’s great to have these to show to parents. One of the ideas at the end of the chapter I’d like to try with my tutoring students is the “sharing the pen”. This would really help my ELL student, Adan, with writing sentences.
ReplyDeleteI am with you Amanda... I love reading and hate writing. I took an alternative English class my senior year, and we did a lot more writing that the regular English classes did. I enjoyed the class, but I think it was because of the teacher and the types of writing we did. I think the only assignment I wrote comparable to an "essay" was a graduation speech.
DeleteI also agree with hearing the various aspects. Clearly we all know them, but I have never been told this is A, B, and C.
Invented spelling is awesome! I'm interning in a kindergarten class, and see it all of the time. Of course sometimes I find it funny, like when they don't use any vowels (had a girl today spell squirrel S-K-R-L), but you are right it's nice to seem some independence, versus every student bombarding you with questions on how to spell this or that.
Andrea I am the same way when it comes to writing a paper. I have never enjoyed writing and have not been very good at it. I have sympathy for students struggling in the writing department. Thank goodness for creative spelling, looking back on many of my own assignments and even now I have a very hard time spelling cat.
DeleteI am the opposite! I enjoy writing more than reading. I think I like writing more because I do not struggle with it as much as reading. Writing is a way for me to express my thoughts and ideas. I struggle with comprehension during reading.
DeleteI think everyone knows that reading goes hand in hand with writing, or vice versa. This chapter simply stated the relationship these two things have, which includes similarities and differences. I found Figure 11.1 on page 285 to be insightful in describing the seven different stages of emergent writing. I have heard about the emergent reading, so this concept was new to me.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that stood out to me starting on page 297 was the 6 + 1 Trait Writing Assessment and Instructional Model. I was first introduced to this briefly in Reading and Language Arts Methods, and two weeks ago I actually was able to attend a meeting at my mentor school with my mentor teacher and the other teachers in the school, where we actually graded third, fourth, and fifth grade state writing assessments. It was definitely a good experience to be able to use the 6 + 1 Trait Writing in a real life situation versus just some sample essays on the Internet.
The strategies and activities section provided me with a lot of information on how to incorporate writing, and the various aspects of the 6 + 1 Trait Writing. I have been trying to incorporate writing into a few of my tutoring sessions because I know it is not something that my students are incredibly strong in. If I can strengthen their writing a little bit it will also strengthen their reading.
Chapter 11 talked about writing. Writing sessions help students practice their writing skills. By letting students pick what they write about it’s a great way for them to write about what interests them.
ReplyDeleteI don’t have any questions of the chapter at this time.
I remember when I was younger we had journals that we would practice our writing in. Sometimes the teacher would give us a prompt to write about and other times we would choose. I remember on Monday’s we would always tell in our journals what we did over the weekend. These were not for a grade she would just look over them to help us find our mistakes and fix them.
I loved the resourced that the text gave us. I can’t wait to use these ideas and sites in my future classroom.
By letting them pick what they want to wirte about, I believe makes them love writing. If they have to write about what the teacher gives them, they start to dislike wriring. Yes, I also remember writing in a journal when I was in First Grade. I also love the resoures they test gives us!
DeleteI try and let my student choose what they want to read for guided reading and I think this helps them enjoy it a little more. I also give them many choices just like the book said to. Its good to know I have been doing what I should be. I have my kids write in journals as well. We don't do it a lot, but I know they do it in school as well.
DeleteThere are seven goals/skills in reading and writing. These seven goals/skills include have students automatically recognize or write words without conscious awareness, have students read and write words without focusing on every letter, connect unknown words to known words, focus on chunks of words, use root words to help determine meaning, connect spelling with meaning, and focus on the main purpose of reading and writing, which is to communicate meaning. Graphic, semantic, graphophonic, and syntactic are four components of writing. Zecker studied young children and found seven stages of emergent writing: drawing, scribbling, letter-like forms, letter strings, copying, invented spelling, and conventional spelling. Process of writing has seven stages. These seven stages include prewriting, structuring the material, writing to an audience, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. This chapter gives assessments to writing. It then gives activities for writing, goes on to writing and technology. I have no questions; I took Reading and Writing Connections at ESU. While in that class we had to write a book, we did brainstorming, first draft, revising, second draft, and then finally publishing. I still have that book, and am excited to have my elementary students when I get my own classroom to write a book!
ReplyDeleteI love making personal books too! It is just such a great keepsake. Great idea!
DeleteI found it so amazing when I learned that scribbling is such a positive tool for kiddos. Five years ago I would have never thought anything about it, until going into education.
DeleteIn chapter 11 it compares reading and writing and how they have two major differences. I knew that reading and writing obviously were different but I never really considered what their differences were. The reader must be about to comprehend the material they are reading, while the writer must think of their audience and how to express their ideas so that the reader will understand. Also, readers decode the words while writers encode words so that they can focus on expressing their ideas.
ReplyDeleteStudents go through a series of stages when developing their writing skills. If a student is introduced to writing utensils and technique before school age they would be at an advantage to those students who have not have this experience. As a teacher it is very important that we are aware of the stage that each student is at and how we can help them improve to move to the next stage of writing.
It was nice to see the stages of the writing process on pgs 286-287. I know the chapter talked about it, but it was neat to see actual examples of them all. Most of the stages seem pretty clear cut, as you can see the differences between them. Some though, as 5-6, there seems to not have many differences at all. Crazy!
DeleteThe title of Chapter 11 is none other than Writing. THe chapter, however, starts off with the similarities between reading and writing. The chapter then talks about the differences between the two.
ReplyDeleteI did find it interesting that the author broke down the components of writing into its three stages, and then goes into detail about each of them. The graphic stage is when students know just how exactly to form each of the 26 letters of the alphabet. The semantic stage goes through the symbolic meaning of letters and words. The graphophonic stage has to do with letter-sound relationships. Finally, the syntactic stage has to do with organizing thoughts and sentences into correct sentences and paragraphs.
The next few pages were nice to look at, as it was actual pictures that showed the writing process, drawing, scribbling, letter-like forms, letter strings, copying, invented spelling, and conventional spelling.
I think the most important thing to me, when it comes to writing, (and reading for that matter) is to find a topic that each student enjoys. If they enjoy what they are doing, they are more likely to continue to work on that concept.
Great chapter!
I liked that the chapter had the actual picture of the stages of writing as well. I remember from one of my classes having to analyze drawing, it was not in seeing that they are part of the writing process. I agree that finding a topic that students enjoy is very important. If a student is interested in what he/she is reading then he/she will stay engaged in the learning process.
Delete1. Analysis of the reading/issue.
ReplyDeleteChapter 11 discusses writing, style of writing, teaching students to be good writers, how to assess writing, how to help students, and many strategies to help students become successful writers. This chapter provides examples of how to use strategies, such as in the beginning it mentioned two strategies POW and TREE after reading the majority of the chapter; you find how to implement these strategies to help young writers. Students struggle with five aspects of language during writing they are: graphic, semantic, graphophonic, syntactic, and pragmatic. One strategy that teachers can use is sharing the pen to help students get their ideas down on paper. Another strategy that teachers can use is a writer’s workshop. This is very helpful to students, because they receive one on one or small group time with the teacher. This chapter had a lot of good information in it. I really like that it gave several ideas about writing rubrics and locations to find or create your own. This will come in useful when I am in my own classroom, but also when I am working on lesson plans during student teaching. Six trait writing +1 is something that I know I will use in my classroom. From everything that I have learned about it, I think it helps students become better writers. I also like how the book says teachers should make a rubric for it, but not writing poor, instead it should be: exemplary, acceptable, developing, and unacceptable. Another part of this chapter that I will utilize in my classroom it a wall chart with an editing and proofreading checklist.
2. Questions and/or contradictions about the reading/issue.
I don’t have any questions about this chapter.
3. How did the reading reflect you or allow you to look at an issue differently?
One thing that really stuck out and made an impression on me was the part in the text that talked about ESOL students and how it can take them two years before they acquire oral communication skills and five to seven years before they acquire reading and writing skills. I was amazed at the amount of time. I know it is a big change for someone to learn a new language, however I thought that if they were immersed in the language the process would be quicker. Good information that will help me if I ever have ESOL student and the probability of that is very good.
4. Connecting the reading to you. Examples of your own experience.
As a student I was worked very hard to write my papers. I had trouble with proofreading and finding errors in my own work. Mostly because when I would read what I had written I would read it the way I wanted it to sound, not the way I actually wrote it. I found in the text that one strategy that teachers can use it to: peer edit, then edit you and then have the teacher edit. I think this process would have helped me a lot more than just trying to figure it out myself.
Samantha,
DeleteI was also amazed when I first found out that and ESOL student can work to acquire reading and writing skills for up to seven years before they master them. Then when I thought about it it sort of makes sense. Even though the students are immersed in English at school and the language is pounded in their heads they go home and, most of the time, English is not spoken there. So when they get home it's easy to just slip back into their first language and forget many English language concepts. I also thought about how I would be if I were learning a new language and I'm sure the second I got home I would be slipping back into speaking my own language quickly. I've heard that it is harder for adults than it is for children to learn a new language. So if that is true then that would give reason to why many of the students parents do not learn English and continue to speak their first language. I know I would greatly struggle if I tried to learn a new language now but I can't imagine how much a student who is learning English at school must struggle when that language is not spoken when they get home, or all summer. It's crazy to think about but you're right, knowing this information will help us as future educators. Great post!
Chapter 11 is about writing. Which is something I will admit I have not been doing my best of implementing in my tutoring sessions. After listening to class notes this week and reading this chapter though I realize that I really need to start implementing more writing activities. The section on writing instruction talks about teaching writing by giving students time to write about a topic of their choice. This made me realize that I have been implementing a bit of useful writing instruction in my lessons. At the beginning of every session my students write their daily news, something good that happened to them that day, on sticky notes and post it on our board. They share that news and we discuss it as a group. This always gets our sessions rolling and it helps me get to know my students further. A little further into the chapter reinforced the fact that students need to be taught how to use organization, voice, and word choice properly. Teaching them this not only aids their writing but it can help them understand readings better as well.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting part in the chapter to me was of course the strategies and activities part. I’d be interested in implemented guided writing at some point, if there is time. I think it would really help students learn a concept with hands on practice. I also absolutely love the parodies activity! I’m definitely going to use these. Students could do one of these even for a simple activity if they get done with an assignment before their peers. This activity would be both education and fun for the student. I also like the idea of biopoems. I’ve been working with poetry in my lessons and I’m thinking a biopoem would be a fun activity to close the unit. The only question I have is if any of you have used any of these activities yet and have any advice for me before I implement them?
Shannon - My tutoring kids were very hesitant to do any real writing when I first started incorporating it into our lessons. But...after a little practice and some explanation of why things are done in a certain way, they have actually come to enjoy writing. They are only 2nd graders, mind you, so they aren't writing anything too lengthy. Writing their own mini books, though, is now a favorite activity. They keep asking when they will get to do another one! I let them pick their own topic for the first one, so I think I will do something with the same topic as our guided reading book the next time to challenge them a bit. This may mean the difference between them liking the activity or not...we'll soon find out! Good luck with implementing writing into your tutoring group. I'm sure you will find a way to make it fun for them!!
DeleteIn response to Nicole....
DeleteAfter reading your post, I love your idea of having the students write mini books of their own topics. My students in my tutoring class would love this activity! I hope you don't mind if I borrow this idea! Thank you Nicole for your post.
Nicole Schell
ReplyDelete1. Analysis of the reading/issue: I was very happy to finally get to the writing aspect of RLA in Chapter 11! One of my favorite things to do is write. This is not the case, however, with many children. It was very helpful to see the comparison between reading and writing and the process of teaching writing to children. It made sense that the goals of reading and writing are similar, but I had never really thought about it before. Being able to recognize words without laboring through letter by letter and connecting meaning to those words so that the child understand and comprehend things is important for both reading and writing. I like how the text broke down the components of writing and the stages of emergent writing. It’s important to know what stage your students are in so that you can help them develop their writing abilities and learn how to evaluate their own work. Finally, the 6 + 1 writing model and rubrics breaks down the writing process so that children know what is expected of them in each step and teachers are able to recognize which skills their students have mastered and which skills need more work.
2. Questions and/or contradictions about the reading/issue: Is it usually better to use a rubric for writing assessments? I understand that by using a rubric the student and teacher have a guideline to go by, but I wondered if there are less formal ways to assess some writing that would be just as effective.
3. How did the reading reflect you or allow you to look at an issue differently? As I said above, I hadn’t previously thought about the similarities for of reading and writing goals. I also enjoyed reading about the stages of emergent writing. We have all studied Vygotsky’s theory on development. It was interesting to see how the emergent writing stages match up with Vygotsky’s developmental stages. You can see that children, even at an early age, are fascinated with writing and drawing. It makes complete sense that children who are allowed to experience working with writing and drawing tools and have been taught sounds and letters have an easier time when they enter school. They are able to make the connection between those things and the instruction they receive for reading and writing. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all young children were exposed to these things before entering school?
4. Connecting the reading to you. Examples of your own experience: My own experience with the writing process goes back to my experience with subbing for various grade levels. I spent a lot of time in one particular kindergarten classroom one year. They used the writing workshop strategy of having students draw a picture of something and then attempt to write a sentence about their drawing. The student then shows it to their teacher who listens to the description of the picture and the “sentence” the student wrote. The teacher then writes the correct version of that sentence on the back of the page so that parents know what their children were trying to write. There is definitely a lot of invented spelling, but it’s amazing to see how each student’s writing abilities change from the beginning to the end of the year. I have also experienced the 6 trait writing process in the upper elementary. They always have a rubric to guide them through the writing process. Once they get the hang of the whole process, they usually need very little help deciding what they need to do once writing activities get started. It’s fun to see those older kids take ownership and responsibility for their writing!
I found chapter 11 to be very beneficial as a guide between the similarities of reading and writing. It is important to know writing can benefit reading abilities. On the flip side, I like that the text identified writing as an expressive art, in comparison to writing which is a receptive skill. This chapter also outlines the components of writing and the stages of emergent writing in an easy way to understand the content.
ReplyDeleteI have not had much experience teaching writing skills, I have had more opportunities to teach guided reading strategies; thus why I find chapter 11 to be one of the most beneficial chapters of the book. As of now, I do not have any questions about writing; I am assuming that I will accumulate them after I have had an opportunity to implement the strategies of the writing process.
Personally, I did not enjoy writing until I was in high school. I always found it humiliating when the teacher would display the poems or short stories for other classmates to see. This is why I want to encourage students to practice collaborative writing until they are more comfortable with their writing skills. “Sharing the Pen” on page 302 is one strategy that I would implement with a collaborative writing plan. Another strategy I would like to try is guided writing, I think this would boost the student's confidence in their writing abilities.
I found the stages of emergent writing to be incredibly insightful. I have heard of and learned the various stages of emergent reading, but until I read Chapter 11, I couldn't have told anyone the stages.
DeleteLike you I also haven't had much experience teaching writing skills, but this chapter has definitely opened a new door for ideas when it comes to the lessons I'm writing for tutoring.
After reading Chapter eleven covering the topic of writing, I felt that I had learned a lot more about how to teach writing than I previous knew about this topic. The book stated that students need to become fluent writers as well as becoming fluent readers. Some students need extra help to develop these skills and this chapter stated several ways to encourage and build confidence in these students with specific strategies. All the activities mentioned in this chapter, starting on pg.302, are great ways to increase students skills with writing. One strategy that stuck with me after the reading, was the six + one trait writing assessment and instruction model. I like this method because it is simple and easy step procedure in remembering what needs to be in their writing. Chapter eleven will really help me with my tutoring lessons and as a future teacher, when instructing in writing. Writing is such an important skill to attain while in school and as a teacher this chapter will help me implement the best strategies to teach writing to my students!
ReplyDeleteAllison, I agree that writing skills are important to attain while in school. I have found that individuals who did not attain these skills really struggle as adults. There are so many opportunities to use writing skills and some are crucial for future success in higher level schooling or on the job. Those who do not attain these skills while in school find themselves lacking confidence when writing opportunities present themselves. This can cause them to miss out on college scholarships, entrance, and even employment opportunities.
DeleteChapter 11 discusses the relationship of reading and writing, along with the importance of writing. Just with reading, some students need special attention to develop skills and confidence to express themselves with writing. This chapter discusses that there are 7 stages of writing. Teachers need to understand these stages and how to assist students struggle with particular skills. Learning to write and write well is an important skill that should be taught just as be taught to read or spell.
ReplyDeleteI have no questions.
The material provided in this chapter did not change my mind about the facts, it just opened how I viewed the material. It all makes sense and I agree with it, I just never really looked at the material in detail until now, having to read about it and then being able to observe it and be put it to perspective.
One of the things that brought back memories from school was the 6-Trait writing. When you walked in a classroom room there was something about 6-Trait in every room just like having desk.
Sheena, I agree. It does seem like every elementary and secondary classroom has a poster or a board present that outlines the steps of six trait writing. One thing I did like was that there were also four elements that the educators must also ensure that were present within the classrooms in order to make these writing experiences meaningful and relaxing. Classroom environments must foster a creative outlet for students. This encompasses their surroundings as well as being presented with materials that they actually want to write about. Another thing I gained from this chapter were the assessment possibilities. Just as each student is unique, so should the assessments. Yes, rubrics allow us to see if they students are following the step as assigned. However, portfolios allow the teacher, student and parents to see how the student has approved throughout the academic calendar.
Delete6 trait writing was also brought back from school days. It's a lot like reading where you learn it and as you get better at it you forget how you do it, you just do it. Following the 6 traits just makes writing so much better. It gives the kids a way to move through their writing.
DeleteGrowing up I had always enjoyed when our teachers had us do writing workshops. I think the primary reason why this is so is because they always either provided us with interesting topics, related the topic to a story that had caught our interest or it was a topic of our choosing that specifically interested us. The connection to all three elements is obvious – it had to interest the student! I believe that that is the first key in getting strong material from a student. It must be a topic or surround a topic that captures the students’ attention. Once the attention is grasped, the educator can then ensure that proper structure is being implemented by initiating the topics of the four step process of writing in addition to six trait writing. If the student is not interested in the topic at hand, the educator will find that content is lacking and therefore the students’ ability to construct material of value is also lacking. In regards to the best way to evaluate a students’ progress in writing, rubrics allow educators to keep all students on a level assessment field. However, because each student is their own unique individual, so is their writing style and progression as a writer. The school district I grew up in was a small one. When I graduated high school, we were presented with educational portfolios. Within this portfolio, there were assignments that I had completed, dating all the way from preschool. Yes, this is unlikely to occur in larger districts, yet, I believe this is the strongest way to assess the progression and success of a student in a single academic calendar. Additionally, portfolios are a way for teachers to monitor progression, keep strong works that show student success, and they are beneficial ways to show parents and the student of the progress made at student/parent teacher conferences.
ReplyDeleteOne element of this chapter that I specifically enjoyed was the intervention (strategies and activities) segment. We were provided with tools and ideas that can work for any ages in addition to those that would target specific tools for students of a certain grade. Technology is a vital element that must be addressed within any classroom, and this element can be implemented as early as kindergarten! The writing activities can be as interactive as putting together comic strips to more complex and pleasing activities such as creating Wikis and international pen pals. These tools allow students to achieve an element of technological release within lessons while also presenting educators with an opportunity to instruct students on proper keyboarding techniques. Essential elements they will be forced to acknowledge in their real world settings outside of the classroom.
Megan, I loved reading your post. What a wonderful treasure you were given when you graduated high school. To see the progression of your portfolio from a young child to a young adult is amazing and rewarding. You make a wonderful point that keeping these portfolios is a great tool for teachers, but also a great tool for communication with parents. This type of tool can give parents a visual to refer to, and can also help teachers guide parents on how to help their child at home.
DeleteChapter 11 discusses the reading-writing connection. according to the text, reading and writing share the same cognitive processes and many of the same goals. The difference between reading and writing is reading is receptive whereas writing is expressive. Readers decode whereas writers encode. It is interesting how the writing process has changed with the use of technology since I was in grade school. Before, the focus was on penmanship and correct spelling which is still very important but now, with the use of computers, there is a focus on teaching kids keyboard skills so that their individual speed in typing does not slow down their thought process. Spell check is also a good tool to prevent misspelled words and loss of meaning in a text. The chapter provided a lot of information about the writing process and strategies for teaching. I did not have any questions or contradictions about the reading. I must say that now have a different viewpoint for the bilingual writer. I can’t even imagine how difficult it must be for younger students to distinguish between their home language and the many rules that apply and their newly acquired language at school. Like confusing a \v\ for a \b\ or the letter i for the long \e\ sound. The book suggests that bilingual students be given extra time in writing and have the opportunity to choose their own subject. I agree. I am studying conversational Spanish and I find myself confusing the rules and mixing up sounds like \v\ and \b\. It is a difficult task, especially when you are used to doing things a particular way for so long.
ReplyDeleteChapter 11 was over writing. A large part of this chapter was explaining the reading writing connection and comparing the two. One of the most beneficial comparisons was that reading is considered a receptive language are because you are receiving information while writing is considered an expressive language art because you are creating and conveying a information. One of the most impressive facts was that children at age 5 are only learning to copy while students at age 7 are already learning to write full sentences with conventional spelling. I think it is amazing how quickly student pick up on things. One fact that I learned was that the 6-Trait wiring method has changed. I remember always using this in school and I think virtually all of my writing was graded using this. I just learned that there is another aspect of this rubric which includes presentation. I think teachers have been enforcing this for many years but it just had never been formally put on the rubric. I can remember our teachers telling up not to use bright colored paper, to double space, to use a specific size font, and other things that made papers hard to look at. All of these elements would be included in this category. I also thought it was interesting to learn that many students think of English language as symbolic meaning that we write words that are big or loud bigger than words that define smaller objects. Now that I think back to look at students works I can see this. Any time a student writes an onomonopia that describes a loud sound that word is always bigger than the rest of the sentence. Also this chapter discussed the seven different stages of writing; they are very similar to the seven stages of drawing with the age group for each stage. Finally a key point when teaching students about writing and when incorporating it into the classroom is to teach them about the five stages of writing. I was always horrible at following these stages and I can tell that it is one of the reasons that I still struggle with using correct grammar and sentence fluency when writing long papers. I have gotten better with following these steps as I have gotten older but many times I just want to dive right in and I think this is one of the biggest problems that I will face as a teacher. It will be my job to explain the importance of going through each of these steps and monitoring students to make sure that they do.
ReplyDeleteChapter 11 Writing. I think after watching in the schools I have been in that it is so important to make sure you integrate writing into as much as possible. The schools are so focused on reading and math that we forget that they need to be able to express it in writing. Seeing that reading and writing take the same cognitive systems and skills shows how linked they are to each other. The same skills; chunking, not focusing on every letter, connecting spelling and meaning, automatic recognition, and focusing on main purpose learn for both reading and writing will help the student in both. It is important to understand the seven stages of writing on page 285. There are 5 stages for writing among English-speaking, Spanish speaking, and bilingual children. The precommunicative stage – knowing the difference between writing and drawing, semiphinetic stage – letters to represent some of the sounds, phonetic stage – letters to represent most of the sounds, transitional stage – written according to common spelling patterns and include silent letters, and conventional stage – writing is generally correct. This is so important considering that ELL learners are lacking in experiences that help in writing. Knowing and teaching children the 6+1 traits is very important. It takes all the content we love in our reading; organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation and puts it into our writing so that we will enjoy reading our writing and so will others.
ReplyDeleteChapter 11 talks about writing. Specifically the connection between writing and reading and the components of writing. Personally, I always loved to write. As a child I can remember writing stories for fun. I loved the creative freedom that it gave me. This chapter gives many good activities for incorporating writing. I have been fortunate in my internships to see some amazing writing activities. One that sticks out in my mind is a squiggle write. The students are given a piece of paper with a squiggly line on it. They begin by taking that line and creating a picture around. Then they write a short story about their illustration. It was amazing to see how many different illustrations and stories came out of just one little squiggle on a page!
ReplyDeleteI think that children also love the freedom that writing gives them. It gives them a chance to write down all the stories they have and let their imagination go. I love the squiggle line activity that sounds like a great idea.
DeleteI think that reading a writing go together in a very important way. The book says that when students read and write, they use cognitive processes such as gathering ideas, questioning, and hypothesizing. All of these things together make a very good reader a long with a very good writer. Writing instruction has changed a lot since I was in grade school even. Now days students are given the option to what they want to write about and then given the time to write and be graded. I remember all of the stages of writing that I went through. It is kind of cool to go back and see how you developed. The book maps it out great so you can see how a certain child developed into a great writer. This chapter also gives a lot of activities for teachers to do with students to get them more excited about writing.
ReplyDeleteYes, students are given time to write, but I think that students need more time to be creative in the writing process. As a teacher I hope to allow my students adequate think time in order for the creativity to flow on to the paper or computer screen. I think the chapter gave some great ways to get students to write more. For example, the international pen palls was a wonderful idea for students to connect with other students as well as practice writing.
DeleteChapter 11 explains the importance of writing. Writing is a very important skill to have; I believe being a good writer involves having good fluency and comprehension. This chapter explains more in depth the similarities between reading and writing. The text lists seven goals/skills when it comes to reading and writing. Some of these goals/skills I would not have known until I read this section. I really liked how the chapter explains the writing stages. I am always unsure before I start an internship of knowing how well their reading and writing skills should be at. The section over the writing process was familiar to me. I remember in grade school writing a few sentences over a book and illustrating a picture to go along with it. This is such a great way to teach drafting, revising, editing, etc. Who knew that’s what the teachers were getting across? I just found it as a fun activity! These papers would be posted up in the hallway and I was so exciting for everyone to look at mine. I was not surprised to see the 6 trait writing assessment in the chapter. This is very to know, especially when assessing your students. My favorite assessments that the book listed were portfolios and informal assessments. I like these forms of assessments because I believe the students and teacher can use their creativity more. My question for this chapter would be dealing with children that have dyslexia. What are the tools to help them learn to write better?
ReplyDeleteMarei H--You have a great question about this chapter that I did not even think about asking. Wanting to know information for students with dyslexia is a great question to have. That information would be nice to know before you encountered this situation in your classroom. Great question you had!!
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ReplyDeleteChapter 11 was over the subject of writing. I really enjoyed reading this chapter because it was filled with information I was unfamiliar with. For the analysis of the reading, this chapter provided great detail as to how reading and writing were so much alike. I was surprised to find that without the skill of one, it is hard to be successful at the other skill because they are so closely related. I also enjoyed reading the different methods and the section over the writing process. This will be a great resource in the near future because this textbook did do a great job breaking down this process and showing ways to teach each step and why it should be taught. I do not believe I have any questions/contradictions, I just hope that someday I can successful teach the writing process because after reading this chapter, I know how important it is to students to learn at an early age. This reading allowed me to look at things differently because writing is a skill I believe I took for granted because of how much I enjoyed writing as a child and still do to this day. I work at a school district and it amazes me how many students struggle with writing and how many of them do not even try because they dislike the subject that much. It also amazes me how many students cannot free write. In sixth grade, they are required to write in morning journals and many of them have trouble choosing topics to write about during free writing days which is when they get to choose their own topic to write about. This text has definitely provided me with much, useful information that I will take with me and implement in the near future when I have a classroom of my own!
ReplyDelete"Only the educated are free." Epictetus
ReplyDeleteAnnother wonderful quote. I like to tell my own children this exact quote when they are struggling to understand why they need to learn a concept or skill. No matter what type of situation life brings us, no one is able to take what is in our minds.
I find writing to be an extremely difficult skill to teach but a beautiful skill to watch develop in a student. So many students struggle with what to write when given a topic. I saw this first hand when students were writing their writing CRT's a few months ago in elementary school. Writing is a skill that can only be matered by practice, practice, and more practice. The 6 trait writing model is one that I will display in my future classroom. 1. ideas/content 2. organization 3. voice 4. word choice 5. sentence fluency 6. conventions and presentation. These 6 traits need to be taught in order for students to fully understand how to accomplish a well written paper.
My favorite part of this chapter was the section titled: Assessing multimedia projects with rubrics. Although short I find that information on rubrics is increasing in awareness lately. On page 308 figure 11.15 shoes an expository text frame for sequence. The teacher gave 6 pictures and had the student write the order of events in complete sentences. The chapter has given great resources for how to use expository text in allignment with writing standards.
I think that using computers is a great way for students to feel at ease with writing. When a student is typing on the computer they don't feel like they are knocking out just another paragraph. Why not start a class blog and have it private only to the students in the classroom and give daily writing assignments. Just like Mr. Spilchal does in social studies. His blog is more like an on-going conversation but it gets the students to write and think about what others are writing about.
Jena,
DeleteThat quote is very powerful and I completely agree with you that no matter what waves we must overcome and challenges we face, those who are educated will succeed.
I also enjoyed Mr. Splichal's blog that produced on-going conversation, but I also believe that we must choose the proper technique to meet the needs of the students. In other words, Mr. Splichal chose a perfect technique for collaboration given the circumstance that the classroom is full of virtual learners, making it nearly impossible for any other type of communication to take place.
While I support your view that it would be fun and interesting for students to have a private blog to collaborate on, I feel that the art of writing is diminishing as students begin to use computers more than pens or pencils. I still think it is critical for students to put in the manual labor of hand-writing papers and assignments (hey, it builds character!).
Jena,
DeleteWhat an awesome blog! I will definitely remember the quote you gave and Jessica's further explanation. I agree, very powerful. Not only do students struggle to write when given a topic, but the first grade classroom I work in struggles when they are given time to free write. They are always saying, "I don't know what to write". So there is a discussion among our teachers right now about if giving prompts is a good idea or not. I believe many of them do better when given something to write about. I used the technique Ms. Stoppel talked about in class the other day with a student and it worked! It was the use of a picture and then having the student write about what they see. This student has written very little all year, but when I put a picture of a colorful parrot in front of him he had all kinds of things to say. Great blog!!!
Chapter 11 discusses the writing process and how it is interrelated with the reading process, as they both require the same cognitive systems (semantic, syntactic, graphophonic, and pragmatic). Furthermore, reading and writing share the same goals and skills, which are also outlined on page 284. It is evident that writing and reading however do differ considerably in that one is receptive (reading), and one is expressive (writing). Each requires its own set of challenges that students’ must overcome in order to become effective readers and writers. The first stage of writing is drawing, which for me is very expressive and sometimes says more than words, just take in account at how many conversations are sparked about one individual painting in a gallery or museum.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I feel that the writing process has evolved incredibly over the last few years as the internet is popularly becoming a more preferred resource for reading and writing content. Not only are students’ having to learn how to read traditional books, but must also be able to acquire the skills to proficiently read and write within the guidelines of the internet. The way that we view content on the internet is much less traditional and even more “live” than ever before. On an even further side note, I believe that text messages have greatly reduced the reading and writing abilities of many individuals, as the use of shorthand becomes more accepted, which I still will not use.
Jessica, I completely agree with you about the atrocity that is texting. I too refuse to use it when texting. I am greatly disturbed at the erosion of the English language occurring at the thumbs of America's youth. I feel this is a problem as it becomes not only a quicker way to send messages, but a part of everyday speech as well.
DeleteOne of the things from this chapter that I especially like is the interactive writing activity of sharing the pen with the student. This is something I have done with my daughter who is in preschool. This activity got her excited about being able to write stories she would otherwise be unable to write without support. Since we have been doing this she has begun writing on her own using invented spelling. I also like the list of websites and online resources given on page 296. I can't wait to go through all of these.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the interactive writing activity is a great way to get students excited about writing. As you said, students are able to write stories that wouldn't have been able to write otherwise. This is a great way to introduce writing to young students.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this chapter because I feel that writing is an area I am still weak in. This semester has taught me a lot on how to integrate reading and writing together. One of the many new things I learned from this chapter was the components of writing. There were several words I had never encountered before. Then the well written explanations of each stage of writing was so helpful. I work in a first grade classroom and I know there are times I have looked at the students' writing and wondered if this was age appropriate or not. The writing process and the 6+1 writing traits are both used in my school district, so I am very familiar with those but it is always good to have a review. And as always, the activities at the end of the chapter are the best. Finally, the websites that our text gives at the end are great. It is nice to know that when we have our own classroom, we will have lots of resources to go with us.
ReplyDeleteAngela ~ you are lucky, first graders ROCK! Some of their writings are challenging to read and make sense of. I am also learning how important writing is in the younger grades and what we should expect of our students.
DeleteWriting is something that was on the back burner to me I guess. I have never given much thought to how important writing is to our students. The part that stuck out to me in this chapter was the fact that graphics were apart of writing. In the hallway of schools, I always see art of some sort accompanying the writing of the students in the lower grades. After reading this chapter I understand how important the graphics are to the writing!
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