Family Message Journal

This is an example of the family message journal that we do in my classroom. The students love to write to a family member at home. Most importantly, students are writing to an audience. Found at www.primaryconcepts.com.

Chapter 12

Chapter 12-Make Every Minute Count

The teaching tip I found most helpful what letting students know that writing can be hard but that there are secrets that good writers know. These may include: thinking about their writing all the time, reread as they go, read the piece aloud to hear how it really sounds, read a lot, write everyday in quiet space, and stick with it even when the going gets tough. These are just a few but feel like these could help children that struggle each day with writing. I am going to make a poster in my classroom of the secrets of good writers. I think children could find this handy when struggling or for motivation. I try to motivate students by limiting the use of prompts that have no real audience as well. One thing we do is a family message journal. Each week, students write a letter to an adult at home. Parents write back and it is a continuous cycle each week. The children love to share what their parents have to say and get excited to write back to them. This is an example of writing to a real audience!

I have to say I’m guilty of giving my children writing prompts and they don’t know why I’m making them write it. This year, I plan to do a better job of making the writing purpose understood at the beginning of the lesson. Students will invest more in their writing and take more time if they understand the purpose.

            Most importantly, students need to have writing modeled. The best writers have had good models to show them what it should look like. Students need to be motivated by picking a topic of their choice and keeping writing simple and short. It should not seem like a job, this should be an enjoyment! 

Chapter 11

Chapter 11-Build on Best Practice and Research

Researchers have found some key research findings for all students K-12. First, students need to write everyday. They need to write for varied purposes and audiences to become fluent, competent writers. Writers who enjoy writing and are motivated to write do write more. As teachers, we need to understand social contexts and provide students with these experiences. In a classroom, writers who share ideas and respond helpfully to one another make it easier and more enjoyable for students to write.

I really liked the paragraph about how effective teachers are constantly reevaluating and rethinking their practices to improve student learning. There is no one best program to teach writing, good teachers make decisions based on research, teaching and learning experiences, and observations of students. Some of the most important aspects to remember when teaching writing include: Reading pieces aloud, receiving response, celebrating others efforts, and developing trust as a community of writers. Professional development is a big part of teaching high quality writing. Most of what teachers teach is a product of professional development that they have received. It is vital that professional development hat is received is aimed at excellent teaching at deep, lasting levels.  

I really enjoyed reading about how our beliefs about teaching and learning have changed over the years. It is amazing to see what we used to do and what we do now. I looked at the chart and plan to incorporate every item listed this year. One thing I really want to focus on is higher expectations for content and conventions. I teach first grade and never wanted to discourage children from writing. I am planning on having more conference time and using peer conferences to improve student writing.

This is an example of Kindergarten writing rubric. I chose to include this image because rubrics can be found at any age level. Some teachers believe they can only be used with higher grades. This is something simple that can help teachers. I found this at sbac.edu

Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Make Assessment Count

            There are two different ways to assess student writing. Assessment of learning is a way of assessing by standardized measures of assessments to check whether or not students are progressing. Assessment of learning is rarely used for daily instruction. Assessment for learning is a classroom-based assessment to inform parents, teachers, and students about student’s progress for a specific purpose of improving student writing.

            One way of assessing is by using rubrics. A rubric is a set of criteria for what needs to be included in a piece of writing. A content rubric provides criteria to frame writing and to define the task. An evaluation rubric provides criteria explaining how the writing will be rated or scored. Rubrics can be formal or informal. It is important to not apply rubrics in every piece of writing. When it comes to using a rubric, the author says to use professional common sense. It is not advisable to neither apply rubrics to all writing nor score all writing.

            There are several things to expect from students writing every single day. As a teacher, it is vital that we schedule writing everyday for 20 to 30 minutes. This even includes whole class share at the end of a lesson. The whole class share improves the quality of student’s writing. One thing I found beneficial is to assess the students writing everyday. This does not include a long process but can be very simple. I have always found it difficult to assess how the students are writing. I can do the assessments for learning through one-on-one conferences, whole-class shares, conversations, summaries, and evidence of revision and editing.  

This is an image of a teacher conferencing with a child during writing workshop. I liked how she was on his level and worked one-on-one conferencing with this student. Found at otterbein.edu

Chapter 9

Chapter 9-Conference with Students

            A writing conference is a meeting to discuss student work. Conferences help children grow as writers. There are a number of writing conferences: whole class, quick shares, on the run conferences, one-on-one formal conferences, and peer conferences. In my first grade classroom, I tend to do whole class share, on-the-run conferences, and one-on-one conferences. These all seem to be work the best in my classroom, even though I’m interested in doing the peer conferences. I struggle to find a way to do an effective way with 6 year olds doing peer conferences. The students do not have as much guidance and this seems to be relaxed where students are not getting anything out of their time.

            Conducting roving conferences is something that I usually do on a regular basis everyday. I liked the idea of having anecdotal notes where I can easily jot down how the students are doing and some specific guidance. This would be a great way to show the progress the student is making, and easily communicated with parents. There are several things that make a conference productive. These may include: having the student sit side by side, listen for and focus on the writer’s strengths and message, and narrowing the teaching focus to one or two major points.

            Most importantly, I liked how the author stated to be generous with praise. This means that information being relayed is not just towards one student, but modeling a response for all students. When you don’t think those little ears are listening, they really are! After many demonstrations and lots of practice, students begin to pick up on writing language and behavior in a whole-class share and in peer conferences.