Launching A Community of Writers

Ron Reis Amanda Carr

“Meaningful change cannot take place without effective

informed teachers.” (Routman, 2000)

The best professional development is ongoing and teacher driven…and meets the needs of both the

teacher and learners.

“I looked up the road I was going and back the way I come, and since I wasn’t satisfied, I

decided to step off the road and cut me a path.”

(Maya Angelou, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now)

Optimal Learning Model

Learning occurs best when there are many opportunities to…

observe talk listen suggest collaborate try out make choices set goals evaluate

Optimal Learning Model

Relevance is a necessity. Purpose for writing is meaningful, useful and understandable for learners.

Classroom must be a comfortable, relaxed and collaborative social environment.

Learners are encouraged to take risks and are validated for their efforts.

Optimal Learning Model

Who Holds Book/Pen Degree of Explicitness/Support

___________________________________________________________________

Teacher / Student DEMONSTRATION

Teacher / Student SHARED DEMONSTRATION

Gradual Handover of Responsibility

Student / Teacher GUIDED PRACTICE

Student / Teacher INDEPENDENT PRACTICE

Demonstration

Teacher shows “how to do it” and students observe all parts of the writing process.

Learners do not have to perform. The teacher demonstrates that he/she enjoys writing.

Emulate but not imitate Teacher is viewed as a writer and not as a “talker-about-writing.”

Shared Demonstration

Teacher is still in charge, but learners collaborate on writing.

The learners interact and respond to create a joint text.

Teacher “holds their hand” while observing writers’ capabilities.

The shared writing experiences make it possible to write challenging text.

(add pic of Ron writing while others raising their hand to contribute?)

Guided Practice

* A learner’s guided practice writings are likely to be only as good as a teacher’s demonstrations.

* Errors are expected.

* Learners are monitors of their own work.

* Teacher is close by to validate, support, teach and give feedback.

* Takes place during whole class writing so that the teacher is available for roving conferences, whole-class sharing and one-on-one conferences.

Independent Practice

Learners have developed enough skill to be able to choose their own topics, problem solve, and monitor for themselves with minimum assistance.

Little independent practice because learners still rely on teacher for input on the writing process

Occurs once we have taught learners to show how to write different genres.

It is very important, as teachers, to ask yourselves, “What support do students

need to succeed with minimal guidance and how can I best

provide it?” (Routman, 2005)

Self-monitoring and Learner Monitoring

What works with one assignment may or may not determine the success of the next writing assignment.

It is imperative that teachers continue to monitor the effectiveness of their instruction.

Routman (2005) Suggests a series of questions on what

needs to be done next:

Why are the children’s writing samples so ineffective?

What have I failed to provide so students can be successful?

What else do I need to do? Should I abandon the project and start again?

Would additional demonstrations enable students to move forward?

Teach Writing the Way Real Writers Work

To teach writing focusing on the parts, i.e. spending weeks teaching sentence fluency or conventions, is not how writers work.

When teachers start with a whole piece of writing, they can look at the parts and connect them back with the whole

Teach whole-to-part-to-whole; do not

teach part-to-whole-to part.

Where to Begin… Start with a Story

Stories are a terrific way to bond with your learners.

For example, one day I told the class about one of the misadventures of my black lab, Fletcher. I had them hooked by the end of my first sentence.

“Stories are how we relate to one another in the world and form the necessary bonds that build trust. Family stories and traditions, everyday happenings – stories about our lives – are ‘easy

hooks’ for children to grab on to.”

Topics should be personal and relate to everyday events

Try telling stories about things that happened when you were the learners’ age.

This is a very personal process.

You may want to begin by telling the story first before you write it.

Saying the story out loud allows you to clarify your thinking.

You are able to think aloud which provides excellent modeling for your learners.

(pic of Ron talking?)

Kate DiCamillo says it all quite succinctly, “I put my heart on the page when I tell the story.”

Our learners will not easily share their life experiences in a meaningful, personal way until we share ours.

Genre Study: A Strategy That Works

There is no research suggesting which particular genres are most effective to teach. All effective writing includes description, detail, careful word choice, sentence fluency, and voice.

Think about adopting a broader stance for teaching genres:

Narrative genres – stories, fairy tales, personal narratives

Informational genres (explanation, procedures, persuasive pieces, essays, all about books.

Other genres – poetry, biography

Make schoolwide decisions regarding which genres to study! Help may be just around the corner. A group of teachers are working on this very problem and will be offering a list of suggested genres to study throughout each school year.

Where to Start – An Immersion Example

Genre – Fantasy

1. Your media specialist is an incredible resource. Approximately one month before we began to study fantasy, I asked our media specialist to compile a collection of fantasy books for my class. As with other genres studied, I particularly wanted books that had pictures or drawings and would take 20 – 30 minutes to read.

Where to Start – An Immersion Example

Genre – Fantasy

2. On the day we began our study, the books were laid out along the chalk tray, chart paper was taped to the blackboard, and the learners were asked to join me in the front of the classroom.

Where to Start – An Immersion Example

Genre – Fantasy

3. As the learners settled in for the lesson, I wrote the word “Fantasy” on the chart paper and asked them, “What do you know about fantasy?” As they responded, I wrote down their ideas. I then proceeded to read the first book, as a read aloud. The learners were again asked, what is characteristic of fantasies.

Where to Start – An Immersion Example

Genre – Fantasy

4. The procedure used above continued over the next week. A different colored marker was used each day as the children added their ideas to the chart paper. The children were also asked to discuss the common characteristics of the stories that had been read.

Where to Start – An Immersion Example

Genre – Fantasy

5. When I determined that our chart was exhaustive, I reorganized it and typed out copies for each of the class members. The chart appears below:

Characteristics of Fantasy Stories a story that could not really happen fake characters – giants, ogres, fairies,

witches talking animals – cats, dragons wolves action – something evil happens characters have - amazing powers supernatural powers funny sizes amazing transformations take place (people

turn into animals) exaggeration or lying takes place sometimes the settings are weird time travel may occur trickery and unpredictable actions may occur

Where to Start – An Immersion Example

Genre – Fantasy

6. Teacher modeling of the writing process is the next step. I have found that using a document camera more accurately simulates the writing process as compared to using chart paper. I literally sit at a desk with a sheet of paper and begin writing. Many of the learners start to predict each word as I write. When I stop to think, the learners often offer their suggestions as to what I should be writing.

Where to Start – An Immersion Example

Genre – Fantasy

7. For this story, it took a few sessions to complete my first draft. The learners were able to observe me thinking aloud, rereading again and again, revising often, and editing mistakes I had made. At one point, I was really stuck and the learners had an assortment of suggestions. I decided to ask them to write what they thought should happen next. They did and then we shared and discussed their writing.

Where to Start – An Immersion Example

Genre – Fantasy

8. After several revisions exploring ideas, organization, word choice, conventions, and sentence fluency, the story was published. The typed, final copy was read to the learners. Many of the children realized that revisions were even made while typing the final copy.

Where to Start – An Immersion Example

Genre – Fantasy

9. Learners need to begin to edit their own writing. Although this is difficult for many learners, it is nonetheless important for them to develop and use a grade appropriate, self-editing check sheet. Developing the checksheet was simple; using chart paper the learners brainstormed a list of edits which they could do on their own.

Self-Editing Checklist

Spelling___ Have you spelled all of the words correctly?___ Have you used the dictionary? (Read your writing backwards one word at a time

when you check for spelling.)Punctuation___ Does each sentence end with a punctuation mark?___ Have you placed commas before the conjunctions and, but, & or in compound

sentences?___ Have you used commas to set off items in a series?___ Do apostrophes mark contractions?Capitalization___ Have you started each sentence with a capital letter?___ Have you capitalized specific people, places, or things?Usage___ Have you misused any of the commonly mixed up homonyms such as: there, their,

they’re; to, too, two.Grammar___ Do your subjects and verbs agree?___ Have you kept your verb tenses consistent?

Where to Start – An Immersion Example

Genre – Fantasy

10. With the characteristics of fantasy and the editing check sheet in hand, the children began their first draft. Most of the learners were ready to begin their stories, but some couldn’t figure out where to begin. I suggested that they reread some of the books that had been read previously.

Where to Start – An Immersion Example

Genre – Fantasy

11. Over the next couple of days drafts were completed and often they were handed back because the learners had not even attempted to edit their story. Some truly made progress and seem now to better understand their responsibilities.

Where to Start – An Immersion Example

Genre – Fantasy

12. I also conducted a few editing conferences in which the stories were reviewed and discussed with an emphasis on what was done well. A writer’s paper was placed under the document camera. Then the writer and I would discuss the various parts of the story.

Where to Start – An Immersion Example

Genre – Fantasy

13. Second drafts were completed and the next step was to publish their finished products. Over the next two days, the learners typed up their final copy.

Secrets of Good Writers

As you proceed with launching a community of writers, keep in mind that good writers (Routman, 2005):

– Think about their writing all the time (not just while they are writing).

– Reread as they go. It helps their thinking.– Read the piece aloud to hear how it really sounds.– Read a lot, read quality literature, and read like a writer,

noticing what authors do.– Often write best in a quiet, organized space.– Don’t always love to write but love having written.– Get feedback from other writers.– Write with their reader in mind.– Revise as they go along, not just after they have written.– Know a lot about their topic, or find out what they need to

know.– Write to figure out what they want to say.