Written Expression {Chapter EIGHT Synthesis}

What I Do Right...

Writing is such a fun subject to teach! Students get easily excited about topics, and writing can directly link to and flow from into our reading lessons. I have read a lot about teaching writing from Ralph Fletcher, Katie Wood Ray, and Ruth Culham and adopted some favorite strategies in my classroom that I think truly help my students become better writers.

A Special Place to Write...A Writer's Notebook

At the beginning of each year, my students decorate a marble composition notebook with pictures, foamies, and stickers. This becomes their writer's notebook. I am always AMAZED at how they are inspired to write just by having their own special place to record their thoughts. I show them my writers notebook, too, and even read some pieces that I have written. 

 {using the "watermelon/seed" strategy to zoom into details...all in her WRITER'S NOTEBOOK}

 

6+1 Writing Traits 

I use Ruth Culhams' 6+1 Writing Traits method of teaching writing in my classroom. This method teaches writing by looking closely at the 6 traits that good writers use {ideas, organization, voice, sentence fluency, word choice, and conventions...and the plus is for presentation}. The traits are an AMAZING tool to use because so many second graders think that writing is mostly about spelling words, but it's not! Spelling is just one small piece! 

Each trait includes a rubric that students can learn and practice when writing. Once they are familiar with that rubric, the teacher can conduct "The Writing Olympics." Students can go to the Education Northwest website and practice scoring authentic student writing. There is a section where the teacher can type in the comments that students generate, and then click to view the actual score the paper received. 

 

Practice scoring the traits!

Mini-Lessons and Mentor Texts

I am a strong believer that students become better writers when they see and hear good writing in the classroom. When we study a particular trait, we read lots of books. These books exhibit the traits at their best! Students can see what the author does, and then they can become inspired. I also model a lot in the classroom. Students, for whatever reason, love to read my writing...especially when it is in MY writer's notebook. But, I also model writing on chart paper for examples and anchor charts.

Here is a favorite book of mine to read for each trait:

Ideas  

Organization

 Voice

Sentence Fluency

Word Choice

Conventions

Conferencing

I strive to have conferencing time each week with my students. I keep a notebook at my back table to track what we discuss, make notes of student questions, jot about writing issues, and mention concerns that I may have for them as writers. Most students want help with spelling when they request a conference, and I think that is fine. I tell them that second graders SHOULDN'T know how to spell every word. I do want them to try those "big" words, though, so I give LOTS of praise for attempts. I then try to dig deep into the trait that we are studying. What did they pick up from the mini-lesson? What strategy did they use correctly? What is their writing still missing?  

Publishing

I celebrate the writing that my students complete in many different ways. We have an author's chair where they can read stories to the class. We also publish one book during the year {from barebooks.com}, complete art projects to illustrate our writing, hang our writing in the halls, publish across genres, and collect our writing in a growth portfolio. 

 {author's chair}

{art to illustrate his writing}

What I Do Wrong...

As the chapter suggests, writing is such a critical subject. I have found that my students who have disabilities {or ones that perform below grade level} struggle getting their thoughts down on paper. They need extra help and extra support when writing. As a classroom teacher, I often struggle differentiating my instruction due to time constraints and class size. I fear that some of my students that struggle are still making some of the mistakes, and are relying on some of the habits that they used at the beginning of the year. Some students need more guided writing practice because they lack the monitoring, self-regulation, and motivation strategies necessary to revise and edit their written pieces. I need to slow down my instruction so that I can better meet the needs of students who need help with handwriting, word spacing, sight words, and basic sentence formulation. 

How I'm Going to Fix It...

I really want to look back at the notes that I take during conferences. These notes can tell me volumes about what my students still need to work on. I really need to include more time for guided writing groups during our writing time each week. More advanced writers could form a group during this time to revise their work as a team, assess themselves with the rubric, and reflect on how they are using the trait that we are studying in their own writing. Meanwhile, I can pull those students who need remediation so that I can reteach skills that should have been mastered in kindergarten, first grade, or the beginning of second grade.