On second thought... Making writing real!

[Allie Eckert]

After completing my action research project about how to effectively teach grammar in the classroom, I realized that while this is a continuous problem, I could find no fool proof way to fix it.  It seemed that both groups of students were able to transfer some of the grammar lessons over to their writing at times, though this was not consistent.  After taking a long look at the research, I decided that while this is a worthwhile topic, it is not one that I don't feel that I am able to effectively persue at this time.

 

 

So after a long hard look at the writing instruction in my classroom, I thought that I would share the ways that I inspire my students to write!  I feel that so many times as teachers, we have a cookie cutter mold of students, and expect them to think exactly as we do.  Therefore, when we come up with an amazing writing lesson that we as teachers love, and the students do not excel, we can't understand and become frustrated.  This was exactly the way I felt my first year of teaching.  I would stay at work late at night coming up with writing prompts about fantasy worlds, landing on the moon, moving to another country.  You name it, I came up with it.  Yet each and every time I would teach these "fabulous" lessons, my students writing would fall short.  I would have to literally sit with them and make them write.  At this point in my teaching, I simply couldn't understand why they didn't love these assignments as much as I loved them.  Never, did I reflect on my teaching.  It wasn't until two years later, when teaching at Traner Middle School, that I realized the only way I was going to get my students to write, was if they could connect with the topics.  These students had never been to the moon, most had never left Reno, let alone lived in a different country, and most students were unable to imagine this fantasy world, as their biggest concern was trying to survive.

 

Once I finally took a look at my writing curriculum, I realized that I needed to take figure out who my students were as individuals, and decide what it is that they had a desire to share.   After much reflection and conversation with my students, I realized that they simply wanted to share their lives!  I felt that I had been in the dark for so long, and finally the lighbulb turned on.  (I also felt incredibly ignorant for not realizing this earlier.)  Very rarely did my students want to make up creative stories of places that they had never been, rather they simply wanted to tell their story.  This idea inspired my entire reading and writing curriculum.  Today, rather than having my students read books like Bridge to Terebithia (which I love by the way) they are reading books like Bang! and Monster.  Books that they can connect to as they have experienced what these kids are going through.  Rather than having them respond to daily journal prompts about the animal that reminds them of themselves, and completing meaningless writing assignments, my students write reflective essays about their self image, and their neighborhood.  My students write about their mistakes, and life lessons that have come from them, they dive into how hard it is to lost a loved one or lose their trust in others. 

 

Now, when my students are writing, I no longer have to sit with them to make them write, rather I need to remind them that the bell rung two minutes ago and they are going to be late to class.  No longer do I have to beg students to write more, rather they beg me for extensions on time so that they can write more.  I truly believe that through the use of great literature, and song, students are able to make these connections and become truly amazing writers.  It is however our job as teachers to give them the tools that they need to get there.  It is our responsibility as educators to get to know our students and figure out who they are and what makes them tick.  Everyone has a story, its just figuring out the story that is the key!

[Rose Whistler]

Allie, this reminds me of the article in Breakthroughs called, I was a Journal Topic Junkie. I remember when I thought it was important to give my students a prompt each time they wrote in their journals. One day I thought about how the children need to be able to choose their own topics, and so we began to call it "free-write" on Wednesdays. At first I wasn't sure the children would know what to write about. Boy was I wrong! First graders have so much to say. As I read their entries each Wednesday evening, I am entertained with so many pieces. As the year progresses, the entries get longer and longer. Some students respond to my response, some continue topics that were started previously, but each child is writing about what is important to him/her. My teaching partner and I model an entry each time, to show the students what's important to us. We continually say, what you are thinking is what you can write. This brings out the story in each child!

[Kristina E. Wulfing]

I like how you are thinking, you have put a lot of time and effort into your research already. I am most impressed with how you are looking specifically at your teaching, this is outstanding. It is very important for students to make a connection to what they are learning and it appears as if that is what you are doing. Isn't it such a great feeling when they want to write more? I love that connection. This reminds me of Freedom Writers' Diary. Are you using this with your presentation at all? Can you see a connection that you might be able to include? On another note, can you tell me more specifically about your classroom? I can't wait to read more Allie and see how your presentation progresses.

[Allie Eckert]

Kristina-
It's funny that you should mention that, because that movie was actually my inspiration to begin researching and looking at multicultural education. I do in fact use this book in my classroom with one of my writing units, as well as show the movie with a literature circle unit. It is an excellent book, and the students love the stories! They have begged me continuously to make copies for them to take home!

As for my classroom... I am currently teaching at Traner Middle School which is almost 80% FRL and approximately 75% LEP. I am teaching 6th grade this year, and my main subject is Language Arts. I have 65 students that I split between 3 periods. At the start of the year, according to MAPS, our school-wide assessment, I had less than 15% of my students reading at grade level. While this year has most definitely been a challenge in terms of reaching the needs of all of my students, I feel that by building strong relationships, fostering learning communities in my classroom, and maintaining high expectations, my students rose above and beyond!

My classroom combines reading and writing activities that allow students to make connections to their lives, film, pictures, short stories, novels, songs, and other primary resources. I truly believe that making connections is the key to students' success. Not only are they able to think at a higher level, they are also able to make learning relevant to their lives. Relevancy=buy-in, and with middle school students, buy-in is the key!

[Stephen B. Duncan]

I was excited to see that you had originally planned on presenting an inquiry on how to effectively teach grammar to your students as this is a burning question that I have for myself. I was hoping for some insight from a teacher that is already in the writing curriculum. I was already planning on including that question as part of my inquiry presentation, now, I need to decide how far the scope of my presentation will reach.

It is interesting that you have had some success with asking for reflective essays as the bulk of the writing I require from my students is reflective essays. I would guess that since my essays are asking for a somewhat narrow response, I am not getting the excitement that your students seem to be exhibiting. I would say that asking them to write an essay is like asking them to pull a tooth. I am currently processing ideas for next year on how to make my essays more relevant to my content while adding a component of self-motivation that will inspire the students to participate. I look forward to your presentation.

[Allie Eckert]

Stephen-
I do have quite a bit of information on effective grammar instruction, as well as books that might help. However, in looking at the research, it seems that no one is quite sure on exactly what is effective and what is not. I can definitely lend you the books that I have however and you can check them out. From what I have gathered through teaching as well as literature, the most effective form of grammar instruction is to teach it in context. Many times, when students complete grammar excercises, the knowledge does not transfer over to their writing. One thing that I have found to be somewhat effective is conferencing with the students about the mistakes made in their writing. Also, as this does in fact require a lot of time, it is effective to find common mistakes among the students in your class ie. comma splices, and complete a quick mini-lesson completely focused on this specific aspect. I'm not quite sure how this would fit into your P.E. curriculum, however mini-lessons can be quick- less than 10 minutes, so this could work?

One thing that I always do when I am planning a lesson for writing is to actually complete the assignment myself. Many times, when I sit down to write, I realize that it is difficult and sometimes painstaking to complete the assignment. In this case, I will ditch my plan and try something different. This might be a good start in lesson planning... just a thought!

[Stephen B. Duncan]

Allie,
I might take you up on borrowing those books. I might be able to find some way of blending the concepts into my lessons. Thanks for the info.

[Kelly Hiatt]

Allie,

Your discussion topic was very insightful. I love the fact that you were able to change your topic after looking at your results. As a teacher I find that I am sometimes one track minded. Once I get on a subject or topic I am not able to change my thinking. The fact that you were able to take your data and realize that you were not getting out of it what you wanted and take the time to change your ideas is great. Your new topic fits in well with the book that we are reading Breakthroughs. It sounds as if you are currently doing many of ideas the book is focusing on, which is making writing real for our students. Did it make reading the book more interesting? I ask, because I find if I can connect with a book then it is more meaningful and I retain more of the informantion. In fact, I am excited to start using some of the writing real strategies in my classroom.
You made a comment about feeling ignorant for not knowing. To me this is not ignorance, it is the art of learning how to be a superb teacher. In college we are taught so much in the way of curriculm however we were not taught how to teach writing. It is an area that I think most teachers don't feel confident in. Therefore we must learn from our mistakes and successes. You seem to be doing this quite well. I relate to your idea of getting to know your students so that your are able to help them academically. I have come up with a saying, " You need to reach your students before you can teach them." I started thinking this way after talking to another teacher about how our students are needing us to listen and be there for them now more than ever. You must be doing this and many other things about writing in your classroom right, if they are asking you for more time.