"Going Informational"

When First reading the chapter on "Going Informational", I thought about what the best way to teach informational writing could be. What better way to teach than to show? By reading research, students will see models of good informational writing and be able to emulate the style. I found this video about a program that makes researching fun and interesting for students. This resource (SIRS Discover) is a user friendly way for students to choose a topic and search it. The results of the search come up with credible research that is at the reading level that students can understand. This is a great way for students to begin their research for their informational pieces while at the same time reading great examples of what research should look like. Do you think this is a good resource for students to use in order to learn informational writing in an informational way? What other things can teachers do in order to make the process of research easier for students?

In Chapter 8: Unlock the Door to Revision, Spandel shows the reader the steps for students to take while creating their final draft of a writing assignment. She focuses on each of the six traits, and how to introduce each trait to students. I found this clip to be one way in which we as future teachers can use this technique to engage students in helping them to look at writing from a new perspective. The Emerald Lagasee perspective of BAMM.
Questions to think about: Do you think this analogy of making a meal as to writing better is accurate? Why or why not? Would you use this in your classroom in the future? At what age do you think this would be appropriate? Do you think this role of the media is beneficial to young students?

peer review lab

In chapter 8 of Creating Writers Through 6-Trait Writing, Spandel says that we should encourage students to work with each other as much as possible.
She also emphasizes that as teachers, we should not make our students dependent on us.
We should not be the person that the students should go to all the time.
By pushing our students to work together more we can motivate them to be more independent.
Take a look at this video.
It is an example of a peer editing workshop done in a 4th/5th grade mixed classroom. How do you feel about this revision and editing process?
Do you think it is beneficial for the students?
Do you see any strengths and weaknesses in this program?
Can anything be improved?
How do you feel overall about this peer review lab?

Brainstorming Made Easy & Fun

As we’ve learned from day one in this class, writing is a process. Rome wasn’t built in a day, after all. As Spandel says in Chapter 7, the steps to the writing process are Experience, Prewriting, Drafting, Sharing, Revising, Editing, Publishing, and Assessing. There are so many different experiences that a student can draw from to write about, but it is the prewriting stage where students often find themselves stuck.

Sometimes, students have too many ideas, and sometimes, students can’t think of a single thing to write about. A student who is a strong essay writer might have a difficult time creating a short story, just as a great student poet might be unsure of what to say in an essay. Brainstorming and prewriting can be daunting and chaotic.

As I was searching the web about teaching the writing process, I stumbled upon this brief video about story starter picture cubes. These cubes are used to help students who are stuck on the prewriting stage figure out exactly what they’re going to write about. I thought this was not only a really fun and innovative way to get students excited about writing, but that it was also a way to take the pressure off the beginning stages of the writing process. Sometimes, deciding what to write about is the hardest part of writing, but using materials such as the picture cubes is a great way to fix that. Also, these cubes can be something students make themselves. What a fun project that could be.

My question is: do you think innovative tools such as the picture cubes could really help a student’s writing process, or are there other ideas you find more useful?

Also, to add a fun little free write to this, write a brief paragraph involving popcorn and a space ship. Can't wait to read what you come up with.

Do Rubrics Stifle Creativity?

This video provides opinions from different parents and teachers on the use of rubrics in their classrooms. I thought this video was interesting because rubrics have become a controversial issue between teachers and students as well. Throughout these interviews, teachers have expressed that rubrics no only help organize writing, but they lay out expectations. Many of us have heard that we need to set our expectations with our students right from the beginning. I believe that this statement is valid. Besides expectations, the another professor states that rubrics help grading to be less subjective and more objective. This way students know what is expected of them. The grading is done fairly and they know what the teacher was looking for before they turned in their paper. Another huge point brought up as that rubrics stifle creativity in writing. Sometimes I do believe this to be true, but I also realize that it depends on the teacher. There are some teachers who reiterate using voice and uniqueness in writing. That is what should be done in classrooms. Even though we give rubrics as guidelines, we should not forget that we want our students to bring out their own voice in their writing. These expectations that we are setting can only make our students more successful in writing and not hold them back. Do you think that creativity has been lost in classrooms today? How can we continue to make writing more objective? Are rubrics the answer? Would you use them in your classroom? Do you think it is a good idea to involve your students in the expectation process but having them help you make the rubric?

And Now for Something Funny--A Virus Walks into a Bar

As we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, I thought it might be fun to look at humor in the classroom. How well does humor help students learn? To illustrate the potential for humor and learning, check out the video above: A virus walks into a bar and other science jokes. My question to you is this: what strategies have you run across that use humor in the classroom to help students learn? Some teachers like Prof. Jim Brown use funny photos to illustrate a point he's making in class. Others are just naturals when it comes to using humor. Do you think you'll be good at using humor? Or is it a special talent that some people have and others don't?

"Adding Flavor" to Student Writing!

As writers we sometimes struggle finding the best word to convey a message or notion. Some subjects are more difficult than others to write about using voice. Thus far as a tutor in writing have you encountered trouble in helping students find their voice in a writing piece? Have you had difficulty encouraging better word choice in student’s writing? As Spandel (2009) discusses in chapter five, “Adding Flavor: Voice, word choice, and sentence fluency,” there are writing ingredients that keep the reader engaged and represent good writing. Spandel (2009) goes on to describe this interaction of “ingredients,” as voice being the main component and “word choice and fluency are the first cousins of voice and enhance voice tremendously” (Spandel, 2009, p. 86). A reader will most likely not be pulled into a text if the writing lacks detailed, alluring, and expressive vocabulary that flows from one page to the next. The Empowering Writers workshop featured above discusses great lessons to teach students as they develop in the writing process. It is amazing to see the end result of a student’s writing after these notions were mentioned. There are five characteristics mentioned including: “beginnings, elaborative detail, suspense, main event, and endings” (Empowering Writers video, Auray, 2009). I found these to be characteristics of writing that are harder to teach and explain to students without modeling and having them practice. The presenter shared great examples of student writing developing as a result of these lessons taught. These are writing characteristics that are more likely to develop naturally, because they deal with student’s finding their voice in their writing. However, with the help of the teacher modeling and creating rich text environments, students will develop their vocabulary and fluency, which will then support their creativity within their writing. I believe, that showing the students, as discussed in the video, the difference between hearing writing that is boring as opposed to writing with voice and elaborate word choice, students will want their writing to sound just as great as the later (Empowering Writers video, Auray, 2009). Lastly, I would agree with Spandel (2009) who uses read aloud as an example of demonstrating voice, word choice, and fluency (Spandel, 2009, p. 88). Most children are always engaged when reading a great book aloud to them and this is one of the best opportunities to teach lessons concerning reading and writing. Do you believe if the teacher shows more interest in student work and encourages them to share more of what they are writing about, students will want to not only impress their teacher but will learn how to write with more meaning and detail? Are these five characteristics of writing something you would want to incorporate in your classroom? Have you experienced any challenges teaching one or more of the five characteristics, and how so?