Carol Gebhardt - Introduction to Presentation

[Carol]

For 6 of the 12 years I was in the classroom I taught multi-grade classes. My students were either in 4th, 5th or 6th grade and their ability levels were varied to give the class a community type feeling. When you teach multi-grades you have no choice but to differentiate instruction, I am not sure I called it that back then, but it meant that there were many levels of students and I had to meet their needs. Writing was the easiest place for me to differentiate because I used the writing workshop format. This is how I became so interested in teaching writing and ended up the director.

I change my presentation every year because by presenting to you I learn something new about writing. This year my focus is on the essay. I know that might sound dry, but the essay can be a very personal piece of writing. I have learned much from Sandy's presentation on Constructed Response and I am interested in connecting the work she does with her 4th and 5th graders around Constructed Response with writing essays. I have been fortunate enough to watch her students learn how to write the personal essay through Sandy's implementation of Lucy Calkins' Units of Study and I have been reading articles and other professional books on writing essays. My essential questions at this point are: 1) What do we need to know about essay writing to allow us to personalize our essay? and 2) What can we do when the essay prompt is assigned and we have no choice but to answer to this assigned topic? My essential questions will be revised before my presentation, but that is what I am thinking and reading about right now. Carol

[Sarah Russell]

I love how much your first question may be the answer to your second! I agree that essay writing can and should be personal. Trying to get students to learn the form and appreciate it is one of the greatest challenges in ELA, in my opinion. Have you used essay collections to teach this? Do you have favorites that kids really respond to? With my ELLs, I have very little success using model essays; the language in them is so far beyond my students, they have trouble seeing the beauty in the balance in the academic voice and the personal voice and how the form, although structured, is actually giving strength to voices. I am eager to see what you put together for this!

[Lisa Larson]

Carol,

Excellent topic! I hate it when my students ask, "But what if I can't think of anything to write about?" I can't wait to hear your presentation and ways to solve this age-old problem!

Lisa