Ch 6 Captialize on the Reading-Writing Connection

I love how often I now stop and point out an author's way of saying something. We'll think how she/he could have been said without all the details. I'm hoping this starts to make a connection for my kids.

p. 123 "The most important part of writing is to read. I tell young people, "Read like a wolf eats, read when they tell you not to,... If you read enough, ...when you sit down to write, that information is in your head and you can write..."

Eat like a wolf eats, I've got kids doing that this year! And I have writers! But sometimes through all the mess of mechanics on my low reading kids something will come out that is so neat! It's really worth celebrating.

p. 124 "Look for evidence of rereading."

Oops, I thought this was a skill that they knew how to do but then I realized how would they know to do it? If we don't model rereading our writing just for understanding, then how would they know to do it? I have always told my students, "don't forget and go back and read it again, look for little words you've left out, look for periods, capital letters..." That's not what I should have been having them do. They should reread for clarification, not conventions. Kids think if they reread once, yep, it's done, found that capital letter, teacher.

Chapter 5 Do More Shared Writing

p. 83 "When teachers add shared writing to their daily reading/writing program, students' enjoyment, confidence, and competence in reading and writing increase and their language skills grow."

I've seen this happening in my own room with my kids as we work through this book. I'm enjoying teaching writing more!

p. 90 "Write on a large, lined chart paper. "

I have always used the white board in the classroom with my own writing. Of course, later, it's gone and we therefore we don't have opportunity to revisit my writing and show the kids how to make it better. On next years supply order, I ordered two large, lined chart paper.

Chapter 4 Raise Your Expectations

p. 58 What Makes Our Writing Interesting
What Does It Mean to Write More/Tell More

I love these two idea posters. I used each of these as a mini lesson for my kids and gave them a copy of the checklist for their writing. They've already had them out using them in the last week.

P 59 "...explain your writing..."

The easiest tool for my kids has been the Literacy Expanding Tool. Have you heard about it? It's seven beads on a rope each one representing a part of descriptive writing. Green: what group is it a part of, blue: what does it do, white with an eyeball: what does it look like, pink: what parts make it up, brown: what is it made of, white: where would it be found, and orange: what else do you know about it. My parent aide made mini versions for the kids out of those ironing beads on a rope. Now not only do I have the large one in the front of the room but they have one of their own in their writing kit.

P 82 "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail."

What a profound thought.