First post in the new blog! I'm not sure if it is a good or bad thing it is for school, but considering that is why I created this blog I suppose it is fitting. I do intend to continue this blog after this class is over. Maybe it can even become my electronic teacher resource to accompany my 12 million binders full of methods and example lesson plans I have accumulated over the semesters.
Anyhow, enough about that. The following are my thoughts and feedback over chapters 1-5:
Right off the bat on the third page I am mesmerized by the writing workshop scenario described. It does not seem that farfetched, almost something attainable in my future classroom with the right preparation. The thing I like the most about this concept is that “At times during the year they have studied different genres together and written pieces in these genres, but regardless of the focus of study in the room, the students have maintained their ongoing project-like work”. I agree with this concept because I think so much of teaching, especially when it comes to reading and writing is not getting students to act like robots and produce pre-conceived work, but to introduce them to new things and let them add those skills and new knowledge to their interests and passions. Kelvin may have always loved to write, but now that he has studied fiction and learned how to become a better, more educated writer he is attempting to write a fiction story. Not everyone in the class has to write one and it is not a requirement, but it is pretty impressive that he is going about that anyways- all because a teacher showed him an outlet for his interests and gave him “a reason to write.”
On page 5 I LOVE the quote: “In writing workshops, teachers invite children to do all the things a writer really does: research, explore, collect, interview, talk, read, stare off into space, co-author, and yes, prewrite, draft, revise, edit and publish”. I have never approached writing in this way, either in my elementary experiences or in my short experience being an intern teacher. It makes so much more sense to ask students to really dig deep and explore writing as real writers do, as well as teach them how to correctly work through the process of writing.
In chapter 2 I really like Ray’s reasoning behind why to have writing workshop in a class every day. One point that makes particular sense to me is that even if students are writing throughout the day in other subject areas, the “curriculum of writing itself gets lost”. I would beg to say that you could even explore other curriculum's within writing workshop, all the while specifically studying writing. In my first grade class right now they are working on science letters. Each person is becoming an expert on a plant or animal that is dependent on another plant or animal and they are writing a letter to that plant or animal thanking them. For example one girl is researching the clown fish. They have to scientifically research clown fish and find out about them, especially how they live in sea anemone. Her letter is to the sea anemone thanking it for giving it a safe place to live and not stinging it. In this portion of writer’s workshop they are exploring the genre of letters, while simultaneously exploring science and nature and looking into something that may be of their interest. The distinction is, however, that the emphasis is on the writing and process of putting together the letter, not the science being learned. The fact that they are also learning about another subject simply enriches the writing process.
The last thing I also wanted to note was in chapter 2 as well and that is that Ray calms the fears of the nervous teacher. Like anything else it will take time to develop a fantastic, functional writer’s workshop, but in the meantime we can use the basics we do know to encourage our students to write and give them the time to do it. Students spending time just writing is much more valuable than it may seem.
As a side note- I cracked up at the story about Margaret and her failed attempt at teaching poetry. I could definitely see something like that happening in my classroom one day. I guess it’s not a bad idea to preface a writing workshop with “While I am still your teacher and will be guiding you along the way, this is a place for you all to really explore writing, both independently and together”, and go from there.
You make so many smart points in your post. I especially liked the part about the content area writing. Ray is a little extreme for me in this regard - I like your example and can see exactly how writing might not be lost in this integration, but you sound like you would be mindful of the writing instruction involved. I taught a unit to 5th graders integrating Holocaust study and poetry writing, which worked very well an enriched the writing process (as you so smartly put it!)
ReplyDeleteThe story about Margaret made me smile, too. When we learn along with them, it means laughing at ourselves sometimes. :)
Beth