Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Writing Workshop- Katie Wood Ray: Chapters 6-11
I know this was alot of reading- but I hope you found it beneficial. After reading chapters 6-11 in Katie Wood Ray's "Writing Workshop," what ideas have changed your thinking about the teaching of writing? What ideas would you like to be sure to try out in your classroom this year?
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5 comments:
a couple things:
Does anyone have the book "Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life"?
Changes in my teaching: Really being a writer myself - I used to draw my pics on the smart board for them to see how I show what I'm thinking, then I'd write in front of them to show how I write what I see in my head.....
Katie Wood Ray really suggests not writing during writing workshop for the small group instruction. She states we should teach the teaching point, then while conferring with students one - on - one, share our writing and how we did that after the fact. Really makes teacher accountable for keeping a notebook his or herself. Lots of examples needed to share with students.
New for me - I actually stopped on the beach during vacation, and looked around like a writer..and wrote. Hmmm..interesting concept. "Actions speak louder than words"...but in one-on-one conferences best, i guess.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the "world work" homework. I know so many are against MORE homework...what ages should be expected - requested to add to their writer's seed collecting and how would that look?
I loved the idea of doing writing excercises. This seems like a nice idea for students who are inbetween writing pieces or just having difficulty getting started.
The list of choices during independent writing is nice too. You can easily refer the students to the choices and they can take ownership of how their time is spent. SOme type of management system will be needed to monitor student progress during the marking period. Katie Wood Ray also mentions having expectation for completed pieces. My question is: how do you tie that expectation into our grading system...or do we at all?
Anne, I agree with you about the teacher writing. It is really going to take effort for me to find time to write in my notebook. I was lucky I could read this book with two small children at my ankles all day.
I interpreted the homework, like we do "Read 20 minutes". You would almost need a log signed by the parents to verify that the kids are writing. It does add more homework...
I was also interested in the book "Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life". Interesting idea. Some of the exercises sounded like some of our "I prompts", but I think it is more than that. It will be interesting to check that out. I like the idea of the "Thinking Spot"...balanced with highly productive writing. I would like to post in student writing notebooks, "What writers might be doing during independent writing time". I would also like to give them pg. 70..Kinds of entries. It is a good reminder of all the things you might try in your notebook. In addition I like the "acting as if". (pg. 67) It sets a high expectation for everyone to be engaged in some kind of writing work. When I did the Units of Study mini lessons last year and "acted as if" students would do the task, they usually went above and beyond my wildest expectations! I also found myself on vacation thinking, "I could write about that". Now I just need that notebook next to me more often, like the Writing Workshop book is.
I think as far as writing in front of the students-we do want to do it some times. On pg 45, Katie Wood Ray even talks about teachers being "those who have experieince with struggle". I think from time to time, students need to see us as writers who struggle.
When I read about what she thinks about homework, I saw it as soemthing that can't be a regular homework assignment. The kids will need to do their "world work"- see the world through a writer's eye. I see this starting off very slowly and developing as they become better able to do this. I think the older kids will be able to do this earlier on than the younger ones. At some point, I would like to do a evening parent presentation on the writing workshop approach. Then we can have parents help encourage their students to see these small moments. The students willthen only write what they need to remember so they can come in the next day and do the "desk work".(pg 103) So I think sometimes kids will actually do some writing at home but it won't be much more than a "sneeze"
I was struck by the discussion about how teachers will always feel uneasy with that slightly out of control feeling. But when that is present, the workshop is probably working well. We have to get away from the factory mindset.
I will share the Beverly Cleary story on pg. 103 to give an example of world work so the desk work will be successful. In addition I would like to share at Open House the ideas on Pg 104-106 for homework....Living a writerly life is the writer's homework. Most important work is done away from the desk....Homework or World work. I also liked the relationships on pg. 116. (Writer's Notebook-painter's palette; learning to read like a writer like a seamstress visiting a dress shop and getting your writing ready is a lot like getting dressed in the morning. Readers expect us to have done certain things with our writing before we send it out just like people in the world expect us to do certain things when we get ready in the a.m. ) I think second graders would really get that and hopefully take more time rereading and revising. Lastly on pg. 117, I like the ideas about why it is more valuable to teach conventions in small group or with individuals rather than whole class. The list on 118 is a great list of things to be sure we cover, to get the student's writing ready to "go out into the world. "
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