EDRG 602 Reading / Writing connections
Reflection
My first artifact is a lesson plan on shared writing. We read the story “How to Fill a Bucket” and then we wrote how we can fill someone else’s bucket. Teaching Kindergarteners to write is not an easy task. I find that keeping a silly mood and having fun motivates my kids to want to do their best. This lesson does just that. For example, when I was modeling how to write a sentence to the whole class I made mistakes when I was writing and everyone giggled and said NOOOO!! I then asked them what I did wrong. It was engaging and kept them entertained. I felt that the quality of the work is better if I modeled and set my expectations high. Giving out “Bob Bucks” at the beginning of the writing assignment was a great motivation too. I saw a child start to get frustrated and I gave him a “Bob Buck” and made a big deal about him trying to sound the word out on his own without asking me. He then kept on writing and wrote the whole sentence on his own. Other children saw me giving out “Bob Bucks,” and started sounding out words on their own too. Adding technology into this lesson was a roaring success! Everyone was excited to record their sentence onto little bird tales! When I showed the video they were so quiet and in awe!!! One child said, “Can we do it again?” Another one said, “Hey, we can make an ABC book like Chicka Chicka boom boom and put it on there too.”
My next artifact is a visual brochure I created for my Kindergarten parents to encourage them to read and write with their kids at home. Learning does not begin or end in the classroom, but is an ongoing process that takes effort from the student, parents and teacher. As a teacher, it is sometimes hard to remember that parents do not necessary know how to help their children. This brochure gives lots of activities and ideas that parents can use at home as tips to success.
My last artifact is my writer’s notebook. I created a journal entry each week of this class. I chose this writing because it taught me something about myself as a writer. When I first read that I was going to have to keep a writers notebook I was a little turned off and thought of it as “work.” After 8 weeks of actually keeping it, my feelings changed. I realized that reflecting on work, school, home life, odd thoughts (no matter what the subject), is a very therapeutic process. It forced me to form opinions and think about certain topics in a different light. Each week I scrolled back through my previous writings, and I was proud of them. It is hard to describe, but putting something in writing meant that it was real, and that my thoughts mattered. In school, I never enjoyed writing. I think it’s because I knew someone else was going to be reading, judging and grading my work. I felt vulnerable. I have kept a journal in the past when I was traveling overseas and hiking for several months at a time. I enjoyed it because it was for me and only me. I feel the same way with this journal. I think that is why I decided to forgo putting my entries in a blog on the web for all to see and put them into a word document instead. I will reflect upon this experience as I have my Kindergarteners write.
NETS*T Standards
*Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
*Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
*Model Digital Age Work and Learning
*Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
*Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
21st Century Skills
*Creativity and Innovation
*Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
*Communication and Collaboration
*Information Literacy
*Media Literacy
*Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
*Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
*Model Digital Age Work and Learning
*Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
*Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
21st Century Skills
*Creativity and Innovation
*Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
*Communication and Collaboration
*Information Literacy
*Media Literacy
Research
I researched what authentic writing means. Asking kids to write for a genuine audience beyond the classroom is authentic writing. Students will automatically be more motivated to do a better job because someone else besides their teacher will be reading it. Instead of pretending you are the president, have the student write a real letter to the President convincing him to change or create a new law. This changes the whole purpose of the assignment. Their purpose is to communicate effectively with the reader, the President. When students are asked to defend a position, persuade the reader on an issue or present a solution to a problem to a real audience this lets students to write as themselves, in their own voice. I’ve incorporated some authentic writing experiences in my class since taking this course. We wrote letters to our pen pals in England telling them why and how we celebrate Thanksgiving in America. They also wrote letters to their parents telling them how they could help save our planet by recycling and turning off the lights and TV when they are not in the room.
I learned the power of modeling. After teaching a mini-lesson I sent the kids off to write and I myself continued to write in my journal at the same time the kids started writing. The teacher who was shadowing me, Mrs. Beavan, afterward told me what she observed. She said she saw the kid’s heads go up and look at me every once in a while. She noticed one child put their hand up for help, but then put it down and continued writing because they saw I was busy writing my own story and did not want to interrupt. We both agreed that the teacher writing during the workshop made a strong impact.
I learned that the writing process is not always a linear process. There is not one formula or process that works for every person. Writing is unique to each individual person. The writing process describes different steps that writers take in order to publish a piece of writing. People bounce in and out of the various steps throughout their writing. This is certainly true for me. In this class we had to publish several writings. I learned about my writing process journey along the way. When writing, my step by step process looks like prewriting, drafting, revising, then multiple times I go back and forth between drafting and revising, then I edit and sometimes go back up to revising and then finishing by publishing. Knowing there is not one right or wrong way to write can relieve a lot of stress to a child who is just learning how to write.
According to research explicitly teaching vocabulary to students can “greatly enhance the speed, quantity, and quality of vocabulary development (Fountas and Pinnell, p.377). Reading by itself will not provide the degree of vocabulary growth necessary. Marzano says, direct vocabulary instruction involves 6 explicit steps which, when conducted consistently and over time, improves students' academic vocabulary knowledge. The six steps of effective vocabulary Instruction, in brief, are:
1. teacher provided description, explanation or example
2. students restate in own words
3. students construct non-linguistic representation
4. participate in variety of activities
5. student discussion
6. games
1. teacher provided description, explanation or example
2. students restate in own words
3. students construct non-linguistic representation
4. participate in variety of activities
5. student discussion
6. games
Resources