Secrets to Successful Student Writing

Working hard on an Early Release… Last of school Early Release, that is



This afternoon our UP and 4th PLCs met to analyze their District On-Demand results for the 2010-2011 school year. After scoring and analyzing the data collected on their class and their grade levels, teachers spent some time reflecting on what contributed to their students' successes for the year. Here is what they had to say about their Secrets to Successful Student Writing.


• Conferring in small groups: I take kids with similar needs and meet with them in small groups. “I’d be talking with one child and the others would be listening and even sharing their ideas. Then I’d address the next child’s need and the others would benefit. It was a win/win!“


• Using the “Sandwich Approach” to teaching writing: This means we talk about different situations, audiences, forms, and purposes for writing right from the start. We then write like the models, confer with students, and end our unit with an independent try-it (on-demand) for both the child and for me to see how they do writing in this way independently.


• Whole Group Discussions about Writing (Conferences): We end our writing time with a student offering to put their writing under the document camera and we all have an opportunity to confer with that writer through questions, suggestions, and compliments. It builds community. They really take their peers thoughts and ideas to heart, and become better writers in the end. To finish it off, we let the writers go back into their writing to add/ delete/ tweak their work as they seek to improve their message and further their purpose from the whole groups’ feedback.


• Using SFAP(T) throughout the writing process: It really benefits our kids to have them SFAP during their genre writing so that when it comes time to show their writing skills independently (on-demand) it’s part of what they do—not just a “thing” they do only on on-demand.


• Writing in Family Journals: Students have much more schema and practice writing effective letters and paragraphs. They are continually writing with a focus and working to organize their writing to develop it to meet their audiences’ needs.


• Emphasizing Audience Awareness throughout the day/year: We talk about audience all the time- when speaking, listening, viewing, writing, etc. They know it’s important and they understand that different audiences have different needs.


• A Context Approach to Conventions: I use my read aloud to draw their attention to particular a word an author uses instead of a boring word or one that didn’t match their message or the intended audience. We also pull our striking sentences and chop them up, talk about the punctuation- it’s effect on the meaning, and work with the grammatical aspects of words.


• Writing Partners: We had both in class partners to offer one another feedback and we had 5th grade writing partners. The 5th graders read their buddy’s work and conferred with them as they have had their teachers confer with them. Talk about a Win/Win!


As you can see, the student writers at BES are making great strides due to their teachers’ efforts to set them up for success. Take a moment to congratulate yourself for your efforts to grow our young writers and share your greatest success snippet below.

Questions 2 & 3 (Writing to Learn and Demonstrate Learing/ Collaborating)

How does writing help you to learn?

 Writing it down helps you think about it.(K)
 It helps me learn about different things like science and math (K)
 Next time you look at it, you can remember. (K)

 It helps to keep it in your brain and you can go back and look at it (1st)


NOTICE THE VALUE THEY PLACE ON WRITING TO LEARN AND DEMONSTRATE LEARNING. THEY “GET IT” AT THIS YOUNG AGE. THEY UNDERSTAND THAT IT SERVES A GREATER PURPOSE.


How does talking about your writing help you be a better writer?

 It gives you ideas. (K)

 It helps me describe more. (K)

 When you talk before you write, it helps you think about it. (K)

 When I read my writing to other people I can see mistakes and fix them. (K)

 When you talk about your writing, you can ask questions and give comments about it. (K)

 Talking about it gives you more ideas and it keeps you from missing up and wasting your time. (1st)

 If you get a little wrong you can fix it, so keep a pencil with you when you’re talking. (1st)

 Other people can tell you things that you didn’t think about before. (1st)

 It gives me better ideas and helps me to think of more ideas and details. (1St)


WOW! LOOK AT THE VALUE OF COLLABORATING! IF OUR EARLY PRIMARY KIDS CAN UNDERSTAND THE PURPOSE OF TALKING ABOUT WRITING… WOW!

Showcase Portfolio- K/1s respond to "What do good writers do?"

Check out some of the comments our K’s and 1st graders are saying about



What do good writers do?


• Leave spaces between their words and don’t keep saying “and” over and over. They put periods at the end of sentences. (K)


• Use “juicy words”, describe and read over. (K)


• Reread things before they write more.(K)


• Sound out words or find the words in the room. (K)


• Have to practice a lot and check what they’re doing. (K)


• Think before they write and use picture clues. (K)


• They reread, ask questions, and add a title. (1st)


• They think first before they write. They have good pictures and details. (1st)


• Writers need to be polite and choose good words. They need to reread and check for mistakes. (1st)


• Good writers ask questions. They think about what they are doing to write about and stretch out words. (1st)


• Use juicy words, reread and persevere. (1st)






DID YOU NOTICE THE AMAZING CRAFTS, STRATEGIES, AND GOOD HABITS OUR YOUNGEST WRITERS ALREADY UNDERSTAND AND VALUE!

Showcase Portfolio- A Valuable Tool for BOTH Teachers and Students

Teachers are taking time, in this last month of school, to interview their students regarding their growth as writers. Gone are the days of “Letter to the Reviewer”. Gone are the days of the “dreaded 4th grade portfolio” that is scored, filed, and never seen again. Gone are the days of student’s working a piece of writing to death.


Now, with our Showcase Portfolio, we welcome STUDENT Reflection in the form of a conversation or interview. It is there that students can share how they’ve grown—based on our OCS beliefs about writing. The boxes are small, but the information is powerful. It is in our Showcase Portfolios that students have CHOICE in selecting their entries that showcase them as writers. It is in this folder that new teachers gain insight about the students they will welcome into their classes in August. It is in this new Showcase Portfolio that we show (once again) how much we value our young writers’ thoughts, ideas, and products.


Deb Sullivan and Vicki Greenlee spoke about the reflective interview process (and Showcase Portfolio) this year. They commented that it’s going much easier because:


• We’ve become more comfortable and understand the purpose and process better


• We’ve used the language all year long with the kids (i.e. “This is writing to demonstrate your learning. Now, let’s reflect…Let’s take time to talk about…Good writers…”


• We’ve “interviewed” the kids and made it fun. They are not concerned about fishing for the “right” answer, but know we just want their reflective response.


• I’ve taken the time to really think about my notes because I know I’ll use them next year to relearn about each child. They will be a great reminder to me and good information for their new teacher.


• It’s going much faster- the kids are ready to respond to the questions.


Next Post: K/1 student reflections on What makes a good writer? You won't want to miss it!

Writing Program Review @ BES

We've written, reflected, walked-through, and reflected some more... and then some more. Here is what you all have said about our year of writing and progress over time.

Our PLC Celebrations
&
Next Steps

As Teachers of Writing 2010-2011

"WE LOVE WRITING!!! "

Celebrations!
Students seem to:
• enjoy writing
• have developed a love for writing
• have an understanding of the writing process and the different reasons for writing
• write in all content areas
• have a basic understanding of genres when entering 4th grade and build upon this throughout the year
• have a better understanding of writing to an audience and how writing to a different audience can affect their  
     piece• are more aware of the correct use of grammar and conventions
• have more schema when asked to write to a prompt
• have stamina when it comes to their writing pieces
• show growth as writers in their progress from picture writers’ to sentence writers
• use of model text before starting a unit (their noticings),
• show their awareness level of audience
• use of family journals

As teachers we feel:

• we've created a culture where students love to write
• we are using more graphic organizers to help support our students in writing.
• we have started to help students determine importance in writing and not writing everything
• are all having our students reflect and explain more of their thinking in all subject areas.
• that a lot of our students’ demonstrate to learn and reflective writing is done on note cards/paper and collected, so they wouldn’t be in a notebook to look at. Is there a standard for our notebooks?

And yet, we are also committed to improving writing at BES and know the indirect and direct impact meeting those goals will have on student learning. So we have Next Steps.

We will...
• continue to model effective writing to learn strategies and hold kids accountable for organization SO THAT students will have effective organized practices for recording and accessing information for future use.

• incorporate more common texts for students to read in content areas SO THAT students will have an opportunity to write about their thinking and new learning and how their thinking has changed throughout the unit of study.


• look for more authentic opportunities (e.g., contests, magazines, newspapers), for student to publish their writing SO THAT students are writing for a real world purpose.


• intentionally incorporate more technology into the writing process (e.g. PhotoStory, PPT, Wordle, Glogster, etc.) in various content areas SO THAT students have multiple opportunities and outlets to demonstrate their learning using 21st century technologies.


• include more cross grade-level experiences for our students and opportunities for them to collaborate outside of the writer's workshop SO THAT they learn to grow from one another and we further foster collegial student relationships for the purpose of growing.


• continue to meet in PLCs to share new ideas and strategies for collaborating. Share WPSs SO THAT we continue to learn and grow from one another and our instruction will improve.


• offer more feedback to students SO THAT they will have more specific and descriptive information with which to grow as learners


• include reflection opportunities that are more integrated across content areas SO THAT students can synthesize their new learning and make meaning in other disciplines and real world contexts.


We're on our way. We've got a plan. Yes, we are the B.E.S.T.!!!!!

Podcast Clip about Conferring with Patrick Allen

As we begin to read our newest professional book club book- Conferring: They Keystone of Reader's Workshop by Patrick Allen I am quite sure you're coding the text with your thoughts- including your questions. I just bet you wish you could pick up the phone and just pick his brain for a few minutes. Well, you can't but F

ranki Sibberson of Choice LIteracy can... and did!

In this podcast, she chats with Patrick Allen about how teachers can develop conferring skills. 

Check it out at  http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/1449.cfm

Also, you can follow Patrick's blog, All-en-A-Day's Work, at:

http://all-en-a-days-work.blogspot.com/

What makes a Great Share Square by BES students

We are always looking to improve our students' understanding and know the power of the Share Square. At BES, we understand that this time when we gather, as a whole class, in a circle to do more than "share their learning. It's that, for sure, but some days it's also a forum for exchanging ideas and discussing issues, making connections from our reading (and other subject areas) lives to the world, and constructing meaning for ourselves and each other, one idea at a time." "It's about tone, it's about respect, and it's part of the language we use as we live and learn together..."  (Miller)

As thoughtful educators, we know that "providing children with opportunities to articulate their thinking honors their voices and strengthens the reciprocity between oral and written communication. In addition, the share lets children model literacy as teachers while it empowers them as learners." (Kempton)  We know that this conversation allows for students to explore a topic in depth. "Because the leader [teacher] does not provide answers, participants are challenged to think for themselves. By trying out their ideas and exchanging and examining opinions, students build their answers  and develop their own ways of understanding the selection (concept)."  (GBF)
Watch this video to see what our own students have already internalized about The Share Square.

What do your students think makes a great Share Square?

Miller, Debbie. 2002. Reading with Meaning
Kempton, Sue. 2007. The Literate Kindergarten.
The Junior Great Books Foundation. 1999. An Introduction to Shared Inquiry