Saturday, January 24, 2009
Writers's Notebook ch.1 &2 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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When I first started teaching, I didn't realize how hard it was for students to write.
ReplyDeleteYears later, when I worked specifically with students that had difficulty with writing, I realized I needed to learn how to teach children to write and how to write myself. I wish I had known about using a writer's notebook way back in the 70s when I first started teaching. In a sixth grade class I had two years ago, I gave each student a writing notebook. I told my students they could write in their notebook when they had free time after they had finished their work. Every student wrote, nothing was graded, and I didn't read everything that was in their notebook. Most of the students asked me to read their writing and sometimes they published what they wrote. They loved to write and were thrilled if I put writing on the daily agenda. There were times this year that I wrote during my Quest class when the students were doing creative writing. I think too much when I write and hopefully I will get better at it. I am amazed by some of the stories that sixth graders can write. Where do they get their ideas? Some of them have great vocabularies and I think they must be good readers. Other students struggle, but when they have the freedom to write about anything they want, they usually find something they can write about: football, brothers, etc. Now that I am starting a writer's notebook, I have mostly written about my experiences since February vacation and things my students say in class. During the vacation, I went to a family reunion in Florida and there were many memories, feelings and events to write about.
They have sparked some ideas that perhaps I will write about in the future. What events have sparked your writing ideas? I think the idea of using a writer's notebook will help with the integrated unit, because my students will be writing responses to literature and to the topics we are studying. These entries will be about their thoughts and connections and I will give positive feedback to their efforts.
Using the Writer's Notebook - Ch 1
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding the purpose of a technique is half the battle for both teachers and students. Even thereafter Dr. Kurkijian's class explanation of the writer's notebook experience, I felt somewhat confused as to how the writer's notebook can work in a classroom setting. My assumption led me to use the word "journal" to summate this activity. In retrospect, the word "journal" seems very limiting to me until Elliot further described the concept of the writer's notebook. As I learn about how the writer's notebook works for teachers and students, a few questions come to mind. If the idea is to create a safe, risk free, and expressive environment in which students are able to write, how does a teacher correlate that with the idea that this material is supposed to lead to writing projects? In other words, how can a teacher ask a student to share personal experiences, opinions, or reactions, in a writer's notebook which will then result in their publishing or discussing these written comments? As a middle/high school teacher I know first-handedly that students are very worried about what others think and are not always willing to be honest with themselves. Motivationally, I think it would be interesting to convince or reassure my students that although I want them to be expressive, personal, and open, that I nor other reader's of their eventual work would be evaluated without judgement. Luckily, I feel that I have created somewhat of a bond with my students that they would be confident in sharing their collective ideas with me. I would imagine that this would not be the case in many other school districts.
On a positive note, this chapter was clear in providing a clear explanation of how the writer notebook can work effectively. For example, in my future integrated language arts unit, the writer's notebook will be most appropriate. As I have students experience the idea of "perspectives on a culture event", the writer's notebook will provide a place for those to reflect on what they have read, their positive and negative feelings on the concept, as well as relating to authors' words. Writing through the eyes of a LatinAmerican adolescent will be most helpful if students examine their own thoughts and feelings before investigating those of natives to this tradition. I plan to include the writer's notebook as it relates to "la quinceanera" and what students think about it before, during, after and beyond reading.
Using the Writer’s Notebook – Ch 2
ReplyDeleteThe beginning stage of introducing the writer’s notebook to anyone is something that is very exciting to me as an individual. Selecting a notebook, otherwise known as a shopping trip!, would be a very fun for me. As with students, many people need to choose materials whether it be shoes, purses, or notebooks for that matter, that are comforting to the mind. I always tend to take interest in pastel colors on the covers, wide-ruled versus college ruled lines and never writing back-to-back in something like a journal or log. I think capturing students’ initial interest is something that we, as teachers, need to always consider when looking to create motivation. For example, I began using those bland “blue books” filled with paper for students to complete journal assignments. After a few students asking for permissions to use their own, I figured that it made much more sense to allow students to choose what they were happy with rather than making everyone’s materials so uniform. In the years to follow, I handed less blue books out and more students were purchasing their own writing notebooks. The key to building anticipation and excitement is really what teaching boils down to: modeling. First of all, with good modeling, students believe in what you are saying and know that it is possible. Especially by doing something such as sharing what you have written in a writer’s notebook, as the book suggests, you show students that this is possible and that you take pride in this assignment’s purpose. Also, unlike many of the assignments students are given these days, the writer’s notebook, when well-modeled, is something that is clearly personalized and has no right or wrong answer. This is VERY important to students, especially teenagers that are always looking to be free and in control of their destinies. Guidelines – not rules- are something else that many students do not have the opportunity to experience and modeling what those guidelines are can truly create a sense of authenticity to the writer’s notebook. The ultimate question is, what else can we do to teach students how important it is to think, feel, question, and reflect on a daily basis?
In my integrated language arts unit I will be sure to “practice what I preach” and model how the writer’s notebook can be useful in understanding cultural perspectives and practices. Asking open-ended questions or probing students’ ideas and opinions are ways in which the smallest of thoughts included in the writer’s notebook can be applied to higher levels of thinking such as the writing through the ideas of the “chica de la quinceanera”.
Response to Phyllis’ statement on Ch 1, 2
ReplyDeleteI think you asked a great question when you were wondering about where students get their ideas from. Kids are amazing at what strikes them and it often puzzles me. Sometimes the questions or comments that I think they should remember are not at all important or meaningful to them. Making emphasis of something doesn’t always force students to remember or understand better neither. Rather, information that we want students to know or internalize needs to be connected to their lives directly. If we can somehow tap into the lives of our students, it seems that we have a better chance of them wanting to pursue learning. As you said, the writer’s notebook can bring out the best in some of these kids and gives them a chance to show you what really is going on in their little heads. Looking from the outside, its interesting to see how kids can surprise you, no matter how well you think you know them, at any time both in and out of the classroom.
Response to Stefanie’s statements on Chapters1,2.
ReplyDeleteAsking students to publish or discuss written comments from their writer’s notebook is a tricky proposition. One purpose of the writer’s notebook is for students to feel comfortable as writers and to develop as writers. As a teacher modeling the purpose of a writer’s notebook, I would only consider discussing or publishing writing that students felt comfortable sharing with their teacher and others. I wouldn’t ask the students to publish their writing, but if a student wanted to do so, it would be their decision. The students need to understand that the decision to share with the “public” means others will hear or read their writing. It is so important for teachers to allow their students to write what they want with no penalties or criticisms. Students need to build confidence in their writing abilities and enjoy the freedom of developing their own writing identity.
I agree with Stefanie when she discusses the problem of how do we motivate students to think, feel and reflect on their own. The writer’s notebook is a way for students to write about what is important to them and to record their thoughts. Even though some students might be resistant to beginning a writer’s notebook, in time I would think they would appreciate having their ideas in print. They would be able to use their notebooks to record their feelings and gain a better understanding of the way they think and feel.