- What assumptions does the author hold?
- What do you agree with in the text?
- What do you want to argue against in the text?
- What parts of the text do you want to aspire to?
Please connect your responses to the text and comment on each others observations. Thank you for your thoughtful reading.
Assumptions- One of Calkins’ obvious assumptions is that kids become better writers by writing every day and learning to think like writers. She’s doesn’t put that much emphasis on “final product” as much as daily practice. She also assumes that things like grammar, conventions, fluency are embedded within the daily lessons and writing practice vs. being in worksheet/textbook form.
ReplyDeleteAgree- With the work that we did last year in Writer’s Workshop, I found that I agreed with her emphasis on practice vs. final product. This isn’t to say we didn’t do any final products but the constant writing, rewriting, revising and mini-lessons vs. focusing on one “perfect” piece every week or so was more productive in my opinion. I think kids really respond to the Writer’s Workshop format and that it creates students who are really excited about writing and feel that they have a lot to offer as writers.
I also agree with the idea of using mentor texts to teach both reading and writing strategies. We had a lot of positive response to the lessons we taught in 4th grade this year using mentor texts, although I feel that I personally did a better job of this with reading strategies than with writing.
Argue- I didn’t find anything in Book 2 to argue about really. Because I’ve read Book 3 already, I do think Calkins’ isn’t nearly as strong in expository writing as she is with narrative writing instruction. But I can wait to talk about that with book 3.
Aspire- Well, I really liked how Book 2 took the narratives to another level. I especially thought the new lessons on Leads were great, and I’d like to do a lot more with leads and endings this year. I also thought that the section focusing on meaningful topics and evoking feelings was really helpful and plan to use those ideas to help kids narrow their topics at the point when we choose to publish.
I’d also like to move towards using more pieces of novels as mentor texts and to develop more lessons for writing strategies that involve a mentor text in general. This year we mainly used our own writing as mentor texts/modeling.
Question- We're keeping the mentor texts with us to prep. for the upcoming school year I assume? We don't have to retype them here do we?
Thanks! :) Deanna
Lucy Calkins Units of Study- Book 2 Raising the Quality of Narrative Writing
ReplyDeleteAssumptions of the Writer- I think Calkins assumes that the students are successfully using the skills taught in the Launching Unit, the seed idea, zooming in with precise details and balancing the types of details used. Some may need continued practice with these ideas for some time. Deanna, I agree with your statement about the assumption that lessons on conventions are embedded throughout the workshop.
Agree- I really like how Calkins uses one story to demonstrate many different teaching points. This helps to integrate all of the ideas into a whole. The story Eleven by Sandra Cisneros is very rich with examples to build on. Using one piece over and over to that the students can practically recite from memory helps them focus on the writing technique or craft the writer uses rather than on comprehending the piece. I agree with Calkins use of small group instruction for students with common needs. I know she gave the idea of grouping kids based on “convention” needs which I will use this year.
Argue- One thing I would argue with is the order of lessons. Using the story arc as a planning tool earlier is the process rather than as a revision tool later (Session XI) is helpful to the writer. For this to be effective the writers must first understand the difference between external story and internal story. The story arc could include both external events and internal events to separate those in the writer’s mind. Considering the internal story also helps the writer develop an understanding of “What they are really trying to say” (Session VI) and why the story they are telling is significant.
Aspire-. This coming year I want to especially work on endings. Having taught this unit once, I found that it takes more time to develop endings that leave a lasting impression than what I allowed for this past year. I also aspire to have students write more than one piece for each unit so that they can use feedback given to learn and grow, before moving on to another genre. This unit is really all about finding meaning and thinking deeply about why our stories are important. I aspire to bring forward the lessons from the Launching unit (zooming in with details by using small actions, internal thought and real, meaningful dialogue) by doing quick writes involving the feelings we have brainstormed together during Session III. I also aspire to use more student writing as mentor text. I aspire to continue to keep my eyes open for additional mentor texts that demonstrate the teaching points of this unit.
Hi Mary, nice to "meet" you! Did you teach the lessons from the first book last year?
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteI liked reading Deanna and Mary's blog. I think I will "understand" the book, better when I start teaching the narrative writing.
Assumptions: I feel like Calkins does not realize that students need to learn about proper format, conventions, etc. I have spent a lot of time with students, just going over how long a hook, beginning, middle, or end should be. I also spend a lot of time, teaching students how and when to use dialogue and Calkins "assumes" students know this already. I also feel like students benefit from a little bit of direct instruction when teaching these topics and the mini lessons are great, but some students need the direct instruction.
Agree- I like the emphasis on teaching students, that readers respond differently to writing. In addition, I have always thought rising and falling actions need to be taught. I agree with shared writing and celebrating everyones writing. Lastly, I really like the idea of mentor texts and using them in writing and reading, like Deanna stated.
Argue- I can't really argue with anything right now. I am excited to teach this next year and I know it will be a learning process. I am anxious to see what the other books are like (expository). I thought Mary's comment about the external and internal process with the order of the book was a good point.
Aspire- I guess I want to work on everything next year. I want to use the strategies for generating narratives. I want to have my students work on one piece instead of plan, rough draft, revise, edit, publish. I think that will be hard for me to go awhile and not see "final products." I also really want to focus on grouping students in writing based on their needs.
I hope everyone is having a great summer!! Deanna and Mary thanks again, just reading your comments helped me!
Thank you for all of your thoughtful responses to our reading.
ReplyDeleteAssumptions:
Deanna, you talked about process vs. the final product and how Luci assumes that this is happening naturally in our classrooms. You guys also said that she assumes that conventions, grammar and fluency instruction are all being met throughout the process. I think we all agree that we want to aspire to her assumptions, but I know that I am certainly not there. Mary, you are so right that there is an assumption that we as teachers are continually revisiting what we did not just the day before but in previous units.
Agree:
On pg. 29 Luci says, "As you write, don't aim to write well so much as to write true..." We all know that we start out with narratives because they are what we know. If we can become "real" with our students and build rapport through our writing their writing will improve. We want children to be excited about writing and not just thinking that I guess I should answer the prompt and move through the process so I can be finished. I agree that children should have choice and with choice comes interest and with interest comes learning opportunities.
Deanna, do you think you were better at the reading strategies because of the direct instruction of the Sundance materials? I agree that it is harder to look into what a writer does well and then show a child how to apply it.
I love what Mary brought up about using repetitive text to teach a lesson. How great to be able to reference a piece of text by name and the children know what we are talking about. Devon mentioned the use of mentor texts and I am looking forward to sharing our ideas in the fall. I think it is a bit of a struggle and I would love MAry's insight on how to not reuse texts each year.
Argue:
Mark Overmeyer (Sp?) talked about how when he sees Luci sitting and conferencing with a child on a comfy couch it just looks great, BUT we know that is not always possible. Sometimes the child reads their story and you just don't know where to begin. I went to a training this summer that I hope will help us with that and also to know that every teaching point does not have to move the world.
Mary, you can tell that you worked through this book last year and what you said about order of instruction is something that we will have to address. I am glad you are here to help us!
Aspire:
You guys all have high aspirations and I think it will be fun for all of us to take on the challenge. I can't not wait to help our students have fun and become better writers at the same time. I am excited to work and learn together.
QUESTIONS:
ReplyDelete1. Should we use Writer's notebooks or triple ees? I struggle with that one because I like the idea of a "real" notebook that they can take home, but Devon said that at the triple ee trailings it was stressed that they should be used for everything. Thoughts?
2. Would it be helpful to have the checklist/strategies posters made up in advance for you guys or do you want to just do them as you go?
Deanna, you do not have to retype the texts here. Thanks for clarifying. Thanks again for your posts and I will post the next reading response early next week.
Thank you for all of your comments.
ReplyDeleteI just sent a posting to see if I set the blog up correctly so that you guys will know when someone makes a comment. I added my comments and I also asked a few questions.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your patience as I become a full-time blogger! :)
Christina- I don't think it was the Sundance materials necessarily. I think they had their good points but overall aren't as good as using other authentic texts for mini-lessons. I've always taught reading strategies this way and I haven't changed how I've taught reading in my 9 years of teaching, but I've done a lot of refining. In writing though, I've jumped from Writer's Workshop to Step up to 6 Trait Writing to Step up to Writing and back to Writer's Workshop. I think these all have some solid strategies but I'm still working on bringing it all together.
ReplyDeleteAbout the triple ees- We used writer's notebooks every day in our class last year and used triple ees for publishing, researching etc... I can't quite envision using them for daily writing without a designated class set for every classroom, and even then they're not as portable as a notebook that can go home, outside etc...
Deanna,
ReplyDeleteI agree about the Sundance kits in that they seem somewhat unattached to "real" reading. I always teach strategies when they come up naturally as we read. I think they help newer teachers with explicit teaching, but I found them to be a bit constrictive.
As for writing, I think the best thing we can do is combine everything we know as best practice and not think of these books as a program. Writer's Workshop is nothing new, but I think it is not used enough at Wilder. I am excited to see you in action with writing!
Devon and I have had the same discussion about the triple ees. Fifth grade will have enough for everyone next year because of a grant, but I still like the idea of a notebook because it is more personal than a computer. I know when I want to write I like to write in a journal for personal use, but i know as a professional I only write on the computer--I am trying to write a few entries in a journal over the summer so I can use them to teach a certain strategy in the fall because I know I run out or time during the school year.
Thanks for your comments.
Yeah, we decided we really like the nonfiction Sundance materials the best because they fill a niche that we needed filled.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I meant to say about the notebooks is that because we used Diary of a Wimpy kid for several mini-lessons our kids took to doodling cartoons that went with some of their stories and the visual kids cartooned stories first before writing them and this would be hard to do with triple ees also...
All the mentor texts I do (aside from our blogging in class) I do in a notebook for the kids...