Chapter 12 Write Your Own Ending

I agree with Reggie that writing empowers us as teachers, as students, as learners. Writing is the doing part. When we write we are organizing, clarifying and refining our thinking. It is a very powerful thing with no end. This book has given me many useful ideas and I plan to reread it over the summer and take time to make more connections with writing and the first grade curriculum. I also hope the Obee staff will work to make all of our students better writers. Think of the possibilities!!

Chapter 11 Build on Best Practice and Research

I liked Reggie's plan of starting with modeling and then moving on to shared teaching, hand-holding, coaching, and independent practice. She states raised expectations must go hand in hand with excellent teaching and advocacy. What I need to know is how to do an excellent job of teaching writing. This is not going to happen just by reading the book. Page 263 starts a list of key research findings. It is important to read and reread these findings. This will help me to become an excellent teacher of writing. The books states we cannot go wrong by using key research findings to guide our thinking, planning, and teaching practice. I was happy to see the chart on page 270 with changes other first grade teachers have made in their teaching writing practices. This is helpful to me.

I think more professional development is needed to improve writing instruction for our students. Perhaps our district needs to focus more time on this, at least at the first grade level. I also think Obee School could use more time to discuss writing practices.

The section on English language learners was helpful. I have had ELL students the pass three years. I struggle to see transfer from discrete skills to fluent reading and writing. I will try to do more modeling, thinking aloud, and hand holding. These students need soooo much support.

Capter 10 Make Assessment Count

Assessment of writing in first grade looks different than writing assessment in the intermediate grades. This chapter had many good ideas and thoughts about assessment. I did some reflection on the current assessment of first grade writing in our district and I feel some changes are needed. We do use a writing continuum, but it is not used to guide instruction. It is more of a benchmark of where the students are performing. I need to use this continuum to guide conferencing and teaching throughout the school year. The child friendly rubrics on page 241 were great. I will try this. Of course I heard about collecting sample papers to use, but I plan to do this now.

Page 245 Research shows that high achievement and high test scores result when what is tested is woven into daily teaching and challenging curriculum in a relevant manner.

Of course the refrain for this book could be do more reading and do more writing. Students will not become great writers without this input.

The section on grading was important. I especially liked the comment - recognize effort and improvement

Chapter 9 Conference with Students

I was very interested in this chapter. I know this is an area where I need to do more. I have read other books on conferencing and have tried various way, but I have not been happy with my results. Reggie gives some very helpful information on conferencing. Page 207 offers some varied ways to conference. I had felt it had to be one on one. She presents the concepts of quickshares and on the run conferences. I highlighted the sentence that says "I never skip whole class share in kindergarten and grade one." Her constant reminder that writing is about communication, content is critical and should always be a focus is very important. As a teacher you may focus on more that content, but remember to keep content as a focus.

There were many great ideas for conferencing, especially the tips on page 215. I liked the form for anecdotal notes from roving conferences and plan to try this after spring break. Also the form on page 219 noting strengths and setting writing goals for first graders. I have tried some goal setting before and now see the need to expand my goal setting.

I do not see first graders doing peer conferencing. It would take much front loading to make this effective. The notes on making a productive conference and language of helpful response will be helpful.

Chapter 8 Organize for Daily Writing

This is the best chapter so far. I found lots of helpful ideas to use with my first graders. Reggie's definition of writer's workshop and her comments about daily writing were what I had been searching for in a writing program. The schedule on page 185 of a first grade classroom was very helpful. The time frame for daily writing on page 187 gave me a goal for my class writing time. I want to try some of the short writing projects especially the snapshot on page 199. I plan to treat with last nine weeks as a trial of many of the components mentioned in this chapter.

Chapter 8

Chapter 7 Be Efficient and Integrate Basic Skills

The cover page to section three outlines a successful writing program. "A successful writing program requires a knowledgeable, organized teacher with excellent classroom management skills. Mostly, students need lots of time in which to write, a say in what they write about, strategies that allow them to problem solve independently (plan, revise, edit), and helpful response."

I can relate to her introduction about starting with a whole then part then back to whole. Students need to have a picture (jigsaw puzzle metaphor) before their writing will improve. During the beginning of this chapter I saw lots of comparisons to the k-first grade teachers struggle to find a phonics program.

The four major changes in a writing program listed on page 144 make sense. Through Reggie's work in a school district a group of teachers came up with this list. I feel the most critical is deciding who the audience would be for each piece of writing. Real audiences make for real writing.

The focus on revision and the ways to teach revisions is important. This is an area where I feel inadequate. I like the idea of doing minilessons for small groups or even one student. Along with revisions, the comments on spelling are helpful. With my students I use a 8x11 paper with lists of common words on one side and categories of words on the flip side. These categories include color words, number words, months, days of the week, food words, school words, etc. I also teach students how to use this spell checker when they are writing. This starts about January and my student use this support almost daily. I am going to try some of the other revision ideas in this chapter.

Chapter 6 Capitalize on the Reading-Writing Connection

Of course most teachers know and use the connection between reading and writing. This is not new information. From my experience as a Reading Recovery teacher I know some of the strategies and activities that Marie Clay used with young readers. The language experience story where the teacher helps the child write a passage and then uses this text for reading purposes is a great example of using reading and writing together. Cut up sentences can be used from this passage along with minilessons on conventions, organization, word choice, etc.

Reggie's reminder that extensive reading leads to better writing validates the time teachers take to share literature with their students. Often teachers feel pressured to teacher every minute, and that reading to the class is an extra activity. I agree that lots of input needs to happen before we can expect improved writing output from our students.

These are ideas that I want to write into my lesson plans and make part of my writing program

• Revisions on another day when it is easier to read the passage and not what you thought you wrote.
• do more informational writing
• math journals
• more time talking before writing
• do writing in guided reading groups
• do more illustrating and labeling

Chapter 5 Do More Shared Writing

Reggie creates a strong reason to try shared writing. She states that shared writing is the important scaffold that students need. It was helpful for me to see first grade examples of shared writing, and to realize it is good for all grade levels. The implementation plan on page 88 is exactly what I needed to see how to make this part of my classroom. Many of her ideas in this chapter were at the primary level. I have used cut up sentences and letter tiles, but I had not thought of them in connection with writing. The list of topics for shared writing at the end of the chapter was helpful. Now I need to think about writing and how it fits into my day. I have been modeling then asking my students to write in their journals. By reflecting on this chapter I will be making some changes in the way my students write. The first change is introducing shared writing to my students.

Chapter 4 Raise Your Expectations

As interesting as the beginning of the book was, this chapter started getting to the lesson part of writing. The entire chapter focused on expectations and results from those expectations. I agree with the statement that we need to be sticklers with any work that goes public. This is very hard in first grade. Some students still struggle with letter formation. A statement on page 56 stayed with me. In the middle of the page a paragragh ended with this statement.

It's amazing what high expectations and explicit teaching can do.

This is what I want to learn to do with my students. I want to have high expectations of all students and know how to explicitly teach writing. The statement about it's not okay to rely on scripted, one size fits all programs hit home. I think I am always looking for the perfect program and not wanting to take bits and pieces and create my own writing program. The first grade examples and teaching tips were wonderful. I am eager to try some of these. I think schoolwide expectations would create better writers. This would be a challenge to implement, but well worth the effort. I have a new goal for my students- to write a full page in twenty minutes in the spring. I also know I need to model and show my students what I expect. They have to see it and see a way to make it happen. I loved her example that one demonstration is rarely enough. There are so many things I have to been shown again and again how to complete. I will try to focus on the writer first and then the lessons. Until the student thinks of himself as a writer, no real improvement is possible. This is true in all subject areas!! Relationships matter.

Chapter 3 Share Your Writing Life

I have tried to do this some with my students. I have showed them letters from friends and lists I make for shopping, etc. This chapter was part of my change from a daily journal to a writing folder. It was interesting to read about whole staffs becoming engaged in writing as a staff development activity. This would involve some risk taking. I think I need to do more composing in front of my students and demonstrations of times I am not sure how the writing will turn out. The box on page 48 was very helpful in thinking about the writing I do with students. I sometimes worry about editing when the message is still developing. What a good reminder that the content is critical then work of revisions and editing.

Chapter 2

I have read all the chapters, now I am forcing myself to sit at the computer and post something. Reggie's reminder to start with a celebration is so true. My memories of writing in grade and high school include lots of red marks and no celebrations. I struggle as a teacher to balance the compliments with directions for improvement. I certainly do not want any of my students to experience a blood red paper that reminds them they can not write. Page 21 states "It takes so little to turn a student into a writer: a human connection, teacher modeling, supportive conversations before writing begins, an appreciation of the student's efforts, sincere affirmation, real writing for a purpose, and a reader that the student values." No wonder my students always want to share their writing. They need an audience! Starting in August my students wrote in a journal daily for about 20 minutes. I am now rethinking this. I have started a writing folder where they select some of their topics and let me know when they have finished a piece of writing. They have generated a list of topic after watching me do a demonstration of this. I have also started working with a smaller number in some shared or guided writing. I will let you know how this works. This week we will be reading and sharing some poems in class. I am curious if this will make my students interested in writing a poem. Her final sentence in this chapter is so true. I do have fun when a lesson goes well and I feel my students have learned something new.
"Teaching, supporting, and expecting kids to do their best is where the fun begins."

Chapter 1

I have enjoyed and learned many things from other works by Reggie Routman so I was eager to be included in this book study. Little did I know that I would have to be techie to participate. Hopefully, I can make it through. The subtitle on page 5 "Simplify Teaching and Increase Results and Enjoyment" certainly caught my attention. What teacher doesn't wish for this! I agree with her statement "If all of our students are to become successful writers, then from the day they enter school they-and we-must see the process as doable, manageable, and enjoyable." What a task! This chapter has lots of necessary back ground information to make writing great in any classroom at any grade. The learning model of demonstration, guided practice and independent work is true of all subjects, but looks very different in writing. I am hoping that using this book as a guide, I will enjoy teaching writing more and my students will blossom into the fantastic writers that Reggie highlights in her book. ok Time to get started.

My first blog

My first blog. Can you believe this? What a snowy day to come to ESSDACK.