When reading Regie Routman's Writing Essentials chapters for this week I could not help but feel that there are many things I need to improve my expertise on to help teach my students how to become better writers. One of the things I noticed within my classroom, that I did not think about, was that a student does not need to spell the word perfectly the first time. This seems like something that I should have already known but I have never taught in a first grade classroom and I am still learning from my mentor teacher. The goal right now for my class is to just have them writing the sounds they hear within the word. In chapter 7 Routman talks about how teachers should not focus on the correctness of students writing because it will reduce the quality of their writing by making them feel discouraged. When my teacher asks the students to write and they struggle with a word she has them pull the word out and asks them to tell her the sounds that they hear. With each sound they write down the letter and that is how they make up the spelling of the word. Even though most of the time the word is spelled wrong the students feel excited and good about themselves because they have completed writing. Another thing that I would like to develop some more expertise in is learning how to conference with my students about their writing. I know, from my own experiences, that having conferences about our writing is one of the easiest ways to benefit in writing. After reading Chapter 9 I do feel that I have some better ideas for ways that I can tie conferencing into my own classroom. I really enjoyed the idea of having a whole class conference for a couple reasons. First, the teacher is still able to maintain control of the class. Second, the student who is reading their writing can learn from their peers as well as show them their own strength in writing. While I really love the idea of peer conferencing I do not feel that it is appropriate for a First grade level because my students would not be able to focus on talking about their writing with their peers. That class time would just turn into talk time.
I feel that I also need to develop some expertise in how to organize daily writing after reading these chapters from Writing Essentials. I feel this may at first be a professional dilemma for me as well because there is so much that goes into the writing process that I fear I would get lost. There are so many facets of the writing process that students need to partake in that I would not get through them all in the proper amount of time or in the correct manner. However, I really like the idea of doing a Writer's Workshop for a couple reasons. First, I like that it sets aside a part of the day where the teacher and the students know they will be working on their writing. Second, it gives me as the teacher time to map out which part of the writing process I would be working on with the students that day. In chapter 8 Routman talks about how the layout of writer's workshop starts out with the teacher giving demonstrations on how students should be writing and then gradually releasing the responsibility of writing to the students. I think that this layout is perfect for a first grade class because they are just beginning to learn how to write and they need a lot of modeling still.
An idea I have to hybridize my literacy instruction is by tying in the Social Studies lesson my students are learning about right now. They are learning about rules and why they are important. We, as a class, have been talking a lot about who has power, authority and why certain people deserve power and authority. I believe an excellent way to tie in writing to this lesson would be to ask the students a time in their lives when they utilized their own power and authority. This is a place where they can tell a story of their own, which Routman said pushes the students want to actually write while also having them work on their writing skills. The bonus of tying in the writing assignment to the social studies lesson would be that while it was enriching the social studies lesson the teacher could also take the students through the process of prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and the publishing.
In order to follow her advice I agree with Alexa in that I need expertise in not focusing on looking at the grammar and spelling in their writing, or the "editing" features of it. I have found myself starting off conversations with children with the editing comments when looking at their writing. I need to stop starting those conversations off with an editing comment and instead with a positive. I focus too much on perfection, and I need to realize this is first grade and many of them are in the early stages of writing. I am going to focus on emphasizing the term of invented spelling that Routman discussed and having them focus on the sounds on the word, which is something we are heavily focusing on in reading. Another idea that Alex discussed was conferencing, I agree with her that the whole class conferencing would be very beneficial and also it allows for the incorporation of mini lessons. Right now my class is heavily based on these mini lessons, followed by individual writing. My students always want to share their work, therefore I believe I need to focus my expertise on the whole group conferencing so that they can share and learn from each other. However I need to provide enough modeling for my students to be able to contribute affective comments during this time. For example, I need to continue to work on starting with compliments. I disagree that peer conferencing would not work for first grade. Later this week our class is beginning peer writing or a writing buddy. We are hoping this turns into a way for students to receive feedback. I believe if we provide feedback in large group conferencing, move to writing buddies, then we can become experts with our students in peer conferencing. I would lastly like to become an expert in calling attention to literacy ideas in terms of the larger picture of writing and not talking about each one in terms of the standard. I want to show them these instead through group writing, mini lessons, read alouds, individual reading, individual writing (I also walk around to monitor and praise), and in group conferencing. All of these elements are part of a well-written piece, therefore if they are pointed out in all contexts they will be learned. If you provide adequate purpose for it being done, then the children will see reason to do it.
ReplyDeleteSome dilemmas I might encounter is that we haven't learned as much about proper writing instruction and may have a hard time getting it straight, as Alexa mentioned. I think that I personally may have a hard time not slipping into old ways at first and staying on track with the new ideas. Also putting time into the schedule for independent reading, read alouds, mini lessons, independent writing, and conferencing. It is a lot of time during the day. I may find the time not to include it all and I need to realize its importance. A dilemma all us teachers may face is criticism by others for not as much direct instruction, but I think you learn through experience and making mistakes.
I liked Alexa's idea of hybridizing instruction in the classroom (literacy in other subjects). I believe that is something that we can do across the board with all subjects, which allows students to see connections and realize importance of all subjects. I think incorporating read alouds of math books and other subjects allows for in depth discussion other than plot, characters, setting which I believe is important. One example of this is in my classroom, they have a science magazine in their book bags to read. One way I want to finesse in my room is to make reading fun. Not always do read alouds with asking questions at the end, but compare contract with movies, listening centers for books, have written responses to the book, and have them include one character or write as if you were the character. This allows different ways to access understanding of material.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI have learned a lot about teaching literacy these past two weeks. Like Alexa, I didn't know that my first graders were expected to count the sounds. For example; time. /t/ /i/ /m/ is what we want them to write, unless they know about the "evil e". This strategy is important and helpful. Students work on stretching out the word, which slows the word down and allows them to hear letter sounds they may otherwise not hear. When you stretch, you stick your hands around your mouth and pretend you are stretching your gum outwards. After the students stretch, they count the sounds helping them identify letter sounds easier. This technique gives the students a strategy that helps them write on their own. And during the beginning of the school year, my MT is looking to see if our students can at least demonstrate correct letter sound knowledge. And even though we don't work too much on writing letters correctly, I would like to see what upper elementary teachers expect from their students. Do teachers teach parts to whole? Or whole to parts? (Routman's ch. 7)
ReplyDeleteNo matter what, writing needs to be fun! Students need to enjoy writing, and not shy away and turn off when the pencil and paper comes out. In my classroom, I see a lot of timid students during writing, and it makes me sad. Once eager kids are now discouraged and negative towards learning. As teachers, it's frustrating that that reaction is almost immediate. The students don't give it a chance. So, it is important our students see writing to be new and exciting, therefore the appeal to practice is there. Routman talks about, "the focus on voice through meaningful writing. Voice is the writer's unique personality on paper, his own melody in words, her mark as an individual. And no two voices are alike." My MT also believes that program and format are constraining to a students' work, especially in younger students. She demonstrates freedom and thinking aloud. Right now, we are practicing "small moment stories" where students write about a true, personal short story where they zoom in one one specific thing. Now and then, we choose students who worked hard and give them an opportunity to share their small moment story with the class. This builds confidence and in turn gives students more incentive to practice writing.
In ch. 8 Routman talks about the potential of choice within structure. This is a great idea and emphasizes freedom and creativity for students which ultimately leads to successful writers. However, is this freedom helpful for younger students?
ReplyDeleteI am thinking about my classroom and our first graders. Recently we have being using sentence stems, such as: "I wilt when I'm…." "I bloom when I'm…" "I feel ecstatic when I'm…" etc… Only few students are able to continue these sentences with detail. But many students say, "I can't think of anything", "I don't know what to write". Is the format overwhelming? Do they need more freedom? But then I wonder, if we give these students the freedom, will they be able to generate ideas and write them on paper? I am going to need to work on boosting the class confidence and improve my ability to get them excited.
In order to follow Routman's advice, there are plenty of areas of expertise that I need to work and improve on. Specifically, I want to improve on teacher-student conferencing (ch.9). When is a good time to have a one on one conference? And what consistent instruction and expectations are appropriate for that genre of writing? Getting to know your students and their work will assist me. I like the idea of teaching peer conferencing. "Students can five useful and specific feedback noting what the writer has done well; what language is memorable; and what parts are interesting, confusing, or boring. Such peer interaction, especially when it is spontaneous, informal, and not heavily teacher directed is likely to help writers progress" (ch.9). Such conferencing with peers is also a great way to attempt to hybridize the literacy instruction with, for example, social studies. Students can practice their loud and proud "citizen" voices as they read aloud to a partner.