Writing Instruction - What the Research Shows

Spend time with a toddler, and you will find yourself answering the question “Why?” dozens of times an hour.  Spend time with teachers hearing about a new program or initiative to be introduced into their school, and you will hear the same question.

Understanding the why behind any change helps us both assess the relevancy of new ideas, form our own opinions, and determine the priority we will give to the initiative. One of the least understood areas of elementary standards falls under the area of writing.  Research is helping educators understand the importance of teaching writing, the most effective ways to teach these skills, and the surprising benefits writing has on reading comprehension.

Why spend time teaching writing?

For information on research in writing, click here.  http://www.writenow-rightnow.com/research

Teaching students to write does more than instructing students in composing an essay and writing a story.  Writing about content material increases students’ comprehension, fosters deeper level thinking skills, and improves communication skills. Students’ literacy skills are improved when they are asked to write about what they have read.

Students must be able to communicate clearly.  As we become increasingly more technology focused, the need for students to communicate their thoughts and ideas clearly is even more essential.

What is quality writing instruction?

Most students do not inherently know how to write well. Direct, strong instructional guidance is necessary for developing writers to recognize, practice and internalize the skills needed for effective and creative written communication.  Writing is not just writing down what we say but is rather a form of communication that is extremely important in the work force.

Writing skills must be taught explicitly.  Before writing an essay, students must be able to both speak and write in complete sentences.  Understanding the writing task, determining what needs to be learned from a text, and then taking the appropriate notes are all essential skills which need to be taught and practiced. Organizing any writing genre, from paragraphs, to essays, to narratives is a skill which benefits both the writer and the reader. Experts agree that asking students to write without proper instruction is one reason that writing scores across the country are so dismal.

Can writing instruction be engaging?

Students become excited about learning when their teachers are excited about teaching.  The writing classroom should be interactive, with many opportunities for students to share and receive feedback.  Instruction should be focused, with students engaged in practicing the taught skills.  While practicing writing, students should be frequently encouraged to stop and listen to peers’ work, listening to quality writing and providing feedback.  Teachers should be engaged with students during writing instruction, providing immediate feedback to students.

Writing is an essential component of literacy instruction.  Thoughtful writing instruction must be a part of every elementary students’ school day.  If we can help in any way, please reach out.

Happy Writing!

It's Almost Time

It’s the beginning of August and the start of school is right around the corner. While still enjoying these last days of summer, many teachers are beginning to plan for the upcoming year.  As you begin to contemplate your writing instruction, consider these variables.

We all need a friend. 

In order for students to be able to work cooperatively and compassionately together, they must feel invested in other people. Building relationships between teachers and students, and students to students, takes time and effort.  One of the best sources we have found is The Morning Meeting Book by Davis and Kriete.  https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/product/morning-meeting-book/  The book provides hands-on ideas for building positive classroom relationships.  A fifteen minute morning meeting provides students time to share ideas, complete a cooperative activity and prepare themselves emotionally to have a positive day.  Plan ideas/activities for the first few weeks of school prior to the start of the year.  What do you want this time to look like?  What must be included in your classroom meetings? Building a classroom community will benefit your writing instruction as you ask students to share their writing while giving and receiving constructive feedback.  The time spent in Morning Meeting  will help alleviate student anxiety as they already feel they are a part of the group.

Review of skills and expectations is essential

Each year students need to learn the expectations of a new teacher and grade level.  Think through your expectations for writing.  What behaviors do you expect to see from students during writing?  What will feedback look like in your classroom?  What essential skills must students master?  What non-negotiables will you put in place in your writing classroom?

Make a schedule

Stephen Covey has said, “The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”  A set time for writing instruction is key to students’ success.  We recommend primary teachers schedule 20 – 30 minutes a day, 4 times a week for writing instruction. Intermediate teachers should schedule 30 – 40 minutes a day, 4 times a week, for writing instruction. In order for students to become successful writers, they must consistently practice what has been taught.

Create an organizational system for students to keep their work

One of the biggest challenges we all face is creating an organizational system where our students can keep their writing.

Primary Students:

Primary students will benefit from an organization system for their writing. Primary teachers often use one of the two following organizational methods.

Composition Notebooks:

Composition notebooks work well as writing notebooks for primary students. Primary students will benefit from using the composition books which have the space at the top for an illustration. When using composition notebooks, students will need to be taught to use the pages in order, not skipping around from page to page. When students begin to use their notebooks for planning, be sure to have students write their plan on the left page of the notebook, so they can view their plans while writing their draft on the right page of the notebook. Putting a dot on the left-hand page will help organize students. Students will need a new composition notebook each semester.

Pocket Folders:

These work well for young writers, especially when they are using primary paper. One way to organize is to use two different colored folders depending on their purpose. Red Folder: This folder is for brainstorming, plans, sentence stretching, and any other new learning. Blue Folder: This folder is where students keep drafts that are in progress. For example, if students are working on topic sentences to go with a plan, these would be kept in the blue folder. In this way, students easily keep track of what they are currently completing in writing. In primary grades, we recommend cleaning out these folders once a quarter.

Intermediate Students:

You may choose for intermediate students to use either a spiral notebook or a 1 ½”  3-ring notebook. Students will divide the notebook into sections: ideas, planning, rough drafts, and anchor charts. Students will have an easy system for storing, and then finding, their writing while it is in process. It is imperative students learn to store their writing in the appropriate place. Some teachers find spiral notebooks, divided into the same four sections, a successful choice for their students.

As you begin planning your writing instruction, remember writing is a process

Students must be sequentially taught each writing skill and then be given the time to practice that skill. Students need to master writing complete sentences before they can successfully and independently write a paragraph.

 In the same way, teachers should only be assessing what has been taught. For example, you may be teaching planning to your students. Provide students multiple opportunities to plan for writing. After they have completed the practice, students will then choose which plan they would like their teacher to assess. This helps students gain skill and confidence, while streamlining the amount of grading which needs to be completed. Having students write a complete essay before they have learned or reviewed each component of a paragraph will lead to frustration for both you and your students.

Enjoy teaching writing

If you enjoy writing with your students, your students will enjoy writing. Creating a supportive environment where students feel safe sharing their writing provides a platform for students to learn from one another.  Provide students time to practice writing skills and to master the basics. This helps build confident writers, making writing enjoyable for both you and your students.

Please reach out if we can support you in your writing instruction in any way.  We love to talk writing!! 

Getting Back to Basics – Starting the School Year

As children across the country are headed back to school after months filled with starts and stops, teachers are eager to begin the school year strong.  Once again, we are meeting with teachers as they look to create better writers in their classrooms.  We all know that students learning has been interrupted and impacted.  We need to address the situation, but the real question is “How?”

We recently read an article about Kobe Bryant.  A sports psychologist had come to do an article on Kobe leading a youth sports camp.  The psychologist asked Kobe if he could carve out some time to meet. Kobe’s response, “I can meet you at the gym at 4:00.  4:00 AM, not 4:00 PM.”  When the psychologist arrived, he found Kobe practicing the basic basketball moves he would teach the children a few hours later.  Asking Kobe why he would need to practice such basic moves, he was amazed at the answer.  “It’s the basics that make one great!”

That’s also the key to being great in the classroom – carving out time to teach the basics.  In writing, like every other curriculum, in order to soar, children need the basics.

Writing in Complete Sentences: Too often, we believe that children need to write a paragraph/essay at the start of the school year.  However, students must be able to write in complete sentences before moving on to longer pieces.  In Write Now – Right Now, this is called Team Complete. Speaking in complete sentences and writing in complete sentences is essential prior to writing essays.  Take the time to teach and review this skill, and then provide students an opportunity to practice, practice, practice.

Writing Short Answers: In Write Now – Right Now, these are called Shining Star Answers.  Once students are competent and confident in writing complete sentences, it’s time to learn to write quality short answers.  Students must be taught how to understand what a question is asking, find supporting evidence in text, and write a quality short answer.  All the rules for writing a complete sentence apply.  To reinforce this skill, require students to answer 1 or 2 questions to a specific text, not answer 15 questions!  Use all curricular subjects to practice, practice, practice.

Providing students quality prompts: It is a teacher’s responsibility to provide students with an objective for learning. This includes writing prompts for students that clearly state what you want students to know and be able to do.  Providing students with well-defined prompts helps students plan, gather appropriate details, and write on topic.  Use all curricular subjects to practice, practice, practice.

Teach Planning:  Teaching planning is key and well-worth your time and effort. Like a map, a plan helps students write clearly from beginning to end.  Plans provide students a structure to organize ideas, take notes, and use as a guide when they move to the drafting process.  Students can create plans for all curricular areas. This is an essential skill and students must be given time to practice, practice, practice!

Look for Part II of Getting Back to Basics . . . coming soon!

Successful Research Skills

Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.

Zora Neale Hurston

Spring is the season of research projects!  Students have been learning writing skills all year, and it is time to put those skills to use.  Unfortunately, research projects often turn into students either directly copying information they find online or simply writing a list of unconnected facts.  Like all learning engagements, preplanning and structure helps guarantee student success!

Benefits of learning research skills abound.  Researching a topic helps students learn valuable time management skills.  Students need to structure their time in order to successfully complete the research.  Individual research projects allow students to explore their personal interests, with choice being an integral research component. Finally, research can be easily differentiated.  Based upon the choice of topics and resources, teachers can provide experiences based on students’ ability levels.

The following steps help ensure successful research projects:

Choosing a topic:

·       The topic should be understandable to the student.  Students cannot do research on sustainable energy sources if they do not understand the topic.  Providing students background knowledge on a topic prior to assigning research helps guarantee success.  Students must understand the necessary vocabulary before beginning research. For example, if primary students are researching an animal, they should understand terms such as habitat, adaptations, life cycle prior to beginning.

·       The topic should be interesting to the students.  Choice is an essential component of research.  Allow students choice of a topic inside the larger concept.  For example, after completing a unit on community helpers, primary students may choose one person/career to research in depth.  On the completion of a unit on the American Revolution, students may choose to research one person who impacted the outcome of the war.

Narrow the topic:

·       Students cannot learn everything about one topic. They need to focus on a few main points or areas.  At Write Now – Right Now, we call these main points under a topic the Big Ideas.  You may choose the big ideas for students to research, or students may be given a choice of two to three big ideas.  Big ideas for research on community helpers might be:  job responsibilities of the community helpers, tools needed to complete the job, impact of the community helper on the community.  Big ideas for research on a person of the American Revolution might be:  person’s background / motivation, person’s actions, impact of person’s actions.

·       If students are choosing their own Big Ideas, have them ask themselves the following questions:

o   Do my big ideas relate to my topic?

o   Are my big ideas different from one another?

Find Sources:

·       Time management is an important research skill.  With the vast amount of information available, students can often get lost in the search for information.  We often hear from students, “I’m still looking for an article!”   It is often advantageous to provide students with a list of acceptable sources they can use, rather than just sending them out on the internet. 

·       Three questions to ask about sources are:

o   Does the source contain relevant information?

o   Is the source written at an appropriate level?  Providing students lower level reading material when starting research helps them easily understand new concepts.

o   Are the sources varied?  Sources can be print-based, web-based and video based.

Teach Note-taking Skills:

·       Note-taking is an invaluable skill for students to master.  Prior to assigning research projects, provide extensive instruction on note-taking skills.  Students must learn how to take notes to avoid copying sentences from the resources. They need to find key words and organize them on a writing plan. Taking notes on the same graphic organizer used for writing helps students organize their thoughts. Write Now – Right Now provides extensive lessons on this important skill.

·       You will need to put a time limit on this process. Students should use the sources provided earlier to gather information and take notes. Students cannot spend so much time perusing sources that they do not find the important information. 

Presenting the Information:

·       We always have a writing component to our research projects.  However, this is another opportunity to provide choice to students.  Some ideas might be:  written essay, notes for a speech, digital presentation such as google slides, captions and pictures, etc.  Students must apply the writing skills they have learned all year to this project.

·       It is common for students to want to spend more time on the presentation than researching the information.  A recommendation is to require students complete their notes prior to beginning any presentation.

Evaluation:

·       Students will have spent many hours on their research.  At the completion of the research, provide students time to reflect on this process.  Asking specific questions will help guide students’ reflections.  For example:

Was your topic interesting to you?  Give a specific example.

What did you find difficult about finding sources? 

What advice can you give someone about searching for sources?

What did you enjoy most about this research?

How might I change this project for next year’s students?

Research projects are a great way to engage students in their learning. They can research either a topic they are passionate about or a topic about which they would like to learn more. Either way, the end of the year is a perfect time to research topics and integrate all the writing skills acquired throughout the year.

Using Picture Books

No matter your age, picture books retain a strong appeal to readers.  Older elementary students often need an excuse to return to childhood favorites.  This year we have been spending time reading and rereading the book The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett.  This creative and visually stunning retelling of the classic Goldilocks and the Three Bears will appeal to students of all ages.  Along with being a delightful reading experience, the book can also be used to practice some essential reading and writing skills.

You may choose to read the book aloud to your class, provide students copies of book, or watch and listen to a video of the book being read aloud.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr1r09JFOUA

 Primary Students

Sequencing:  Understanding the sequence of a story is an important comprehension and writing skill.  As with many of Jan Brett’s book, the main story is told in the text, while a secondary story takes place in the drawings in the margins of the book.  Using the text first, have students identify the beginning of the story, the middle events in the tale, and the conclusion of the book. Students will complete a flow chart for the book, using either pictures, words, or a combination. 

Students will then repeat the process, using the story about the dogs and the bears told in the margins in pictures.

Compare and Contrast:  Read an original version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears to students.  Brainstorm with students the components of a fictional story: setting, character, problem, events, solution.  Create a class chart, listing these components and the title of each book.    List the components for each story.  Using the chart as a reference, make a second t-chart listing similarities and differences.  Students can complete that chart either as a class or independently.

Cause and Effect:  Review the definition of cause and effect. A cause is why something happens, and an effect is what actually happened.  Using the pictures, look for the effects of the following causes:

·       The ice where the dogs are sleeping breaks off.

·       The dogs float off to sea.

·       The bears spy the dogs floating in the distance.

·       The bears reach the ice flow.

Continue looking for the cause-and-effect relationships throughout the book.

Older students

Character Attributes:  The characters in many fairy tales are somewhat one dimensional.  Brainstorm with students attributes that Aloo-ki exhibits. Encourage students to think beyond basic words such as nice, kind, busy, etc.  Students will choose a character trait exhibited by Aloo-ki. 

Remind students of the expectations of a well-written short response.  In the Write Now – Right Now program, these are called Shining Star Answers.  Expectations should include:

-          The answer is correct.

-          The answer completely answers the question.

-          The answer incorporates evidence from the text.

-          The answer is edited for correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.

With these expectations in mind, students will respond to the following question:

What character trait does Aloo-ki exhibit in this story?  Defend the choice of this trait with specific examples from the text.

Students will share their responses with one another.  Encourage students to provide specific feedback to their peers.  Examples include:  Was the character trait exhibited?  Can the character trait be better defined in the answer?  Were specific examples provided to support the character trait?  Is the written work edited to make the answer easy for the reader to understand?

Repeat the process with the following question:

What character traits do the three bears exhibit in this story?  Defend the choice of this trait with specific examples from the text.

Story Elements: Read students a traditional version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Three Snow Bears.  Students can respond to the following questions either verbally or in writing.

How does the setting of The Three Snow Bears impact the story?  How does this compare to the impact of the setting of Goldilocks and the Three Bears?

In stories, the characters are motivated to take action.  What motivates Aloo-ki’s actions?  What is the motivation of Goldilocks?

Think about the conclusion of The Three Snow Bears.  How is it similar to the ending of Goldilocks and the Three Bears? What differences are found in the two stories?

What is your reaction to the character of Aloo-ki?  Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

Using picture books is an engaging way to teach and review skills with all age levels. Provide students the time and motivation to revisit these tales.

New Year's Resolutions

I want to lose weight. I need to go to the gym more often.  This year, I am determined to learn to play the piano.

Many of us begin the New Year with great hopes of making significant changes or improvements, only to slip back into old habits. This is true for our students. Starting the New Year with the following lesson ideas on making and keeping New Year’s Resolutions will engage your students and help them choose resolutions of their own.

Primary Students

Read the attached story: Taking Care of Buttons. Discuss the following questions with students. You may choose to do this orally or in writing using the question sheet.

1)      What problem does Joey have in the story?

2)      Why is it hard for Joey to take care of Buttons?

3)      What is the difference between a wish and a plan?

After discussing the story, students will choose a New Year’s Resolution of their own.  This resolution can apply to school, home, sports or recreation.  To help struggling students, brainstorm a list of possible resolutions as a class.  Remind students their choice should be something they would like to improve.

It is now time to make the New Year’s Resolution Wish into a plan.  To help this process, students will respond to the following questions.

1)      What do I wish to change?

2)      What small steps can I take to make this resolution happen?

3)      How can I keep track of my progress?

Reflection is an important part of any plan or goal.  Make a resolution to check back in with students on the success of their New Year’s Resolution.

Intermediate Students

You may choose to have students read Taking Care of Buttons as you introduce the concept of New Year’s Resolutions. For a humorous take on resolutions, share the poem New Year’s Resolutions by Bruce Lansky.  The poem can be found at https://www.kidsgen.com/rhymes_and_poems/ny_resolution.htm

Students will quickly see the irony in the poem.  Discuss the following questions with students, either orally or in writing. A copy of these questions is at the end of the blog.

1)      What is the author’s purpose in writing this poem?

2)      Who do you think is speaking in the poem?  Provide evidence to support your answer.

3)      What tricks do you think the author may try next?

4)      How would e-learning or remote learning change the tricks the author might try?

The speaker in this poem has done many rotten tricks in the past. The speaker’s resolution is to create new tricks for the upcoming year. After discussing the poem, students will choose a positive New Year’s Resolution of their own.  This resolution can apply to school, home, sports or recreation.  To help struggling students, brainstorm a list of possible resolutions as a class.  Remind students their choice should be something they would like to improve.  Encourage students to create a plan for this resolution which will help them be successful.

To help this process, students will respond to the following questions.

1)      What do I wish to change?

2)      What small steps can I take to make this resolution happen?

3)      How can I keep track of my progress?

Reflection is an important part of any plan or goal.  Make a resolution to check back in with students on the success of their New Year’s Resolution.

Taking Care of Buttons

By Write Now – Right Now

Joey and his parents were having a family meeting.  “Joey,” said Mom. “I need you to take better care of your gerbil, Buttons.  If you can’t, we will have to find a new home for her.”

Joey began to cry. “I will do better,” he said. “I don’t want Buttons to go to a new home.”

Joey really wanted to take good care of his pet.  However, he often forgot to give Buttons food and water and would let the cage bedding get dirty and smelly. 

“I wish I could do better,” he told his Mom. “I am not taking good care of my pet.”

“Right now, you are wishing you could remember to take care of Buttons.  You do not have a plan, you just have a wish,” responded Mom.  “Tomorrow is New Year’s Day.  Let’s make a New Year’s Resolution that you will be a better caregiver for Buttons.  We will make a plan so you will be able to keep your New Year’s Resolution.”

Together Mom and Joey wrote out his New Year’s Resolution.  First, they made a schedule to help Joey remember to feed Buttons. He would give Buttons food and water every morning right after breakfast.  To remind him, Mom set Buttons’ food right next to the breakfast cereal.  Before he brushed his teeth at night, Joey would give Buttons his dinner and check to make sure his water bottle was full.

Joey also needed a plan to clean Buttons’ cage. Mom printed off a monthly calendar to hang in Joey’s room. Together, she and Joey chose days that Joey would clean Buttons’ cage and circled the dates in bright red marker.

Joey felt better.  He followed his New Year’s Resolution plan carefully, remembering to feed and clean Buttons. He had turned his wish to be a better pet owner into something real.

Questions for Taking Care of Buttons - Primary

1)     What problem does Joey have in the story? 

2)     Why is it hard for Joey to take care of Buttons?

3)     What is the difference between a wish and a plan?

Planning a New Year’s Resolution

1)     What do I wish to change?  

2)     Why small steps can I take to make this resolution happen?

3)     How can I keep track of my progress?

Questions for New Year’s Resolutions - Intermediate

1)     What is the author’s purpose in writing this poem?

2)     Who do you think is speaking in the poem?  Provide evidence to support your answer.

3)     What tricks do you think the author may try next?

4)     How would e-learning or remote learning change the tricks the author might try?

Planning a New Year’s Resolution

1) What do I wish to change?

2) Why small steps can I take to make this resolution happen?

3) How can I keep track of my progress?

Making It Better

Students often spend the beginning of the school year reviewing complete sentences and learning to organize their writing. As students’ confidence grows in these skills, it is time to help them learn to revise their writing – making it more interesting for the reader.

Sentence fluency and word choice are writing skills that must be specifically taught. We cannot merely tell students to “add more details” or “paint a picture with your words” and expect student writing to improve.  Students need specific strategies to help them improve their writing. The following is an engaging way for students to practice writing fluent sentences. This can be done with students in person, in a hybrid model, or fully on-line.

Choose a topic that is appropriate for the age of your students.  The topic should be broad enough that students can write 5-6 sentences which relate to the topic.  Examples include: holidays, parties, animals, curricular areas, etc. Students will expand these sentences by including a when, where, why or how to each basic sentence.   Be sure that students are only expected to add one item to a sentence at a time.

Basic Sentence #1:

A mouse ran.

Add a describing word – an adjective.

A brown mouse ran.

Add a where to the sentence.

A brown mouse ran across the grass.

Basic Sentence #2

A squirrel climbs.

Add a where to the sentence.

A squirrel climbs up the tree.

Add a why to the sentence.

A squirrel climbs up the tree to search for nuts.

Basic Sentence #3

A snake crawls.

Add a when to the sentence

Early in the morning a snake crawls.

Add a why to the sentence.

Early in the morning, a snake crawls to bask in a sunny spot.  

Some students may be ready to add a how to their sentence.  Words that describe how something happens are adverbs and go either before or after the verb.

Early in the morning, a snake slowly crawls to bask in a sunny spot.

Sentence #4

The bee flies.

Add a where to the sentence.

The bee flies to the flower.

Add a describing word that is not a size or color word (adjective)

The busy bee flies to the flower.

Add a why to the beginning of the sentence.

Looking for honey, the busy bee flies to the flower.

Continue with as many sentences as you would like.  Primary students can then edit these sentences, rewrite them on separate pieces of paper, and illustrate their sentences. The stretched sentences then follow, creating a book for young writers. Brainstorm with students a topic sentence that would help link the sentences together.  Complete the writing with a conclusion. For example:

My backyard is filled with different creatures.  A brown mouse ran across the grass.  A squirrel climbs up the tree looking for nuts. Early in the morning, a snake slowly crawls to bask in a sunny spot. Looking for honey, the bee flies to the flower. My back yard is a busy place.

Intermediate students can continue to add information and details to expand the one sentence into 4-5 sentences on the topic.

For example:

A brown mouse scurried across the green grass. Hiding behind a tall tree, the mouse carefully watched the neighbor’s cat sprint by and then come to a halt. The soft mouse quietly moved towards the open field hoping to avoid coming face to face with the feline who is searching the backyard for him. Slipping under the fence, the mouse picked up speed as he put space between him and his enemy until he knew he was out of danger.

As we enter the holiday season, students can write about their own holidays while practicing their sentence fluency. Imagine a holiday table which has been visited by some rather rambunctious guests and write a basic sentence.   

The turkey sat on the plate.

Follow the same procedure as above, adding descriptors to the basic sentence.

Sitting on the silver platter, the leftover turkey is laying in a forgotten puddle of gravy.

Repeat the process with the following sentences.

The mashed potatoes dripped.

After dripping down the side of the bowl like an avalanche, the mashed potatoes settled on the tablecloth and hardened into rocks.

The whipped cream melted.

The cranberry sauce spilled.

The sweet potatoes overflowed.

Students can compile their revised sentences into a piece of writing.  Introduce the writing by describing the festive table prior to dinner and then write a concluding sentence explaining the hosts’ reaction to dinner.

Examples:

Introduction:

Before the holiday dinner, the turkey was warm and the table was brighter than a knight in shining armor.  After dinner, the table looked completely different. 

Conclusion:

It took us hours to clean up the mess.  We are never inviting those people to dinner again!

Students will need continual practice in writing descriptive and fluent sentences. Bring this lesson out whenever you notice your students’ writing needs a spark!

The Essentials

Hiking in Colorado’s rapidly changing mountain weather teaches hikers the importance of taking essential equipment. While carrying any more weight than necessary is not appealing, neither is being stuck on a mountainside without the necessary supplies.  On a recent hike, we experienced sunshine and 80-degree weather, along with snow flurries and a 20 mile per hour wind. I was very thankful to have thrown in my essential headband and mittens for the cold weather.

Teachers have always been essential workers – but this has never been truer than this school year. Flexibility, always a teacher requirement, is more important than ever.  Teachers are teaching in person, in a hybrid format, or totally online. Routines and schedules that were part of the school day of the past have been shattered. Time, always a precious classroom commodity, is now being used for necessary safety protocols.

With all these demands on teachers and students, instruction goals have to be altered.  With that in mind, teachers are focusing on essential lessons.  What is essential in writing instruction?

Students need purposeful and targeted writing instruction. We do not want our students to continually practice bad habits. Assigning students questions to answer or paragraphs to write without providing them the necessary skills is detrimental to students and frustrating for teachers. The following are essential skills students must have to become successful writing.

·       Recognizing, speaking and writing complete sentences. 

We continually speak with 5th grade teachers who are concerned their students do not write in complete sentences. This foundational skill should be introduced at the beginning of every school year – from kindergarten through 5th grade.

Introduce students to the components of a complete sentence. In Write Now – Right Now, we call this concept Team Complete.  Kindergarten students can learn to recognize complete sentences and orally respond in a complete sentence.  Make speaking in complete sentences an expectation of your classroom, whether you are in person or meeting virtually.

Intermediate students need to review the components of a complete sentence. As with primary students, speaking in complete sentence should be a classroom expectation. Spending time practicing sentence fluency and word choice is essential at the start of the school year.  Insisting on correct conventions at the start of the school year is essential. Encourage students to play with language, experiment with word choice and create interesting writing. When that is done, students will then double check their work for correct conventions. While this is a challenging process for teachers, it is well worth the time.

·       Use planning tools prior to writing.

In the past, we often told students we write like we talk. This is not true, for our speaking is often random and spontaneous, jumping from topic to topic.  Students’ writing will be significantly better if they are taught to organize their thoughts prior to writing. At Write Now – Right Now, we encourage teachers to use only one graphic organizer for all expository writing and a single organizer for narrative writing. Time is better spent teaching students how to use the plan effectively than spending time learning an array of plans.  Students must know the difference between the terms: topic, big ideas and details. Teaching students how to add interesting and relevant details is a skill which leads to effective and  interesting writing.

·       Only assess what you are teaching.

It is difficult for all of us to let go of errors we see in students’ writing.  However, grading will become less frustrating and more productive if you only assess what you have taught. If you are working on complete sentences, only assess that. Once students have mastered that skill, it can then be assessed in every piece of writing.  Planning is an essential skill and can be assessed on its own.  Writing is a process and each part of the process can be assessed separately.

·       Give grace to both your students and yourself.

This year is not like other school years. You may not cover the same amount of curriculum and standards as in past years. Teaching schedules and requirements have changed. Provide grace for yourself and your students and celebrate your successes, big and small.

We are here to support you. Please reach out if we can be of service in any way.

Starting the School Year, but How?

Oh, my goodness! As we look to prepare for the upcoming school year, we find ourselves waiting every day for ever changing news.  No matter how school may look for you next year, we all will do whatever is best for our students. As we begin to plan writing instruction– however that may look – here are some things we need to consider.

We all need relationships. 

In order for students to be able to work cooperatively and compassionately together, they must feel invested in other people. Building relationships between students takes time and effort.  One of the best sources we have found is The Morning Meeting Book by Davis and Kriete.  https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/product/morning-meeting-book/  The book provides hands-on ideas for building positive classroom relationships.  Whether the meetings be in-person or virtual, the time invested in Morning Meetings proves invaluable.

Students will need review time.

The school year ended under very difficult circumstances.  Many students will begin the year deficient in skills. We will all need to adjust our expectations. Students may need more time for review than in previous years.  Provide students the time they need to adjust to the new school routine. Take writing slowly at first, allowing time for students to review/relearn past skills. More than ever, we will need to slow down and carefully determine students’ strengths and areas of need.

Build skills step by step.

Just like math, writing skills need to be broken down step by step. Before students can write paragraphs, they must be able to write a sentence.  Depending on grade level, sentence writing can be either a new skill or a review. Sentences need 5 components to be complete: a subject (who or what the sentence is about,) a verb (what the subject is doing, feeling, or being,) a capital at the beginning, a punctuation mark at the end, and it must make sense.  Look for opportunities to practice these skills with students. Students can recognize complete and incomplete sentences, orally respond in complete sentences, answer questions in morning work in complete sentences, etc.

Create an organizational system for students to keep their work

Students will need to keep their writing and anchor charts to use throughout the year. Organizational systems vary. Composition notebooks, with blank space at the top for drawing, work well for primary students. Students will need to be shown to write on the right-hand page, leaving the left-hand side available for planning. Students will need a composition book for each semester.

A 3-ring notebook works well for intermediate students. Students will divide the notebook into sections: ideas, planning, rough drafts, and anchor charts. Students will have an easy system for storing, and then finding, their writing while it is in process.

If you begin the year teaching virtually, students will need to create folders in the on-line platform you use. Taking the time to teach and practice putting writing into a folder is a must. Click on a past newsletter for more information. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5609f7afe4b02872f51f680b/t/5d5339bfe1f15f00014fa7ff/1565735361916/September+-+October+2017+Newsletter.pdf

Remember writing is a process

Students must be sequentially taught each writing skill and then be given the time to practice that skill. Teachers should only be assessing what has been taught. For example, you may be teaching planning to your students. Provide students multiple opportunities to plan for writing. After they have completed the practice, students will then choose which plan they would like their teacher to assess. This helps students gain skill and confidence, while streaming the amount of grading which needs to be completed. Having students write a complete essay before they have learned or reviewed each component of a paragraph will lead to frustration for both you and your students.

Use available resources.

Student contact with books will be limited, no matter how you are teaching.  Use YouTube and other online resources for videos of picture books being read out loud. This engages students with text. On our website, you will find a tab labeled Home Learning Ideas.  There you will find a collection of lessons which combine books and writing. http://www.writenow-rightnow.com/home-learning-ideas

No matter how you go back to school this fall, teachers have always put their students first and sought out the best way to reach their students and meet their needs. Happy Writing!

Taming the Grading Monster

“I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack at once.”

-  Ashleigh Brilliant

This quote can be applied to grading! It’s happened to all of us.  We start school Monday morning feeling all caught up – papers graded, lesson plans made, life in control.  By Wednesday, we have a teacher bag full of papers to grade.  The bag comes home with us in the afternoon, spends the evening in the car or on the family room floor, returns to school the next day, and repeat!  The pile of papers is a constant nagging in the back of our minds, but never rises to the top of the to-do list.  Finally, after two or three weeks, the papers are no longer relevant or needed, and are quietly buried in our home recycle barrel.

As we talk with teachers across the country, we continually hear teachers confess they neglect teaching writing as the grading can be overwhelming.  The following are some tips for keeping the “Writing Grading Monster” under control.

·       Grade writing after students have an opportunity to practice each skill.  For example, students are practicing composing topic sentences.  Provide students instruction, modeling, practicing and sharing while they are learning this skill. After students have had ample practice time, students will then choose the sentence they find most interesting.  Students can edit and recopy that sentence and turn it in as an assessment.  You are only grading one sentence per student (28 sentences), instead of 8 sentences per student (224 sentences.)  You can use this assessment for both a writing and a conventions grade.

·       Grade each part of the writing process.  Writing is a process, not a product. Let me say that again, “writing is a process, not a product.”  Each part of the writing process can be used as a valuable writing assessment.  For example, you may be sorting ideas into categories in your primary classroom.  As sorting is a part of organization, you can use this as a valid writing assessment.  If you are teaching planning, use students’ independent plans for writing grades.  Not only does this simplify grading, but you are able to discover students’ weaknesses and remedy them before they become an ingrained habit.

·       Grade only what you have taught.  If you are teaching planning, assess only planning.  Do not feel you need to grade students on items you have not taught, and they have not mastered.  As you are practicing speaking in complete sentences with your primary students, ask your students what they did at recess as they return to class after lunch.  As students respond, take note on who cannot respond in a complete sentence.  An assessment on speaking in complete sentences is done and graded!

·       Grade on the move.  Post a class list to a clipboard and keep it with you during writing instruction.  Perhaps you are practicing using transition words in big idea sentences.  As you circle the room, read students’ writing.  If a student is confused, stop and help him correct his work and write “NH” (Needs Help) next to that student’s name.  If a student has the skill, check in briefly with positive feedback.  At the end of your writing time, you have a completed assessment.  Any student without an “NH” has passed that skill, while your “Needs Help” are also noted.  You also have a ready-made small group created, showing students with whom you need check in with the next day.

·       Keep an ongoing list of skills students have mastered.  A Kindergarten teacher we visited used the following list of skills students needed to master, with the first letter of each month in the corresponding box.  As students demonstrated mastery of the skill, she marked the corresponding month.  At a glance, she could see who still needed to be assessed.

·       Combine writing across the curriculum.  As you teach writing short answers (Shining Star Answers), students should practice the skill in all curricular areas.  As students learn to take notes, look for practice opportunities in Social Studies and Science.  Notes taken in Social Studies can be used for a Social Studies, Reading and Writing grade.

Writing instruction and assessment should not feel that it “attacks all at once.”  Continually be on the lookout for ways to improve and streamline your assessment practice.  Remember that timely, specific and productive feedback is the very best for students and for you!

Please, Not One More Assessment

As the final weeks of school approach, teachers and students alike may feel overwhelmed with assessments. From naming letters to writing essays on state assessments, children are being asked to demonstrate what they have mastered throughout the school year.  The number of assessments continues to rise. As a result, during this busy time of year, too often assessments are given, graded and then filed away, with no thought to either their purpose or the information they provide.

Before asking students to complete an end-of-year writing assessment, pause and consider the task’s purpose.  Assessment is defined as a gathering of information about student learning. While formative assessments are given frequently and used to adjust instruction, a summative assessment is given to judge the quality of student work. This quality judgement can and should be helpful for both student and teacher.

As writing is a process, students’ progress should be assessed on the process.  Most importantly, students should be able to assess themselves on each part of the process and recognize their progress. Before giving students a final written assessment, consider these factors:

1)       What do you want students to be able to do?

Clearly define the skills you want students to exhibit:

-          Are you wanting students to write in complete sentences?

-          Are you assessing students’ ability to gather ideas and create a plan?

-          Are students expected to read a text and gather appropriate information?

2)      How will your students know they have met their learning goal?

Provide students clear expectations and targets.  This can be done through:

-          Complete prompts

-          Specific rubrics

-          Anchor charts

-          List of skills being assessed

3)      How will you help students accurately measure their own writing growth?

Encouraging students to measure their own learning growth is a powerful tool.  Provide students with their original beginning of the year writing assessment.  Identify specific writing skills for students to evaluate in their own writing.  Some possible skills include:

Primary Students

-          Are my letters formed correctly?

-          Did I put spaces between my words?

-          Did I write in complete sentences?

-          Did I plan my writing?

-          Is my writing on topic?

-          Did I choose interesting vocabulary?

Intermediate Students

-          Did I plan my writing?

-          Is my writing on topic?

-          Did I include interesting details to support my big ideas?

-          Did I use details from the text to support my writing?  (If this is a requirement.)

-          Did I vary the structure of my sentences?

-          Did I make interesting word choices?

-          Did I carefully edit my writing for conventions?

- Did I carefully edit my writing for spelling?

As students write their new piece, they can refer to their beginning of the year writing, looking for ways to improve.  After their writing is edited and revised, they can self-assess their end of year writing, using the same criteria they used to evaluate their beginning of the year writing.

4)       Make the writing assessment useful to you and/or next year’s teacher.

Determine which type of writing will provide you with the most useful information.

·       What personal writing goals did you have for the school year?  How can you organize the assessment to analyze those goals?  Perhaps you are wanting to use your curriculum more when teaching content material.  You may want students to respond to a prompt such as the following:

We have just finished reading the book What To Do With A Problem.  As a group, we have brainstormed various strategies people can use when they have a problem.  Write an opinion essay, stating which three strategies work best for you.  

·       Perhaps your school has a writing improvement plan for all grade levels.  This plan may include writing informational essays, writing in response to text, writing narratives, etc.  Design an end-of-year assessment which will provide the next year’s teacher important information.

Think about the information you want to gather about your students’ writing skills.  Design a prompt that will best give you that information.  Whether you want to compare writing using the same prompt from the start of the school year, determine how well students can write a narrative, or analyze your students’ ability to respond to text, create a writing task which addresses your assessment needs.

Whatever choice you make, think about ways to make the assessment manageable, informative and useful to both you and your students.

The Importance of Feedback

We all need people who will give us feedback.

That's how we improve.

- Bill Gates

Many of us make New Year’s Resolutions in January.  By February, some of those resolutions are beginning to wane. The difference between keeping and forgetting a resolution can often be traced to the amount of feedback we receive on our goal.  Whether it be the number on the scale, a count of books read, or the steps taken on our fitness app, timely and meaningful feedback helps all of us stay on track.

Writing and speaking in complete sentences is a classroom expectation.  Including a reason or detail within that sentence is part of our daily routine.  Imagine my chagrin when a student once asked me if that rule included me. Was I expected to write in complete sentences when I commented on their work, including a reason to justify my comment?

Not soon after, I received an appreciation note from a parent. The parent expressed specific examples of why their student enjoyed being part of our classroom community. The note meant so much more than a card that stated I was the world’s greatest teacher!

In the same way, our students need and deserve specific and timely feedback from us in order to grow. An article in a 2014 issue of Edutopia lists 5 Research-Based Tips for providing students meaningful feedback.  (edutopia.org/blog/tips-providing-students-meaningful-feedback-marianne-stenger)

1. Feedback should be Specific—A star or “Good Job” on a paper does not tell a student what they have done well. Instead of “Nice Writing” on a paragraph, point out a specific strength. “You placed a transition word in every big idea sentence. These words help the reader understand your reasons in this paragraph.”

Providing students a skill to focus on and improve in their next piece of writing is also important. For example: “You did a great job writing complete sentences. Many of your sentences start with the word “I”.  Let’s work to have a variety of sentence starters in your writing next time.”

2. Feedback should be Immediate—The more immediate the feedback, the more powerful it is for student learning. Look for ways to streamline your grading process. Think about grading writing as students complete each portion of the writing process. For example, provide feedback on topic sentences as students complete them.  “This topic sentence clearly explains what the paragraph is about. I understand your topic!”

3. Feedback should reflect a student’s progress towards a Goal—Perhaps a student is working on editing their writing, including correct punctuation and capitalization in sentences. Comment on a student’s progress towards that goal.  “Wow, I can see that you worked diligently to put a punctuation mark at the end of every sentence.”

4. Feedback should be given Gently—Know your students. Feedback must be given knowing the receiver.  Choose words you would appreciate receiving if someone was giving you feedback.

5. Feedback should involve the Student– Students should be involved in choosing what is assessed. This may be as simple as asking students what writing they would like you to assess. “What would you like me to look at in this piece of writing?  We’ve been revising sentences. Put a check next to the revised sentence on which you would like me to comment.”

Feedback is essential for everyone. The growth you will see in your students is well worth the effort!

Opinion Writing - More than just "Favorites"

“You have been given the opportunity to choose two after-school activities per week.  Think about what you would enjoy doing during this time. Write an essay explaining what two activities you would choose.  Include reasons which support your choices.”

We begin to teach students the writing process through the genre of opinion writing, using prompts such as the one above. Through the use of opinion writing, students learn the writing process – gathering ideas, planning, and writing a rough draft.  Prompts which focus on opinion writing provide students the advantage of knowing the topic. They do not need to gather information about the content of their writing, as opinion writing can focus on personal preferences or favorites. 

However, we do not want to stay with these limited topics.  Opinion writing is so much more than simply writing about a favorite restaurant or TV show.  How can we expand this writing genre to include both curricular areas and responding to texts?

One suggestion is to consider curricular areas. What is happening in the classroom that can be expanded to writing?  Here are some examples:

After a unit on Space:

You have been invited to participate in a two-year space mission. During that time, you will travel throughout space without returning to earth.  Write an essay explaining whether or not you would choose to take part in the mission.  Include three reasons why you would accept the position or three reasons why you would decline the invitation.

Or. . .

After completing our unit on space, think about what you have learned about each planet. Choose the planet you find most interesting and write a letter to a friend describing what they would see if they were to visit this planet. Make sure you use evidence from the texts to support your response.

After a field trip:

The Third Grade just completed our first field trip to the City Council as part of our unit on local government. Would you recommend that next year’s teachers take their students on the same field trip?  Write an essay which explains your thoughts on the field trip. Include two reasons why you think the trip is valuable or two reasons why you would not recommend repeating the trip.

After a read-aloud:

Our first read-aloud this year was because of mr. terupt.  I am deciding whether or not to begin next year reading the same novel aloud.  Do you think this is a good choice to begin the year?  Write an essay explaining whether or not you believe this is a good selection for next year.  Include two reasons to support your opinion.

As a classroom community:

As 6th graders, the freedoms and choices you have at school are increasing.  Write an essay explaining to your teacher two choices you would like to be able to make in your classroom.  Be sure to give reasons to support your choices.

Primary Classrooms

Although many primary students are not yet planning, teachers can still introduce the concept of prompts and planning to young students.  As you experience concepts with students, be thinking of ways to introduce students to planning. Create a chart with students, listing the topic and big ideas on the left side. Fill the t-chart in together, adding details to the right side of the chart.

Student Community

We have been working and learning all semester.  We will celebrate our accomplishments with a party.  Think about activities you enjoy participating in at a party.  What three activities do you believe we should definitely include at our celebration?

Social Studies

We have been learning about people who help our community.  We can invite one community helper to visit our classroom.  Using the information we have learned, think about whether you would like to learn more about firefighters or police officers.  Together, we will make two t-charts.  The first chart will list three reasons you would like to invite a firefighter to visit our classroom and the second chart will list three reasons you would like to invite a police officer.

Science

 We have been learning about three different habitats: the ocean, the jungle, and the desert.  As a table group, choose one habitat you would like to visit.  Using what you have learned, think of reasons why this habitat is unique and interesting. Together we will make a chart organizing reasons why people might travel to each habitat.

Or . . .

We have been learning about habitats.  We have just completed a book on jaguars.  Using what you have learned, which habitat do you believe would be the best place for a jaguar to live?  Give reasons to support your answer.

Applying Opinion Writing To Responding to Text

Students are now ready to write an opinion paragraph in response to text.  The skills needed to write the paragraph are the same, but students will need instruction on using those skills in forming an opinion in response to text.

1.)     Choose a topic which relates to either content area curriculum or a shared classroom experience. Write a prompt which clearly addresses the topic and format you want students to use.

A class of third graders was ready to write an opinion paragraph in response to text.  They had been studying local government in Social Studies and taking care of the earth in Science. The teacher combined these two curricular areas with the following prompt:

Read the article on recycling. Write an opinion paragraph stating whether or not you think recycling should be mandatory in our city.  Be sure to include three reasons that support your opinion using information from the text.

2.)    Choose a text which is easily accessible to the majority of your class.

Provide students with text which is easy to comprehend. The focus for this lesson should be learning how to respond to text, not how to read a difficult text.

3.)     Teach note-taking skills 

Instruct students in specific note-taking skills. If students are being asked to respond to a text, they need strategies for locating the required information. 

4.)     Model planning with students

Students need to know that the skills they learned and used for writing an opinion paragraph are the same skills they use to write an opinion paragraph in response to text.  Their opinion will be based on the information they have read in the text.  The teacher will model taking the information found in the text and placing it in a t-chart plan. 

5.)    Go slow to go fast

As you write the first paragraph together as a class, encourage students to share their writing as they complete each step of the writing process. This helps ensure the students are on the correct path.

Opinion writing can be so much more than writing about “favorites.”  Continually look for opportunities to encourage students to express their opinions in writing.

We love to talk writing with teachers.  Please let us know if we can be of service to you in any way.

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” - William Wordsworth

Be sure to read the lesson adaptation for the Primary Classroom at the end of this blog!

Over the past two years, our district has put an emphasis on helping teachers and students focus on their emotional health in addition to their intellectual growth.  Much time and energy has been spent on helping both educators and students recognize and name their emotions.  At the same time, teachers and students are learning how to successfully manage these emotions.

Many students find writing to be a positive tool for recognizing and acknowledging their emotions. Planning specific lessons which provide students an opportunity to reflect on their emotions is a powerful experience for all.

With this in mind, we began the year with the poem ”Keep a Poem in Your Pocket”  by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers. http://home.nyc.gov/html/misc/html/poem/poem1b.html  This classic poem describes a child keeping a poem and a picture in their pocket to help them when they are feeling lonely at night when they are in bed. After reading the poem, students made an origami pocket and described a significant object they would keep in the pocket.  The writing provided students a safe place to express their feelings and share something personally important to them.  origami.lovetoknow.com/about-origami/how-make-paper-pocket

As our school year came to a close, we visited the theme of things that have personal importance to us again.  The focus this time was a Special Place.  We began with reading picture books on special places, including All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan www.amazon.com/All-Places-Love-Patricia-MacLachlan/dp/0060210982 , Owl Moon by Jane Yolen www.amazon.com/Owl-Moon-Jane-Yolen/dp/0399214577 , Peek-a-Boo by Allan Ahlberg www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=peek-a-book+book+by+ahlberg&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Apeek-a-book+book+by+ahlberg and Up North At the Cabin by Marsha Wilson Chall www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_9?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=up+north+at+the+cabin+by+marsha+wilson+chall&sprefix=up+north+%2Cstripbooks%2C186&crid=109CNK231UQDH&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Aup+north+at+the+cabin+by+marsha+wilson+chall . 

Each of these authors focus on special everyday places, using vivid details and descriptive word choices to help the reader experience the importance the place has for the characters. 

To begin, students brainstormed places which were significant to them.  After a minute of brainstorming, students chose one place from their list.  To better focus their writing, the chosen places needed to be specific.  For example, California is a broad place, but the beach is a more specific place. I encouraged the students to think about an everyday location, although they could make any choice they wanted.

Next, students brainstormed activities they did in this place. By focusing on what they did at their place, the students’ writing became more than a list of locations.  After brainstorming this list, they chose three activities that would be interesting to the reader. 

As we had read the mentor texts, we had noted the authors’ uses of figurative language. Students spent time collecting ideas of figurative language they could include in their writing.  In Up North at the Cabin, Marcia Chall uses metaphors as she describes her cabin activities, which the students had especially enjoyed. 

Feeling confident, the students eagerly began their writing. Their writing was truly a breathing of the heart.  One student wrote about the time she spent at the hospital while her mother received a treatment they hoped would save her life. 

At the hospital, I count the familiar squares in the ceiling. I look around at the room, watching the medicine drip into my mother’s arm, hoping it will be the cure she needs. As the hours stretch on, I wander down the hall to the vending machine, staring through its windows for a treat.

One child had lost her grandmother in the fall and remembered visiting her house.

At grandmother’s house, I am an explorer, discovering new places and finding interesting old objects. As I walk through the familiar rooms, I think back to where these items are from. Looking at the dusty pictures, I travel back in time remembering past vacations with Grandma. As I go outside, I climb up the crumbling rockwall.  I spend a moment not worrying about anything, just being a kid.

Happy times at a grandparent’s house was a familiar theme.

At my grandparents’ house, I am a detective searching for clues of sea life. Putting on my snorkeling gear, I am submerged in the great blue sea.  Slowly moving my arms and flippers, I move through the water, gazing at the ocean floor.  A school of fish suddenly surrounds me like ants on an ant hill.

This writing was a learning experience for both my students and myself.  As students reflected on places that were significant in their lives, their writing helped me learn more about them.  All of us were reminded that writing provides both the author and the reader an opportunity to connect on new levels. As I plan writing engagements for the next school year I will continue to look for ways that my students and I can use writing as a way to connect emotionally, helping us both recognize and manage our emotions.

 Lesson Adaptation for Primary Students

The lesson can be adapted for primary students.  First, ask students what everyday places are special or important to them.  Where are some places they like to go?  Gather their ideas on chart paper. As students share ideas, encourage them to be specific in their places.

Read the book All the Places to Love aloud to the class.  As you read the book, collect the places that were special to the boy and his family.  Point out the phrase “Where else can . . . “ that is repeated after each place.  What is meant by these words?  Why might the author have used this phrase?

Return to the collection of special places.  Students will brainstorm activities they do in each of these places.  What do they enjoy doing at the park or at the library?  List these activities next to the places.

Provide students drawing / writing paper.  Using the chart as a reference, students can choose a favorite place. On the top of the paper, students will draw the place they have chosen. Provide time for students to include details in their drawings.

Students will now write about their favorite place. For example:  One of my favorite places is the arcade.  After they have identified their place, students will complete the sentence stem: Where else can   . . .   For example:   One of my favorite places is the arcade.  Where else can you play games for just a nickel?  Where else can you find games for the whole family?

Students can create a book about their favorite places.

Informational Writing, Text Structures and Prompts

We have been transitioning from writing opinion to writing informative paragraphs.  As we began our study of informational writing, it was a natural time to review the different types of text structures. A text structure is how the author chooses to organize the information in his/her writing. To help us better understand each text structure, we created the following chart as a class.  We filled in the first three columns together. We listed the text structure, wrote a definition and then recorded signal words which would help us identify each text structure as we found it in text. The last column was left blank for future use.

While reading informational text, we practiced identifying the text structure used by the author. Highlighting clue words and justifying our choice of structure helped solidify our learning.

I now wanted students to stretch their thinking and practice writing informative text in a specific structure.  To begin this process, we needed to identify what structure was being asked for in a prompt. The students were ready for the next step; reading a prompt and determining the text structure they would need to use in response.

We returned to our chart. As we had been exploring trappers and traders in Social Studies, I chose that as the topic of the prompts the students would sort. To focus on the text structure required, I provided the students with five separate prompts. They now titled the final column in their chart Prompts.

After reading each prompt, the students placed the prompt in the appropriate section on the chart. Students discussed their choices with partners, justifying their decision of which text structure to choose. When students reached an agreement, they glued the prompt in the appropriate row. 

The time spent on the chart proved invaluable.  We were ready for the next step – making plans and writing topic sentences!

“Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.” E.L. Doctorow

For the first few weeks of school, we have been concentrating on the components of opinion paragraphs.  My students have learned to gather and categorize ideas, organize plans and write opinion paragraphs which included all the essential parts.  Now that students understood how to effectively write about their opinion, it was time to take the next step: writing opinion paragraphs in response to text.

I wanted the content to be accessible and engaging for all the students. To facilitate that goal, I decided to have students read about a topic which they would easily grasp – choosing a local attraction to take guests to visit.  We began with the following prompt:

Students highlighted the format, topic and big ideas in their prompt.

You have friends travelling to Colorado Springs on vacation. You are responsible for choosing one place to take your friends to show them the sights. To help make your decision, you will choose and research an attraction in Colorado Springs to visit. After making your choice, write an opinion essay explaining the attraction you have chosen to visit. You must include three reasons why this attraction is the best location to take your friends.

The focus of this learning engagement was for students to write in response to text. With that in mind, I chose two websites for the students to use as research. The websites contained information about the local attractions using words and pictures. We discussed possible factors we might use when choosing a place to visit. Suggestions such as price, discounts, activities, food options, uniqueness to the area and being family friendly were all given.

Students were assigned the websites through their google classroom accounts. After previewing the possible choices, we selected five attractions to focus on as a class. Students then selected the attraction in which they were most interested and researched the appropriate site. Wanting the information to be accessible to all students regardless of reading ability, I wanted students to share the information they had learned. I provided students chart paper labeled with each attraction. As a group, students discussed and recorded the information they had found concerning each place to visit.

On the following day, students were asked to create their individual writing plans. Reviewing the prompt, we remembered that our writing required three big ideas. Using the chart paper, students looked for similar ideas to classify together. As they had spent time gathering and discussing ideas, the planning came easily.

With completed plans in hand, the students eagerly began to write. Many chose to begin their paragraphs with an “Although” topic sentence, acknowledging that other activity choices would also be enjoyable. They easily incorporated information they had learned from the text, the goal of the lesson.

The students’ engagement with their writing made it an appropriate piece to take all the way through publishing. With green and red pencils in hand, students edited their work, tracing all punctuation in red and all capitals in green. They typed their finished product, adding an image of the attraction to provide the reader with additional information.

The transition to opinion writing based on text had gone seamlessly as we had the needed writing skills in place from previous lessons. The students had been interested in the topic, engaged in the research, and excited to edit their work and share it with each other!  We had definitely been exploring and learning.

Would You Do It Again?

We just returned from a “bucket list” trip to China!  Our days were packed with sight-seeing, people-watching and eating new foods.  As we returned home and began to share our stories, we were asked two questions:

“What was your favorite part of the trip?”

“Would you do it again?”

First, our favorite parts.  Many of our favorite moments were the planned experiences.  Walking a section of the Great Wall without any other tourists was a highlight.  Visiting the Terra Cotta warriors and considering the ego of a leader who had them built so people would remember him was overwhelming.  Looking at the shattered pieces and realizing the patience needed to recreate these statues was humbling!  These experiences had been planned far in advance and lived up to our expectations.  There were also some spontaneous favorite moments.  Meeting a young local girl in line at Shanghai Disney and trying to communicate about Elsa from Frozen was an unplanned delight. Getting lost on a rainy night in Shanghai while searching for the second tallest building in the world is another unplanned, and now favorite, memory.

Would we do it again?  While we will choose other places in the world to visit before returning to China, I would certainly encourage others to take the trip!  I would also have ideas on “must see and do” places and experiences for those thinking of visiting China.

As the new school year creeps closer, I find myself reflecting on these same questions as I look back on the past school year. Having been away from school for a month helps me put the past year in better perspective.  I’ve been making a list of “favorite learning engagements” from last year and answering the question: Would you do it again?

Here’s a portion of my “things to do again next year” list . . .

·       Implement Writer’s Notebooks – a definite do again!  These notebooks are an invaluable organizational tool for both my students and me.  This year I plan to add an Anchor Chart section, where students can keep individual anchor charts for easy access after we have completed them together.

·       Expand Student Vocabulary, with a tweak – We have been collecting new vocabulary words in our Writer’s Notebooks, but I’m not sure that system is working as well as I had hoped.  The students have simply written the words as they found them, resulting in a disorganized list. Next year we are going to organize the words by topic.  For example, all the movement words will be collected together. We are also going to study words by word origin or roots, looking for commonalities. 

·       Focus on Academic Vocabulary – Next year I will continue to embed more academic vocabulary into student directions and writing prompts. The goal is for students to become used to deciphering and understanding directions prior to beginning a task. For this to be effective, my students will require explicit vocabulary instruction.  A great resource for teaching academic vocabulary is Teaching Academic Vocabulary K – 8: Effective Practices Across the Curriculum, by Blachowicz, Fisher, Ogle and Taff.    www.amazon.com/Teaching-Academic-Vocabulary-K-8-Curriculum/dp/1462510299

·       Read aloud every day – This is my favorite time of day with my students. In our high-tech days, it is so important to expose children to the joy of listening to an engaging book read aloud.

·       Look for areas to encourage student choice – Last year students loved choices, from where they sit to how they present their learning. Although I do not have the newest flexible seating furniture in my classrooms, I allow students the freedom to work in the area that is best for them. Instead of telling them that every assignment must be completed the same way, I’ve learned to present the students an expectation or rubric for an assignment and then allow them to choose the presentation method. The increased engagement and enthusiasm has been exciting to watch! Last year, a student asked if she could type her narrative into google slides, putting each portion of her story on a separate page. This idea spread throughout our classroom and greatly increased the students’ understanding of parts of a narrative.  Click on this link for past blogs on teaching narratives. writenow-rightnow.com/blog/2017/lets-write-a-story-part-one

·       Follow the spontaneous learning moments – Just like the spontaneous moments that happen when we travel, I look forward to those spontaneous learning moments in the classroom. We never know what comment or thought may turn into a learning moment. We all spend time creating lessons and are eager to share them with our students. It can be difficult to put those aside and spontaneously follow a student question or inquiry.  Yet, these unexpected paths can often become our favorite moment of the year! 

We would love to hear from you!  What items are on your list?  What was your favorite part of last year and what are you looking forward to doing again? What goals are you making right now to improve your learning environment? 

A Successful Mistake

Sometimes we all need a different perspective!  We had been working with kindergartners on writing a narrative.  The students had drawn pictures prior to writing, illustrating the setting and 2 events that took place in that setting.  They had written about their time in the library, an event on the playground, and a special time with their families.

We now wanted to expand their writing to include a problem that the characters needed to solve.  Along with a problem to solve, I wanted to provide students an opportunity to add details to their writing.  I brought in sheets of paper cut in 4” by 18” strips for them to draw pictures onto to help plan their writing.  I folded the strips into four rectangles and we were ready to start.  Purely be accident, I taped the paper to the board vertically beside a piece of chart paper. With the paper hung vertically instead of horizontally, the order of the pictures matched the writing we would be doing on the paper.  We decided to try a different perspective on writing.

To model the process, I began writing a story about buying some apples in the grocery story. Before writing the story, I told the students we would sketch out the essential events.  The first box was for my setting. I quickly sketched a picture of me standing in front of a display of red, juicy apples.  This was where my story would take place.

The next box was for the problem.  As a group, we discussed the importance of the problem.  Just putting the apples into a bag and putting the bag into my grocery cart did not make a very exciting story.  What problem could I encounter?  In the second box I drew a picture of me placing apples in a plastic bag.  Unfortunately, there was a hole in the bottom of the bag and the apples were dropping out all over the floor.

The third picture was where we would sketch the solution. The very kind grocery store worker had come and helped me gather up all the apples I had spilled. I drew a picture showing this solution. The final box was designated for the conclusion. The story could not just abruptly end, but needed to show how the character reacted to the events.  What happened at the end of the story? How was the character feeling at the end of the story? In the final box of my paper, I sketched a picture of me happily leaving the store with a bag of apples in my hands.

Now that the story was planned, it was time to write.  Leaving the picture strip taped next to the chart paper, we began to write.  How could we start our story?  What is happening in the first box? Together we wrote:

One day I went to the grocery store to buy some apples for my lunch.

We folded the first square behind the second square, so our second picture was now on top.  Students could easily see what we were writing about next.

One day I went to the grocery store to buy some apples for my lunch. I opened a plastic bag to carry my apples.  I didn’t know there was a hole in the bottom.  As I put the apples in the bag, they all fell on the floor.

We repeated the process for the third picture, folding the first two pictures back. The third picture was now on top.

One day I went to the grocery store to buy some apples for my lunch. I opened a plastic bag to carry my apples.  I didn’t know there was a hole in the bottom.  As I put the apples in the bag, they all fell on the floor. I was about to cry. A kind man who worked at the store came and helped me collect all my apples.

We are ready to conclude our story. We want to let our readers know how the characters are feeling at the end of the story. 

One day I went to the grocery store to buy some apples for my lunch. I opened a plastic bag to carry my apples.  I didn’t know there was a hole in the bottom.  As I put the apples in the bag, they all fell on the floor. I was about to cry. A kind man who worked at the story came and helped me collect all my apples.  I paid for my apples and left the store feeling happy and ready for a snack.

The students were ready to write on their own, with some support.  To help guide their writing, we all chose the park for our original setting.  Students drew a picture of the park in the first box.  After brainstorming ideas, students drew a possible problem they might have in the park in the second box.  The third box was used for drawing the solution and the final box showed how the characters felts at the end of the story.

Although the students wrote independently, we followed the steps together. I was impressed how easily it was for them to fold the paper and write their story in order.  They were able to write a story with a setting, problem, solution and conclusion.  Accidentally hanging the paper incorrectly had been a successful mistake!

Concrete Poetry

Don’t you love spontaneous teachable moments?  As a class, we were sharing spring poems and had read Bobbi Katz’s poem “Spring Is.” http://blog.lrei.org/ls-poetry-archive/spring-is-bobbi-katz/  The physical layout of the version we read made the reader feel as if they were running in their sneakers down the stairs.  As we discussed how the words’ placement impacted the poem’s meaning, my students began to look for other examples of poems written in a shape. It was the perfect time to change the direction I had planned for the morning and introduce the concept of concrete poetry.

A concrete, or shape poem is one whose meaning is told through both the words and its graphic shape on the page.  To begin our exploration, I simply googled “image of concrete poems for children.”  As the class viewed these images, students quickly ascertained that in a concrete poem a poet conveys his message in two ways, both through the text and through the shape in which he puts the words on paper.  

I wanted students to think about a topic for their own poetry before I showed them more examples. Each child was asked to think of a noun about which they were interested and had a lot of background knowledge. After writing their item at the top of the page, they were given three minutes to list attributes and/or what you might do with this object.  Once the attributes were gathered, students were asked to put these words into phrases.  We quickly reviewed similes and metaphors and looked for ways to add figurative language to the brainstormed list.  For example:  “spinning bike wheels” turned into:

My bike wheels were spinning in circles like planets orbiting the sun.

Wanting the students’ content to be just as significant as their drawing, I gathered some books with concrete poetry examples.  The three we used for examples were Technically, It’s Not My Fault by Grandits, Meow Ruff by Sidman and Outside The Lines by Burg and Gibbon.  All three authors write their concrete poems in unique ways.  As we read the poems, students identified different ways the poems were put together.  Some poems were written in the interior of a shape while in other poems the words were written so the words outlined the shape.

We were ready to write.  Two important decisions had to be made. Using their completed phrases, students first chose the format for their poetry.  Like the poems we had studied, some chose to write in phrases, some students wrote following a rhyming pattern and others used complete sentences.  The second decision was what shape would best convey the message. 

As I met with students, I was amazed by their creativity.  The room was abuzz with excitement and engagement as students matched their poetic words to a shape. As a class, we had spent an amazing morning learning and creating together.

We love to talk writing!  Please contact us at

Darlene-and-terry@writenow-rightnow.com or visit our website –

writenow-rightnow.com

Let's Write A Story . . . Part 3

The past two blogs have focused on working with students on narrative writing.  www.writenow-rightnow.com/blog/2017/lets-write-a-story-part-one and  www.writenow-rightnow.com/blog/2017/lets-write-a-story-part-2 Students are now ready to compose their events.  It is typical for young writers to simply list the events on their plan.  For example:  We built a fire to scare the bear, but he simply cuddles up next to it and took a nap.   Next we tried banging pots to scare him away, but he put his paws over his ears.  Instead of painting a picture for the reader, students put the events in the form of a list.

Prior to writing the events of a story, practice writing details through the use of wordless books.  A wordless book tells a story only using pictures.  The Red Sled, by Lita Judge, is a student favorite. www.barnesandnoble.com/w/red-sled-lita-judge/1100163318 Show students a single illustration from the book. Students will now write this portion of the story using words.  As a group brainstorm vocabulary that might be found in the book.  Only show one picture at a time, having students focus on writing 2-3 sentences which tell what is happening on that page.  Students love sharing their writings and this will encourage each other’s descriptive writing.

Returning to their own narratives, students now have practice including details when writing their events.  To help encourage detailed writing, students should write each event on a separate sheet of paper. This allows room to edit and expand the writing as needed.  Continually ask students to share their writing, listening to one another’s details and word choice.  Students will have 3 attempts to solve the story’s problem – two unsuccessful attempts and a final attempt that solves the problem.

The final solution and its success is not the end of the story.  A story does not merely end when the problem is solved.  The narrative requires a resolution – which requires two components.  The first component is a recounting of how the main character is feeling.  The second component is what the character has learned.  What did the characters take away from the bear experience? 

As they shared their writing with peers, the students were proud of their hard work and their focused, entertaining stories.  They were eager to write a second narrative.  They had accomplished what all writers desire – a story that was engaging for both the author and the reader.

We’d love to hear about your experiences writing narratives with students.  Please email us at darlene-and-terry@writenow-rightnow.com to share experiences or visit our website writenow-rightnow.com to read past blog posts and newsletters.

You can find complete lesson plans for writing narratives in the Write Now - Right Now Writing Curriculum.