Transcript No Slide Title

Improving the Quality of Student
Writing
Putting It All Together
Having the Write Stuff
Lucy McCormick Calkins
The Art of Teaching Writing
Writing begins with a leap of
faith, with a decision to make
meaning from a chosen thread,
and the truth of the matter is
that anything can start us on the
road to significance.
The Writing Process
• Purpose Why are we writing?
»to take notes
»to convey information
»to correspond with others
»to record experiences
• Audience
Who will the readers be?
What do they need to know?
What is their point of reference?
• Message What do we want to say?
The Writing Process Continued
• Construction- constantly adding details and
remembering the message
• Editing and revising- rereading, reflecting
and evaluating
• Layout- using visual conventions
Writing challenges children to actively
think about print.
Phase 1
Pre-Emergent
• Children are experimenting with marks on
paper to make connections between spoken
and written language. They scribble and
make marks on paper as they try to copy
adult writing and try to communicate a
message.
Phase 2
Emergent Writing
• Children know that speech can be written
down.
• They know that print carries a message.
• They understand that print goes from left to
right and top to bottom.
• They experiment with writing letters and
words and combinations of the two.
Phrase 3
Developing Writing
• Children write about things that are
important to them.
• They are beginning to write for other people
• They know what they want to write and
struggle to put it on paper.
• If they concentrate too much on one aspect
(ex. form or neatness) they may “lose” what
they want to say.
Phase 4
Fluent Writing
• Writers know most of the basic elements of
the writing process.
• They are able to choose different types of
writing to suit different purposes.
Phase 5
Proficient Writing
• Writers have developed a personal style.
• They can adapt text for different audiences.
• They have control over spelling and
punctuation.
• They select appropriate words from a wide
vocabulary.
Why Do We Use Writing
Rubrics?
• to clarify our own expectations (standards
alignment)
• to communicate our expectations to students
• to create more consistent evaluation of
student learning
• to inform our teaching and planning of
instructional strategies
Self- Assessment
Questions about my writing:
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Do I have a catchy lead?
Did I stick to my topic and support it with details?
Do I have a beginning, middle and end?
Did I use interesting words and sentences?
Does my spelling, capitalization, and punctuation
make it easy for the reader to understand?
How Does MLPP Assessment
Inform Instructional Planning
• What knowledge and skills are reflected in the
students writing?
• What challenges does the student face?
• What areas does he/she need to develop more
fully?
• What interventions or supports would assist this
student in meeting his/her challenges?
• What can the teacher do to help the student grow
as a writer?
Attributes in Writing
• Idea Development (Content)
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Knowing what I want to say
Focusing on the main point
Adding important details
Identifying the purpose
Attributes
• Organization
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Putting things in order
Writing a lead
Writing a conclusion
Linking ideas together
Attributes
• Voice/Style
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Putting yourself in your writing
Thinking of your audience
Linking your topic and letting it show
Matching voice to purpose
Attributes
• Word Choice
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Painting pictures with words
Finding the right words
Avoiding fluff (nice, good)
Favoring strong verbs
Planning Instruction:
Using Writer’s Workshop
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Prewriting
Drafting
Revising
Editing
Publishing
Prewriting
The teachers should:
• Provide background knowledge about topics
• Allow students to participate in decisions/choices
about a topic
• Provide time for students to gather information
and details
• Define project clearly and explain assessment
criteria.
Drafting
The teacher should:
• Teach students how to draft (model)
• Provide support, encouragement and feedback
• Emphasize content over mechanics
• Encourage students to cycle back to prewriting to
gather more ideas when needed
• Circulate and conference at each desk reminding
students to reread, while focusing on their
strengths and advising them of their needs and
plan mini-lessons from observations.
Revising
The teacher should:
• Organize writing groups after mini-lessons
• Teach students how to function in writing groups
using constructive discussions
• Participate in the groups as a listener and an
advisor, providing feedback
• Encourage students to listen to suggestions and
make some revisions (Using “legs”)!!!
Editing
Teachers should:
• Teach students how to “buddy edit”
• Prepare editing checklists for students
• Assist students with locating and correcting
mechanical errors
• Diagnose student errors and provide appropriate
instruction
• Correct the remaining errors for each student
Publishing
• Encourage students to create illustrations
when they are finished or hire an illustrator
• The teacher can arrange for finished
products to be typed on computers or put
into book covers
• Organize an Author’s Day Celebration, a
Writer’s Day Tea or a Writer’s Field Day
Model
Examples
of
Good
writing
Support
Time
Examples
of
How to
write
Feedback
Choice
Promoting Effective Writing
Connecting Reading and Writing
• Reader Response is a natural link between
reading and writing.
• Any story encountered by children can be
linked to a piece of shared, interactive or
independent writing.
• Books read aloud become a strong
foundation for interactive and independent
writing.
Fountas and Pinnell(2000)
Writers Notebook
Gathering Seeds
• Interesting things we see
• Snippets of dialogue or conversations
• Quotations from music, literature, films,
pop culture, etc.
• Setting ideas from places we have been
• Family stories we know
• Character ideas from interesting people
What you Know by Heart, Katie Wood Ray
Reviser’s Checklist
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Do I like the lead, or can I find a better one?
Where can I use “binoculars”?
Can I insert a “snapshot”?
Should I “explode a moment”?
How do I “shrink time”?
Do I need to build a scene?
Taken from Barry Lane Reviser’s Toolbox
Mini Lessons that Use Literature
to Develop Writing Strategies
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Strong leads are like a magic flashlight
Zoom in “binoculars” look for details
“Snapshots” use the senses to paint a picture
“Thoughtshots” go inside the head
“Explode a Moment” revisit/relive/stretch
Create a scene,
(snapshot+thoughtshot+dialogue)