Effective Literacy Day 10

EFFECTIVE LITERACY DAY 10

WRITING WORKSHOP

PARTICIPANT MANUAL

15Arkansas Department of EducationPM

Effective Literacy for Grades 2-4, 2010-2011ELF Day 10 SE Writing Workshop

15Arkansas Department of EducationPM

Effective Literacy for Grades 2-4, 2010-2011ELF Day 10 SE Writing Workshop

Writer’s Notebook Guidelines

Have notebook close at hand so you can write in it often. Keep it in a safe place.
Begin a new entry on the next clean page or leave enough white space after each entry in case you want to write more about that topic at a later date.
Date your entries.
Cross out; don’t erase. Erasing slows down the flow of writing. Also, you will have a record of your thinking if you don’t erase, and it may be something you want to use in the future.
It’s okay to make mistakes. Use your knowledge about writing, but don’t get hung up on conventions.
Don’t tear anything out; don’t throw anything away. You may want those ideas later.
Never criticize your writing. It doesn’t have to be perfect—just honest writing.
Respect the privacy of others by not reading their notebooks without permission.

Later in the Year

When you begin a new notebook, keep your filled notebook at school so that you can return to it for writing ideas.
Work in your writer’s notebook during writing workshop when you aren’t working on a writing project or piece.

(Guidelines adapted from Using the Writer’s Notebook in Grades 3-8: A Teacher’s Guide by Janet L. Elliott)

15Arkansas Department of EducationPM

Effective Literacy for Grades 2-4, 2010-2011ELF Day 10 SE Writing Workshop

Writer’s Notebook Collection Ideas

Unforgettable stories—stories you have read or heard other people share (Story may be unusual or have a strange ending, etc.)
Fierce wonderings—things you wonder about, questions you have about life or the world around you
Mind pictures—strong memories of things you have seen…people, places, events, etc. (These pictures could involve all of the senses, not just sight.)
Snatches of talk—conversations you hear
Lists—of all sorts (includes topic lists, lists of favorite things, most dreaded things, things you want to do in life, etc.)
Memories—of people, places, times, events in your life or lives of others
Writing that scrapes the heart—those sad things that happen to us or those we love—death of a pet, family member, car accident, etc.
Writing that inspires (quotes, lines from books that you really like—because you think they are well written, because you like the mind picture the words created, or just because….)
Photographs of people, places, events you might want to write about
Pictures of people, places, events you might want to write about
Sketches to remind you of something or someone you want to write about
Artifacts…movie tickets, piano recital programs, fair ribbons, etc. which remind you of something you might want to write about
Life map (or timeline) of the events in your life
Maps of special places
Newspaper, magazine, or on-line articles that you might want to write a response to
Observations of people, places, events, etc.

(NOTE: Above list is just to get you started. You are not required to collect all of the examples. List adapted from Ralph Fletcher’s A Writer’s Notebook and Janet Elliott’s Using the Writer’s Notebook in Grades 3-8))

Using the Writer’s Notebook as a Practice Place (Revision)

Three by Threes—This strategy can be used for anything a writer wants to think more deeply about: a character, a setting, a feeling, or a social studies or science topic (Ex: the Civil War or magnet)

Procedure: Students select a topic of focus. For three minutes, they list as many three-word phrases about the topic as they possibly can.

Rationale: By limiting the phrases to three words, students are forced to be specific and choosy about what they write. It is also a good activity for building fluency because timed writing requires quick thinking.

Writing from Another Point of View—This strategy requires the student to consider which details would change, thus enabling the writer to see more they could write.

Procedure: Share a personal story with students involving yourself and at least one other person orally. Then tell the story from the other person’s point of view. Ask “Has it ever happened to you that your sibling or friend or the girl you had an argument with remembers the event differently? How does seeing the story through the eyes of another help you see more of what to write?”

Rationale: Being able to write from a different viewpoint opens writing to details, emotions, and events that may have been forgotten.

Other Revision Opportunities

Practicing a variety of leads—question, startling statement, dialogue, setting the scene, etc. and deciding which is most effective
Dialogue—choose a few places in your piece where you can add dialogue effectively
Sentence length—select a topic and write an entry using a variety of long and short sentences
Practicing a variety of endings

(Ideas adapted from Notebook Know HowUsing the Writer’s Notebook….)

What Are Quick Writes?

A quick write is an on-demand, focused free-writing exercise written in response to a stimulating prompt. Its purpose is, in part, to promote student thought and creativity. Quick writes engage students in ways that cause them to think first and write second. The stimulus sets the brain in creative motion. While the writing generated from a quick write may later be crafted into a polished piece, the intent of the original draft is not for evaluation. Because quick writes are not used for grading or evaluating purposes, students feel a sense of freedom and safety in expression.

Furthermore, optional sharing after the writing time allows students the opportunity to share their drafts and receive feedback in the form of applause or positive comments. This, too, promotes the goal of a supportive writing community in the classroom.

Donald Graves and Penny Kittle, in their text Inside Writing, highlight five reasons for using quick writes. They are:

You learn to work from a stimulus. They encourage writers to get used to finding a personal response to a general stimulus and point to the way these oral prompts can later assist students in preparing for prompts on standardized tests.
You learn to get off the mark quickly. Writers build writing fluency by requiring students to get their ideas moving more quickly. Often their first line is close to the emotional center of the piece, thus providing focus for their writing.
You can begin to recognize your natural sense of organization. Practicing quick writes helps you organize your thinking around meaningful topics in a variety of ways.
You can identify the emotional center (main thought or idea) of a piece and provide supporting information. Quick writes can provide the vehicle for teaching writing essentials.
You connect conventions to context. Since quick writes often lead authors to topics they care about, they will be more likely to attend to conventions as they write and refine their text.

How to Conduct Quick Writes

To conduct quick write activities, teachers provide students with a brief but highly engaging stimulus (e.g., reading a piece of children’s literature, a short story, poem, song lyric, newspaper article to students; playing music; or showing a movie clip) and give directions as to how the students should respond in writing. The audience, form, purpose, and point of view may be specified or left open-ended. In certain cases, some students may want to create their own responses rather than stick to the prompt provided. Such freedom should be encouraged.

Each student writes a short piece in the few minutes following the stimulus. Many teachers like to alert the student to find a “stopping place” two or three minutes before they ask that writers put pens down. The goal is not for students to complete a finished piece in the short time provided, but rather for students to rough out a draft. It is noteworthy, however, that pieces developed in this way can result in descriptive, witty, and/or thought-provoking, serious pieces.

Quick writes constitute one of the many types of prewriting exercises that can be used in conjunction with the writing process. Through the use of quick writes, even the most reluctant writers (and those who struggle with writer’s block) are, more often than not, motivated to write. In many cases, they also gain confidence in their ability to tackle the blank page.

Suggested Stimuli for Quick Writes

Children’s literature
Verbal scenario
Poetry and song lyrics
Short non-fiction articles
Single statement
Artwork/photographs (old and family)
Music
Movie clips

(Adapted from Spark the Brain, Ignite the Pen….and. Inside Writing…..See bibliography)

“Things I Know”

Part I….

Think of all the things that you know, or that you think you know. You will write a list of these things in sentence form—each sentence beginning with “I know.” You will make a sentence list of as many things as you can for three minutes.

Example: I know teaching children is the greatest profession on earth.

I know Arkansas has many hard working, underpaid teachers.

I know fall in the Ozarks is one of the greatest seasons to experience.

I know I will never have an athletic bone in my body.

(Allow three minutes for participants to make their “I know” list.)

Ask participants to share their list with a partner, and then allow a few to share their lists (or selected parts) with the whole group. Encourage participants to “steal” any good ideas they hear shared that are also true for them.

Part II

Now that you have a list of things that you know about, choose one, which you can write more about. You will have five to seven minutes.

Participants should choose one of their sentences to write about for five to seven minutes. Be sure to alert writers that they need to finish their thoughts a minute or two before you call time.

Again, allow participants to share their writing with a partner and with the whole group. Allowing students opportunities to write about familiar topics empowers them, helps them develop content, and frees them to experiment with various style elements. Brainstorming the list before choosing the topic motivates the writers by allowing choice.

(Adapted from Spark the Brain, Ignite the Pen Quick Writes for K-High School…

See bibliography.)

Short Statement Quick Writes

Think of the chores you do at home. Choose one to write about and include all the detail you can as well as showing your feelings about it.
Choose a scene featuring you and your best friend. “One time I was with ______and…”(What happened?)
Think about some of your favorite foods. Choose one to write about. It can be one that you know is good for you, or one that just tastes good. When and with whom do you enjoy eating this food?
Think about a special time you spent with a relative….aunt, uncle, grandparent, mom, or dad. Write about that time.
Write about taking a test. It can be a test you had not studied for, or a test you had studied for and felt prepared to make a good grade.
What things have your hands held or experienced that remind you of stories you want to write? Trace around your hand and fill the hand with memories that are connected to your hands. (a piano recital, pitching in a baseball game, throwing a winning pass in a football game, petting your dog or cat, etc.) ******Later you can use these topics for pieces.
If you could have any wish granted, what would it be?
What do you consider to be a waste of your time? Why do you consider it a waste of time? Write about it.
Think of being a new student in your school. What would itbe like to be a new student in your school? Write from the new student’s point of view.
Think about your favorite snow day when school was canceled. How did you feel about it? What did you do instead of school? Write as many details as you can.

(Adapted from Inside Writing: How to Teach the Details of Craft by Donald Graves and Penny Kittle)

Quick Writes in Content Areas

In using quick writes in content areas, Doug Buehl suggests that teachers share the purpose of the quick write with students, and then set ground rules such as:

Share the time parameters (three minutes, seven minutes, etc.) (The appropriate time allotment depends on the students and the nature of the topic.)
Begin writing immediately and use the entire time to write.
Write down thoughts that occur when responding to the writing prompt.
Do not be overly concerned about writing form. (The intent is fluency of expression rather than careful writing.)
Sharing content of quick write with a partner may be expected.

Teachers are advised to consider appropriate prompts to stimulate a quick write. The prompt should jump-start student thinking about some important aspect of a unit of study and provide some focus for their personal thought. Prompts could consist of a striking quote or a short read-aloud from a portion of a class text, a related magazine, newspaper, or on-line article. As students listen, they have opportunities to rehearse their thinking about the material.

Quick writes may be open-ended, allowing students to write whatever is on their minds as they respond to the prompt, or they can be constructed to elicit specific types of thinking. Teachers may want to indicate a stem that students can use to frame their thinking such as:

“This reminds me of…” (to emphasize making connections between the curriculum and personal knowledge and experiences)
“I wonder what…if…why… whether….” etc. (to stimulate questions that occur to students about the topic)
“What seems especially important to me…” (to engage students in examining personal responses to a topic)
“I was interested in….” or “I feel that….” (to engage students in examining personal responses to a topic)
“I think that….” (to encourage conclusions or generalizations about the material)

Quick writes can be expanded or applied in additional ways to take students deeper into their learning of course content. They provide an excellent opportunity for students to explore academic vocabulary. For example, students might be asked to explain the water cycle and use scientific terminology, or write down instructions for solving a two-step math story problem using correct math terminology. Quick writes also provide excellent ways for students to summarize their reading.

(adapted from Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning by Doug Buehl)

Writer’s Notebook Scoring Rubric

Grade / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Flexibility/
Fluency / Most entries
are complete.
Writer uses variety of strategies. / Most entries are complete.
Writer uses
strategies
from class. / Many unfinished entries. Strategies may vary. / Entries undeveloped.
Little variety in strategies.
Thoughtfulness / Thoughtful and reflective entries. Reveal new insights in thinking. / Thoughtful entries. May reveal new insights. Pattern of topics. / Entries resemble diary format—bed-to-bed. Little reflection. / Entries difficult to read. No reflective thinking.
Frequency / 90% of required entries. / 80 % of required entries. / 70 % of required entries. / Less than 70% of required entries.
Variety of
Entries / Entries reflect variety: lists, poems, quick writes, stories, information,
opinion, etc. / Entries reflect some variety: lists, quick writes, stories, opinion, etc. / Entries reflect little variety: lists, quick writes, information, etc. / Entries reflect little variety: lists,
quick writes
Usually incomplete
Notebook
Availability / Notebook available when needed. / Notebook usually available when needed. / Notebook sometimes available when needed. / Notebook seldom available when needed.

“Student as Initiator of Writing” Conference

Teacher: How is your writing going today?

Student: Good.

Teacher: So what are you writing?

Student: I’m writing an article about vegetables.

Teacher: So you know a lot about vegetables, and you want to teach people about them in your article….

Student: Yeah. They’re good for you.

Teacher: Why do you want to write about vegetables? Are you really excited to write about them?

Student: No.

Teacher: I’m getting the feeling that you aren’t very interested in writing about vegetables. Am I right?

Student: Yeah.

Teacher: Your class read several informational articles. Why do you think the authors wrote them?

Student: I’m not sure. Maybe because they knew a lot about the topic?

Teacher: The thing I know about informational articles is that people write them because they are interested in the topic and want to share what they know with other people. One of the reasons our class is studying informational articles is so you can experience what it’s like to teach others with your writing. So, what do you know something about that you might enjoy sharing with others? You can always look up more information on the topic you choose, but it needs to be a topic you care about.

Student: Well…I like baseball.

Teacher: Baseball. Do you play baseball? Or like to watch baseball?

Student: Both.

Teacher: Do you think you might want to write an informational article about something you know about baseball? Something you are really interested in?

Student: Yeah, like maybe the different positions players can play. Or maybe….some of the really good teams….