Okay; so I have certainly alluded to the “virtues” of vulnerability and humility in teaching and learning; more specifically as Dan Liston would argue, that vulnerability is an inescapable condition of teaching and learning. I fully acknowledge that we teachers should experience the joys and the delights, as well as the discomforts and tensions of vulnerability and uncertainties in our teaching. So, I am embracing this today by sharing a draft of a manuscript. Please know, this is only a draft! However, I do believe it may provide you with a more specific instructional and theoretical framework for writing informational poetry with your students. Enjoy : )Please see attached manuscript. Also, please use Writing Circle 3 to guide your discussion tonight.
Writing Informational Poetry: Transforming Ideas through Instructional Scaffolding
February 13, 2008 at 4:48 pm (Poetry)
How to Eat a Poem
February 13, 2008 at 3:52 pm (Poetry)
How to Eat a Poem
Don’t be polite.
Bite in.
Pick it up with your fingers and lick the
juice that may run down your chin.
It is ready and ripe now, wherever you are.
You do not need a knife or a fork or a spoon
or plate or napkin or tablecloth.
For there is no core
or stem
or rind
or pit
or seed
or skin
to throw away.
- Eve Merriam
the drum by Nikki Giovanni
February 13, 2008 at 3:40 pm (Poetry)
the drum
daddy says the world is
a drum tight and hard
and i told him
i’m gonna beat
out my own rhythm
by Nikki Giovanni
Burrows by Marilyn Singer
February 13, 2008 at 3:32 pm (Poetry)
Burrows
Out in the country I walk across towns
I'll never see:
mazy metropolises
under the earth
where rabbits hide from foxes
foxes hide from dogs
full-bellied snakes sleep snugly
worms work uncomplaining
Where what you see is nothing--
what counts is what you smell
or hear or feel
I try to tread softly:
a quiet giant
leaving only footprints
on the roof
Marilyn Singer
Chapter 10 Best Practices: Teaching Planning
February 4, 2008 at 4:22 pm (Best Practices)
In Ch. 10, Graham and Harris recommend several approaches/procedures for supporting and enhancing students’ planning behaviors: prewriting, inquiry, and strategy instruction. Think of each approach and try to make specific connections to your current writing instruction. How might you attempt to improve students’ planning behaviors in order to see more self-regulated writers in your classroom? What are your thoughts on Graham’s Self-Regulated Strategy Development Model (SRSD)? Comment on and make connections to how you currently incorporate any or all of these principles for teaching planning strategies. Think about and respond to any of the examples of the planning strategies for writing: an informative report, compare/contrast paper, persuasive paper and the more general planning strategies. Again, in your current writing instruction, think about the scaffolds you provide for teaching planning.
Best Practices in Writing Instruction
January 29, 2008 at 2:33 am (Best Practices)
By now you should have read chapters 1 & 10 from the book Best Practices in Writing Instruction. A few ideas to ponder and even blog…
- What does writing instruction look like in effective and engaging classrooms?
- In what kinds of writings do these students engage? The teachers? The school?
- What do these classrooms look like? What elements are present in your classroom?
- What does the phrase “motivating students to write” mean to you?
- If you are interested in something and care deeply about it, does that mean that it will also be interesting to write about?
- When you think of helping students experience writing as a tool for communication, do you also help them experience writing as a social activity–the notion that we share ideas, discuss them and even provide feedback about the ideas? (Sound familiar…blogging!) How can this happen in your classroom?
- Do you strive to make student writing tasks worthwhile, useful, collaborative, authentic, and interesting? If so, how might this happen in your classroom?
- Are there any discrepancies between the Graves’ article and Ch. 10?
Please take a look at the book below by Aimee Buckner. You should read Ch. 1 if you have not already. It is available by clicking on the link below. I look forward to seeing you Wednesday : )
Writer’s Notebooks
January 16, 2008 at 7:50 pm (Writer's Notebooks)
I am so pleased to be discussing journaling, writer’s notebooks and blogging in our class. One of my favorite books devoted specifically to Writer’s Notebooks is Notebook Know-How: Strategies for the Writer’s Notebook. Aimee Buckner is a 4th grade teacher who offers her own pragmatic advice for launching notebooks in the classroom. I highly recommend her book. Check out Ch. 1 Why Notebooks.
Award Winners Announced
January 16, 2008 at 3:27 am (Award Winners)
I love this time of year when the American Library Association (ALA)awards the literary winners! I am always thrilled when I have read the Newbery and Caldecott books before the much anticipated announcement! Time for Kids (TFK) has a well-written feature article that you may choose to share with children. Click on the links to read more. Even USA Today features Schlitz and Selznick…exciting times indeed!
Hello RE 5130!
January 14, 2008 at 6:53 pm (Welcome)
I am so excited to begin this blogging journey with you. I have attempted minimal work on my blog so that we may learn to blog together. I looked forward to exploring the world of language arts with you.
