Teaching Strategies
“Here’s a little secret that may surprise you: It’s not so much that you will teach your kids to write. They will teach themselves by writing every day, and by living in a community of writers.”18
- Ralph Fletcher
From my research and the Reading for Writing: Modeling the Modern Essay seminar, I learned that writing must be a predictable daily routine. Students need to see themselves as writers, each with a unique identity. Therefore, students should be writing every single day. This unit will be taught during my two-hour language arts block. Benchmark Literacy Curriculum is what we use in my district for Language Arts instruction. Each writing unit is taught over a six week period. My unit activities will be using the writing process to conduct writer’s workshop which will include the following steps: pre-writing, drafting, re-reading, revising, editing, and publishing. Weeks 1-3 will include activities 1-6, and weeks 4-6 will include activities 7-12. Below are the strategies that I will be using in order to successfully teach the activities.
Model Writing
What it is: The teacher will model each step of the writing process before students engage in the process.
Why do it: This will set expectations for students as well as give them an opportunity to see the teacher as a writer too.
How it is done: One day read aloud and discuss the mentor text. The next day, model for students what their writing should look like, “Yesterday I read Alexander…if I write about a bad day it would look like this”.
Mini-Lessons
What it is: A mini-lesson is where a teacher explicitly teaches a specific skill for about 10-15 minutes.
Why do it: Focusing on a specific skill in a short simple lesson creates a greater chance of students comprehending the skill.
How it is done: The teacher will be following the mini-lesson’s components. This includes connection, which helps students make the connection from what they were learning previously to that day’s learning objective. The second component is explicit modeling and explaining what writing skill or strategy they can try for that day’s independent writing time. The last component is linking what they learned that day to what they can do during their independent writing time. I will be using some of the following mentor texts to teach various skills.
Writers Workshop: to create Personal Narratives
What it is: The teacher will confer with individual students. It is a conversation that teaches students to be better writers during the writing process which includes the following prewriting/brainstorming, drafting, re-reading, revising, editing, and publishing.
Why do it: This helps to differentiate, strengthen, and target students’ area of weakness which is easier when you are meeting one on one with each student, versus the whole class. Conferences also help the teacher develop a relationship with students. They help students make good choices in their writing and learn to give and receive feedback.
How it is done: Writing Conferences- A writing conference is essentially a conversation between student and teacher. You talk with a student, get a dialogue going, give compliments, make a suggestion, and exit. “Listen, Be Present as a Reader, Don’t Get into a Power Struggle-the student decides if or when to use the ideas you put forth in conferences. The challenge is to create the kind of classroom atmosphere where you suggest lots of rich ideas, and students are willing to try them out”.19
The teacher will first give compliments such as “this was funny!” or “I liked the way you described this.” Then the teacher will ask questions such as, “What do you think is the best part of this piece?” “If you were to work on it to make it even better, what could you do?” The teacher will look at the students’ work and identify where they need more support. Then give feedback and teach a specific strategy by defining it, explaining why it is important, and making sure the student understands how to use the strategy. Lastly, the teacher will connect the discussions during the conference back to the students’ writing.
“Invite students to have a real give and take with you, sit with students at their eye level, use “active listening” strategies- allow wait time after asking questions, ask students to “say more” about what they tell you, and repeat what they say to check that you’re hearing them correctly.”20
What you learn about students’ needs in conferences also helps you make decisions about which students to place in small group lessons. Small groups are more effective when students have similar needs. There should also be some peer editing/revising-towards the end of the unit, before the conference with the teacher. During writer’s workshop, you don’t want all students on the same step at the same time, them being staggered is best because you cannot meet with everyone at the same time.
Free write
What it is: this is timed writing with no focus on punctuation. Students are just continuously writing until the designated time is up.
Why do it: Focusing on a specific skill in a short simple lesson serves a greater chance of students comprehending the skill.
How it is done: The teacher will set a timer and allow students to write anywhere in the classroom.
Journaling
What it is: The students write in their designated writing notebooks/journals.
Why do it: This gives the students a chance to practice writing skills and develop a joy for writing.
How it is done: The teacher gives students specific topics or prompts to write about. Journaling can also be used as a time for students to write about whatever they want.
Shared Stories
What it is: The teacher will start a topic sentence and go around the room and each student will add a sentence to the previous one to complete a story focusing on the skill taught in each mini lesson.
Why do it: This gives the students a chance to practice the skill taught in the mini-lesson.
How it is done:
Illustrations
What it is: drawing pictures first, then writing words.
Why do it: The idea that pictures have meaning is critical as students learn to compose with illustrations as well as words.21
How it is done: This is great for reluctant writers, allowing them to draw out the picture in their mind first, will make putting their ideas on paper easier. It is a form of brainstorming that can be very effective.
Peer Interviews
What it is: students partner up and ask each other a series of questions.
Why do it: This gives the students a chance to practice using quotation marks and dialogue.
How it is done: The students will formulate a number of questions to ask a partner. They will record their partners answers on paper, using quotation marks.
Oral Story Telling
What it is: The students tell a partner their story orally, then they go and write it.
Why do it: This gives reluctant writers a chance to get their ideas out, which will help them get their words down on paper.
How it is done: The teacher will pair up students and give them a set amount of time to tell their stories to each other, before returning to their seats to put it down on paper. Another option would be to orally tell the teacher their story while she writes it out for them. Afterwards, cut it apart into strips and have them put it back in sequential order. Finally, they can copy it themselves and feel a great sense of accomplishment.
Author’s Chair
What it is: a designated place in the classroom where the writer sits when sharing with the class.
Why do it: Sharing from the author’s chair signifies a particular form of response (help for work in progress, celebratory comments for finished work).
How it is done: The teacher will decorate a chair in the center of the room with the word “Author” on it. This will make it special for students when they are sharing.
Another strategy to incorporate some technology would be “Talk to text” using iPads. This would be a great activity for ESL (English as a Second Language) students. Students can speak into the iPad, telling the story they would like, while the iPad types out their words into a document. They can later copy those sentences into their notebooks. They can also record themselves reading to take notes for writing later.
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