Engage in an online literature discussion group on our class blog. Please read the introduction and the first three chapters of the book and make four entries 1)propose “meaty” fat questions to discuss, 2) make connections to your teaching and work with students, 3) make connections to your work as a writer. 4) Consider how what you have learned from this book might support the work of your integrated language arts unit
Please respond to at least one or more students in your study group.
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21 comments:
test run
test leigha
we have to read the first half
test run
PG. 12 "Learning to write requires frequent and supportative practice"- This statement is really important and relevant to consider in every level of education, basically in elementary schools. I think classroom teachers should implement more classroom writing activities such as free writing, vocabulary and dictation in their lesson plan. In my short experience working with children in this country I have seen most children don't know how to write simple sentences and short paragraphs. I remember in a second grade class, a teacher was disappointed because her students couldn't write a short story. Her colleague told her that they may have needed more motivation. I wanted to contribute giving some ideas to solve this issue but she didn't accept them. the students had math messages every morning but they didn't have any writing messages. I asked myself: what would be the academic situation of the students next grade? and what was wrong? the method of teaching or the curriculum?... would anybody help me to answer these questions?
pg. 18 " Everyone can learn to write". Peter Elbow consider his thesis something very easy for everybody.For most students in primary school, high school college and even university writing is tough and complex. I think to get a successful writing is not too easy for most student, it depend of skills and capability of each individual. He also do not consider to the children with multiple of disabilities in all educational institutions, where most of them perhaps have not the minimum posibility to express their ideas and feeling by writing.At this point, I would like someone provide me the secret to write in the easier way,I want to say that I have a lot of ideas and wide range of knowledge, but as ELL student I still have some dificulty organizing my ideas and write in the right way.Is there someone else with this problem? I'd like to know it to getting more comfortable.
PG 13. "Writing instruction begins in pre-school and includes generating content for purpose of discovery, self expression and communication" - I agree with this statement.As an educator in another country, I really think that a pre-school teacher has the great responsibility to provide students a suitable orientation, guidance and teaching for learning and developing writing skills in order to get successful students in the future. In this first stage of education, young children may develop their ideas, thoughts, feelings when drawing pictures, symbols or scribbling. It is also a time to discover their creativity and early vocation in some specific area of learning; such as art, writing, reading or science;which should be encouraged by continuous motivation and full dedication in order to instill that interest on learning.I also think that letter tracing is very important to teach during pre-school but how should it be oriented?....should pre-school teachers include pre-writting exercises (letter tracing) to develop fine motor on writing skills in children?.....I would like to clear up this matter.
test
"writing is never learned once and for all........" pg 14.what this means is that it is a continues process, by having the the right tools students can do better.As a teacher from Africa where english is taught only in schools.The students speaks different dialects, it very difficult for them to write.to notice the same problem here in America.my question is how can we as educators help our students to overcome these challenges? can we intergrate writng with other subjects help?
QUE 2reading is a crictical componet in elerly childhood literacy and as a pre-school teacher,i have notice that if i build my students interst in reading it will help them also in their in spelling, grammar and organisation of thought as they move to other grades.Most pre-schoolars express themselves by drawing pictures,tracing letters, making lines on paper as an educator this is the age that i have to motivate them to become beter writers as they grow.
NORMA, that was a good job,as teachers and ELL students we should read alot of books that will let us improve on our writng skills.
Nana,
I agree with you on having to motivate our students. As early educators, I think it's about exposure, modeling, and lots of chances to practice. We have to zero in on their individual interests and background knowledge.
Norma,
That's too bad that teacher wouldn't accept your suggestions. I am always open to suggestions when something might not be working as well as I planned. Writing is a very difficult skill, especially when teaching it. Our children come from so many different environments that influence them (i.e. speaking another language, poverty, uneducated parents, etc...) Motivation plays a huge role but it's also their background knowledge on the topic. Was this teacher giving them a topic to write about or could they write about anything? In my experiences, I find that giving students choices makes a big difference. They all have different experiences and interests.
Connection to own teaching- As I was reading the section about Writing Assessments on p. 15, I couldn't help but think about what some teachers tell their students before CMTs. They say, "fill the lines, your writing isn't finished until the page is full." The message that is sent to kids is that as long as all the lines are full then your story is finished. This doesn't encourage or motivate those students who might struggle with writing. They won't need to put in as much effort if all they need to do is fill the page. Obviously writing is a difficult thing to critique because of different writing styles and it can be very subjective. The person scoring it might focus in on mechanics and not give a good score but someone else might give a great score to the same piece of writing because the message was captivating. It's great to have state standards for writing and rubrics to score it but it's a diificult task to judge someone else's writing.
Question- On pg. 18 it says, "Teachers can empower students, help them to like to write, and be more forceful and articulate in using writing in their lives." This is a very powerful statement. I teach Kindergarten now but when I taught third grade a couple of years ago I had students that didn't like to write at all. It was very difficult to try and motivate them. But more importantly, it seemed to be a lack of confidence or just unwillingness. What are some ways to build their confidence? How can we get them to want to write and enjoy it?
Connection to self as a writer- There's a story on pg. 21 about a language arts teacher and how she was taught to write in high school. While reading, I could connect with this teacher. I had a similar experience with learning to write. It seemed as though teachers would give lessons on writing but we were never able to apply those skills in class. It wouldn't be until we had a graded writing assignment that was to be completed at home. It is definitely more effective if you allow your students to practice the skill you are teaching them. I believe in the "gradual release of responsibility." First, the teacher gives a definition/example, then models it, then allows guided practice, and eventually gives the students opportunities for independent practice.
What will support my integrated language arts unit that I read in the book?
The whole idea of inquiry-based instruction will definitely play a huge role in the integrated language arts unit. This type of instruction puts the responsibility of learning on the students. It allows them to connect to personal experience and encourages them to think more critically. It's more child-centered than teacher-directed.
By reading these first chapters of Nagin’s National Writing Project , I have learned much more about writing. As educators, we are always looking for the best strategies, techniques and methods to improve our students writing, but we never find successful strategies for teaching writing. This book let us know that writing is a complex process, which may be overcome with specific strategies. First of all learning to write begins in pre- school, so we need to pay more attention in this stage. Students require frequent practice in and out of school, they also need to write in every subject; consequently they need more time to develop the process of writing. On the other hand, teachers need to use multiple strategies for teaching writing by recognizing and analyzing the students difficulties and skills. In order to improve any writing issues in my school, I 'll have to consider this important strategies in my Integrated Unit.
after reading the book[the first half] my understanding of writing has change.my teachers who taugt me writing didnot allow me to become good writers through the methods that they used .I have to integrate it in my teaching,so that students wiil have interest and participate.for instance,teaching science help the kids to express their analysises.
We are on the same page, leigha, on scoring of writing paper.An essay given to three people to score,wil have different grades based on personal opinion [sometimes] of the person making . it has happened to me before. let us vary our strategies of teaching and guide our students to be excellent writers
NANA said PG 60: as stated in the book 'writing is not subject that can be learned in a semester or a year......'writing is continues process that is why as teachers we need in- service training to learn new srategies to teach writing in our classrooms. And also incorperte it in other subject areas too. in this day and age the use of technology in teaching and learning is very important.In my pre-k class, my students, for instance gets extremely excited when we have to use the computer for any learning activities. by leting them use it to write their name, draw a picture childern at that younger age need that motivation or foundationas they move to next level in education .
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