The first advice given by Routman in this weeks reading is to integrate basic writing skills while teaching. I’ll admit, when I first started to read that chapter I was skeptical because I had a hard time seeing how students would begin writing without knowing basic skills. As I continued to read Routman’s idea became much more clear to me. The example that stuck out most to me was to teach paragraphs with a long piece of writing that a student has already written. This makes complete sense to me since the student would be able to see many of their ideas being grouped into different paragraphs rather than just one. I also think that using a piece of their own writing to help teach them would be effective since it gives them ownership. I wonder if it would be just as effective to do the “I-do, you-do, we-do” method with this too. For me, teaching in this way may be difficult at first since I myself learned with the basic skills first, therefore, it may be more natural for me to try to teach basic skills first without integrating. Also, this may be difficult if a curriculum requires that basic skills be taught in a certain way.
Routman also talks about teaching basic skills through teacher demonstrations that focuses on why. During the demonstration the teacher should reread work to be sure it is the way he/she intends, think aloud, and not be content with the first draft. To me this would really help students learn the process of writing and how good writers think. Routman also emphasizes explaining why one lead is better than another when writing. While I agree with each of these things I feel that I might have a difficult time teaching this way at first. This is because I am not always confident about my writing and feel that I am not a very creative writer. I would need to spend time finessing my own writing and editing skills in order to teach writing in this way. I could integrate technology into this by using the promethium board to edit my paper in front of students.
Next, Routman emphasizes the need for daily writing. This is something I have seen my own mentor teacher really try to follow. Each of the students has their own writing binder with tabs for a writing tracker, drafts, ideas, and resources and they add to them almost every day. I love that these binders allow for students to be organized about their writing, which I think would only help them improve their writing process. This is something I definitely feel confident about doing in my own classroom. I think that writing everyday would really benefit my students and I look forward to seeing how my students right now benefit from writing each day as the year progresses. It would be fun to even create a writing journal on the computer. Students could use a flash drive to store their very own writing binder that can be easily transported and worked on else where.
Finally, Routman suggests conferencing with students. This is something that my MT has talked a lot about doing, but I haven’t had a chance to see her do it yet. I am really interesting in seeing how she conferences and what different strategies she chooses to focus on and why. I think that this would really benefit me when it comes time for me to do my own conferencing with students. Right now I think that would be confident conferencing with students as long as I had a specific strategy to focus on. I worry that I might try to focus too much on grammar and punctuation, however, since I’m not entirely sure what is expected of a fifth grader’s writing. With conferencing there can be a dilemma of time, this has been the problem for my MT. I really like Routman’s suggestion to to a whole-class share for a formal conference. Students can learn from each other in this way and even contribute themselves. This is a great way to help one student while also helping the rest of the class.
After reading through Routman's chapters I found it very meaningful when he states that "students can perform a skill in isolation, but they don't apply it in the course of daily reading and writing". He explained this in relation to a spelling test, they could easily perform well on the spelling test, but when that test is over they quickly forget the spelling of the word and will incorrectly spell it in writing. There needs to be more emphasis on the integrating of these developmental skills in actually reading and writing settings. That's why I really liked the method of the "I do, We do, You do".
ReplyDeleteUsing this gradual release method you may be teaching the skill in isolation at first, but it allows for the students to have the opportunity to practice the specific skill with the teacher and then integrate it into their own writing and reading. I think that this closes the gap between learning basic skills in isolation and then applying the skill being learned. I have had some practice with this skill in my classroom because my teacher uses it frequently with our reader's and writer's workshop program.
Recently the students have been working on producing narratives and storytelling. They first chose and item that reminded them of a memory and then told the story to multiple other students, after my MT had modeled how to tell a good story. After she modeled this skill they had an opportunity to tell their stories. After both of these events she pulled them back together and asked them what they thought made it a good story (vivid details, suspense, etc) and they created a chart of these answers. She then sent them out to begin their drafts.
This model of gradual release was very effective because I frequently saw the students revising their introductions and adding details where they would have not before.
The memory narrative activity also follows Routman's advice to teach students to choose worthwhile topics. During this assignment they had the opportunity to write about something that was special to them, a specific memory. This also led to shared writing and helping the students to develop their ability to write for a specific audience; all of the skills that Routman describes.
Routman talks about the importance of conferencing with students. This is something that my teacher does very well. Since it is still early in the year she has not had the opportunity to meet individually with students about writing, but there have been numerous reading conferences. At this point in the writing process she relies on the whole-class share as her formal conference. This is a great strategy to help all of the students to learn the different strategies to improve their writing.
I definitely agree with Routman when he said that students can perform a skill in isolation, but not in daily reading and writing. From talking to my mentor teachers and the other fifth grade teachers at my school, I have come to the conclusion that spelling tests are not the most ideal way to teach vocabulary and grammar. None of the fifth grade teachers in my building give weekly spelling tests. They explained to me that the reason they do not give spelling tests is because it tests memorization rather than understanding of the words.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the gradual release method for teaching writing and reading. In my classroom, we practice writing skills with the students on the projector. We have been scaffolding them to write longer, more detailed responses to what they are learning. We are also modeling comprehension strategies through our Making Meaning program. All of these techniques and strategies seem to make sense based on what Routman says about teaching basic skills and integrating them in writing.
Routman also talks about the importance of conferencing with students. My mentor teacher has been talking about this a lot with reader's and writer's workshop. I have not had a chance to witness any conferences yet since we have been prepping for MEAP and learning start of the year procedures. Once the year is more constant, we will be conferencing with students often about their work.