Raise Your Expectations

I think we need to set some school wide and grade level expectations for writing. This seems like a good way to improve our state assessment scores. Setting grade level expectations would establish what good writing looks like at that grade level; however, building expectations would increase student improvement over time. I know of a school that has an expectation that every student has the same heading at the top of their paper. The expectation is started in first grade. Every year thereafter, students have a heading on their paper written in the same manner. The next year's teacher doesn't have to teach it. Just think what would happen to writing, if we set writing expectations: Your story has to have a hook, handwriting has to be neat, did you check your spelling and reread your work. Rereading is a big expectation because most upper grade students don't reread. If they would just do that, students would catch a lot of their errors.

Share Your Writing

This week I took an idea from page 45 and had my class write about the secret life of a 5th grader. I modeled the writing first in front of my students by writing about the secret life of a 5th grade teacher. I wrote about my addiction to Post It Notes. In my writer's journal, I reflected on my writing. I learned that I was rereading my work often as I was writing. Also having a stack of Post It Notes in front of me, as I worked on the story, helped me come up with details to add to my story. I did make a few notes to get myself started before writing in front of the students.

I really liked this writing prompt. Several of my students improved their voice with this piece. In addition, most of the student stories really gave me an insight to their lives. One little girl wrote about having to care for her brother and sister in the evening. Another wrote about disobeying mom's punishment of no T.V. for a week and how she and her sister kept it a secret. One boy wrote about breaking his mom's bedroom window with a BB gun. As you can imagine that didn't stay a secret for very long. Others wrote about their bad habits and addictions like I did.

Here is a great student example: My one requirement was that they had to use at least one simile in their story.

I have a secret a filthy little secret about myself but you mustn't tell a soul. I am addicted to Starbucks. It's a place where you can buy coffee and tea.
only there's one little problem. The coffee and tea is not very healthy. The coffee isn't very healthy because it has a lot of sugar in it. The tea is healthy, except I like mine sweetened. So there's sugar in that too.

I'm not worried that I will get as fat as a hippo because I'm a kid and kids shouldn't worry about their weight. They should just be a kid.

What I'm worried about is my health. I mean their is so much sugar and other bad things that aren't healthy in coffee and tea.

Whenever I go to Starbucks I can just hear that scrumptious coffee and tea calling my name so I get a coffee or a tea and slurp it down like a pig.

I just can't stay away from it! I guess I have a Starbucks problem. yes, it's true I am addicted to Starbucks. Are you?

Start with Celebration:

Hum.... This chapter makes me questions my techniques.

Q. Do I celebrate writing enough?
A. No.
Q. How can I celebrate more while preparing for a state writing assessment?
A. Conduct a writing show and tell. (As well as the author's chair I do now.) Copy good examples of student work, then share with the group; instead of analyzing and rating for the 6-traits so much. Display student work with big star stickers that say-Great Hook or Excellent Word Choice.
Q. How can I use everyday events as a teaching tool for writing?
A. Keep my own observation journal; then use these events for writing prompts or topics.

Simplify the Teaching of Writing

I agree with the comment on page five schools are "under focused on thinking, communicating, inquiring, and exploring language." Therefore teachers must establish their own beliefs, so they can focus on what is important to student learning. Otherwise, they become overwhelmed and burnt out. These are my beliefs about writing:

1. In order to become a better writer one must write.
2. Writing and Reading are connected.
3. Conferencing and modeling make a difference.
4. Becoming a good writer takes time and practice.
5. Writing for an audience is important because it attaches meaning to the work.
6. Writing is a craft to be developed.
7. Writing is work that some students embrace while others dread.

As I reflect on the comment on page 15 writing should be whole to part to whole. I thinking this is a model for writing. The whole is a picture book, advertisement, brochure, or etc. The teacher uses the piece as a model of writing by reading it aloud and writing his or her own example of the piece-this is the part. The final part is when the student writes their own example of the piece. When this happens we have gone from whole to part to whole.