Reading: Writing
Kendal Obermeyer, Mon December 05, 2005, 07:16 AM
Locate the article that best matches your teaching assignment.
Writing in the Early Grades, K-2
Writing in the Intermediate Grades, 3-5
Read the top part of the article, up to the Think about this, read this, and try this, sections. Then, post a summary of your findings in the thread below.
The article on "Writing in the Intermediate Grades, 3-5 stated that supportive teching begins as educators tap into the diverse and rich experiences that children have built over their lifetimes. It is important to acknowledge these and to build off of them with their writing. As students learn, their ideas take many forms such as notes, lists, letters, journals, and stories. Writing within the school setting offers children further supports to develop these types of ideas. Very importantly, the development of writing is best achieved when substantial time is spent on writing and actively involving students in the writing process.
I read pgs 214 - 224 and learned that oral language development helps a student develop writing and reading skills. The environment a child learns to talk,write and read is key to success. When children write with words they speak, they use complicated words, as different from what words they choose with correct spelling. Children always begin spacing their words on their own. Children develop with guidance that lead a child to find his level of ability at each stage of writing development. I found the information on group talk interesting and necessary for students to develop thoughts and ideas before writing and reading. I have a Samoan student and I am more sensative to his needs as an island learner now...and I allow time for my first graders to table talk before we begin a lesson.
I read "Writing in the Intermediate Grades 3-5". The article discussed when supportive teaching begins and how "educators tap into the diverse and rich experiences these langauge users have been building over their 8-11 years of life". I found some of the ideas about building off prior knowldege or experiences work well when having students write in the classroom. I also agree with Christy Saul about how important it is to have students write in all different forms such as notes, lists, letters, journal writing, stories, etc for more sophisticated written language. One last thing that I enjoyed reading about, was how "authors and teachers who write can offer valabe insights to students by mentoring them into the process and making their writing processes more visible". I use this strategy a lot when having the students write. I will write my own story first, so they can see an example and then they write their own. It's always nice to give the students a sample of what you want from their writing.
As an ESL teacher I work with all grades K-5. I chose to read the first article geared more toward the K-2nd grade educator. The article had many outstanding points. I found two main factors in writing development that were interesting to me. One that a substantial time needs to be devoted to writing in the classroom which I think is over looked at times. Also I found it interesting that the students should be immersed in the opportunites to read, write and look closely at others work. The most striking item in the article to me however was that writing and language shows that students knowledge reflects the communities that they are in. This is an interesting point that I never really had reflected apon before. Overall a very good article.
Students need to be engaged in multiple types of writing. I think that as we live in the age of testing, we spend a lot of time writing to a prompt. This is definitely a valuabe activity but we can't forgot other types of writing. Rebecca and Christy mentioned many of the different types but I also want to add writing emails and text chatting. I feel that these types of writing also have great value. One major point of the article was that students need to write from their prior background and from their interests. I need to supply more of these opportunities in my classroom.
Students need to write! There is a huge emphasis in our society that students need to read before anything else, but without writing students will have a very hard time developing reading skills. Writing is a way that students are able to develop and enhance their reading. I liked this article because it discussed the importance of writing various things, student experiences, culture, letters, stories and so on. Through these different types of writing they are also learning the writing process which is essential. I am very happy because our school has recently added a writing time for the intensive students. I feel that this will allow them to grow in their reading. They are able to not only write their ideas but go back and revise, allowing them to see how the language works in a personal way.
I read the article "Writing in the Intermediate Grades 3-5". It gave many examples on how to ensure good writing instruction. First, our students must be taught the step by step process of how to become a successful writer. As teachers, we must allow time and opportunities for writing in our classrooms. It is also important to put an emphasis on the importance of writing and allow students to present and share their writings. The article also stated that we must spend time on writing instuction and pracitce to make sure that our students are successful in all areas of writing, such as voice, convensions, and organization. As a few of the others have stated, I agree on the importance of keeping writing fun and creative by having students use writing in a variety of ways.
I like the part that emphasized drawing as a prelude to or important part of writing. My 1st graders are SO creative in this area that we have often gotten a great piece of writing (even just a sentence or 2!)out of one of their pictures that I otherwise might have summarily dismissed until I took the time to dig deeper and found their explanation extrordinary and quite profound!
Writing in the Early Grades K-2. I really liked the part of the article that talked about children actively building a "repertoire of understanding". I was excited to see the factor of culture and the communities that the children come from, being addressed. The point was made that all families participate in literacy activities, which is a point that I think some teachers forget, or don't realize.
What struck me most in the article was the piee about writing as a cultural practice. Assessment is always a tool to use and it shows the developmental stages in kids writing and how they increase skills and improve over time. Condensing the writing concepts into 11 bullets was a good way to showcase all the elements of what students go throught in the writing process.
I agree with Todd and Christi that students need to write in all different ways for all different purposes. Writing and print -words- mean things. Students need to write for a purpose not for just a prompt. There is really no audience to a prompt at lest the kids don't see them. The point of the article that students should write from prior knowledge and background and interests is of so much importance! When I was in graduate school at Dominican College I read an article that said only 6% of writing at school had any meaning to the students. How sad. I loved teaching writing and many of my third grade students have been published in a book! This meant something to them.
Writing in the Early Grades, was a great article that tied many ideas together. I enjoyed the part on how students have many ideas from their family life and need to connect those memories into their writing. I felt that this tied in directly to social contexts. When thinking about the primary student, most likely the majority of their social interactions have taken place at home. I felt that combining these two aspects is great to help the students establish a home/school connection. I was glad to see a link that promoted the use of name cards and using observation about their names. This was an idea that I always used in kindergarten to help make a personal connection with the student in my interactive writing. A student's name is most likely one of the first words that they can read and write. I again feel that this connects to another area of their cultural background. Digging in deeper finding the meaning of a student's name and nickname can help the teacher establish a connect which can guide writing prompts in the future. I am excited to read more of the links on writing that are published.
I enjoyed reading "Writing in the Early Grades." As I was reading, I thought of several of my students: those that are still in early stages of writing development, those that can write long, creative stories, and those that simply sit there when not given a topic to write about because they "can't think of anything to write." Because of the structured schedule at our school, only the at and above grade level students get ample opportunities to write. Reading this article made me realize how important it is for ALL of my students to spend time writing, and I intend to use any free minute we get writing. I have noticed that when I give students writing assignments for homework (as opposed to phonics, spelling, and vocabulary worksheets), they enjoy their homework more and do pretty nice work. The article mentioned that not all writing should be graded, and I agree with this. Students should feel safe to explore their ideas first before worrying about perfect conventions, etc. I also agree that writing should be saved in portfolios or writing journals so that students and teachers can see writing growth over time.
I read the Writing in the intermediate grades3-5. If students are to write and practice writing they need to find a connection or meaning in order to relate their ideas. As well as enjoy writing. I also agree with the article when it talked about writing as a social subject. I thought about my group of 3rd graders during the intervention group and when we do writing they love to tell me what sentences they might beable to write and i notice a better outcome when we talk about it or when they read it aloud and get feedback from their peers.
I read the article "Writing in the Early Grades, K-2" and found it to be very interesting. There was a lot of good information and links to sites that are beneficial. It is fortunate that our literacy program takes into account much of this research and has put it into practice, however, there is one component that to me is missing in the instruction we are allowed to do at our school and that is the drawing aspect. We can do some drawing in our lab time but it is not when we are doing reading and therefore we are not allowed to tie in the drawing aspect to the reading portion of our instruction. I do think it is an important part of a literacy program and I feel it is a piece that is missing and would be helpful in our school's program. I also found the aspect of Assessment and portfolios a very interesting point in the article. I do not do portfolios yet as I am a first year teacher and trying to learn the program but would like to incorporate writing portfolios into my classroom. I am going to be doing more research and trying to implement that soon as I do think it gives the teacher a good sampling of the students' work to be able to assess as well as something the students can use as a measure of development and achievement. This article was very helpful.
I read the article "Writing in the Intermediate Grades, 3-5". I found this article very interesting. It is definitely true that each child does not come with a blank slate when they walk into our room. They all come from different backgrounds, have all had different teachers, and have had different experiences with writing. I know that teaching writing is one of my most difficult because that I had always considered myself a "bad writer". I had never had any good writing instruction, and therefore have always struggled to get any writing done. This is why I have wnated to spend so much time on writing instruction with my students so that they will not have to go through school thinking they are "bad writers" also.
I read the "Writing in the Early Grades, K-2." I found this article very informative. The development of writing from early scribbles, to strings of letters through invented spelling is definitely something I have been able to see develop in my first grade classroom. I also agree with Laura that keeping writing in a portfolio or a journal is very important. The students are able to reflect on their writing and a teacher is able to use it as an assessment tool as to what the students are struggling or succeeding with in writing. I think that writing can be incoporated across all curricular areas, and it is important for the students to write in responses to reading, in independent writing time, in science, math and social studies. Using writing in all aspects of learning allows the students to see how valuable writing is as a learning tool. I loved that this article gives your the writing concepts and ideas to try in the classroom, I look forward to being able to try some of the concepts in my classroom and I feel that the websites will be very useful and give me more support in the area of writing.
Writing is an integral part of the language acquisition process. Children from early on should be given opportunities to write. They should be encouraged to draw their ideas in order to develop writing skills. I was most impressed by the article regarding drawing (The Arts and Emergent Literacy). Since time immemorial, cultures have “drawn” their thoughts and ideas. It is simply the standard by which a culture chooses to express itself in written form that those standards must be agreed upon and shared. I have noticed that when I incorporate drawing before and after writing/reading activities, the students seemed to retain the information, as well as better understanding. In many cases, the student is more comfortable expressing him/herself by drawing. This is a very useful tool when attempting to help a special education student build confidence in writing when typically he/she resists expressing ideas in writing.
As I read "Writing in the Intermediate Grades, 3-5" two key points stood out. First, the article explains how we make sense of and interact with the world around us. We are all naturally curious and inquisitive. We absorb everything we do like sponges including how students come to recognize print. Second, the article discussed how students who had a writing portfolio and who had opportunities to go through the writing process with their papers outscored students who didn't participate in these activities. It's important to keep a portfolio for each student. It's a great way to assess and watch their growth over time.
In my classroom I have students in all stages of writing. Some are still scribbling and others are writing complete stories with a lot of voice. I did like the article stating that students need a lot of opportunities to write throughout the day, not just for a grade.
The article devoted to the K-2 level was impressive and quite influential. The key focus was to spend a great deal of time working with writing in the classroom. I couldn't agree more with this idea, but I don't feel that we are able to spend the quality time needed to model these skills to our students, as a K teacher. And I think others would agree to this statement. We do, however, encourage writing in the classroom and really try to hit home with the expression of student work through illustrations. Once students can draw ideas of their thoughts, they are able to begin the process of placing their illustrations into written form. The article hit the nail on the head when it stated, "The language arts develop in concert. Drawing supports writing, writing supports reading; opportunity to use multiple expressions of language increases language learning and ability." I think this is especially true for our little learners. This also helps enhance the skills of our ELL and special ed students in the classroom. In my intervention sessions, I am working on a more written focus for my students, since they don't receive as much in the regular classroom.
I love writing myself and love writing with students. This article reiterated the fact that speaking comes first and when children realize they can write what they say, all sorts of learning/teaching opportunities arise. Journals are an excellent way to record students growth and to promote writing across the curriculum. Conferencing with students about their writing has been very effective as well as teaching students how to re-read their own writing and comment well on the writing of others. This is an area in which I think we need more training and support.
I read "Writing in the Intermediate Grades, 3-5". Meaning is necessary for all readers and writers, even the struggling ones. The way people use language is reflected in their writing. Plus, each type of writing, the various genres, need to be taught, even if they are accomplished writers in one form. More than one form of language expression is improved when they can be used simultaneously with each other. It is also important to note that in 1998, NAEP found that students who did more than one draft of writing and/or kept writings in a portfolio over time achieved higher scores than their peers who did not do these tasks. I enjoyed reading this since I try to do both with my classes in the past.
The article on "Writing in the Intermediate Grades, 3-5" offers many researched based studies that say written language occurs in the context of the world we interact with. It reflects the writer's background and experiences. This tells the teachers, when teaching writing, to reach and tap into this diversity brought about by the students. One significant finding is that a good chunk of time should be allocated for daily writing. It is also important to teach writing in context thus allowing writing to be part of content learning experiences. "Writing to think" supports learning, and therefore students should write throughout their learning experiences. Teaching writing conventions, similarly, is most successful when taught in context. Studies also say that teaching students the strategic processes involved in writing (prewriting, drafting, revising and editing) improves the quality of their writing. Having an authentic audience, as for example, publishing the writing on the Internet, has also shown to improve student writing. And, the teacher should collect a range of writing samples, over time, for a valid assessment of the student's writing abilities.
I think the most interesting piece of this article was the "writing to think" part when stated that "writers rarely transfer their thoughts directly from their minds to the paper. Instead we use lists or create diagrams or jot notes to formutate our ideas. I find it also very true that making the school to home connection strong and crucial to their success in writing.
I read the article "Writing in the Early Grades K-12". I thought it was a good article. The article states that students need substantial time and multiple opportunities to write. It also states that writing instruction should build on the writers efforts. I found it interesting that students that write multiple drafts of a paper and save their writing achieved higher scores in writing then their peers. This proves just how important the writing process is. However, the article also states that students should also write informally. Last year, my cooperating teacher had the students write three stories and then choose which story they wanted to revise, edit and publish. I thought it was a great idea, especially since in real life we don't always revise and edit, and publish every paper that we write.
I also read the article "Writing in the Intermediate Grades 3-5." As a special education teacher I agree with the article on having the kids tap into their prior experiences to help them write. I also agree with Rebecca when she wrote about the importance of providing an example. Especially with my group of kids they often need to visually see a model first to be able to create one of their own. Variety is also important. Many students may be able to write a creative story, but not be able to organize a letter. As teachers we need to expose them to all forms to allow them to find their strengths and weaknesses in writing.
I read the K-2 article. My early childhood students are fascinated with the letters in their own names and in the names of their friends and family members. We do different activities with names in class and when we sing alphabet songs or do activities like alphabet puzzles comments such as “that’s my x” or “that’s Salvador’s s” are sure to be heard. Many of my students are now interested in finding familiar letters in our posted vocabulary words and environmental print. They really enjoy writing thier names and thier friends names on projects. We are now starting to write some simple vocabulary words since so many of them have mastered names.
Writing in the early grades, K-2. This is very interesting. It is good to read about how your students should be developing in their writing skills. I see this a lot in Kindergarten. It's funny because I have parents that get freaked out when they see that their child's writing is just a bunch of letters put together. I think this would be good for the parents to read to keep them informed about where their child should be at and it could help them to understand why they are writing the way that they are.
think about this/read this/try this 1: This is part of Harcourt. To show students the enviornmental print. I think this is great because most students are more use to this rather than reading books.
Think about this/read this/try this 4: I think this is one of the most important part of Kindergarten. Students are able to express themselves through drawing. In the beginning my students could only draw pictures, then as they developed now they are writing. THere are times where I have my students draw then write and then vise versa. I think this really helps my students get down their thoughts and work. I think it is exciting for them because they even see the improvement. Like today one of my students usually doesn't write that much about her pictures but today she was able to write a complete sentence and spelled everything correct. Also her writing corresponded to what she drew. The look on her face when she was finished was excited. She knew what she did and she was proud of it. The better she felt the more she wanted to do.
Even students that are still struggling in writing they are able to express themselves through their drawings. You can tell what they are trying to say through their drawing.
If we did not have art with our daily work I think our students would not be where they are at today. I would never want to change this for them. This is something that they need daily if not at school at home. I think that needs to be incouraged to the parents. Parents need to see articles like this so they understand the importance of their students work and then they can help reinforce it at home.
I read the article "Writing in the Early Grades, K-2". It was very good and reinforced my belief that writing is so important in the process of learning to read. I have always been taught that your reading and writing should be at the same level. The reason for this is the child takes ownership of their own writing, which helps the child to read. It is much easier for a child to read their own writing than a book that is not theirs. When I have struggling readers, we write a repetetive line together, "I can read. I can jump. I can sing." and so on. Then we make a book for the child. They can read the book because it is theirs and they feel so much success. I love to teach writing, as well as reading because the two go hand in hand.
I read the article Writing in the Early Grades, K-2. I agreed with the idea in the article that students already enter school with some background knowledge of environmental print. They do not come in with a blank slate when it comes to the concepts of print as some people previously thought. I also agree with the author's point that the best way to help develop a child's ability to write is to provide as much time as possible for writing. Unfortunately time is one thing that we often find limited. I often struggle daily to ensure that there is time set aside to focus on just writing and the writing process. It is often difficult but based on this article and my own experience vital tha I make sure that my students have this time.
I agree the writing is very important in the early grades. I wish we had more time to concentrate on it. I am someone who has strugled with with handwriting and mechanics my entire life. These are the things that need to be worked on in the early grades. It is like reading. The more the students read the better they get. The more they practice writing and the mechanics of it the better they get.
The article states that early writing includes scribbles, strings of letters and drawings. My kindergarten students include all of these elements in their writing. Some of them are also starting to sound out words. I like the way the article confirms that all of these forms of writing are valid--They are all still engaging in literacy.
The article also points out that "writing to think " is an "under utilized role of writing." I try to provide journal time for this purpose, but most of my students need some sort of a prompt. They also worry that their writing doesn't look like conventional writing and will insist that they can't write. I always encourage all their different forms of writing. It is also interesting to read that the different forms of writing is also related to their place in the social world. By keeping this in mind, I can also make writing more meaningful to the students, which as the author states, will make learning more productive.
I read Writing in the Early Grades, K-2. When I read the part about students who are "experienced with writing more than one draft of a paper, and students whose writing was saved in folders or portfolios, achieved higher average scores than their peers who did not write multiple drafts or save their writing," it made me think about incorportating and using them effectively in order for my students achieve at their highest levels. I also find that students are more likely to write during a free-write than a prompt because they write about their experiences. I would like to know if this is true for others.
I definitely think that students need more time to write. In our last inservice the K-3 teachers complained that there was not enough time given for writing. How are students going to learn to write, if they are not given the opportunity? They also need to be given time and the experience of writing about what they read. There are so many different types of writing we can show students through literature, and have them practice writing what they read.
This article was very informative. It reminded me of things that I need to consider when I do writing in my own classroom. Such as, making lists and supporting their writing using the community and experiences around them. This article did reinforce things that I am already doing in my classroom that can promote good writing. I do use folders and give the students a lot of time to write. They also suggested that the students share their writing with others. I do peer sharing during my writer's workshop. The kids have the opportunity to share as well as listen to another peer. They respond with a positive comment about the writing. The article also suggested to have students write throughout the day. One thing that I am going to try more of is writing during my math time. I forget or get too caught up in the math only, and forget the writing which can be beneficial for thinking about the way that they solved the problems etc.
I read the article writing for K-2nd graders. It is important to make writing enjoyable and a way to do this is by having the students write about a topic that is of interest to them. Younger students love to talk about their family life. A teacher that can get a student to put these treasured memories on paper is doing both the student and the parents a true benefit.
I read the article Writing for the k-2nd graders as I teach 1st grade. I like how the article enforces the various ways of helping children write - pictures, various genre's that they have read about, etc. It is so hard for us to fit writing into our day, but HM has some great Reader's Writers' Workshops we have used that allow young writers to write about something that interests them.
When I taught the grades above kindergarten I encouraged my students to move the pencil with the phrase: Writing is thinking. This article stated it too. But the article placed more emphasis on the child. I'm glad that I read it. It told how children talk and dramatize their way into early writing. I intend on making more time for dramatizing in my kindergarten classroom. It also encouraged me to make sure I am providing for subtantial time to write across the curriculum, throughout the school day. I do try to involve students in the writing process, we do revize some written work, and I am saving some as in a portfolio. The article also told how literary experience promotes greater written participation and success. A big goal at Hafen this year is to build substantial classroom libraries. This should help advance student writing.
I thought that this article was very helpful. I have been teaching writing but not to the depths that I should be. I want to make portfolios of their writing and have students start checking each others work, peer editing and writing more thatn one draft. I also think that during their math and science time they could be writing more about how and what they are doing. I think that could be a good understanding check. If the student can write down the process that they took to solve a problem then they must understand what they are doing.
I agree with article that writing is very important in the early grades. Especially K and first. I wish I had more time to concentrate on it. I have to squeeze writing into my day, not counting journals. I want to dedicate more time to the writing process. Because time is so limited I have to stretch them out over a week. Writing is just as important as reading because it is how we express our selves. The article suggested having students write throughout the day. I am going to try mto implement more writing during my math time. Students write a math mnessage responce, but I think I can build on that. I also think it would be good to have them reflect onb their day and write one sentence at the end of the day to express their feelings.