Saturday, January 24, 2009
Writer's Notebook Ch.11,12&13 group c 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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In chapter 11, Janet Elliott writes about the dilemma of what boys want to write about and the issue of violence. When given free choice boys like to write about action figures and wars, silly characters that do stupid things, horror and humor. The sillier the writing, the more the boys enjoy it. In a creative writing class I had this year, the boys wrote “beastly stories”. One student began by writing a story titled, Beastly Story. Then another student wrote, The Beastliest Story Ever, and so on. These stories sometimes made sense, yet the boys thought they were the greatest pieces of writing. They came into class excited, eager to write and didn’t mind editing their work. However, this was not a language arts class, it was a Quest class that met twice a week and wasn’t graded. How often do grade level language arts teachers have the opportunity for students to write freely and not for a specific assignment? How do you incorporate the “boy topics” into the curriculum? Finally, if the writing is of a violent nature, what are the limits? In class if I feel a piece of writing is too violent, I speak with the student and make suggestions for change. Most students are willing to comply with “appropriate” school guidelines, even though it changes their story.
ReplyDeleteThe next chapter encourages the use of the writer’s notebook across the curriculum areas.
Integrating the notebook in the subject areas and the arts is a wonderful idea and offers students a chance to write about many different topics. In my integrated unit, the students are using a reader’s response journal for thoughts and questions about mathematics. At first, the students were surprised to write about math, but now they are more comfortable with the idea. In the future, I would like all the LABS students to have a writer’s notebook. Since we read a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts, the students would have many opportunities to add words, ideas and topics to their notebooks. They would also continue to have opportunities to add math topics to their notebooks, as we would continue to combine reading, writing and math as a common goal.
Janet Elliott offers a wealth of ideas for the writer’s notebook and has given me many ideas for the use of the writer’s notebook with my students. It will be interesting as I try to incorporate its use into my program.
Response to Chapters 11, 12, 13
ReplyDeleteAs this book comes to a conclusion, it was nice to see a variety of ways in which teachers can actually apply this newfound knowledge concerning the writer’s notebook. I really enjoyed Chapter 11 as it took a realistic situation into perspective. Boys are a vastly different situation concerning academics, never mind just reading skills and practice. Always finding that fine line between appropriate and un acceptable is a constant task for teachers of all levels, grades, and subject areas. In my classroom I am very sensitive to the topics, examples, and sources used when teaching an area of the curriculum. It is quite easily, in fact, to do a quick check of “Am I engaging the males in the room?” “Am I speaking only to students/females that can relate to this topic?” by showing sensitivity to both gender and interest, it is beneficial in two ways; showing attention for all types of students; showing that you realize that not everyone wants to learn about the same things or in the same ways. This idea of differentiation has become a personal goal of mine as we reach a point in education history where your lesson plan does not always fit the mold of every student in the class.
Also, something that I found myself including in my Integrated Arts Unit, is that we as teachers have the liberty of focusing in on the areas and methods that we are both comfortable with and most proficient in. By having that freedom, teachers can emphasize the points that strike them throughout the curriculum and create lessons where they can create the most engaging and learning-friendly environment possible for students.
In my writer’s notebook it is good to know that I can maintain that sense of privacy of which Elliot speaks. As mentioned many times previously, it is essential to create a bond between notebook and writer where kids can feel free to express thoughts; both positive and negative. Advising kids to write private or personal matters that he/she would not a teacher to read in a SCHOOL writer’s notebook is about the best advice I could offer as a secondary education teacher. Using your life, as a palette for writing, is what good writer’s are all about. My final question for this activity is, “Now where do we find the time to take all of these good ideas and actually implement them in the classroom?” :)
Phyllis mentions the idea of free writing? It's true, is free writing realistic? I mean as it is we are so regimented as far as time and where we need to finish in alignment with the curriculum from year to year. After all, our ultimate goal is to expose our student to many different kinds of facts, methods of learning, and interest so that they can become life-long learners. So let’s find some time for free writing. Leave the last minute of the day open to a choice of activities or time to socialize. The bottom line is that teaching is not the most difficult job, but if you want to be a good one, you must cover all the encounters a student mind find outside your classroom walls.
ReplyDeleteStefanie talks about being sensitive to each child in the classroom. In a labs setting with mostly small group instruction, it is a lot easier to plan lessons that address students’ interests. We can choose from many resources to find interesting and meaningful texts that are specifically relevant to the student. In the regular language arts classroom one needs to try to balance the topics in order to meet the needs of both boys and girls. However when a teacher needs to follow the curriculum and teach the texts assigned, there are stories and core novels that appeal more to one of the sexes. I think this dilemma needs to be discussed when teachers and coordinators are developing curriculum. There needs to be a balance of different genres that appeal to both boys and girls. Perhaps Stefanie’s question about the implementation of the ideas that have been presented in this book is a starting point to begin addressing the differences in our students. As teachers we need to constantly reflect on our practices and reassess as we teach. Being exposed to these great ideas about writing will help us redesign our practices in the classroom in order to help our students enjoy the art of writing.
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