Transcript Slide 1

Advanced Writing
Units of Study Training
November 6, 2014
Presentation Link: http://nwgaresa.com/resources/
What’s your current status?
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Writer’s Notebook
Writing Process
Assessment Tools
Conferencing Practice
Writer’s Notebook
Do you have a writer’s notebook
and how do you use it?
Let’s take a peek inside a teacher’s
writing notebook…
• http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=AZE3_j6a59w
An Individual’s Perspective
Ted Talk by Lakshmi Pratury
http://www.ted.com/talks/lakshmi_pratury_on_letter_writing
A Writer’s View
http://www.learner.org/workshops/writing35/pdf/s2_writers_notebook.pdf
School Talk Article Handout
A Fifth Grader’s Place
It’s a Place
Why am I keeping this notebook?
Because it’s a place where I can
keep track of my life.
It’s a place where I can observe
closely
And where I can store little pieces of
strength.
It’s a place where I can keep the elements of Life
(lightning, fire, ice, time and space)
and Writing
(poetry, words, eyes).
It’s a place where tales weave.
All in all
It’s a place for ME.
Lucy’s Stance: Where students . . .
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Can be efficient on paper.
Can get better as writers.
Jot notes during the minilesson.
Try something immediately.
Invest in processes and strategies.
Keep track of goals and progress toward goals
(in final section of notebook).
Defined
• “a metaphor for the place where you work on
your writing”
• A workbench—place to use your tools
• “the great garage sale of junk” from which
insights and ideas develop
• “rich compost kept by a wide-awake writer”
Source: A Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop
Lester Laminack
“Dancing on the edge of arrogance is . . .
grading someone’s writing when you’ve
never written yourself.”
http://www.lesterlaminack.com/index.htm
Start with Strategies
Author Jack Gantos says, “When you look at a blank
piece of paper on your desk . . ., it’s really hard to get
started. All that perfect white space is intimidating.
It’s begging you to improve upon it. And it’s hard,
because every time you put that pencil down on the
page you sort of mess it up.”
Entry points make it okay for writers to mess up the page and get the
memories and words flowing onto the page.
Personal Narrative Unit, Grade 6, p. 23
Jack’s Map
http://www.jackgantos.com.vhost.zerolag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/The-Next-Level-Booklinks-article.pdf
Beth’s Map
An Entry Point: Mapping
Think of a place that mattered most to
you as a child and make a quick sketch
of that place, jotting down words or
phrases that come from that place.
Writing Process
Anchor Standards Support the Process
Number
Standard
CCRA.W.5
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning,
revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
CCRA.W.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection and revision) and shorter time
frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of
tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Learning Progression for Writing Process
LP Handout
The Writing Process
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Rehearsal or Prewriting
Planning and Drafting
Revising
Editing
Publishing
Celebrating
Kit Source: A Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop
Rehearsal
• Vary approach 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
• Can become writing recycled from revision.
Return to Notebook: Another Strategy
Take a “moment” (pic/words)
from your map and now create a
timeline.
Beth’s Timeline
Drafting
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Is an “early” product.
Is less strategic.
Is “playing in clay, not inscribing in marble.”
Makes for 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.
What are small moments when writing?
NOW Explode Your Small Moment
Revision
• Is an “improved” product.
• Means to “resee and reconsider” through various
lenses.
• Look at writer’s goals.
• Study mentor texts for qualities to bring into
writing.
• Can lead to deeper and more thoughtful
understanding of content (“What am I trying to
say?”).
Revision Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBKqgOvmJ8w
An Exercise in Revision
Rest of Writing Process
Editing
• Is a “final” product.
• Is done along the way
via minilessons, midworkshop teachings,
conferencing, share
sessions, and
homework
assignments.
Publishing
Celebrating
• Calls for decision making • Make public by
by teacher.
spotlighting such as
• Am I a copy editor
Gallery Walk or Small
making all corrections?
Group Fridays (students
• PRO: easier for others
as teaching experts).
to read.
• Use precise and specific
• CON: not a reflection of
compliments.
writer’s independence
and can create “blurred
lines” for teacher about
growth of student’s
ability to correct writing.
Turn and Talk
What’s the value in going through the
writing process?
Is there value in having unfinished
pieces?
“Students should be writing four times more than we can grade. If we can grade
everything kids are writing, they aren’t writing enough. Not even close.”
Words of Wisdom by Kelly Gallagher
REMEMBER
“. . .you and your colleagues need to teach
writing long before you have become experts
at doing so. The ability to grasp what a writer
is trying to do and to see how to help the
writer do that work better represents the
epitome of effective writing instruction. But
this work is not easy, and developing the
expertise to do this well takes time.”
Writing Pathways (grades 6-8), Chapter 7, p. 71
Assessment Tools
and
Conferring Practice
Why Assessment is Effective?
“The approach to assessment in
Writing Pathways will support both you
and your students in taking a reflective
stance, creating consistent occasions for
looking backward, looking forward,
goal-setting, and deliberate practice. “
Writing Pathways, Grades K-5, p. 10
Writing Pathways: Assessment Tools
“a powerfully practical resource”
• 9 chapters (6-8) and 13 chapters (K-5)
about the Assessment System
(very important guidance)
• Assessment Rubrics
• Writing Checklists
• Leveled Student Writing Samples
(per and across grade levels)
• Annotated Writing Across the
Progressions
• On-Demand Assessment Prompts
(located behind each learning progression)
• Learning Progressions
“It helps to know that judgments and diagnoses
do not come out of the clear blue sky.
Instead both come from knowing that there are
learning progressions that undergird a
writer’s development. When you give feedback,
your goal is to teach the writer, not the writing.
Before you can give that feedback, you need to
place the writer’s current work and skill set
somewhere on a learning progression.”
Writing Pathways (6-8), Chapter 7
Use Assessment Tools to Move Beyond
“good” and “great” feedback
Conferencing Principles
• Follow architecture of a conference.
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Research
Decide
Teach
Link
• Research student’s work (questions and goals).
• Be strategic with compliments.
• Help students see checklists as source of goals to improve writing.
• Use all assessment tools as resources:
– Learning Progressions
– Checklists
– Annotated Writing
– Leveled Student Writing
Learning Progressions
What is new at each level?
Growing Elaboration Skills in Narrative Writing
Grade 1
Grade 2
The writer put
the picture from
his mind onto the
page. He had
details in pictures
and words.
The writer tried
to bring her
characters to life
with details, talk
and actions.
Grade 3
The writer
worked to show
what was
happening to
(and in) his
characters.
Grade 4
Grade 5
The writer added
more to the
heart of
her story,
including not
only actions and
dialogue but also
thoughts and
feelings.
The writer
developed
characters,
setting,
and plot
throughout this
story, especially
the heart of the
story. To do this,
she
used a blend of
description,
action,
dialogue, and
thinking.
Checklist
(Grade 3 Example)
Annotated Writing
What exactly does this look like?
• In Writing Pathways,
refer to Grade 3 sample,
p. 216.
• Look at the annotation
boxes in the margins.
• What annotation
addresses elaboration?
Leveled Student Writing
What exactly does this look like?
• In Writing Pathways, refer
to Sample 1, page 206
(grade 3)
• Read the student writing.
• Review the element of
elaboration on the
Learning Progression
chart.
• Now, with that in mind,
find examples of effective
elaboration.
Learning Progression
VIDEO CLIPS
Clear Goals in Informational Writing (Grades K-2)
http://vimeo.com/55951746
Themes about Literature (Grades 3-5)
http://vimeo.com/55951743
Lift Levels of Summaries of Information(Grades 3-5)
http://vimeo.com/55951304
Turn and Talk
How did the teacher use the
learning progression with students
effectively and thoughtfully?
Conferencing Recap
Research
Decide
• Observe, interview, and read
student’s writing.
• Determine what student has
done and is trying to do.
• Gets to the “what” and • Pursue more than one line of
questioning to obtain info.
“how.”
• Teach toward growth
and independence.
• Start by naming a
Teach
Link
• Name what the writer
has done.
• Repeat the teaching
point.
• Remember: Writer
leaves wanting to write.
writing strength.
• Decide on a teaching
method.
• Teach and coach,
adjusting support.
Ways to Keep Conference Records
• Page for “class-at-a-glance” on clipboard.
• Sheet of goals/observations from learning
progressions.
• Prewritten list of compliments and teaching points.
• Notebooks divided into sections by child.
• Sticky notes moved to notebooks.
• Wall-sized grid visible to students.
• Final section of students’ writer’s notebook
(a Lucy preference).
• AND YOURS?
A Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop,
Primary Grades, pp. 55-56 and Intermediate Grades, p. 58
Conferencing Prompts
• Where are you in the writing process?
• Tell me a little about you are work.
• Have you been trying to/rereading to…(getting to the new
stuff)?
• Show me what you are working on and the plans you have
for today.
• How is it going?
• What are you working on as a writer?
• What are some of the other things you plan to do with this
piece of writing today?
• Where are you as far as _____(process, goals, and/or
student work)?
A Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop
Intermediate Grades, pp. 72-74
Yellow Prompts Handout
Conferencing with If…Then…Curriculum
Scenario Examples
Part Two: Differentiating Instruction for Individual and Small Groups, Grade 3, p. 74
LP Activity
Using the Learning Progression to Confer
• Key Question:
When looking at
student work, what lens
are you using?
• Partner Activity:
With a partner, focus on
the element of
elaboration as you read
the student sample.
• Identify possible
teaching points for
conferring.
Reminder:
During the decision phase, select your teaching method.
1. Demonstration
“Watch me do this…”
(Model step-by-step process)
2. Explanation & Example
“Let me show you the work another
writer did…”
3. Guided Practice
“Get started doing this…”
(strategy walk-through)
4. Inquiry
“How did this writer do this?”
(echo writing)
Green Conference Handout
Let’s Watch Small Group Conferencing
with
Kate Roberts
http://vimeo.com/56067219
Pink Video Handout
What did you notice?
CONFERRING COMPONENTS
(research and decide already done)
TEACH
LINK
Pink Video Handout
Using the Learning Progression to Confer
Question:
When looking at student work, what lens are you using?
STEPS
1. Pick an element on the learning progression.
2. Decide where student’s writing falls on the
trajectory.
3. Use a T-Chart to list a couple of compliments
and teaching points.
T-Chart
Use the T-Chart to guide your thinking in how to give better feedback.
Compliments
Teaching Points
1.
1.
2.
2.
Time to ...
… with a partner
APPLY THE THREE STEP PROCESS
1. Pick an element on the learning progression.
2. Decide where student’s writing falls on the
trajectory.
3. Use a T-Chart to list a couple of compliments
and teaching points.
Compliments
1.
2.
Teaching Points
1.
2.
RETURN to ...
… with a partner
1. Decide who is the student and who is the teacher.
2. Decide on the teaching method.
3. Now role play conferring with the sample paper.
Round Two: Quad Conferring Activity
• Join another pair of
colleagues.
• Select a different sample
student paper.
• Complete the three-step
process:
– Choose an element on the
learning progression for
conferring.
– Decide where the student’s
writing falls on the
progression.
– Create a T-Chart of C’s and T’s.
• Then role play conferring (2 observers, teacher, student)
As a quad, practice like pros
Turn and Talk
What did you observe about the
architecture of the conference?
RESEARCH
Teach
Decide
Link
Remember: The Learning Progression
A Security Blanket for Conferring
RECAP
Small Group Conferencing Tips
• Talk less (1-2 minutes) so students practice more
(5-6 minutes).
• Move from student to student coaching into their
work.
• Be direct and brief about why the students have been
called together.
• Teach toward goal and avoid being sidetracked by
other possible goals.
• Make sure referenced mentor text is familiar to
students.
• Encourage writers to use “new” strategy repeatedly.
Writing Pathways (Grades 6-8), Chapter 7, p.85
Where do we go from here?
Topics: Norming, Conferencing, Learning Progressions
When: March 5, 2015