Saturday, January 24, 2009
Writers Notebook Ch.1&2 group b 4pm
View the first sample chapters (available on line) Using the Writer's Notebook in Grades 3-8: A Teacher's Guide at (http://www1.ncte.org/library/files/Store/Books/Sample/35006chap1-2_x.pdf) and begin your writers notebook then post entries on Class Blog. Engage in an online discussion group on our class blog. Please read designated chapters and 1)propose “meaty” fat questions to discuss, 2) make connections to your teaching and work with students, and 3) make connections to your work as a writer (ie Keep your own notebook and share your response to it), 4)Please respond to two of your classmates’s entries in your study group, 4) Consider how what you have learned from this book might support the work of your integrated language arts unit.
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I think these were two good introductory chapters to a writers notebook, and the reason to use them in your class. After spending the summer doing the writing project I think I approach writing very differently in my class because of it.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of using a writers notebook as an adult was really something I had never thought about before I took part in the writing project last summer. The whole intent of the writing project is for teachers to really see themselves as writers to then help their students become better writers. I knew the philosophy and thought it sounded nice, but I never really thought it would apply to me. What amazed me is really from the first day we were writing in our own notebooks and sharing and by the end of the month I realized that I could write and that keeping a writers notebook was something that really was useful and could be something that I could share with my students. I have to admit that the demands of the day usually mean that I don't get to write when my students are writing, but I do try and share my writing with my students and we celebrate each others successes much more than I ever have in the past. I think because of this my students writing is much better than in the past. Allison and Tiffany, do you use writers notebooks with your kids and do you write when they do? Tiffany, I'm sure this is a challenge in your class but how do you approach writing with your students?
When I first began my writers notebook this summer I didn't want to share what I was writing in it, because I thought what I wrote sounded boring compared to what everyone else was writing and sharing, I was writing about everyday life and teaching, and other people seemed to be writing these profound things. I remember one of the first things I shared was about my 8th grade science class, it was about the saying my teacher always said (use good judgment and make wise choices). When I really started to listen to what other people were writing, it tended to be about their lives too. I try to encourage my students to share their writing even if they don't think it's great because everyone needs that affirmation and there's something good in everyone's writing. Do you share your writing with students?
My unit is focusing on the Westward Movement and the Oregon Trail, the ultimate goal is for my students to create an account of what life on the trail was like for a pioneer. They will be able to use their notebooks to keep ideas of how they want to do their projects, and work on accounts of what life was like. They will also be keeping a double entry journal of what they have learned from the books they will be ready and their thinking and reactions to it. I liked the part of the chapter where it said the notebook is for seeds and you have to keep your seeds so you can revisit them and add to them, I think this will come in useful as they go through the unit, they can keep their project ideas and cultivate them over time.
Heather, I completely agree that these first two chapters were ones that were relevant to me. I am now in the same position that you were in last summer. I am just starting to use the writers notebook for the very first time. Not only do I not use it for my students, but I have never had to keep one until this semester, therefore EVERYTHING is so new. I am keeping a writer's notebook in my other class too, and when I had to write my first response I was like, "Wait, where is the rubric? What topics do I need to include?" It was, and still is, so new to me and I find myself struggling to write in a safe enviornment and not for a specific purpose and audience. The types of writing that I will probably start off with in my writer's notebook are lists of things I like, memories I have or experiences I am having, humorous quotes that my students say to me (which is on an hourly basis), and quotes I like. I think by getting myself adjusted to this, then I can begin to understand more of why students should use this, and how.
ReplyDeleteNow Heather, to answer your question I do not use the writer's notebook with my kids, and my kids do not write much. The lowest level ones are working on writing their name or basic numbers. The other ones are working on writing personal information, such as name, phone number, and address, however that is a slow process that they have been working on for years. The highest of my students can write simple sentences, and that is awesome for them! I have those students write sentences about visuals, or about topics that they choose. I guess, by allowing them to write sentences about a topic they chose, it is a modified writer's notebook. However, being autistic, most of them want to write the same thing over and over, therefore I normally have to guide them with prompting questions, such as "want to write about something in school, or home, or food, or vacation, etc?" Or sometimes I just give them paper with a visual picture on it that they like (McDonalds or a bike, etc) and then tell them to write about it. Sometimes I get a personal experience written like "mom said put your bike away right now!", or sometimes I get "there is a bike". It always depends on what triggers them, and how focused they are for the day. Any suggestions for me to do more of this would be helpful and I would love it!
Now, I know you both use writers notebooks and I was wondering a few things. Being that you give your students risk-free writing enviornments, do you read all of their entries, or just ones that they flag for you? Or do you only read it if they ask you too?
Heather, I know you have some special education students, and I was wondering if you would consider having them write on the computer as their journal if they have major difficulty with writing? I know a lot of my special education students in Boston had difficulty with the actual writing process and used alphasmarts and computers all the time. What are your thoughts on that?
Another question that I had was if you ever have difficulty with kids in the class reading others notebooks without permission. I know how important it is for students to have a safe writing enviornment. Have you built such a trustworthy respectful enviornment that the kids know better, or do they really not seem to care about each others? With this being said, how often do you read to your students from your notebook? I know how important it is for your kids to hear your personal experiences and see you as a writer and human being as well, so I wonder if you model this often or just once in awhile? And do you use it to begin mini lessons ever, or just to share with them?
I'm interested in hearing your answers as this is all so new to me!
Hi Tiffany and Heather!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved reading your entries because I love hearing what other teachers use in their classrooms, and what seems to work or doesn't work!. I really enjoyed reading the first two chapters of Using the Writer's Notebook because it helps me understand better ways of motivating my students to write in their writer's notebooks. I really liked how Elliott suggested having the students go get their own notebooks because it is like buying a pair of shoes and you need to get the best fit for you. I think it is so important that students have a tool that encourages them to write freely and express themselves, and I think it's important to provide a safe environment for students to write down their thoughts and ideas, and then share them if they want with the rest of the class. I agree with you, Heather, about the whole "seeds" idea! I think it is so cool that the author and Fletcher refer to anything in the Writer's Notebook as seeds for future writing. There are many times where my students are stuck about what to write about, and having a Writer's Notebook handy really helps them out.
When I did my student teaching, I had a cooperative teacher who used the Writer's Notebook with her students and I really got to see how she introduced them, and all of the minilessons that she used to teach the students how to effectively use their notebooks. I have been doing writer's notebooks with my own students for the past two years and I have had a lot of success with it. I put my own twist on it though because sometimes students want me to give them something to write about so I sometimes give them sentence starters or fun prompts to write about. For example, today I had them write about all of their pet peeves and I modeled many examples for them. I also have my own notebook that I use and I write when they write which is very motivating for them. They LOVE to hear what I wrote because they think it's cool that I am doing it with them. Then, at the end they can share if they choose to, but I never pressure them to. Usually though they are DYING to share what they wrote!
Another example of a lesson I do with them is I have them bring their writer's notebooks outside in the fall, winter and spring and just observe their surroundings and write down everything they see. They use these "seeds" to then write nature poems or include in their stories. Tomorrow lesson is going to be to have them choose a list they want to write in their notebooks, and then they can share what they come up with. I always love hearing their responses because they have such interesting perspectives on the world!
I am also going to have the students use the Writer's Notebook for my Integrated Language Arts Unit. I am doing the same topic as Heather and my students will be learning about Westward Expansion and the Oregon Trail. I am going to have them write in their notebooks any time they learn something fascinating that they never knew before, and also they will be writing in their notebooks about how the pioneers felt and what they faced on their journey West. That way, when they write their journal entries to me for the cyberlesson, they can use their Writer's Notebooks to enhance their writing. I have found it to be a very effective tool in my classroom, and I will continue to use it and learn NEW ways of using it my classroom.
Also, Tiffany - one recommendation that might work for you is to give the students sentence starters that they have to finish. That way it gives them somewhere to start and takes some of the pressure off of them. It definitely helps my struggling learners!
Do you guys have any ideas how you are going to use or continue to use Writer's Notebooks in your classroom? How have you students responded to them in the past, or how do you think they will respond to them? Let me know!!!
Tiffany, to answer your questions. I don't read what's in a students writers notebook, unless they ask me to read it. We do a lot of other writing that are more formal and that becomes the graded work, so their notebooks really are for them. I do look at what students are doing especially if it seems like they are fooling around or writing about things that they shouldn't be. During October all of my students were writing horror stories that they loved to share with me, because in most of them I was the main character and in most of them I died. I would have been offended but most of the class were characters in many of the stories and we all died some really interesting deaths. Before this year I don't think I would have allowed that writing to happen, but they were writing and they were adding great details and telling some really good stories, so why should I stop them. I actually got to see Ralph Fletcher speak at the New England Reading Conference this year, and he's whole presentation was on getting boys to write and he talked about letting them write the gross, kinda violent things they are into. Many of my boys work on cartoons and things during their free writing time.
ReplyDeleteAs for my special education student, writing is not something that come easily to him. I've seen a definite improvement throughout the year, because I give him space to write. I found that having someone be on top of him while he wrote caused him to shut down, he asks for someone to help every once in awhile, and then he likes to talk his ideas out and have the person remind him of what he said while he writes. There's another student in the other class who has some processing issues, so he has great ideas but forgets what he wants to say before he can get them on paper, for him we gave him a hand help voice recorder. He can say a sentence or two and then play it back to himself as he writes his ideas down.
Allison, one other way I use writing with my students is through partner journals. This idea came from another participant in the writing project. She does family message journals with her class, every afternoon the students write a message to someone at home about their day, and at night that family member writes back to them. Knowing my students I was hesitant to try this because I was afraid that people at home may not be able to write back. I modified it so that they write to each other. One night for homework they respond to some kind of prompt then the next night they switch with someone who responds to what they wrote. They really enjoy doing this, I haven't been assigning it because they've had a lot of other homework and they're all asking when they will work on them again. These are separate from their writers notebook, and we had a conversation about public writing and private writing, and what goes into the partner journal is public so they need to be aware that anyone could read it. So, far (knock on wood) I haven't had any issues.
I think that using writer's notebooks really makes writing much more fun and personal to students.
Heather, I just was laughing so hard at your October stories. How funny that you were in all of them and died!
ReplyDeleteBoth of you seem to have a really good handle on using your writer's notebook in the classroom. I definitely wish I could use it more too one day.
I loved the ideas of partner responding, and making lists of pet peeves. Both of those are very motivating for students, and I can tell that it helps them enjoying writing. Especially with the partner responding, I think that was a great way to modify the writing for some kids who have difficult home lives. It keeps their confidence up and the writing enjoyable!
Allison, thanks for the tip on sentence starters. I think that I will definitely have my students use a notebook, and have a variety of things in them, like visuals, lists, and the sentence starters. I do have about two students, who really may be able to use them well.
For my Unit, I am doing baking and sequential steps, integrating literature and life skills. I can definitely have some of the higher functioning students use their notebooks to write steps to a recipe using sentence starters, respond to a visual of a baked good, and write lists of steps of some daily routines that they do! Like, I said before they love lists and love food, so I think it can definitely be an enjoyable writing experience!
I loved reading your entries because you guys have so many good ideas about using the Writer's Notebook in your classrooms!
ReplyDeleteHeather I think it is so funny how your students wrote horror stories which included some interesting deaths! I feel like I am in the same predicament you are in because I want my students to enjoy writing and I never want to impose limitations on them, however, what am I suppose to do if I think they are writing something inappropriate? I never read their notebooks without their permission, but at the same time I don't want them to show their parents what they have been working on if it is something inappropriate. We discussed as a whole class what is appropriate and inappropriate to write about, and I think their entries are pretty innocent, but I am always worried about the content!
I also loved your idea about the partner journals. That is so creative! Students love getting letters, and I think it is great that they write to their family members or other students. I will have to play with this idea and see if I can adapt it to my students' needs.
Tiffany I think your students are going to love writing about their recipes and food lists! That was definitely the most fun lesson we did (making lists) and some of my students, one of them being a special education student who hates to write, went home and made more lists on his own accord because he wanted to!
I have had a lot of success with the Writer's Notebook and I am always looking for more ways to expand on it!