Writing at Bells Crossing: Putting the Pieces Together

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Writing at Bells Crossing Putting the Pieces
Together

• Dr. Rebecca Kaminski
• Dawn Hawkins
• Upstate Writing Project

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Starting at the Beginning Building Community,
Thinking about the Big Picture

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The only way to raise the quality of writing in a
school is to create, share and celebrate the
specific criteria for that quality with everybody
on a regular basis.Barry Lane

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• We are talking about tools and carpentry, about
  words and stylebut as we move along, youd do
  well to remember that we are also talking about
  magic.
• Stephen King

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• Embedding the traits into the writing process is
  the key to using the traits effectively and
  creating opportunities for significant growth.
• Ruth Culham, p21

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Big Picture
Writing Workshop

Writing Process
Traits
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SC Exemplary Writing
putting it all together for a school wide
program of excellence at the highest level of
implementation.
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Writing Workshop
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Writing Workshop Philosophy

• Writing goes on all the time.
• Children should have an authentic purpose to
  write.
• The writers workshop should be driven by student
  choice and needs.

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Create An Atmosphere For Writing
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Choice vs prompt
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Conference Schedule
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Students Peer-Evaluating
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Students Self Assessing Writing Using a Rubric
Scale
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Mini-Lessons

• Mini-lessons focus on different types of writing,
  the art of writing, or the mechanics of writing. 
• Mini-lessons are 5 - 20 minutes long. 
• The content of the mini-lesson comes from an
  analysis of what the students need to know next. 
  
• Mini-lessons offer the teacher the opportunity to
  show their own writing. Model for students by
  talking out loud when writing, making revisions
  as you go along.

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When learners are well served, assessment becomes
a learning experience that supports and improves
instruction. The learners are not just the
students but also the teachers, who learn
something about their students.Regie
RoutmanConversations (2001)
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What will your writing environment look like this
year?Sketch your classroom and share at your
table.
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Is Your Classroom Process-Centered or Product-
Centered?

• Process-Centered
• work on different tasks at different rates.
• write many short, interesting pieces of writing
  any of which may lead to longer pieces over time.
• Small groups work together.
• Writing is shared as it is created.
• One piece may lead to another as it is
  discovered.
• Failure is an opportunity to grow.
• ?s Does this work? What else could I try?

• Product-Centered
• do the same tasks.
• complete the same preset writing assignments.
• Students work alone.
• Share only when finished.
• Student ask for the next task.
• Important to get it right the first time.
• ?s Is this long enough? Os this what you want?
  Will this be graded?

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Writing Process
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Writing Process is

• ...the progression of
• stages a writer goes through to create a
  product, from conception to birth.
• Ruth Culham, p 21

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The Writing Process Philosophy

• The process is not linear, it is recursive and
  flexible.
• The process is integrated throughout the
  curriculum and school day.

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Working Through The Writing Process

• Prewriting-Think It!
• Drafting-Write It!
• Conferencing-Talk About It!
• Revising-Fix It!
• Editing-Shine It!
• Publishing-Share It!

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Literature Models

• I am looking for texts that have something in
  them or about them that can add to my students
  knowledge base of how to write well.
• Ray, Wondrous Words

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Organizing the Writing Process for Students
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Writing process according to Barry Lane

• Revision
• Revision
• Revision
• Revision
• Revision

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• Make sure (students) understand the difference
  between revision and editing. Construct a brick
  wall between the two! Revision is a composing
  tool editing involves the surface features of
  writing. If kids confuse the two, their revisions
  will be first aid..instead of the radical surgery
  that leads to improved writing.
• Ralph Fletcher, 2001
• Writing Workshop Essential Guide

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Analyze the writing you have done- how did you
move through the writing process? What would you
do next?
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Traits of Writing
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61 TRAIT Model is

• a vocabulary teachers use to describe their
  vision of what good writing looks like-any kind
  of writing.
• Ruth Culham, pg 7

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Keep in mind that the six traits are not a
curriculum, not a program. They are a way of
thinking about writing that leads to
understandingVicki SpandelCreating Young
Writers 2004

• 6 1 Trait Writing

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61 Traithttp//www.nwrel.org/assessment

• The 61 Trait? Writing framework is a powerful
  way to learn and use a common language to refer
  to characteristics of writing as well as create a
  common vision of what 'good' writing looks like.
  Teachers and students can use the 61 Trait?
  model to pinpoint areas of strength and weakness
  as they continue to focus on continued writing
  improvement.

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Two Groups of Traits

• Revision Traits
• Ideas
• Organization
• Voice
• Word Choice
• Sentence Fluency

• Editing Traits
• Conventions
• Presentation

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Ideas

• make up the content of the piece of writing-
  the heart of the message.
• Ruth Culham, pg 11

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Ideas

• The heart of the message
• The theme plus the details
• Interesting, important and informative details
• Details that the reader would not normally
  anticipate
• The extraordinary, the unusual that others may
  not see

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Literature Models for Ideas

• Saturday Market
• By Patricia Grossman and Enrique Sanchez
• The Recess Queen
• By Alexis ONeill and Laura Huliska-Beith

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Teaching the Ideas Trait

• How do you get there?
• Go from big to small-narrowing the topic
• Hunt for details (observations)
• Study Pictures
• Teach students the art of questioning (who, what
  when, where, how, does)
• Use oral skills (talking is an excellent form of
  pre-writing)
• Draw
• Use snapshots

• What are you teaching?
• Main idea or message
• Clarity
• Detail (and interest)
• Noticing/observing

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Lesson Plan for Ideas Trait

• Standard 1W1.1-5W1.1 Demonstrate the ability to
  choose a topic, generate ideas, and use oral and
  written prewriting strategies.
• Mini Lesson Narrowing the topic Draw pizza on
  board (family) then draw slice of pizza (grandpa)
  then draw pepperoni on pizza (grandpa the checker
  champ).
• Mini Lesson put to practice Have students draw
  their own pizza and work through the steps to
  narrow their topic. Have a few students share how
  they narrowed their topic.
• Students Write and Conferencing
• Sharing/Questions Keep the comments focused on
  narrowing the topic.

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Organization

• is the internal structure of the piece, the
  thread of meaning, the logical pattern of the
  ideas.
• Ruth Culham, p 11

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Organization

• Design and structure of a piece
• Holds the information together
• Presents information that is both comprehensible
  and memorable
• For example Interesting lead, problem/solution,
  interesting ending

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Literature Models for Organization

• Strong Leads
• How I Became a Pirate
• By Melinda Long and David Shannon
• Linear Plot Structure
• Diary of a Spider
• By Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss
• Circular Plot Structure
• If You Take a Mouse to School
• By Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond

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Teaching the Organization Trait

• How do you get there?
• Choose strong leads (mini-lessons)
• Use visuals (books, comic strips etc.)
• Make predictions based upon the opening sentence
• Put things in order (recipes, expository writing,
  letters)
• Use patterns
• Use idea webs to plan
• Use lists
• Powerhouse conclusions (mini-lessons)

• What are you teaching?
• How to begin
• How to end
• Sense of order, patterning, sequencing
• How to link ideas together-transitions

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Lesson Plan for Organization Trait

• Standard 2W1.3-5W1.3 Demonstrate the ability to
  develop an extended response around a central
  idea, using relevant supporting ideas.
• Mini Lesson Sometimes in non-fiction writing we
  often begin by telling what we know about our
  topic. (For example we might write This is a
  story about great white sharks.) Although this
  tells about your topic it may not get the reader
  excited about your topic. One way to get your
  reader interested is to bring them to the place
  where they can see your topic in its natural
  habitat. Use words to describe this place. Begin
  with the setting.
• Mini Lesson Put To Practice Think about your
  non-fiction topic and its natural habitat. Write
  a few leading sentences to introduce your topic.
  Have a few students share their leads.
• Students Writing and Conferencing
• Sharing/Questions Small group sharing/Have
  students share their leads to their non-fiction
  writing.

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Black Mamba SnakesBy Brady

• In the jungle a black mamba snake slithers down
  a tree. He is searching for his next victim.
  Black mamba is the fastest snake alive. Snakes do
  not care for their young. Snakes can go for
  months with no food. If you were a black mamba
  snake you would eat rats for lunch. Snakes need
  their senses to help them. The black mambas
  babies are blue. I hope I never see a black
  mamba snake in the wild because he is so fast.

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Narrative Writing Writing a Simple Story Primary
Level
_______________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
________________________
Beginning Picture
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
_________________________
Middle Picture
__________________________ _______________________
___ __________________________ ___________________
_______ __________________________
Ending Picture
? Ann Shaw, 2002
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Voice

• is the soul of the piece. Its what makes the
  writers style singular, as his or her feelings
  and convictions come out through the words.
• Ruth Culham, p 12

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Voice separates writing that is read from writing
that is not read.Donald Murray
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Voice

• Personality of writer on paper
• Confidence of writer to reveal her passion for
  topic
• Reveals the writers true self
• Writers inner voice on paper
• Shows the writers honesty

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Literature Models for Voice

• Love That Dog
• By Sharon Creech
• Dont Say Aint
• By Irene Smalls

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Teaching the Voice Trait

• What are you teaching?
• Putting energy into writing
• Recognizing voice
• Selecting personally important topics
• Connecting to an audience

• How do you get there?
• Write notes and letters
• Show students how to put personal self into their
  writing (If I were)
• Nurture voice in an atmosphere of sharing
• Make room for alternatives
• Write in character
• Act it out
• Grabs the readers attention

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Lesson Plan For Teaching Voice

• Standard 2W1.3-5W1.3 Demonstrate the ability to
  revise writing for audience and purpose and
  through collaboration, conferencing, and
  self-evaluation.
• Mini Lesson Have the students turn to a partner
  and retell about a special event in their lives.
  While the students are talking walk around the
  room and record comments the students make on
  post-its. When the talking time is up share some
  of the comments the students make. (My birthday
  party was awesome! I smoked J.J. in the race.)
  Discuss how the comments have voice. Encourage
  your students to write like they would talk to a
  friend.
• Mini Lesson Put To Practice Have your students
  look at some of their previous writing. Can they
  revise a sentence to add voice? Share their
  changes.
• Students Write/Conferencing
• Sharing/Questions Listen for examples of good
  voice. Point these out to the students.

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Word Choice

• is at its best when it includes the use of
  rich, colorful, precise language that moves and
  enlightens the reader.
• Ruth Culham, p 12

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Word Choice

• Using the right words at the right moment
• Contributes to clarity (specific words)
• Evokes feelings, moods, likes and dislikes
• Paints pictures for the reader
• For young writers it often means learning new
  words

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Literature Models for Word Choice

• Show Dont Tell! Secrets of Writing
• By Josephine Nobisso
• The Weighty Word Book
• By Levitt, Burger, and Guralnick

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Teaching the Word Choice Trait

• How do you get there?
• Act out words
• Make poster, charts
• Toss the ball (like, good, nice, things)
• Do a sentence as a play (Hungry dogs ran
  rapidly.)
• Create greeting cards, advertisements, bumper
  stickers
• Revise weak verb pieces (Two Bad Ants)
• Keep personal dictionaries
• Use a thesaurus
• Collect favorites (woozy, shabby)
• Create alphabet books

• What are you teaching?
• Being choosy about words
• Identifying favorite words
• Using strong nouns
• Vivid verbs
• Descriptive words

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Lesson for Word Choice

• Standard3W1.4, 4W1.4,5W1.4 Demonstrate the
  ability to revise writing for clarity, sentence
  variety, precise vocabulary, and effective
  phrasing through collaboration, conferencing, and
  self-evaluation.
• Mini Lesson Tired Words-Sometimes in our writing
  we tend to overuse certain words (like, good,
  nice, big, little, happy, funny). Today we are
  going to focus on the word _____. Ive noticed in
  your writing that we are using ______. Lets put
  it to bed. Take out your thesaurus. What other
  words can we use instead of ______. Record new
  words on overhead and later place in Tired
  Words pocket.
• Mini Lesson Put To Practice Have students look
  at their own writing. Find a tired word and
  replace it with a better word choice. Have a few
  students share their changes.
• Students Write/Conferencing
• Sharing/Questions Keep the focus on word choice.
  Celebrate the good word choices.

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Choosing Great Words
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Sentence Fluency

• is the flow of the language, the sound of word
  patterns-the way the writing plays to the ear,
  not just to the eye.
• Ruth Culham, p12

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Sentence Fluency

• The rhythm and flow of language
• Both word choice and sentence fluency contribute
  to voice
• Its what makes the language flow
• The way words play to the ear
• Sentence variety

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Literature Models for Sentence Fluency

• How I spent my summer vacation
• By Mark Teague
• Something Beautiful
• By Sharon Wyeth

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Teaching the Sentence Fluency Trait

• How do you get there?
• Notice sentences in students writing
• Keep an open discussion on the sentence going
  (count the number of sentences in a students
  writing.)
• Using an overhead from a page in text, make a
  list of sentence beginnings.
• Show how punctuation divides sentences (Play
  where do my periods go.)
• Read fluent passages aloud
• Focus on poetry, and music
• Brainstorm rhyming words and display in room
• Play create a sentence construction game (Give
  me a sentence with five words. Etc.)
• Phone yourself (PVC phones to hear your own voice
  reading your sentences)

• What are you teaching?
• Sentence sense-What is a sentence?
• An ear for variety
• Different sentence patterns

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Lesson Plan for Sentence Fluency

• Standard 3W1.4-5W1.4 Demonstrate the ability to
  revise writing for clarity, sentence variety,
  precise vocabulary, and effective phrasing
  through collaboration, conferencing, and
  self-evaluation.
• Mini Lesson Use an overhead of childrens
  literature or a novel that students are presently
  reading. Highlight how sentences begin and
  transition into the next sentence. Discuss things
  that the students notice about the authors
  style.
• Mini Lesson Put To Practice Have the students
  look at their writing from the previous day and
  evaluate their own sentence variety. Share some
  of their observations.
• Students Write/Conferencing
• Sharing/Questions Have students focus on
  sentence variety while the students are sharing.

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Conventions

• represent the pieces level of correctness- the
  extent to which the writer uses grammar and
  mechanics with precision.
• Ruth Culham, p12

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Conventions

• Spelling
• Punctuation
• Capitals
• Grammar and usage
• Paragraphing

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Literature Models for Conventions

• Punctuation Takes A Vacation
• By Robin Pulver
• What Are You So Grumpy About?
• By Tom Lichtenheld

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Teaching the Conventions Trait

• What are you teaching?
• A proofreaders eye and ear
• Awareness of conventions
• Sense of self as editor

• How do you get there?
• Let students edit their own work-as much as
  possible
• Model instead of correcting
• Keep editing conferences focused
• Encourage temporary spelling
• Encourage word banks and personal dictionaries
• Brainstorm word possibilities before writing
  (theme related)
• Teach Editors Symbols appropriate for grade
  level
• Provide interesting tools (red pencils)
• Play the treasure hunt game

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Lesson Plan for Conventions Trait

• Standard 3W1.5,4W1.5, 5W1.5 Demonstrate the
  ability to edit for language conventions such as
  spelling, capitalization, punctuation, agreement,
  sentence structure (syntax) and word usage.
• Mini Lesson How to place punctuation in
  dialogue. Place an overhead from a book that the
  students have been reading in class. Use
  different colors of highlighters to highlight the
  different types of punctuation. Then make a list
  of how the punctuation is used.
• Mini Lesson Put To Practice Have students review
  their own writing in their writers notebook and
  correct any errors in dialogue punctuation. Have
  students share their corrections.
• Students Write/Conferencing
• Students Share/Questions Try to keep the focus
  on conventions. Have students self-assess their
  own writing by showing on a scale of 1-4 what
  they would score themselves on conventions.

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Presentation

• zeros in on the form and layout- how pleasing
  the piece is to the eye.
• Ruth Culham, p12

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Presentation

• How text is formatted and presented
• Varies if text is hand written or word processed
• Text is readable and understandable
• Integration of visuals
• Use of white space
• Titles, page numbering and bullets

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Literature Models for Presentation

• The Great Fuzz Frenzy
• By Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel
• Science Verse
• By Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

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Displaying Published Writing
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Presentation

• What are you teaching?
• Format
• Neatness
• Handwriting
• Word Processing
• Fonts and font sizes
• Use of illustrations
• Spacing and Paragraphing

• How do you get there?
• Modeling
• Mini-lessons
• Show examples and non examples
• Work Sorts (Exceeds Criteria, Meets Criteria,
  Does Not Meet Criteria)

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OttersBy Natalie

• In a river otters are swimming. Otters
  breathe air. Otters are born alive .They
  drink their mothers milk. When they are born
  they have no hair. The otter is the smallest
  mammal in the sea. Otters are mammals. They are
  good players. They would play all day if they
  have to. They will fight if they feel they are in
  danger. There are two kinds of otters. There is
  the river otter and a sea otter. Otters eat fish
  or leaves. Otters are good hiders. If you were an
  otter you could slide in the mud and not get in
  trouble.

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Quick Break and Collaborative Writing Activity in
8 Mixed GroupsThe Important Thing about the
Traits (adapted from M.W. Browns books)(30
min)
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Getting Started

• Goal Setting
• Action Plans
• (grade level groups)

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What needs work

• Greater emphasis on current theory and research.
• Commitment to strong writing instruction that is
  shaped by student writing.
• Utilize the 61 traits to develop ongoing
  assessment aimed at improving student writing.
• Incorporate numerous read alouds throughout the
  school day.in all subject areas and to model the
  craft of writing.
• Encourage variety in genre choice in student
  reading.

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Classroom Goals

• Incorporate the teaching demos. Use your writing
  to model the process and trait.
• Keep Writing in Notebooks/Dated
• Journals for free response
• Writing folders to collect writing that will show
  growth over time.
• Use literature to model good writing.
• Introduce the vocabulary of the traits.

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How will you introduce the traits in your grade
level?Get visualp 26
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Go Back to your classroom sketchwhat do you need
to add?Make a shopping list on the back!
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Finale

• Share the Important Thing About the Traits