Teaching Endings

On Monday we discussed endings to editorials in my ninth grade class.  This is how the teaching went:

1. Me:  I’ve noticed many of you are ready to write an ending, but aren’t sure how to go about it.  So let’s talk about it.  Will you pull out the mentor texts we’ve been studying and reread each of the endings?
2. Everyone finds their texts.  This is possible, because they each have binders with a “Text Section,” and I post the mentor texts on our Moodle site for those who forgot/lost/ate their binders.  They read.
3. As they start chatting because they’re finished reading, I say:  Will you talk with a partner about what you are noticing about the ending.  How are the editorialists crafting their endings?  What is important about the endings?  What can you do in your own editorial?
4. They talk.
5. Then we begin collecting their ideas:
   

   It feels over, like you know it’s finished.

   It makes you want to go do something.

   It makes you go, hmmmm.

   Hey, he started his last sentence with ‘And.’

   This one started with ‘But.”

   Here’s one starting with an ‘Or.’

   The endings are short.  Pitts wrote just one sentence and made it into a single paragraph.  Can one sentence be a paragraph?

   This one is only two sentences.  Man, they really make me what to do something, though.

6. The things they noticed opened the doors for teaching how to write a powerful ending:

Make your stance clear at the end.

Call the reader to action.

Up the emotional appeal — really hook ‘em.

Break conventions to get the reader’s attention. Starting the last sentence with a conjunction is very common in editorials.  Why do you think editorialsts do this?

Yes, one sentence can be a single paragraph.  What is the effect it has?  Why did the writer do it?

The lesson ended with a quick write session, where students used their writer’s notebook to play with an ending for their editorial.  First they reread their editorials (whatever they have so far) then they had-a-go at an ending.  Five minutes later they were making their own choices as writers (some continued to draft their ending, others worked in another capacity) and I conferred.

Later that day I was in a second grade writing workshop.  They were working on writing endings for their narratives.  This is what struck me:

They were looking at endings and talking about the things they noticed the writers doing to end their stories.  The process these eight year olds were engaged in was exactly the same as the process the fifteen year olds used that morning.

This is why Writing Workshop is powerful.  Good teaching is good teaching . . . no matter the age of the students.  Looking at mentor texts and asking:  “How did the writer make this?” is a powerful teaching strategy.  We know our instruction is sound when the technique can cross grade levels because our focus is on teaching writers, not teaching writing.

 

SOSLC

Please link the Slice of Life Story you write today to this post by leaving a comment.

It’s time for the weekly Slice of Life Story Challenge!

In just a few short weeks the Third Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge, which will last for the 31 days of March, will begin.  I’m continuing to think about prizes for our third annual challenge.  As you know, last year,  one author and a bunch of artists who sell their work on Etsy donated writerly prizes. This year we’re hoping to do some writerly prizes again.  So… if you know someone who would be interested in making a donation (and getting free publicity on our blog, which gets about 1,000 hits/weekday), then please have them contact us by February 20th so we coordinate the item they’d like to give away to one of the participants.  THANKS!

Let this be a reminder to you too!

I almost lost this:

circa 1984

It’s not quite a tragedy, since it is something I could have recovered. Granted it wouldn’t have been much fun and I would have been grumbling on the inside about the time it takes to collect and scan old photos, especially old photos I’ve already scanned. Still, it was recoverable.

 

Other stuff, like say all of my lesson plans, assessments, and work from the past 12 weeks wouldn’t have been recovered. It would have been recreated.

 

My most recent drafts for THE book were recreated.

 

But . . .

 

Friday night my patient-with-stupid-gadgets of a husband and I spent most of the night fiddling with the incredibly-ill external hard drive which I’ve used every-single day since the day I got it until the day it got sick.

 

And . . .

 

We recovered everything.

 

And . . .

 

I promise — pinky-promise-cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die promise — to regularly back junk up.

 

Promise. 

(You should make this promise too!)

Why do you care?

My students are in the heart of a study on persuasion.  They selected their own topics for their editorials.  What I’ve noticed this week is they are depending more on collecting facts and statistics to support their stance, rather than their own logical reasoning.  So minilessons have been centered around this issue.  We’ve discussed using evidence to support their reason(s); writing a strong stance; and selecting a few premium facts to support the stance. 

Today the lesson was simply this:

Persuasive writers care about their stance SO MUCH they can’t help but share what they believe with others.

I talked with them about the importance of believing in a stance.  We refered back to our initial chart which was created by adding things we noticed about persuasion after studying a mentor text.  Early in the unit, they recognized the importance of being passionate about your subject.  They completed a quick write about why they care about their topic.  (This unleashed oodles of emotional appeal.)

As teachers who feel pressured to cover a lot of stuff, sometimes we forget these simple lessons which are the most pressing, the most worthy.  If writers don’t care about their topic, then the writing is going to be flat.

At the end of workshop, we had a whip share.  Everyone shared “I have to write about (their stance), because . . . “  I stood in awe by their answers.  Here I thought they were just killing time.  In fact, they are passionate about their topics.  They’ve been hurt and don’t want others to go through what they’ve been through.  They feel compassion for those who don’t have a voice.  They hate the injustice in the world and want it to stop.  It made me realize they needed someone to say:  “It’s okay to care about your stance.  In fact, you need to care about it SO MUCH, that you can’t stand for it not being heard by others.”

What simple truths have you been teaching your students about writing?

Letters of Gratitude

I am consistently moved by meaningful letters.  When I write thank you notes, I am sure to take time with them so the recipient can feel my genuine gratitude.  However, when I write other notes, specifically condolence notes, I find it more challenging.  (Let me be honest, I’ve even looked for mentor letters to help me write a sincere condolence note.  Luckily I found this a couple of years ago.)

As I was perusing this past week’s Slice of Life Story Contributions, I came upon an amazing story from Annie Campbell, who I met in Carl Anderson’s Revision Class at the TCRWP Writing Institute during the summer of 2008.  Annie is a third grade teacher at William Fox Elementary School, a public school in Richmond, Virginia.  She has a fantastic blog, “Write Now in Room 204,” which chronicles a lot of the amazing things Annie does with her students.  Since I’ve known her, I’ve always thought Annie would be the kind of person I’d want to have teaching my children (i.e., if I were a parent).  After reading about the Chores for Change Project she led in her classroom, I’m even more convinced of the fantastic types of educational opportunities Annie provides for her students on a daily basis.

As I read about the Chores for Change Project Annie blogged about, I was captivated by the fact that her third graders did more than send money to Haiti.  They wrote letters.  Not just any kinds of letters, but thank you letters to the relief workers.  I e-mailed Annie to learn more and this is what I found out.

Annie was required, by her district, to give her students a portfolio assessment on thank you notes.  She began teaching thank you notes as a genre by sending notes to the students in her class (in some cases simply thanking them for who they were in the class) over the holidays.  While she didn’t use her notes as mentor texts, per se, she knew that they would have all had a common experience, receiving a thank you note from her, as a means to understanding the genre.  Then, she brought in a bunch of letters written to her.  Together with her students, they noticed the form of letters, what the first sentences, and the closing looked like.  She even brought out her grandmother’s copy of an Emily Post Etiquette Book, which she learned to write thank you notes from, and studied the examples of thank you notes with her students.  They continued to make noticings about thank you notes from the letters in the Post Book.  Eventually, her students used a variety of thank you notes to help them write their own for their portfolio assessment.

Then, the earthquake struck Haiti.  Here’s where Annie took what her students learned about thank you notes and turned it into a real-life project.  In her own words:

In the midst of horror, gratitude became a word with richer and deeper meaning.   The more we wished we could help, the more grateful we became to those who could.  We were raising money to help and realized that there were people who would use that money to help where help was needed most.   We were grateful to them. And we knew how to show gratitude because we knew how to write a thank you note.  My students worked with partners on possible first sentences.  We wrote a list of closings.  We drafted. And then we passed out stationary and pens. This assignment had such purpose and clear audience that strong voice was inevitable. I never even mentioned it.  Their notes are being sent with the money to the Red Cross.

I made copies for the portfolio and copies for a future mini lesson.  They unwittingly produced beautiful mentor texts on voice.

While Annie’s students wrote their initial thank you notes, for their portfolio assessments, after studying mentor texts, now their writing has a greater legacy.  Their notes to the Red Cross Volunteers are now going to serve as mentor texts for future classes of students who are aiming to write letters of gratitude.

Annie was kind enough to share one of her students’ letters with me for this forum.  Here it is:

A letter written by one of Annie Campbell's third graders.

If you haven’t already clicked on one of the “Chores for Change Project” Links above, then click here to learn more about the letters Annie’s third graders wrote and sent.  There’s a fantastic digital video that accompanies her words.

Finally, if you’d like to make a donation to the American Red Cross’s Haiti Relief & Development, then click here.

The “Real” World

A few years ago our county hosted Dr. Ruby Payne.  Every educator in the county was expected to read her book and attend the day-long training.  One of the things which stuck with me from this experience was the idea that teachers are often far-removed from the worlds our students live in.  The home I return to each evening — warm, clean, filled-with-food — the family unit I’m a part of — husband, daughters, son, parents, grandparents — the emotions I feel — accepted, relaxed, loved — are far different from that of many of my students.

Today I asked my colleague Cathy to observe me teach my ninth grade class.  A lot of the work Cathy and I have focused on in her classroom has been in regards to honoring children with our language and actions.  I asked her to notice if the atmosphere is one which honors students.

As we reflected, I realized the heavy lives my students lead.  Lives which are very different from mine.  It makes me realize this is true for must of us.  There are many students in our classrooms who lead rough lives and their lives are very different from their teachers’ lives.

Our students struggle with:

• Being removed from their homes because their parents deal drugs.
• Not knowing where they will sleep because their parents are angry and have kicked them out.
• Feeling fat, over-exercising, bingeing and purging.
• Failing again and again and again.  Failing so much that it is better to not try than admit they’re not smart enough.
• Rejection by parents.
• Physical abuse.
• Mental abuse.
• Sexual abuse.
• Cutting themselves so they can feel their pain on the outside.
• Saying no to their peers, only to be ostracized.
• Being bullied because they are a little bit different.
• Hunger.  True hunger.
• Living with alcoholics.
• Family members dying.
• Heat being turned off.
• Parents losing their jobs.

When I look at this list and I think about what I know about writing, I realize I can give my students a gift that will sustain them.  I can give them a gift for coping.  Writing not only influences others, it changes the writer.  It can help us survive.

Take a few minutes to think about the lives your students are living outside of your classroom walls.  Make a list of their struggles.  It will make you a better educator . . . at least it did me.

Op-Ed

The New York Times published an Op-Ed, “Playing to Learn,” today by Susan Engel, who is a senior lecturer in psychology and the director of the Williams College Teaching Program.  It’s about education reform, specifically curriculum reform.  Engel spent one full paragraph on the type of writing that she things should exist in elementary school classrooms.  She said:

Children would also spend an hour a day writing things that have actual meaning to them — stories, newspaper articles, captions for cartoons, letters to one another. People write best when they use writing to think and to communicate, rather than to get a good grade.

Click here to read Engel’s piece and then share your thoughts.  Why, or why don’t, you agree with her thinking about curriculum reform?

Thinking Ahead to the Month-Long Challenge

Please link the Slice of Life Story you write today to this post by leaving a comment.

Today’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for the Slice of Life Story Challenge!

However, it’s also the second day of February, which means it’s time to start for me to start thinking about the Third Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge that lasts for the entire month of March.  By thinking about the Third Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge I mean that I have to start thinking about prizes (Since we all like incentives to push ourselves, don’t we?) for people who write the entire month of March.

Last year one author and a bunch of artists who sell their work on Etsy donated writerly prizes. If you know someone who would be interested in making a donation (and getting free publicity on our blog, which gets about 1,000 hits/weekday), then please have them contact us by February 20th so we coordinate the item they’d like to give away to one of the participants.

Classroom Management.

Since the first few weeks of my student teaching, classroom management hasn’t been something I’ve struggled with.  (Although I do struggle with the term.)  The first week of my student teaching I planned a lab.  Everything went smoothly, except clean up.  The lab was a mess.  Nothing was put away.  Nothing was set for the next class (which was starting in 4 minutes).  Nothing was put away.  The students left the lab happily chatting, completely ignoring my requests for help.  The rest of the day didn’t go so smoothly.

My mentor, Tony Phillips, helped me process the day.  He insisted I share with the class my disappointment with their behavior and my expectations for the future.  I was nervous.  My hands were shaking.  My voice was wobbly.  My eyes were huge.  But I did it.

I expressed my disappointment and my expectations without raising my voice.  (One of my core beliefs is not raising my voice with students — actually, I try not to raise my voice ever.)

It has been a skill I’m thankful Tony taught me.  And it is a skill I put into practice last Friday and today.

I teach a ninth grade English class made up of 25 freshman, sophomores, and juniors.  It is an eclectic mix.  They talk incessantly.  I ask often for them to quit talking. Two minutes later they are chatting.  I gather everyone’s attention for Mid-Workshop Teaching Points.  They talk after I finish.  I ask students to move seats.  They continue to talk.

On Friday I had enough.  I didn’t raise my voice, but I did threaten detentions.   And I spent the weekend reflecting.

I remembered how classroom management is the backbone of successful workshops.  Until there are procedures and expectations established and followed, true Workshop will not emerge. 

If I were a coach in my classroom, I’d be having a heart-to-heart about establishing procedures and expectations during work time so writing actually happens and my conferring would be more effective.  I’d brainstorm ways to make this possible.  I’d encourage myself to follow through.  I’d brainstorm ways other than detention to encourage students to follow the expectations we established as a class.  And then I’d smile and tell myself I’m a teacher and not a brain surgeon.  Come Monday morning, I could make things work.

Monday morning came.  I used a seating chart to help students make wise choices during work time.  It also allows some open seats so students can move if they are unable to work near their peers.  I reminded students of the expectations we developed at the start of the trimester.  I spent some of my conferring time monitoring the class as a whole and redirecting any potential problems.

It was a good day in Writing Workshop.  Clear expectations and follow through make all the difference.

Not Me Monday.

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Thought I’d play along today, since it is a way to experiment using a new voice in my writing and relates to my planned post.

I didn’t threaten to give a detention to the next person who spoke a word.  Not me.

I didn’t say if they wanted some time in detention to keep talking and I will happily fill out a detention form.  I didn’t tell them to turn off their iPods or else I may mistake it for talking and then they would sit in detention.  Not me.

 I didn’t feel frustrated all weekend for having to make a seating chart, something I’ve not done for nine years.  It wasn’t therapeutic to make a new seating chart, smiling at the placement of each and everyone of them.  I didn’t get a tickle about writing on the board, “Great news, new seats today!”  No not me.

Join the Conversation on Facebook

A few months ago we started a Two Writing Teachers Page on Facebook as a way to share a little more. While we often use it to link to new pieces we’ve written on this blog, we also use it to direct you to thought-provoking articles about education. It’s neat to watch some of the dialogues that have transpired online, between 270+ educators who’ve never met, about educational issues.

Want to join us? Just click here to go to our Facebook Page and click “become a fan” so you can connect with other teachers in a whole new way.

Praising Kids. Talking to Kids. Questioning Kids.

I’ve been doing Pilates since August 2008.  I started it in order to get stronger after some surgery I had in 2007.  I’ve been doing it three times a week for the past few months.  While I have nothing even close to Madonna’s physique, I have certainly become stronger.  My Pilates Instructor is very cautious about what I do since she wants me to be careful not to injure myself.  That being said, she also challenges me to do more than I think I can handle.  Since I began training with my instructor here in Pennsylvania this past summer, there have been several occasions that I have not been able to complete all of the sets in a given exercise due to a lack the physical strength.  However, she’ll have me revisit the same exercise in a subsequent session, coaching me through something that’s tough with verbal cues.  As a result, there are exercises I can do now that I could do six months ago.

As I left my Pilates Session today, I realized that a lot of the reason I’ve improved my ability to complete exercises that were once too challenging for me is due to my instructor’s use of praise.  While she’ll often say, “Good job!” or “Nice work!” at the end of a set of exercises I complete, she also gives me specific and targeted praise when I’m working through something that she knows is hard for me.  Today, for instance, when I was doing side planks on the low chair, she said, “Excellent job keeping your hips stacked.”  Keeping one’s hips stacked during this exercise is extremely hard since wobbling is a reality when one is balancing their body weight on their hip bone.  Therefore, her praise meant a lot to me since she noticed how hard I was trying to keep my form correct.  This is just one, of many, types of specific and targeted praise I heard today from my instructor.  Her praise makes me work through tough sessions.  Her praise makes me believe I can push myself a little harder.  Her praise makes me want to come back in order to continue to rebuild my strength.

Thanks to the Responsive Classroom Method, which I got trained in during the Summer of 2006, I learned about the benefits of genuine praise towards children.  A lot of the work we did at the Responsive Classroom Summer Institute revolved around the way we (educators) talk to children.  After my week at the Institute, I began to eradicate phrases like “I love the way you…” or “I like how you…” since that places a value-judgment on a child.  At the Institute, we were encouraged to praise children by using phrases that started with the words “I noticed…,” “I see…,” or “I can tell…”

When talking with students, it’s important that we notice, see, and can tell the types of things they’re doing as young writers.  When we are attuned to the things they do, their attempts to become better writers are validated by us.  Using phrases like “I noticed…,” “I see…,” or “I can tell…” allow us to give specific and targeted praise to our students in a way that helps them understand exactly what they’re doing well.  When a child hears what it is s/he is doing well, then it’s possible for him/her to replicate that again and again.  (Just like I will always remember to keep my hips stacked every time I do side planks on the low chair going-forward.)

I’ve put together a list educators (and parents) can use when conversing with children.  I divided the list into two columns: questions and statements.  As you will see, there are a variety of reasons you might use a particular question or statement with a child.  For instance, some statements are meant to help give praise, while others are meant to redirect.

View this document on Scribd

NOTE: The questions and statements you see in the Scribd Document were inspired by my time at the Responsive Classroom Institute and from reading Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children’s Learning by Peter H. Johnston.

Consider infusing one of these questions or statements into your conversations with your students next week… and maybe another one the week after.  You will see that the way you praise, talk, and question your students will change as a result of the language you use when you talk and teach.

Finally, if you’d like to read more about teacher language, then click here.

A Mentor Text that Deals with Social Issues

We’ve all had that kid in our class.  You know who I mean.  It’s the kid who sticks out like a sore thumb because of his weight, because of his hair, or because of the way his voice sounds.  I had that kid in my class each year… sometimes more than one per year.  That kid was always the reason I matched my students with partners and never let them pick their own teams, for fear that that kid would be picked last.

When I received a review copy of A Very Big Bunny by Marisabina Russo I immediately thought about all of my students who didn’t fit in.  A Very Big Bunny is the tale of Amelia, a bunny who is too large for her age and therefore isn’t accepted by her fellow bunny classmates.  Amelia is isolated from her peers until a new bunny, Susannah, who is too small for her age, befriends Amelia and helps her become confident in her skin (or perhaps that’s the fur she’s living in).

This book is ideal for use when discussing social issues, especially bullying and fitting-in, in an elementary school classroom.  It can also serve as an excellent mentor text for students who are attempting to write about bullying, either as a personal narrative or as a piece of short fiction.  (Other texts that tackle the same issue are Blubber by Judy Blume, Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, La Mariposa by Francisco Jiminez, and The Lemonade Club by Patricia Polacco.)  However, this text has other uses, as a mentor text, as well.  Some craft moves you can show students in A Very Big Bunny are:

• How to link compound sentences.

• Replacing the word said with strong dialogue tags.

• Ways to write using the power of three.  (Click here for more about the “power of three.”)

• Model sentences for creating realistic-sounding dialogue.  (Change “bunnies” to children” and this book is about nearly any elementary school class!)

• Demonstrate ways to repeat the sequence of events different characters experience in the same way.

• Techniques for crafting a simple sentence, that’s followed-up by a fragment that modifies the simple sentence.

A Very Big Bunny just came out in bookstores two days ago.  Click here if you want to add it to your collection of mentor texts.

Review copy provided by Schwartz & Wade Books.

Exceptional Professional Development

Yesterday I enjoyed some of the very best professional development in my career  – and I didn’t even leave the school building!  It began with a short meeting with two art teachers, Cindy Bryan and Bill Eby.

As the meeting ended, I asked them about their own art work.  Cindy showed me a picture she demonstrated with in class.  Bill invited me into his classroom to see his current colored pencil drawing.

As he pulled it out of his portfolio, he was surrounded by students.  “Did you get any more done last night?” one asked him.

He smiled and said, “Yes, I did work on it.”   Then he pulled it out for us to see.  As I admired his work, I noticed his students were all getting ready for the day.  They seemed to have a sense of purpose.  Some were chatting with him, others were gathering supplies.  All were glad to be there.

Leaving his classroom, I reflected on what I observed and considered how it could apply to teaching writing.  Soon I was in a Building Trades classroom with Jamie McAdams.  The bell rang and he began with a lesson. He used student work as a model in his lesson.  In less than ten minutes, his class had their projects out and were working independently.  He gave them time to settle in to their work and then he began conferring with students.

One student was ready to move on, past the rest of the class.  Jamie helped him.  Another student was working on a jig, but having a difficult time.  Jamie modeled, observed, and checked back many times throughout the class.  He helped him work through the tough spots any time he asked (and even when he didn’t).  Between conferences, Jamie would observe his students’ work.  He noticed a problem and met with the group to reteach.

As I stood in this classroom which looks and smells so differently than the writing classrooms I spend my days in, I again began to reflect on my practice as a teacher.There was much I could apply to my own teaching.  It didn’t take me long to realize in the first 90 minutes of Tuesday morning I was changed as an educator.  I became a better teacher.

Through Bill, Cindy, and Jamie, I’ve come to realize:

• They know their trade.  Bill and Cindy are artists.  Jamie builds.  Since they are engaged in the process they expect of their students, they are able to instruct much more efficiently.  What a disadvantage writing teachers are at when they don’t engage regularly in writing.  I’m going to share my writing with students this week.
• Since they have an “insider’s knowledge,” they know what to affirm in their students, as well as how to help them refine their work.  Encouragement is important, but it needs to be authentic and genuine.  Because they are artists and a builder, they know how to affirm their students in meaningful ways.  I’ve challenged myself to give more authentic encouragement to the writers in my classroom.
• It’s okay to return to a student many times within a class period. Sometimes I feel so much pressure to confer with students, I get harried and rushed.  Jamie reminded me to slow down and just talk with students.  Today I was more intentional about listening (really listening) and talking as one writer to another.
• Humor is a very good thing . . . especially when there’s not sarcasm attached.  People feel more at ease when they are able to laugh.  I’m going to be less serious.
• In all the classrooms, students seemed content.  Sure, some may have been a little grumpy or walking around with a chip on their shoulders, but over all a feeling of calmness and contentedness settled over the classrooms.  I think this is because students felt valued and were engaged in worthwhile projects. Also, Jamie didn’t rush his students.  I’m going to remove this word from my teaching vocabulary:  “Quickly . . . “
• Workshop teaching is good instruction.  A short, direct lesson; lots of work time with the opportunity for individual attention; and a bit of sharing at the end are enough.  I’m going to give students more time to work as writers.
• Collaboration is important.  We should talk more about our teaching practices and observe each other more often.  We ought to reflect together — grow together.  Collaboration is bigger than talking with people at the same grade level or in the same department. Collaboration is working with others who want to refine the art of teaching.  Collaboration is necessary for growth.
• I’m beginning to think Writing Workshop teachers should observe teachers who live in a “workshop” day in and day out.  Vocational classes and art classes are treasure boxes just waiting to be opened.

A Call for Slice of Life Stories

Please link your Slice of Life Story to this post by leaving a comment.

I just got home, a few hours ago, from some time away in Arizona.  To pick one slice of my life from the trip seems quite hard.  I intend on sharing one later today.  As for the rest of my vacation tales, well, that’s what scrapbooking is for.

I look forward to reading and commenting on the slices of your life that you share, by linking to them in this forum, throughout the day.

Narrative Assessment

There are many lenses to look through when assessing student writers.  Here are some of the things I consider:

1. How well students write when given time, choice, support, and unlimited resources, as well as how well they write on-demand.
2. The effectiveness of their personal writing processes.
3. Attempts at sophisticated craft moves, even if they fail.

I also believe writers are in more need of feedback and less need of evaluation.  As I’ve grown as a writer, I realize an important factor in my growth is my willingness to reflect on my writing life.  Therefore, I try to provide these opportunities for my students also.

Here are the ways I collect grades for my ninth grade students.  (Please note formative assessment plays a large role in my day-to-day life in the classroom.  The following is summative assessment, and specifically how I boil it down into a grade.)

I use a rubric which was developed by the ninth grade English teachers at my school, Wawasee High School.  We used Penny Kittle’s narrative rubric in her book Write Beside Them (Heinemann, 2008) and Kelly Gallagher’s rubric in his book Teaching Adolescent Writers (Stenhouse, 2006) as a jumping-off point.  We then molded it into the following rubric to meet our needs.  You can see the specific lenses we look through to determine if students are writing well (which are influenced by Carl Anderson’s work in Assessing Writers (Heinemann, 2005).

View this document on Scribd

You’ll notice there are no point values.  We give feedback in each of the areas and then assign a score according to the whole performance.  (Really, how can we put a point value on meaning?  It is a much more significant than a 4-point deficit if the meaning is lacking, but everything else is executed in superbly.) 

Students may rewrite as many times as they wish and resubmit their work.  The new (and improved) score completely replaces their previous score.  In this way, students are encouraged to revise and work toward becoming stronger writers, as opposed to simply getting the assignment done.  (Again, there are strong traces of Kittle and Gallagher’s work in this thinking.)

This rubric is also used to score their On-Demand Writing Experience (aka:  A Writing Prompt).   Stacey coined the term on-demand way back when we were blogging in our own little corners of the world.  I’ve noticed students prefer it to writing prompt.

View this document on Scribd

Let me just say, I was way-impressed with my students’ work on this assessment.  Several commented how well they wrote and wanted clean copies of their writing for themselves.  As I read their writing I noticed, first-hand, their growth as writers.  What a very good feeling.

Finally, I must have insight into their writing process.  This is necessary as I encourage them to become more efficient writers, and because Indiana’s LA Standard 4 is all about process.  If I’m going to determine if my students are meeting this standard, I must know more about their individual processes.

Through experience, I realize students often attempt craft strategies, but fall short in the execution.  As I assess what they know about writing well, it is helpful when they identify specific craft and process strategies on the manuscript they turn-in. 

This narrative reflection addresses all of these needs.

View this document on Scribd

Let me close with this disclaimer:  My assessment is continually evolving.  The more I read about assessing student writers, the more I examine my practices and change them to become more efficient.  It is my goal to discern an accurate portrait of each writer in my classroom, while at the same time determining whether they are able to meet the standards on a consistent and proficient basis.

A Few Places in Cyberspace

Happy Friday! Today’s post is a smattering of places across Cyberspace you may find interesting, fun, inspirational, OR perhaps they won’t be your cup of tea. Regardless, have a great weekend!

The Whole Child Blog: This blog from ACSD is designed to “raise awareness about the need to ensure each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.” I just came across it today and it inspired this post.

This post, “Finding Yourself,” from Elizabeth Kartchner on her blog Just Us.  Music will start playing when you click on her blog . . . it’s some of my favorite tunes which always makes me happy to stop by and read.

Sprinkles from Stacy Julian are a highlight for me.  I love sprinkles (long before I heard of Stacy Julian) and love even more the idea of adding them not just to my morning toast, but also to my day-to-day living.

Please share, share, share your current favorite places in Cyberspace in the comments section of this post.

Gradually Releasing Responsibility to Students

Last year Karren Colbert wrote a blog post about using the Gradual Release Model with students when it comes to using mentor texts.  Instead of reviewing a book in this forum today, I am linking to Colbert’s post about mentor texts.  Click here to read what she wrote.

Fighting Apathy.

I think often in life we can do things to get them done or we can do things to make meaningful changes.  Sometimes it’s a difficult fight within ourselves.  Right now, in education, this fight is important. 

As more and more mandates and regulations “come down,” it is tempting to simply shell-up and take it.  Close our classroom doors and try to ignore the chaos around us.  Shut our eyes real-tight and pretend it will go away.

The truth of the matter is these things are not going away.  Budgets are going to be cut; demand for test scores to be raised is going to  continue; and teachers will be judged based on many factors out of our control.

We are standing at a bend in the road and our choices are:

1. Do things which meet the criteria, but are meaningless OR
2. Continue to take meaningful actions in our classroom, regardless of the time, explanation,  and education of others it will take along the way.

Workshop teaching is important.  Through teaching students at their point of need, in authentic ways, they will construct meaning for themselves and learn to think.  As Keene and Zimmerman wrote in Mosaic of Thought, “Kids who think well test well” (29). 

Do I want kids to do well on standardized tests?  Of course.  Do I want more for them than that?  Most definitely.  Workshop teaching is the way to have both . . . to have our cake and eat it too.  The question is, will we stand up for Workshop when faced with the pressure to prepare students for standardized tests via test-prep programs?  Will we trust Workshop is enough for our students?

SOLSC

Please link your Slice of Life Story to this post by leaving a comment.

These Things Make Me Happy.

2010 has been off to a bit of a rocky start for me.  Now don’t read that and think things have been bad.  They haven’t.  Just rocky.  As in having a rough time finding my footing and feeling sure of the way things are going.  However, I’m pleased to say this weekend has been a turning point.  After completing many loads of laundry (the number is too embarrassing to share!) and taking some deep breaths I’m ready to embrace 2010.

To celebrate, here are a few of the things which are making me happy right now.  (Perhaps you’ll want to do a post like this tomorrow for Slice of Life.)

Mary Lee’s Poetry Friday post on A Year of Teaching Reading.  This resonated with me on Friday afternoon.  The poem soothed my soul and the fact that someone else “out there” felt the same as I did at that moment was a very good thing. 

Stacey and I are officially more finished than not finished with our book.  We are 2/3 of the way finished with the draft.  I had no idea how good that would feel.  I can’t imagine how it will feel when it is sent to the publisher and no more changes can be made. 

Yum.  Until about 8 weeks ago I despised coffee.  Then, out of necessity for late nights, I converted.  This makes it possible.

One of my favorite bloggers may be back.  If you’ve never read Chocolate for Teachers, you won’t be sorry spending some time in the archives.  I promise you’ll be happy too.

Beef Stew, Honey Pan Rolls, Fruit Salad and friends who we have gone too long without seeing.  This encompassed my night tonight.  We were outnumbered 2 to 1 —  adults to kids.  They have four kids (all under the age of 4) and with our three + another girl who is staying with us while her mom is outta town that makes 8!

This summer the following national speakers are coming to the All-Write Summer Institute:  Carl Anderson,Smokey Daniels, Matt Glover, Penny Kittle, Lester Laminack, Katie Wood Ray,  Franki Sibberson, Sharon Taberski, and Sara Weeks.  The registration form should be up soon.

Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles and illustrated by Jerome Lagarrique is one of my all time favorite books.  I read it with my kids in honor of today.

What’s making you happy?

Purposeful Teaching

Writing Workshop changed my life.  Through Writing Workshop I became a writer.  I learned how to mentor myself after my favorite writers.  I learned to collect the simple everyday moments, relish them, and use them to make sense of my place in the world.  This in itself made Writing Workshop worthwhile to me.

Yet that’s not the only way it changed me.  As I read about Writing Workshop, I began to question my practices.  Often when I read about Writing Workshop, there were things I doubted.  This made me start asking questions.  As I asked questions then sought answers to them, the instructional choices I made became more purposeful.

I began synthesizing my new learning about Writing Workshop with my knowledge of brain research.  I was impressed how the two mirrored one another.  At the same time I was introduced to Daniels, Hyde, and Zimmerman’s Best Practice research.  This made me even more intentional about the choices I made in instruction.

I’ve come to realize how easy it is to get caught up in the swirl of life in school.  There are many things teachers are made to feel they must do.  As we scramble through the day, it is easy to forget to consider the purpose behind our choices.  This weekend I”m going to take some time to re-evaluate the choices I’m making.  Here are some of the things I’m considering:

What have I been teaching in conferences this week? 
Are my teaching points helping writers or simply fixing up writing?
How am I encouraging the writers in my classroom?
How can I help my students find authentic topics and genuine audiences? 
Do the charts in my classroom support writers?
Is my assessment aligned with standards, as well as my instruction?
What can I do to make sure my lessons are “sticky?”
How can content area teachers use writing to help students understand content?

What are some of the things you’re considering in order to be more purposeful in your teaching?

Scaredy Squirrel Books in the Primary Writing Classroom

Ruth was shocked when she learned that I had never heard of Scaredy Squirrel Books when we passed the Kids Can Press Booth at the NCTE Conference.  Quite frankly, once I started paging Mélanie Watt’s first Scaredy Squirrel Book, which was published four years ago, I, too, was shocked.  It was humorous!  I found the book to be written in an extremely witty way and I loved the illustrations.  However, I didn’t beat myself up too much about not knowing it… the books are geared to a slightly younger audience than the students I taught when I was a classroom teacher.

About a month after NCTE, some review copies of the Scaredy Squirrel Series arrived from Kids Can Press.  I read them several times, giggling at the things I saw Scaredy doing on the pages of the book.  Watt really brought him to life and created a unique personality for this squirrel who has lots of phobias.  While it’s clear we can teach children in the primary grades a lot about the way to build a fictional character from reading all of the Scaredy Squirrel Books, there are also specific things we can teach young writers to do if these books are used as touchstones in the classroom.
I’ve combed through three of Watt’s books and have found several things we can teach students to do from these texts.  I created a craft table, similar to other craft tables I’ve created for The Pencil, Alex and Lulu: Two of a Kind, Those Shoes, A Sweet Smell of Roses, and Artichoke Boy.  For more information about how to use the craft table, which you can view on Scribd, click here.

View this document on Scribd

If you’re not happy with the formatting of the craft table in Scribd, then click here.

Material from Scaredy Squirrel, Scaredy Squirrel at Night, and Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend is used by permission of Kids Can Press. © Mélanie Watt

Conferring Reminders

First apologies + thank you.  Apologies because I forgot to blog!  As unreal as that seems, it is the truth.  On Monday night I crashed before 9 (could it be because I had a total of 12 hours of sleep the previous week) and didn’t even think about the blog until about 7 minutes ago!  I’m sorry.  And a thank you because you’re back reading.

Today’s post is one I need.  From time to time it is important to remember, question, synthesize, and record our thinking about our practices.  Conferring is the heart of workshop, so it is worthy to consider.  Following is a list of reminders I need to hear.

• Teach the writer.  Teach the writer.  Teach the writer.
• Listen and listen some more.  Then respond.  The best response is a question and then more listening.
• Find what the student is doing well and build on those strengths.
• Ask open-ended questions.
• Go to students.  Sit next to them.  If you don’t want to get down on the floor, then find a stool.  Move from one side of the room to the other when conferring.
• A Mid-Workshop Share is always a good way to redirect students who have started chatting during work time.
• Grace is important.  Writing is hard work and sometimes sitting next to someone is a tempting diversion.
• Take time to explicitly teach and then have students give it a try with your support.  After they have the gist, move on — but check back later!  This checking back is essential for holding students accountable in implementing the teaching point.
• Take notes.  At the minimum, include the date, topic of the conversation, and the teaching point.
• Reflect on these notes.  Ask what did I do well in this conference?  How could I have improved this conference.
• The conference does not have to “match” the minilesson.
• Be on the look out for potential minilessons while conferring.
• Be personal.  Smile, laugh, cry  — respond as a human first and a writing teacher second.

Will you add to my list?  I’d love to know your reminder when it comes to conferring.

SOLSC & Writing Groups

Please link your Slice of Life Story to this post by leaving a comment.

This past weekend I attended the Capital Area Writing Project’s Teachers as Writers Meeting, which was held in a cafe on the outskirts of Harrisburg.  I brought a piece of fiction I’m working on to get some feedback from other teacher-writers.  It was a pleasure to gather as part of a community, to get feedback, and to also do some writing.

I like to think of our weekly Slice of Life Story Challenge as an online group of writers.  Some of the folks who contribute weekly have been participating with this Challenge for the past two years.  Some people are brand new.  (While others just join us for the month of March when we host our month-long challenge.)  Regardless of how often you write and link your writing through one of these weekly posts, know that you’re part of this writing community.  Your voice, and your thoughts about other people’s writing, is not only welcomed, but it’s encouraged.

I hope you’ll write a Slice of Life Story and link it here today.  Additionally, I hope you’ll click on the “comments” link below and explore other people’s writing, offering them some feedback about the words they put forth.