Jennifer Montoya, a fourth grade teacher at Aguilar Elementary School created her own creative writing unit after noticing for years that students took no interest in writing because they had no motivation or inspiration. She states that her personal inspiration for creating this writing unit was derived from the award winning children's author Chris Van Allsburg. Chris Van Allsburg is most successfully noted for his two award winning books Jumanji and The Polar Express, which he both illustrated and wrote. Ms. Montoya's inspired creative writing unit demonstrates one of Routman's major overall points about teaching writing. It is essential to genuinely learn to love writing and demonstrate that towards students, so they can become enthusiastic about it as well. A wonderful way to begin to appreciate good writing is by relying on the reading/writing connection and simply reading books. Having an author that inspires them can assist teachers in become more enthusiastic about writing and cause them to gain a special appreciation for it. Ms. Montoya is obviously very passionate about Chris Van Allsburg's writing style and she brings that to her classroom by channeling the unique creative aspects of his stories into her lesson plans. This same principle can apply to students as well. Not only can having a favorite author make students want to read more, but it also effects different aspects of their writing. I remember some of my favorite authors as a child included Judy Blume, Paula Danziger, and Eric Carle because their writing styles and storytelling always engaged me. Students are more likely to become inspired to write when they see the value behind a particular author’s writing to create engaging stories that have true meaning within them. My final concluding discussion question are this: Do you think that all teachers should find an author that inspires them? How can having a favorite author be beneficial to students in learning to write? Who were your favorite childhood (K-12) authors and how do you think they have influenced your writing style to make it what it is today?
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Ms. Montoya has Chris Van Allsburg as her mentor in teaching writing. I think all teachers should have someone, a mentor, either a certain author that influenced them, or any person that has guided them to teaching, and their love for helping children succeed. If an author has helped blossom a teacher's way of teaching, and the teacher can then reflect that love to the students, then success has happened. The light bulbs have turned on.
ReplyDeleteI think that students should not only have one author to aspire to write like, but have many, because all authors have different voices, different ways to voice their creativity in their work. I think that if Ms. Montoya saw a change in her student's writing, a positive change, then progress has been made, but at the same time, I hope that Ms. Montoya included many other types of writing, from different authors, to show students the diversity of writing.
I do agree with both Ms. Montoya, and Reggie Routman that there is a HUGE connection between reading and writing. If a student reads more, then the student will have diverse ways in which to write. Reading can inspire students to write more creatively with an array vocabulary. Connecting reading and writing, while making it an enjoyable process, is the way to engage all students to creatively express their thoughts into words.
It is an important as educators to find something related to writing that inspires us to model the craft of writing well. I feel that Ms. Montoya had a great idea to motivate her students to become more passionate and encouraged to write. However, I would enjoy highlighting a variety of authors and using their work as an inspiration for each new writing assignment. Highlighting various authors gives children the opportunity to explore various genres and creativity within writing and reading. In addition, students will discover who authors are and what books they are known for writing, and the importance of their work and the reasons they might write specific stories. Teachers can use other forms of inspiration from books and the world around us. For example, a teacher can use artwork to make writing more enjoyable, popular places in the city students go to school at, and movies or wordless picture books. Having a favorite author can also be beneficial to children in their journey as writers, because the children will hopefully want to write like the author or emulate his or her style and choose that author’s books to read and share with family and friends. As a child, I never focused on authors of books; rather I focused on illustrations that were colorful and vivid. I feel the more descriptive a book is, the more intrigued I am.
ReplyDeleteIf a teacher has a favorite author that has inspired them, I think it is great for them to share with the class. But it is important that teachers don’t push that specific author on children and let them explore all genres. Having an author that inspires you is great because you often read a lot from that author and the more you read the more you learn, so that is a positive. However, if students always focus on that author they may not adventure out and learn about other styles of reading and writing. It is essential that students experience a variety to expand their knowledge and vocabulary. One author that inspired me is Ann M. Martin, author of Babysitters club and Ann Brashares author of Sisterhood of Traveling Pants. I loved both of these books and series so much and reading them I found a lot of myself in them. I think that has taught me to write in my own voice and showed me that showing your personality in writing can be entertaining and engaging!
ReplyDeleteI feel that if children find an author they really enjoy and can read a lot from that author it will improve their writing. Young children have to be inspired in order to want to do something. If they read then that author’s work will reflect in their writing. It will help give them ideas for story lines and make them more interested in creating great stories. I still remember reading Carolyn Keene and Cecily von Ziegesar. They were my two favorite authors and I read every book in the Gossip Girl series and as many as I could in the Nancy Drew series. They have influenced me to make my writing interesting, give it a twist and not give away the story line too quickly to the reader. If a teacher has a favorite author and shares it with her class she can show her excitement and influence the students. The students need to be able to know that the teacher enjoys doing what she assigns to her class. This will definitely make children more apt to write fun stories I think.
ReplyDeleteWow. This video was inspiring. I probably would not have thought about using an author I or my students enjoyed to help improve their writing. I agree with Danielle when she says that young children have to be inspired in order to want to write something. However I think that also applies to us as adults. When we have a drive or a certain aspiration due to the motivation we get from one of our favorite authors, our writing reaches new heights. Students also will start to mold their writing using examples from their favorite authors. I remember when I was younger I loved mystery books, so when I began to write, I copied the format from my favorite Nancy Drew author. The writing was so detailed and mysterious. In addition to that it always grabbed my attention as a reader. So when I began to write, I aimed to keep my audience guessing and wanted to find out what was coming next. This video gave me new insight on how I can inspire the students in my classroom and keep them engaged.
ReplyDeleteIt is very important to inspire children to write. Using your favorite authors is a great idea, because not only will you be excited about introducing these books to your students but the students will pick up on your enthusiasm and want to learn more about your favorite author and their books. It is also important to encourage students to find an author they like and will want to follow. I know in 4th grade I fell in love with the American girls series on Molly, and in 7th grade I fell in love with Joan Lowry Nixon's books. Anything to get students to read is a good thing, because that will also make them better writers.
ReplyDeleteI think I was in about 2nd grade that I decided that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. I loved reading and was completely inspired by authors. Books by Maurice Sendak, Ann Martin, and Mike Thaler were some of my favorites. As I got older, JK Rowling, Gail Carson Levine, and Rachel Vail were incredible influences on my writing. Not only did I love reading all of their books, but I would write my own stories with them in mind. It was sort of like having a role model to look up to for guidance and ideas. Therefore, I think finding a favorite author is a great way to help children learn to write because it will encourage them to read more often. The more they read, the more they’ll enjoy writing, and, as Routman has said, if they enjoy writing, they’ll become great writers. Finally, to agree with what the others have said, I also think Ms. Montoya should have found inspiration from more than one writer because it would allow her students to gain more perspective and have more opportunities to find their own writing role model.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important for teachers to find authors that inspire them. By doing so, teachers will be more apt to teaching writing to students. Teachers can model their own writing after their favorite writers and then model that writing method for their students. One of my favorite children’s authors is J. K. Rowling. I think she is a fantastic writer and I would be lucky if I could model her writing. She has such a talent for creating a fantasy world in which readers can lose themselves in. If I could learn to write like Rowling, I believe that my students would benefit from me teaching them how to become better writers. Students should also continuously read in order to become better writers. By reading more and more, students gradually develop better writing skills. So, it is important to stress the importance of reading and finding favorite authors.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is absolutly great! It is important for teachers to dind inspiring authors to help form writing lessons. Not only does this help students stay engaged because when they see that their teacher is excited they are more likely to get excited as well. When a students can find an author that they can connect to it helps them learn a certain way of writing. Once again this also helps form a connection with reading and writing. It almost forces a student to read but when they find an author they like to read then they find themselves reading numerous books by that authoer because they are enjoying it. When i was a kid my favorite book was Where the Wild Things are, and still to this day it is one of my favorite( yet to see the movie though). I feel that it helped me learn to write with my imagination because this book is about a young boy who uses his imagination to have a great time in a world that isnt real. I cant wait to be a teacher and use this technique in my very own classroom.
ReplyDeleteBY: WILLIAM BUNRS
I think that it is absolutely important for students and teachers alike to find authors to inspire them. It is a valuable tool for developing writing skills to find an authors whose writing style is something that we are inspired by. Finding this motivation and inspiration is a great way to see the possibilities in writing and showing what final published writing should look like. I think it is important to stress to students that they should emulate the writing styles of authors, but to know that there is flexibility in creating their own writing style and voice. I think that they should know that they should not spend so much time concentrating on the stress of mimicking a certain author's style. I was also inspired by authors like Judy Blume, Roald Dahl, Shell Silverstein, Dr. Seuss and other authors who were relatable and had some humor in their writing. All of these authors works are stories that are interesting and engaging to read and I think that's what the main goal of my writing is. I think that instilling that passion and enjoyment of writing is a vital element of teaching writing and making reading enjoyable is another important aspect of writing instruction.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a good idea for teachers to find an author that inspires them. Reading and looking at what draws them to this particular authors book may be useful. When reading a book that appeals to you, you discover many things that are linked to writing. First and foremost, the reader sees what kind of writing style attracted him or her. The use of authors words to help you visualize, relate, and understand the writing can affect the way one decides to write. If this particular writing style has interested you, it is possible that you might want to model your writings in the same way. Doing this will allow the writer to be confident that his or her writing will appeal to its readers. Personally, during my adolescent years, Annette Curtis Claus was my favorite author. The way she was able to describe certain scenes in her book were amazing. I definitely feel that her writing is reflected in my writing today, since I tend to be descriptive. The thing that has remained with me is to be able to create the readers imagination by showing the reader and not telling them in plain text.
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