Do More Shared Writing

I think of shared writing as something that primary students and teachers do; therefore, I had to really dig deep into this chapter to discover the purpose for upper grades. On page 87, the author writes a summary over the book Holes. At first, I thought okay, so what! Then on page 88, I found out why you might write a summary with students as a shared writing activity.

"Use your professional common sense. Choose interactive writing if it's the best way to meet your student's needs." Discovery number one! The state reading assessment assesses summarizing. Before I have had students read a passage and write me a summary. Never have I written an example of a story summary with them. That would be an excellent shared writing activity to do during a guided reading activity.

Then on page 90, I found my second discovery. "Having a repertoire of writing strategies is a necessity for writing well. Although we may demonstrate what writers do, that does not guarantee that students will use these techniques in their own writing." The strategies that writers use are constructed, not transmitted."

To me this is a powerful statement. We model and read examples of what we want students to write. However, students often imprint our writing techniques. Yes, they are writing better examples; but are they constructing their own purposeful meaning about writing or transmitting our behavior? So to me this statement is saying focus on the craft of writing. What are real authors doing? How are they beginning their pieces; ending their pieces; constructing characters, plots, and events; writing to inform, and etc.

To summarize, I'm thinking I will concentrate on the craft of writing, during a shared writing time with upper grade students. Maybe we can take a novel we are studying and examine the author's craft. Then look at a small piece of writing and make it better by using the example the author used to improve a piece through a shared writing experience.