Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Writing
I am work the system-wide writing committee, I am wondering why writing is such a complicated and process. As students go through the writing process, it does move students to the upper end of Bloom's. So...what do you think about writing in the context of learning. Why is it so important? Why is it so difficult? How can we improve students as writers? How can we improve ourselves as writers? I am really struggling with understanding how to help students with their writing. I would really like to know what you think. Jas
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19 comments:
In preschool, we introduce children to the concept of writing through reading stories and introducing them to expanded vocabulary. They learn new vocabulary through stories, through imaginative play and centers in the classroom. Children need to learn early on that letters make words and that words on paper actually mean something. Then they can begin to make up stories on their own. You can work with preschoolers and younger children to make up their own stories and dictate them to you to write down for them, then they can draw pictures to go with the stories. This makes writing "fun".
To be a successful writer, an individual must internalize the concept matter. Writing is the highest form of critical thinking skills. The more one writes the more comfortable one feels with the writing process. The more you read the better writer you become. Writing is an extension of reading. As a rule students do not read except what is absolutely necessary. So any suggestions for this? Many parents do not provide reading materials or find it necessary to encourage reading.
We believe that teaching students how to write is a systematic approach that is to be taken slowly without frustrating students. It is difficult to teach students how to put the spoken word into the written format because it is not a natural process. In kindergarten we are dealing with students with limited English and or lack of grammatical structures in their language. We have to do a lot of modeling in the beginning and then progress to individual writing conferences and mini lessons.
We believe that students do well when they write about subjects that are relivant and meaningful to them.
Kindergarten/Speech
From Fourth - We do not feel that children are given enough freedom for creative or expressive writing. The writing that we are required to do is too restrictive. We believe that writing is critical for all subject areas but we are not finding that students enjoy the process.
From fourth grade standpoint, the time limit for the writing assessments for a ten year old is not feasible. There are twelve strategies that must be addressed within 70 - 90 minutes. And remember, we are talking about a ten year old! It's hard for an adult to complete a four under these restrictions.
I have seen my students writing progress since the beginning of the year. They did an activity as a group the other day that really impressed me. They wrote an assignment individually, then took everyone's best ideas and combined them into one paper. When they sat down and shared ideas, they could see what was well-written and what they could use in their final draft. I see that when more minds work together, they sometimes produce writing that they would not otherwise produce individually. Although there are times when it's hard to get the right cohesive group together, when it happens, they can surprise me.
We are currently working on papers to inspire others that goes along with our study of Thomas Paine in his inspirational pamphlet, "Common Sense." They seem to really be getting into them now, even though they had a rocky start. The planning process has helped a lot as they worked out their ideas.
I think writing takes practice, but I am also a firm believer that writing is a talent, just as being an artist is a talent. Some people are better artists, and some are better writers. You can practice and improve both, but some people have more of a way with words than others. I believe that's why we're not all published authors.
We believe that writing truly shows whether a student understands the material or has learned a concept. Stating a concept in their own words rather than choosing the answer from multiple choice eliminates guessing and luck. Students will have to communicate with others on the job, in their community and in life in general. We think that students often dislike writing because they have to think too much or use higher order thinking skills. Students usually only want to write for their own enjoyment or as a creative outlet. They do not get excited about essays in academic areas. Students need more time to write, but it is impossible for all instructors to read all of these on a daily basis. Our schedule does not allow for extensive writing in content areas because our curriculum is so crowded.
As students go through the writing process, it is essential to expose them to good forms of writing by reading aloud no matter what grade level. Read alouds provide background knowledge, vocabulary and grammar development, as well as a model for their own writing. Writing is difficult because we are trying to reach the upper end of Bloom's too quickly without going through the bottom stages.
We agree with fourth grade. In the past, writing has been very restrictive, especially for the 4th and 7th grades. Now, with the new form of assessment, hopefully students will be writing more across the curriculum. Teachers can use students' writings to assess in content areas. This will improve writing and content area understanding.
We agree with kindergarten and 7th grades. Reading and writing go hand in hand. Typically, our good readers are good writers.
We think writing is difficult because it involves so many different processes. This is especially difficult for our younger students because they are having to apply phonics knowledge, sentence structure, and gramatical rules while putting their thoughts down on paper.
In an attempt to reach higher levels of Bloom's, some of the second grade team has dabbled with partner/team writing. We agree with jenn5, students have been more motivated and enthusiastic about writing.
EC PLC Team:
Writing is a cognitive task, as well as a developmental task. It depends a great deal upon the automaticity of handwriting and spelling.
Writing can be difficult because it requires a lot of effort. Students may be required to develop their own ideas and outlines drawing from their own prior experiences, which may be limited.
Writing involves multiple processes. It also incorporates each level of Bloom's taxonomy.
It is also subjective. Many times, writing is not clearly right or wrong, but depends upon others' expectations.
Writing ability has a strong impact on the improvement of students' achievement across the entire curriculum. It is an important avenue of communication. It is a life skill, which is incorporated throughout life.
Students who are not proficient in writing need explicit teaching in short visually presented lessons. Specific strategies need to be clearly modeled. Thinking maps are important to incorporate into writing lessons. Writing is so much like reading. . .to improve, one must write as much as possible.
The teacher must be a writer, or at least be able to fake it! Don't let your kids know that you don't like it!!
Modeling, mini-lessons, writers' workshop, and wide reading are ideas our PLC discussed. We also agree with the ideas presented in earlier comments.
Additionally, we believe that a top-down approach to modeling is important. We believe ADMINISTRATION should proofread! haha:)
Literacy/ESL
I agree that writing is a high form of critical thinking. In Science...I use writing mainly when we do experiments in groups or even if I model an activity for the class....for example....they have to predict what is going to happen...then observe what has happened and write about it in their own words. Some of them have a hard time getting their thoughts onto paper. They can tell you orally...but struggle with getting it from brain to paper. We are continuing to work on this. As far as Math....I have seen improvement since the first of the year....when they see a problem that says "Solve"...then "Explain"....many of them used to skip the explain part....they have learned that this is not an "option"....if I assign it - they understand that I expect it to be done. Again, some of them still struggle but most of them do a fairly good job at explaining. I do tell them that their wording may not be "exactly" the same as their neighbor....and I tell them that this is fine. It's important for them to express...how they worked the problem in "their own words". I usually have "explain" answers read aloud and I give positive feedback....so that they can hear that different wordings are correct!!!
Also, letting them get with a partner helps so much with the proofreading part of a writing assignment. After all the more they write...the better writers they will be!!!!!!!!
Once you have introduced students to the writing process by reading to them (lower grades) and then have them do systematic writing, what next? How do we make them feel confident in their skills?
In ball practice, we never say practice makes perfect! If we make a mistake, we correct it. Perfect practice makes perfect. The same may be true about writing. If students are writing over and over, will they become better writers? We do not believe it is just the writing practice that improves writing unless the writing is fundamentally correct. We wonder if, as in physical development, there is a developmental period that is more conducive to writing instruction?
So what do you think about our need as teachers to develop our writing skills. Do youi think it would be beneficial to see us work on our own writing to become better writers?
So what do you think about our need as teachers to develop our writing skills. Do youi think it would be beneficial to see us work on our own writing to become better writers?
I too agree with several of the previous posts...good readers are typically the better writers in the classroom. I also think that good writers are the ones who write more often. The more you write, the better you become. Students should be writing some EVERY day. Even if it is 2 sentences explaining a math problem or a short paragraph explaining why they chose a certain poem as their favorite. When students can put their thoughts on paper in a coherent and cohesive way, they have begun to grasp the total writing process.
I do think we (teachers) need to practice our writing more. (I am stepping on my own toes here!) All of us who have had to write for grad school or National Boards know that the more we wrote, the better papers we were able to produce. Of course, those papers were revised and critiqued by our peers. Writing is a skill. It needs to be sharpened.
Our group talked a bit about publishing. When the students have a reason to showcase their work, it is beneficial.
I like the thoughts of everyone that has posted. They are all very valid points. However, when we all speak the same language (writing education language) I think student performance should improve. I know we have that SCS, but interpretions vary as well as teacher approaches. Think about what a child would look like and perform like that has had a consistant writing cirriculum from K - 8th grade. Imagine the confidence teachers would feel in teaching this cirriculum if they knew exactly what the student had the previous year and what the student would be expected to the do the next year. Not to mention the interventions that could be put in place as you would already know goals that were not mastered. Yes..... you say that the SCS covers this thought, but think about the materials you have to teach writing and then see if it matches the grade levels below you or above you.
As for teachers maybe doing staff development to improve their own writing, great. While we are doing this it would be a good time to sharpen our writing skills as well as "write" a vertically aligned planned for our students.
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