Transcript Slide 1

K-5 Writing
Units of Study Training
Session I
September 6, 13, and 20, 2013
Presentation Link: http://nwgaresa.com/resources/
Introductory Activity
Table Talk about Writers Workshop
(5 min.)
Pig Trail
Gravel
Paved
Freeway
Activity: 4 Corners
• Instruction: Choose the corner that best fits your
current belief. Discuss and select a person in the
group to report out.
• I believe that children need to learn to read first.
• I believe that children need to learn to write first.
• I believe there is not an empirical order to the
acquisition of reading and writing.
• This thinking is new to me so I am not sure I know
what I believe and would like to know more.
Research Base
• Writing to Read
• Write First!
Recommendations
• Have students write
about the texts they
read.
• Teach students the
writing skills and
processes that go into
creating text.
• Increase how much
students write.
Funded by Carnegie Corporation Advancing Literacy
Yellow HANDOUT
Writing First! by Peter Elbow (5-7 min.)
• At your table, read the
article and find “why’s”
for the author’s belief
statement that “children
need to learn to write
first.”
• TTYP to compare your
findings and prepare to
share as a whole group.
Yellow HANDOUT
Instructional Shifts: CCGPS (ELA)
• Building knowledge through content-rich
nonfiction and informational texts
• Reading and writing grounded in evidence
from text
• Regular practice with complex text and its
academic vocabulary
Shift 1: Content and Nonfiction
What the Student Does . . .
•Become better readers by building
background knowledge.
What the Teacher Does . . .
• Shift identity: “I teach reading.”
• Treat the text itself as a source of
evidence.
• See the text itself as a source of
evidence (what did it say vs. what did
it not say?)
• Ask: “How do you know? Why do
you think that? Show me in the text
• Apply strategies to reading
where you see evidence for your
informational text (using details to
opinion.”
make key points and summarize).
Shift 2: Evidence (Reading and Writing)
What the Student Does . . .
• Go back to text to find evidence to
support their argument in a
thoughtful, careful, precise way.
What the Teacher Does . . .
• Facilitate evidence based
conversations with students,
dependent on the text.
• Create own judgments and become • Provide students the opportunity to
scholars, rather than witnesses of the read the text more deeply and write
text.
from multiple sources about a single
topic.
• Begin to generate own
informational texts.
•Give students permission to start
having their own reactions and
drawing their own connections.
Shift 3: Practice and Language
What the Student Does . . .
What the Teacher Does . . .
• Be persistent despite challenges • Give students less to read and let them
when reading; good readers
re-read.
tolerate frustration.
• Provide experience with complex texts.
•Spend more time learning words
across “webs” and associating
• Engage students in rigorous
words with others instead of
conversation.
learning individual, isolated
vocabulary words.
• Provide scaffolding.
• Be strategic about the kind of
vocabulary you’re developing and figure
out which words fall into which categories
(tier 2 vs. tier 3).
Navigating and Using the Series
KIT
FOCUS
A Guide to the Common Core Writing
Workshop
Workshop Model (its architecture) and
Management System
Writing Pathways
Assessment System and Learning
Progressions:
Four Common Core-aligned Units
Methods and Principles Affecting Classroom
If…Then…Curriculum: Assessment-based
Instruction
CD-ROM
Differentiation with 5-7 Alternate and
Additional Units
Additional Resources: sample student
writing, reproducible checklists, units, web
links
Writing:
Key Conceptual Understandings
• Writing needs to be taught like any other basic skill,
with explicit instruction and ample opportunity for
practice.
• Children deserve to write for real purposes, to write
the kinds of texts that they see in the world and to
write for an audience of readers.
• Writers write to put meaning on a page. Children
invest themselves in their writing when they choose
topics that are important to them.
Kit Source: A Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop
Chapter 3 – p. 23
Writing:
Key Conceptual Understandings
• Children deserve to be explicitly taught how to write.
• Children deserve the opportunity and instruction to
cycle through the writing process.
• To write well, children need opportunities to read
and to hear texts read, and to read as writers.
• Children need clear goals and frequent feedback.
Understandings…Digging Deeper
• Teach the WRITER, not the WRITING.
• Study and emulate REAL writers.
• Teach kids to EXPLODE the moment.
• Keep multiple pieces of writing “in progress”
(flash drafts).
• Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Understandings…Digging Deeper
• Start each year with Narrative Writing.
• Teach students the power of VOLUME and
INDEPENDENCE.
• Write with students.
• Write for REAL purposes.
• Don’t expect significant impact unless writing
is a SCHOOLWIDE PRIORITY.
Whole Group Discussion
Big Ideas…
Critical Nature of Writing
Instructional Shifts…
CCGPS
Reflection Activity: Take a few…(5 min.)
• Create a timeline of memorable points from
your life…as a WRITER!
• Using phrases or key words, place the +
points above the line and – points below the
line.
Now write…(5 min.)
• Using your timeline, choose one + or - point
from your timeline and begin a personal
narrative piece of writing.
• Quick Talk with a Partner – Write – Pair/Share
• EXPLODE the moment!
Approaches to Writing Activity
• Instructions: Read about the
three approaches listed
below. Then remove graphic
organizer from handout (last
page) and do individually for
a “turn and talk partner”
discussion at tables.
Volunteers to share out.
– “free to be me” approach
– “assigned task” approach
– “demonstrate, scaffold,
release to write” approach
Pink HANDOUT
Emphasis
• Opportunities for differentiation in the
“demonstrate, scaffold, release to write”
approach!
• Helps students develop repertoire of skills for
each stage of the writing process
– Demonstrate process writers use depending on type
of writing studied
– Scaffold students to practice steps in the process
– Release students for independently using repertoire
of strategies by writing without support
The Writing Process
(3-5 min.)
• TTYP and describe YOUR ideas of the writing
process.
• Jot notes as your partner describes.
The Writing Process (K-2)
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•
•
•
•
•
•
Rehearsal
Drafting
Revising
Further Revision
Editing
Publishing
Celebrating
Lavender HANDOUT
The Writing Process (3-5)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Rehearsal/Prewriting
Drafting
Revision
Editing
Publishing
Celebrating
Kit Source: A Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop
Chapter 4 – pp. 32-37
Brainstorming and The Writing Process
(K-2)
• Collection
• Gathering
• Sketching (like DaVinci)
Rehearsal and The Writing Process
• Approach varies by genre and focus:
– Literary (read with questions in mind)
– Narrative (think of a person, place, or thing)
• Teach strategies for generating ideas.
• Weigh possible structures.
– Narrative: mentally replay event and capture initial
action or dialogue
– Informational: tour guide of topics with overview to
help readers anticipate where tour will lead
• With experience, what students do during
revision become recycled into rehearsal.
Drafting and The Writing Process
•
•
•
•
Is an “early” product.
Is less strategic.
Is “playing in clay, not inscribing in marble.”
Impacts powerful writing when “full of one’s
subject and keeping one’s eye on that
subject.”
• Is a trial effort and when written quickly,
fosters a writer’s willingness to revise.
Revision and The Writing Process
• Is an “improved” product.
• Means to “resee and reconsider”
through various lenses.
• Look at writer’s goals.
• Look for qualities (from studying a
mentor text) brought into writing.
Revision Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBKqgOvmJ8w
Editing and The Writing Process
• Is a “final” product.
• Is done along the way via minilessons, midworkshop teachings, share sessions, and
homework assignments.
Publishing and The Writing Process
• Calls for decision making by teacher
– Am I a copy editor making all corrections?
– PRO: easier for others to read
– CON: not a reflection on writer’s independence
• Reminder: Put “next-to-final draft” in portfolio
Celebrating and The Writing Process
• Make public by spotlighting
– Gallery Walk
– Small Group Fridays
• Use precise and specific compliments
The Writing Cycle
“I want children to plan and draft their writing,
anticipating the day they’ll revise it and, better yet,
anticipating the day they’ll send the text out into
the world. …I look for indications that the version of
the writing process that I imagine for them matches
what they can do with only a little support. I want
to see that children are productive, engaged, and
purposeful throughout the entire process.”
Lucy Calkins
A Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop, Intermediate Grades, p. 37
Learning Progressions
Refer to pp. 178-181 in Writing Pathways
(Grades K-5) from your kit as you “turn
and talk” to a partner about this question:
How are learning progressions
different from scope and
sequence documents?
Also a White HANDOUT
Learning Progressions Activity
• Instructions: At your table, read the sample
student writing and use the Narrative Learning
Progression Chart (handout or in Writing
Pathways’ book) to assess the student’s
writing development.
• Take notes to share with your table partners.
Use Sample Student Writing Handout and Refer to Learning Progression Chart
Why learning progressions?
“What students are expected to know and be able to
do at a given grade and content area describes
learning horizontally. Learning progressions, on the
other hand, describe learning vertically and show a
sequence along which students can move from
beginning learner to advanced learner. Consequently,
student learning is viewed as a progression along a
path that connects knowledge, concepts, and skills or
the big ideas—the essence of concepts/processes.”
Bellwood-Antis School District Bellwood, PA
http://www.blwd.k12.pa.us/district_info/curriculum/Shared%20Documents/SAS%20Resources/SA
S%20Learning%20Progressions_6-02-10%20(2).docx.
As compared to Scope and Sequence
• Scope is defined as “a clearly stated set of K-12 learning
objectives that reflects local, state, and national expectations.
Sequence is the order in which those objectives are taught.”
(Nichols, Shidaker, Johnson, & Singer, 2006)
•Often scope and sequence will provide information as to what
students should master at each grade for a given content area;
however, scope and sequence charts do not always provide
information designed to help teachers understand where students
are in their learning relative to the curricular aim or goal.
•In addition scope and sequence charts may not always be
organized in such a way that teachers can clearly visualize the
intersections along the road to learning.
LP Continued . . . Take Home
• Information (pp. 124-127)
• Opinion(pp. 82-85)
• Video Clip:
Learning Progressions
and Informational
Writing
http://vimeo.com/55951746
Kit Source:
Writing Pathways (Grades K-5), Performance Assessments and Learning Progressions
Provisioning a Writing Workshop
• Dedicated Writing Time
• Room Arrangements
• Meeting Area
• Work Areas
• Writing Center
• Materials
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Writing-in-Progress Folders and Papers
Writing Utensils and tools
Chart Paper, Marker Pens, and Easel
Exemplar Texts
Word Walls, Dictionaries, and Thesauruses
Writing Partners
Writers Notebook (Teacher and Students)
Importance of the Teacher’s WNB
Be a Ski Instructor!
Let the children see
you as an author as
well.
* DOING
* Enthusiasm
* Language
(failure/strengths)
* Tools
Writing Workshop The Essential Guide
By Fletcher & Portalupi page 4
The Architecture of the MiniLesson
“…intervals (10 minutes long) for explicit, brief instruction in skills and strategies
that then become part of a writer’s ongoing repertoire to be drawn on as needed.”
(Guide, Chapter 7, p. 60-61)
•
•
•
•
Connection
Teaching
Active Engagement
Link
Connection (The MiniLesson)
• Rally the students for the lesson.
• Recruit students to recall work that they have done prior
to this lesson, which provides context for the lesson
• Share tiny excerpts of student work and vignettes from
working with students
• Share a story… (Guide p. 62)
• End with a CLEAR Teaching Point
– “what” (content) and “how” (strategy)
– Example: Today we are going to talk about…
• Apply cautionary advice (p. 63)
– Avoid barrage of questions to student5s
– Avoid assigning (i.e., “Today I want you to do…”)
Teaching (The MiniLesson)
• Demonstration
– Sequentially structured like a “how to text” or “step-by-step process”
– “Write/Think” in real time
– Used in 80% of minilessons
• Guided Practice
– Walk through a process so coaching allows students to do same
without support
• Explanation/Example
– State strategy and show example
– Use Mentor Texts/Read Alouds
• Inquiry
– Starts with question
– Use in studying example of good work
– Use in contrasting effective and ineffective examples
Active Engagement (The MiniLesson)
• Must be 100%
• Give students chance to practice what’s taught with “off
you go” prompt
• Be specific about what students are trying out
• Make sure prompts are simple:
– What happened first?
– What do you see?
• Encourage students to do both (speak and listen) in “turn
and talk”
• Avoid predictable problems:
– Teacher: the minilesson becomes a maxilesson
– Student: the real work doesn’t get done
Link (The MiniLesson)
• Is shortest part
– Reiterates teaching point
– Links to previous learning
– Refers students to their toolkit of strategies
(use anchor chart)
– Time to release students with “off you go”
The Role of Writers
During The MiniLesson
• Must teach students “their jobs” during a
minilesson:
– Listening more (connection)
– Trying a strategy (active engagement)
• Reminder to Teacher…
– Must learn methods of leading efficient, effective
minilessons.
Management System
“Who doesn’t have trouble with classroom
management? How could it not be tricky to build
an environment in which 20 or 30 youngsters each
pursues his or her own important project as a
writer, working within the confines of a small
room, each needing his or her own mix of silence
and collaboration, time and deadlines, resources,
and one another?”
Managing the Minilesson
• Convening for…
– Attention getting signal, countdown with compliment,
transition (as long as 3 min.)
• Management during…
– Connection: invitation to talk
– Demonstration: imagine in own minds as they “watch”
– Active Engagement: have write in the air, turn and talk
with partner
– Explicit teaching about expectations
• Sending students off…
– Variations: disperse one cluster at a time, have start on
rug, assign writing spots where students return to write
VIDEO (MiniLesson)
Grade Level
Link
K
http://vimeo.com/55954401 (K-2 on spelling patterns) or
http://vimeo.com/55951305 (K-2 on small group closure)
1-2
http://vimeo.com/55954401 (K-2 on spelling patterns) or
http://vimeo.com/55951305 (K-2 on small group closure)
3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKY_7AhnS3o (Narrative)
4-5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKY_7AhnS3o (Narrative)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCA0EY_8lhU (Informational)
The Architecture of a Conference
• Research
• Decide
• Teach
• Link
Research (The Conference)
• Begin with an open ended question to invite the
student to talk.
• Look at the student’s writing to gain a deeper
understanding.
• Learn what the student as writer plans to do
next.
• Help the child articulate and explain his or her
intentions.
• Make sure to pursue more than one line of
questioning.
Decide (The Conference)
• Choose one teaching point that will help the
writer become better.
• Teach every student to become someone who
has intentions for his or her writing, assesses,
sets a course, and acts deliberately.
• Try to rally the child to take on a new intention
and then equip the child to realize that intention.
• Teach toward growth always—and eventual
independence.
Teach (The Conference)
• Follow the architecture of a minilesson
– Connect: Be explicit.
– Teach: Use one of four methods.
– Active Involvement: Nudge student to begin.
– Jot conferring notes as you go.
• Teach and coach, reducing the scaffolding as
you work together.
Link (The Conference)
• Step back and name what the writer has done
that can be replicated in the draft and another
piece of writing.
• Clarify the work the writer still needs to do.
• Repeat the teaching point.
• Make sure the writer leaves wanting to write.
Types of Conferences
• One-on-one
• Small Groups
(variety)
VIDEO (Conference)
Grade Level
Link
K
http://vimeo.com/55954402 (K-2) or
http://vimeo.com/55951305 (K-2)
1-2
http://vimeo.com/55954402 (K-2) or
http://vimeo.com/55951305 (K-2)
3
http://vimeo.com/55966096 (3-5)
4-5
http://vimeo.com/55966096 (3-5) or
http://vimeo.com/55966102 (5-8)
Unwrapping the Units (Vertical)
• Looking at expectations for student writers
across the K-5 Continuum
White Handout
(Partial Unit Table of Contents)
Unwrapping the Unit (Grade Level)
Activity
• Take a look at the first unit of your grade level for the
following:
❸… ❷...❶
a-ha moments or new learning
points of validation
question or concern
• As a table group, identify your 3-2-1’s and have a
volunteer jot these down to share.
Web Resources to Support the
K-5 Writing Units of Study
• Teachers College Reading and Writing Project
(Check Facebook and Twitter for latest updates/webinars.)
– http://readingandwritingproject.com/
• Heinemann
– http://www.heinemann.com/authors/430.aspx
• National Writing Project
– http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource_topic/teaching_
writing
• ReadWriteThink
– http://www.readwritethink.org/
• Teaching Channel
– https://www.teachingchannel.org
Needs Assessment/Evaluation
NEEDS ASSESSMENT: Topics for Future Training Sessions
Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study for Teaching Writing
Based on the first training session, review the list of topics below and place checks by those you would like additional
professional learning and support for in the future.
Topics
Priority/ Need
(Place check in column.)
Orientation to Materials (kits with guides/units and CD-ROM)
Management System (routines and rituals)
Architecture of the Minilesson
(connection, teaching, active engagement, link)
Kinds of Teaching
(demonstration, guided practice, examples, inquiry)
Types of Writing (information, opinion, narrative)
Type: ______________________
Differentiation (individuals/small groups/ELLs)
Student Checklists for Reflection
Scoring Rubrics to Evaluate Student Writing
Student Conferences
Charts
Learning Progressions
Assessments
Other:
Top 3 Priorities:
(from above)
____________________________
1st
_______________________________
2nd
Blue Handout
_________________________________
3rd