Here are the latest thoughts from the world of writing workshop:
1. I had fun doing the "stretching out our stories" mini lesson. This is a big step for kids and will really open up their writing worlds. Ironically, it's the same thing I found myself saying to upper grade kids. This one takes a long time to master.
2. At the end of our workshop on Tuesday, I told the kids to share what they wrote that day with their talking partners...about one minute each. Oops! I did it without modeling. Sheryl and I stopped the chaos and modeled a sharing moment together. Sometimes I forget those teaching basics.
3. It would have been better to model the sharing procedure in a mini lesson the next day...to prep for it better and devote more time...instead of piling it on Tuesday's workshop. This is when I think three days a week would be best for our situation. Doing two days of pre-planned mini lessons and then one day with a mini lesson that generated by needs we see arising during class. I think I'm trying to pile too much into the two days and that creates a lot of teacher talking!
4. Hopefully, we can finish this unit of study right before spring break. We need to talk about the next unit of study...which one to do.
5. Beth and Dionne, are you feeling supported enough? After spring break, I'm wondering if it would be a good idea for Sheryl to take over the Monday workshop in room 6, I'll still do Tuesdays Room 6...but then I can come one morning a week to observe/coach/help confer/do mini lessons...whatever you need...in the other K rooms...maybe just for April? Also, do you want some lunch meetings or after school moments to talk about ww...whatever you need is fine with me...well, within reason! Just let me know.
6. I think it might be a good idea to tape some of my conferences. What do you think? Do I need to get some permission slips for that?
7. Thanks so much for being so fearless and going for it! You ladies amaze me!
Cheers, Lorrie
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Using Beth's Conferring Form
One more thing...we started using Beth's conferring form today. I think it's going to be much better. We can see student's progress easily. Thanks for the idea!
Lorrie
Lorrie
Golden silence and a change to the share meeting
Hi Writing Ladies,
Thanks for coming to our inquiry group at lunch. I loved all the comments and quotes that were shared.
Here's what happened in ww today in Room 6:
1. After the mini lesson (which was about stretching our stories into longer pieces, not giving everything away in the first - or one and only - page), we had Golden Silence time - five minutes of EVERYONE in the room writing and no talking at all. The kids really liked it. I think it's a good thing to have as a regular part of ww. Also, the kids were so excited when Sheryl shared her piece at the end of workshop. They get to know her as a writer and that's more powerful than anything. Sheryl's enthusiasm for her story was great and contagious!
2. Conferring was good today (for me at least!). I talked to E. and S. about stretching their stories with more details. They both had an entire story on one page. We talked a while, they told me their stories, and I asked questions. Then we got more paper. We planned out what would be on each page orally. We touched and turned the blank pages just like we were reading their story aloud...as if it had already been written.
3. S. and J. also had moments when people were talking in their stories. I told them to surround the talking parts with quotation marks. That's a writer's trick to show people talking. They were excited about this. We shared this during the share meeting and I bet we'll see other kids doing this now too. I made a big deal about quotation marks being a fifth grade standard and that we have to keep our new knowledge top secret. K students aren't supposed to know it yet!
4. During the share meeting, I asked ALL kids to keep out the writing they did today. They showed/read their story to their talking partner on the rug for two minutes - one minute each. I think this needs to be a regular part of ww...everyone gets to share, they begin to gain a sense of audience, and it helps with accountability...they know they need to have something in their hands each and every day. A. didn't write anything today and that made sharing time hard for her. Maybe tomorrow, she'll write something. We can only hope!
Ok...that's all for today. Got to get ready for the inservice!
Cheers, Lorrie
Thanks for coming to our inquiry group at lunch. I loved all the comments and quotes that were shared.
Here's what happened in ww today in Room 6:
1. After the mini lesson (which was about stretching our stories into longer pieces, not giving everything away in the first - or one and only - page), we had Golden Silence time - five minutes of EVERYONE in the room writing and no talking at all. The kids really liked it. I think it's a good thing to have as a regular part of ww. Also, the kids were so excited when Sheryl shared her piece at the end of workshop. They get to know her as a writer and that's more powerful than anything. Sheryl's enthusiasm for her story was great and contagious!
2. Conferring was good today (for me at least!). I talked to E. and S. about stretching their stories with more details. They both had an entire story on one page. We talked a while, they told me their stories, and I asked questions. Then we got more paper. We planned out what would be on each page orally. We touched and turned the blank pages just like we were reading their story aloud...as if it had already been written.
3. S. and J. also had moments when people were talking in their stories. I told them to surround the talking parts with quotation marks. That's a writer's trick to show people talking. They were excited about this. We shared this during the share meeting and I bet we'll see other kids doing this now too. I made a big deal about quotation marks being a fifth grade standard and that we have to keep our new knowledge top secret. K students aren't supposed to know it yet!
4. During the share meeting, I asked ALL kids to keep out the writing they did today. They showed/read their story to their talking partner on the rug for two minutes - one minute each. I think this needs to be a regular part of ww...everyone gets to share, they begin to gain a sense of audience, and it helps with accountability...they know they need to have something in their hands each and every day. A. didn't write anything today and that made sharing time hard for her. Maybe tomorrow, she'll write something. We can only hope!
Ok...that's all for today. Got to get ready for the inservice!
Cheers, Lorrie
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
One more thing...A. (my sweet daughter) seems to be writing the same piece over and over and not producing a lot of writing. Don't know what's going on here. She's capable. Wondering if it's the dynamic with me in the room...or wanting it to be perfect so she's a bit paralyzed. I don't interact a lot with her during ww b/c we try to avoid conferring with our own kids. Hmmm. She seems to stay with one piece for a very long time drawing lots of details...but writing LOTS of pieces (even if they are less developed) can sometimes be more beneficial...What to do?
Creating Our Own Mini Lesson and Finding Ideas to Write About
Here's what's on my mind today:
1. Sheryl and I are going to start using Beth's conferring form. I think it will be great.
2. Sheryl and I were noticing that kids want more time to share. They also needed to organize their folders and see if any of their "finished" projects could use more details. Sheryl did a mini lesson about putting "in progress" pieces in the left side and "finished" projects in the right side. We did a little role-playing. Sheryl was the teacher and I was the student. I used my writing folder and Sheryl showed me how to organize it. After modeling, we sent the kids off to organize their folders. They were done pretty quickly and had an opportunity to share their favorite piece with a friend.
3. We're getting close to the end of our first unit of study. This means students will pick their favorite piece, publish it, and share it during a special celebration ceremony. I think organizing their folder helps students begin to think of making their "favorite" selection. By sharing a piece with friends, they begin an awareness of audience and what it feels like to publish. Hopefully, this helps improve the quality of writing.
4. Beth and I had a discussion about selecting ideas to write about. We do need to teach students HOW to come up with ideas for writing (think about what happened during the last few days, read a book, talk to a friend, stare into space, etc.), but I hesitate to generate lists of ideas
for kids. It's essential that students know we expect them to come up with ideas. That's the real work of a writer. Of course, we need to help them learn HOW to do this with lots of mini lessons. I do keep a list of ideas in my folder for quick reference (and because I forget them as quickly as I think of them). I like to show kids this list. I suggest that it might be a good idea for kids to make their own lists too...but I do not tell them to write an idea about a place or a pet or a recess adventure...and I don't say...everyone make your own list today. It's a possibility and they can do it if they want to.
5. J. shared one of his pieces today. It made sense...things he does with his dad. Sheryl and I were wondering if he stapled all the pages together because it was quite a cohesive piece. We talked about how his lead was a hook...we wanted more information and it made us curious enough to turn the page and keep reading. I'm pretty sure this was unintentional...but it was there...and I was relieved that we could say something very positive and writerly!
6. Tired!
7. Next week we talk about making booklets!
1. Sheryl and I are going to start using Beth's conferring form. I think it will be great.
2. Sheryl and I were noticing that kids want more time to share. They also needed to organize their folders and see if any of their "finished" projects could use more details. Sheryl did a mini lesson about putting "in progress" pieces in the left side and "finished" projects in the right side. We did a little role-playing. Sheryl was the teacher and I was the student. I used my writing folder and Sheryl showed me how to organize it. After modeling, we sent the kids off to organize their folders. They were done pretty quickly and had an opportunity to share their favorite piece with a friend.
3. We're getting close to the end of our first unit of study. This means students will pick their favorite piece, publish it, and share it during a special celebration ceremony. I think organizing their folder helps students begin to think of making their "favorite" selection. By sharing a piece with friends, they begin an awareness of audience and what it feels like to publish. Hopefully, this helps improve the quality of writing.
4. Beth and I had a discussion about selecting ideas to write about. We do need to teach students HOW to come up with ideas for writing (think about what happened during the last few days, read a book, talk to a friend, stare into space, etc.), but I hesitate to generate lists of ideas
for kids. It's essential that students know we expect them to come up with ideas. That's the real work of a writer. Of course, we need to help them learn HOW to do this with lots of mini lessons. I do keep a list of ideas in my folder for quick reference (and because I forget them as quickly as I think of them). I like to show kids this list. I suggest that it might be a good idea for kids to make their own lists too...but I do not tell them to write an idea about a place or a pet or a recess adventure...and I don't say...everyone make your own list today. It's a possibility and they can do it if they want to.
5. J. shared one of his pieces today. It made sense...things he does with his dad. Sheryl and I were wondering if he stapled all the pages together because it was quite a cohesive piece. We talked about how his lead was a hook...we wanted more information and it made us curious enough to turn the page and keep reading. I'm pretty sure this was unintentional...but it was there...and I was relieved that we could say something very positive and writerly!
6. Tired!
7. Next week we talk about making booklets!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Back in the Swing of Things
I can't believe it's been a month since I posted. The flu is fun!
Writing workshop is continuing to go fabulously. Sheryl is doing mini lessons now and she's "rocking" them! It's exciting to see another teacher excited about doing ww and taking risks! All the Lucy Calkins materials have arrived too.
Here are the latest thoughts:
1. Sheryl and I want to do an expert list. Ask the kids what they're experts at so other kids in the class can use them for references.
2. For a rotation tomorrow, we're going to ask students to bring their writing folders and share words they tried to spelled fearlessly. We'll add kid spelling/conventional spellings to our "I'm Not Scared of My Words" poster. This is a Katie Wood Ray idea and I think it really encourages kids to "go for" their spelling.
3. Last week I did a mini lesson that included a list of writing ideas. Later, in the car, A. mentioned that I took all her ideas...making an assumption that only one person could write about an idea. We clarified that in a mini lesson today. No one owns certain ideas. All of us can write ideas that we choose, especially since we all have different perspectives about experiences etc. This led to a discussion about idea gathering. We'll revisit this, but we quickly discussed ways to find ideas: a. sit and think b. reflect back on things you did the last few days c. talk to a friend d. ask a friend to read their piece to you e. read books in the class etc.
4. Sheryl and I are noticing that kids really want more time to share. It's so hard to say NO to them. We are also noticing that their folders are very full. Tomorrow, we're going to discuss organizing folders (left side for pieces in progress and right side for completed projects) and long term projects. We aren't going to write, but organize. Then, we'll ask kids to pick one piece to share and we'll have an extended share time. I love that we can be flexible when the need arises in the workshop.
5. G. made a list of his favorite books today. During our conference, I told him he'd branched out to a different genre of writing (list writing which is discussed in an upcoming mini lesson). Wow. I shared his writing during end of workshop meeting, telling kids that just like there are different sports, there are also different genres of writing.
6. I had a very difficult conference with J. today. His folder is a total mess. He was disruptive during writing time. I couldn't get him to focus on anything. He was drawing people/flowers on a page and wrote the word "you." He wanted to write "people." I asked him to tell me what he was planning on doing. He was defiant. Wouldn't talk. I suggested that writers envision their ideas in their head first. Then, they write. Asked again, "What's your idea?" I couldn't get anywhere. Had to keep taking things out of his hands. Finally, needed to move on and said he could come get me if he wanted to talk about an idea. I felt conflicted about leaving him...but also needed to get along to other writers. Help!
6.5 Several kids are ready to do booklets so they can include all the details they are able to articulate verbally now. I did two conferences today about using more than two pages since that small space can't possibly hold all the details for their big ideas. We got extra pages and I had the kids tell the stories aloud. We planned where each detail would go.
7. Beth has a great recording form for conferring. She uses one form per student so the progression of work/conference notes is all in one place. I want to talk to Sheryl about doing this when we start the next unit.
8. We should be done with this unit of study by the end of March, culminating with a celebration. The pace seems good to me. What would it be like if we were doing ww more than two days a week?
9. Our collaborative inquiry group meets next week to discuss Katie Wood Ray's ww book. Looking forward to that.
More tomorrow - Lorrie
Writing workshop is continuing to go fabulously. Sheryl is doing mini lessons now and she's "rocking" them! It's exciting to see another teacher excited about doing ww and taking risks! All the Lucy Calkins materials have arrived too.
Here are the latest thoughts:
1. Sheryl and I want to do an expert list. Ask the kids what they're experts at so other kids in the class can use them for references.
2. For a rotation tomorrow, we're going to ask students to bring their writing folders and share words they tried to spelled fearlessly. We'll add kid spelling/conventional spellings to our "I'm Not Scared of My Words" poster. This is a Katie Wood Ray idea and I think it really encourages kids to "go for" their spelling.
3. Last week I did a mini lesson that included a list of writing ideas. Later, in the car, A. mentioned that I took all her ideas...making an assumption that only one person could write about an idea. We clarified that in a mini lesson today. No one owns certain ideas. All of us can write ideas that we choose, especially since we all have different perspectives about experiences etc. This led to a discussion about idea gathering. We'll revisit this, but we quickly discussed ways to find ideas: a. sit and think b. reflect back on things you did the last few days c. talk to a friend d. ask a friend to read their piece to you e. read books in the class etc.
4. Sheryl and I are noticing that kids really want more time to share. It's so hard to say NO to them. We are also noticing that their folders are very full. Tomorrow, we're going to discuss organizing folders (left side for pieces in progress and right side for completed projects) and long term projects. We aren't going to write, but organize. Then, we'll ask kids to pick one piece to share and we'll have an extended share time. I love that we can be flexible when the need arises in the workshop.
5. G. made a list of his favorite books today. During our conference, I told him he'd branched out to a different genre of writing (list writing which is discussed in an upcoming mini lesson). Wow. I shared his writing during end of workshop meeting, telling kids that just like there are different sports, there are also different genres of writing.
6. I had a very difficult conference with J. today. His folder is a total mess. He was disruptive during writing time. I couldn't get him to focus on anything. He was drawing people/flowers on a page and wrote the word "you." He wanted to write "people." I asked him to tell me what he was planning on doing. He was defiant. Wouldn't talk. I suggested that writers envision their ideas in their head first. Then, they write. Asked again, "What's your idea?" I couldn't get anywhere. Had to keep taking things out of his hands. Finally, needed to move on and said he could come get me if he wanted to talk about an idea. I felt conflicted about leaving him...but also needed to get along to other writers. Help!
6.5 Several kids are ready to do booklets so they can include all the details they are able to articulate verbally now. I did two conferences today about using more than two pages since that small space can't possibly hold all the details for their big ideas. We got extra pages and I had the kids tell the stories aloud. We planned where each detail would go.
7. Beth has a great recording form for conferring. She uses one form per student so the progression of work/conference notes is all in one place. I want to talk to Sheryl about doing this when we start the next unit.
8. We should be done with this unit of study by the end of March, culminating with a celebration. The pace seems good to me. What would it be like if we were doing ww more than two days a week?
9. Our collaborative inquiry group meets next week to discuss Katie Wood Ray's ww book. Looking forward to that.
More tomorrow - Lorrie
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Need your suggestions...and some Motrine!
Doing ww when you're getting sick and PMSing is no fun! I hope it didn't show today. I was pretty cranky with all the talking. It's so nice to have another person in the room who can do a reality check. Sheryl said it didn't seem any different than usual. For the life of me I couldn't concentrate on my conferring...all those talking kids! :) It's all coming back to me!
Here are my thoughts/observations from the day:
1. We've got one student who always comes up to us and wants to confer the very first thing. I assure him that he will always get a conference, but that he can't interrupt. Doesn't seem to work. Maybe I'll just ignore him when we're watching the room after the mini lesson and then say he's welcome to listen to my conference with another student as I go about my business. Any suggestions?
2. We have two students, R and S, who copied each other's story and basically wrote about a horse with a rainbow over it and a pretty flower and a sunshine day. Their pictures were identical. R. was very insistent that this happened and her energy went down during the conference when I suggested she needs to write a small moment story. S. was encouraged when she thought of a small moment idea and began talking and smiling a lot. We could have talked for a long time. I asked if she was scared about getting the uh-oh feeling in her tummy when she came upon a word or idea that was hard to draw/write. I encouraged her to just do her best...and referred back to the story I shared that had the "bad" drawing that made me look like a monkey. I did that on purpose to show the kids that it was ok. Hopefully, that modeling helps them take some risks.
3. Sheryl put post-its with labels on P's paper today after he told her what it was. He's still doing stories that are totally made up...punching a volcano, but he did have text and pictures today...however unreadable. I think that was a good move with him. She did move him forward.
4. We've got several kids who are only doing text right now...and lots of it. I need to think about how to move with them. Do we give them new paper with lines and let them go for it...or do we just say you can do that, but you also need pictures?
5. Now we're getting into messy territory. The kids are moving in all sorts of directions and this is when we really need to think...it's gets interesting, but messy!
6. Whenever a memorable shared moment happens during class, file it in your brain. For example, today a spider dropped down in front of the camera and its shadow was reflected on the Smart Board. The kids went wild. I grabbed it in my hand and took it outside. If I was really thinking on my feet, I would have mentioned that was a great writing idea. I will probably use it during some teacher writing in front of the class during a mini lesson.
7. What are your thoughts about letting kids choose their genres right now? Should they stay with small moment pieces or can they go to fact books, fiction stories, etc?
Ok...sick and need some sleep. Until next week ww women! Lorrie
Here are my thoughts/observations from the day:
1. We've got one student who always comes up to us and wants to confer the very first thing. I assure him that he will always get a conference, but that he can't interrupt. Doesn't seem to work. Maybe I'll just ignore him when we're watching the room after the mini lesson and then say he's welcome to listen to my conference with another student as I go about my business. Any suggestions?
2. We have two students, R and S, who copied each other's story and basically wrote about a horse with a rainbow over it and a pretty flower and a sunshine day. Their pictures were identical. R. was very insistent that this happened and her energy went down during the conference when I suggested she needs to write a small moment story. S. was encouraged when she thought of a small moment idea and began talking and smiling a lot. We could have talked for a long time. I asked if she was scared about getting the uh-oh feeling in her tummy when she came upon a word or idea that was hard to draw/write. I encouraged her to just do her best...and referred back to the story I shared that had the "bad" drawing that made me look like a monkey. I did that on purpose to show the kids that it was ok. Hopefully, that modeling helps them take some risks.
3. Sheryl put post-its with labels on P's paper today after he told her what it was. He's still doing stories that are totally made up...punching a volcano, but he did have text and pictures today...however unreadable. I think that was a good move with him. She did move him forward.
4. We've got several kids who are only doing text right now...and lots of it. I need to think about how to move with them. Do we give them new paper with lines and let them go for it...or do we just say you can do that, but you also need pictures?
5. Now we're getting into messy territory. The kids are moving in all sorts of directions and this is when we really need to think...it's gets interesting, but messy!
6. Whenever a memorable shared moment happens during class, file it in your brain. For example, today a spider dropped down in front of the camera and its shadow was reflected on the Smart Board. The kids went wild. I grabbed it in my hand and took it outside. If I was really thinking on my feet, I would have mentioned that was a great writing idea. I will probably use it during some teacher writing in front of the class during a mini lesson.
7. What are your thoughts about letting kids choose their genres right now? Should they stay with small moment pieces or can they go to fact books, fiction stories, etc?
Ok...sick and need some sleep. Until next week ww women! Lorrie
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