readers and writers project

Here is a podcast on reading like a historian - a modeled think aloud.http://ldschw01@podomatic.com/rss2/xml

This I believe......

This I believe.....Just as I intentionally teach content, I need to intentionally teach students to write and provide opportunities to write in the social studies, and then assess beyond content. This means going beyond the ORQ or answering embedded questions. How do historians write? They examine evidence, respond to big questions, respond to other historians, and turn artifacts into stories. Students have opportunities to engage in these types of writing, but I rarely look at the structure of the writing. I look to see if they get the content. I am not teaching writing....I am teaching social studies! I need to change my perspective and force students to be better writers.

Writing to Learn - WTL

Writing to learn is a practice most of us use. DZS gives it a name and elevates it to the level of good pedegogy. If we inform our students that this is included in writing, they would be surprised. Students assume that the only writing that is real writing is that which is graded - ORQ's, portfolio pieces. They do not consider "noodling" (I love that word) a form of writing. If we spread the idea, perhaps they would become more invested and confident and excited to write! Share the spectrum of writing p. 24 and kids will see that they do it all the time!

Donald M. Murray - hear your writing

Another link to reading. Effective readers see the story in their head. According to Murray, effective writers hear what they are writing. When I conference with students on their writing, I always start out by having them read out lout what they have wrote. Getting them to incoporate their voice into their writing is another habit of mind we do naturally. As I am even writing this I hear the words in my head.

Murray also links bad writing to bad assignments. I have two other causes to add. One is the ethics of the portfolio writing process. Because any piece is a potential portfolio piece, ethical "conferencing" requires a covert dialogue where teachers can help students identify weaknesses. The idea of modeling a more effective way could compromise student voice. Teachers are limited in the number of comments they can put on a piece (sticky notes are a way around this) and in their ability to identify specific grammatical and spelling mistakes. (There is a word mispelled in this line but I am not allowed to tell you which one. Of course if you knew which one, presumably you would have spelled it currectly. However, I would hate to replace your mispelling voice with my correct spelling voice. Figure it out yourself. I am not an expert in teaching writing, but I would think that this conferencing process could better benefit all involved.

We saw that reading expands your vocabulary. In my experience reading improves writing, not only because it develops a richer vocabulary but also because students reflect on what makes good writing a good reading. Maybe writing journal - focusing on examples of good writing and why - is also a good idea.

Forums for writing. My daughter writes all the time - blogging on myspace, im's to her friends, and on Fan Fiction. If you've never heard of fan faction, its an online community where any writer can publish fiction based on existing tv shows, movies, books etc. She wrote a story based upon the characters in House. They are writing to be read by a particular comunity, not just by a teacher. My daughter likes it because she has difficulty coming up with characters, settings etc. By springboarding on existing genres, she can be creative. Then she gets reviewed by her peers. Like Wikis, blogs, etc. it is the publishing aspect that intrigues her. Pretty cool way to get feedback.

think alouds and writing

Using the think aloud strategy in writing. Aha moment - modeling writing out loud. Tom Romano talks about the benefits of teachers modeling the writing process out loud. It reminded me of the think alouds that teachers use to improve student comprehension. Students can see that teachers do not start out with a polished finished product, and it demystefies the writing process. The draw back that I see is that writing is a different process than reading. Read out louds engage the reader, particularly if they can see the same text. Writing is more personal - it is your way of doing something. Do students benefit from watching and not doing?

teaching writing from the inside

Language is our canoe up the wilderness river, our bush plane, our space capsule, our magic.

We must come to believe that our writing is worth reading by others.

Tom Romano

At a recent lunch with two teacher friends, we were debating the systemic problems that affect our school system. One, a former science teacher and mother to 2 children who have been in the advanced program sees a move away from teaching basics (like having kids memorize the parts of the cell and their functions as a foundation to higher learning) and a dumbing down of the curriculum. My other friend, who teaches GT 6th graders and who used to teach elementary, 4/5, advanced program, has noticed that these students are coming to middle school unable to think, reason or problem solve. They are reluctant to do the heavy lifting necessary to engage in these processes. They are reluctant to engage in the learning process and prefer teacher directed instruction. How does this relate to writing. I asked them why our kids write personal narratives. One said to learn and practice writing skills. The other said that even kids who don't know anything can at least write about themselves. I added that kids need to be able to explain things, refering back to Burke's chapter - skills needed for a flat world. None of us focused on the process of writing, the joy of writing for writing's sake, or as Romano says "[l]anguage is for discovery."
I see it as a process vs. product issue. In our classrooms, writing is used to show what kids know - all of our rubrics look at the end product, not the journey to get there. Creativity is not valued, and we don't look at writing as a way of discovery and learning (other than learning to be a better writer!). I love the challenge of writing - but even with all of the briefs, contracts, letters, lesson plans, papers, reflections, etc. that I have written, I do not look at it as a creative process. Its about changing the lens by which we look at all forms of writing, including our own.

The need to teach reading

Today I watched Dr. Kajder try to figure out how to respond to the library's web site about a book they claimed was overdue. First she had to read through a lengthy set of directions about how to respond. Reading is a skill that students need to survive, not only to be academically successful, but to be able to navigate web sites that come with complex and confusing directions. We can't leave it to the English teachers to teach this skill, particularly since every content area has its own contextual reading materials. My readers writers project is How to read like a historian. These are history specific skills that need to be taught and re-taught. Maybe the scores are low because students can't critically read the questions, not because we can't get to all the content.