Tuesday, October 23, 2007
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Perfect Summer Evening...
Let your thoughts flow freely....
Favorite Quotes from Wondrous Words
- “The definition of a poet is someone who notices and is enormously taken by things
- "When we bring (these) resources into our writing workshops, it is essential that we teach young writers how to read them like writers. READERS are interested in knowing Cynthia Rylant once had a dog very much like Mudge, the dog in her Henry and Mudge series. But WRITERS are more interested in knowing how she incorporates tiny snippets of things she remembers from her own life as details in her works of fiction. 'I might try that,' a writer thinks."
Blog Archive
Perfect Summer Evening...
Our Favorite Words
- bamboozle
- serendipity
- hope
- believe
- succulent
Favorite Books
- The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
Our Golden Brook..White Mountains Hike 2004
Let your thoughts flow freely....
12 comments:
I've been wondering about that final piece of writing we'll be doing in the class. There was mention of poetry, which is pretty much a nightmare for me. This year has been interesting for me because I launched writer's workshop with poetry. However, I am certainly not comfortable writing it myself. I tell my kids that and we work together to notice what good authors do. Then we try it out ourselves. I've written 3 poems now as a model (those are the first 3 poems written in probably 20 years!). Funny thing is, I'm starting to think about poetry. I was out for a run and there was such a rhythm to my steps that it made me think of the rhythm in poetry. I had these words keep repeating in my head. I wont call it a poem, but it was the seed of a poem. Never had that happen before! Then when I was doing a reading lesson with Cynthia Rylant today, I notice her story has rhythm to it and repetition, even though its not a poem. Sure flows nicely. I wonder what the process is like for her when she writes? I wonder what the process is like for poetry writers? Does it just come to them like a lightbulb turning on? How much revamping do they need to do?
Anyway. I think I'm starting to notice what good writers are doing. I figure, I can always use a mentor to help me FIGURE OUT what I'm supposed to already know about teaching writing. :)
Jenn…let me just say you all saw last class how great of a poet I am. I think I rhymed Pam with SPAM!!! Yikes! Are we reading the same syllabus? I didn’t see where it said that it needed to be poetry. So…are there any guidelines or are we able to complete a piece of writing on anything?
I wonder so many things. The words I wonder are bringing me in many other directions right now. Stay focused…stay focused…ok…I’m ready! Is there a right or wrong way to teach writing? Is it most important to get children to the point of enjoying writing before focusing on specifics? How do you motivate Tommy who thinks he has it all figured out even though his writing really stinks? How do you get the point of writing for pleasure as an adult…is it too late?
Last year, I was really excited about how peer editing looked in my classroom. The children were doing an amazing job. I had tried it several times before and it always seemed to fail. I started it late in the year last year and it worked. Will I become discouraged if I try it now? Is there a good time to start peer editing or as long as they have had a formal lesson all is GREAT!
Right now, at this moment, I am wondering what will I focus on next when I am teaching writing to my students? It can very overwhelming to think about the what next. In math, the program tells me what next. Then, I use my professional judgment to adjust or modify lessons based on my students’ needs. In reading, I use my repertoire of knowledge gathered from the many years of using basals as a core program. But I still have a hard time wrapping my arms around the structure of my writing sequence.
Other questions I have: How do I make the most of Tomasen’s visits? How will I build my own confidence as I writer? How can I find more time in my day to give the topic of writing the attention it needs?
I wonder how all of these famous amazing writers write. Are they sitting on the couch, get an idea, and boom Knuffle Bunny is written. Do they have some tiny idea and then toy with it for months (like me). I just read all this amazing literature and I wonder how they do it. I think of the funny things that happen in my life and they don't add up to those stories. I wonder how people who write professional books come up with a new way to tell what so many of us are already doing, of course they always make it sound more profound than I could.
I also am wondering about that final paper. I'm still hoping that I'll be sitting on the couch and then boom, my story will be written.
I also need to be honest here. At this point in my life I have many more wonders that do not pertain to writing than do and I wonder if I will find the time to discover more about me as a writer!
No need to worry! I said we are going to "try" using a mentor text to write poetry. I will also be guiding you through a very easy and fun strategy for how to get to that poetry. As I saw from watching the game the other night "Don't Worry, Be Manny!".
As far as your final piece, these next classes we will be really working more with our own writing.
Part of discovering ourselves as writer's has been to go to our past and discover what shaped us and formed us as both readers and writers. How do those experiences translate into you and your reading and writing today?
Remember, the easiest way to conquer a fear is to take it head on! Poetry can be "a nightmare" for some...just because of our experiences with it. Trust me that this will just be a way in and whether or not you choose that to be your final piece to share at our last class is completely up to you!! (My hunch is that many of you will be surprised!!)
I hope this helps to put some of your anxieties to rest!!
Hope you are getting lots of rest...hahaha. Go Sox!!
I am wondering again!!! How do you get students to come up with good topic and concluding sentences??? This continues to become a struggle for me. HELP! I would love to have you do a lesson in my room next week on topic an concluding sentences.
I would be happy to do a a lesson one or the other. Let's start with topic and see what we can do. Let's give them the time to really think about topic and find something they are invested in. Then we will assess and see where we need to go next. How does that sound? Often the writing lessons come out of the writing!! Starting with a topic is a great place. Look for a schedule to be e-mailed soon!
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Well, first I was wondering what I was supposed to be wondering about! So I didn't write anything because once I start wondering I can surely find a lot to wonder about. Sometimes, the things I wonder about seem to aggravate others- like why do some baseball players show their socks while others pull their pants over their shoes? I stopped a couple of years ago wondering these things out loud during a Red Sox game.
I also wonder how a child's mind works. I still find it facinating after so many years of teaching. I wonder how will I teach writing to a group of first graders when there are so many levels and abilities in my class? I wonder and revel in the "wonderment" that each year, everyone makes progress and if I helped a child feel like a writer that I don't need to wonder if I did my job! I wonder if my fellow classmates with be in awe of my discovery of a new word!
Okay, I am wondering about the final piece of writing too. I love poetry! Most of my work comes to me at moments when I don't have a pencil or paper-like in the bathroom or in the middle of the night so... I now keep supplies next to my bed and in my bathroom at home. I guess I just want to know what I will be writing about. I like to plan and draft and then reread. I also wonder how I am going to be able to share my work with others? I do not do that as much in the last few years unless it has to do with school. I was forced to come out of this shell during my time at Lesley and I ended up doing a whole book of reflective poetry!Now it has shut down again-it's safer that way. I also wonder if I ever will publish all my stories and poems that I have written. I wonder if you can help me with that too.
After reading everyone's comments, the first thing I'm wondering is what writing ideas Debi gets while in the bathroom! A close second on my list of wonders is- I wonder if my students are getting what they need from me when it comes to writing. Am I teaching the right things? Am I meeting with each student enough to help them become better writers? Last year, I felt like I did some pretty good things for writing and now I wonder what those things were! Why is my memory so bad- I'm only 26! I want my students to love writing time but I'm not sure if they do. I started the year focusing on poetry but now have come to a halt with that because I'm focusing on informational writing more because of Native Americans. How can I juggle multiple types of writing at the same time? Is that a good thing to do? To echo what Ronnie said, how do I figure out what to teach next? All of these questions perpetuate more questions but in the end my biggest question is, will I ever feel completely comfortable and successful at teaching writing?
I've been wondering about so many things...but I'll stick to those that pertain to writing.
I have a group of writers that really struggled last year with their prompts. I'm trying to make small changes to my approach to writing that I hope will make a big difference to them. I'm wondering if it's working! I see them getting excited about writing poetry (I'm actually getting excited too). Like Jen, poetry has always scared me. I'm finding that the more I throw myself out there, the more willing they are to do the same. I'm wondering if I can get that same enthusiasm and willing-to-risk-it-allness to transfer to personal narratives and fiction story writing. How will I make that transition out of poetry? How can I get the same buy in on an assigned prompt? Will you be able to see our progress and increased confidence as writers on that rubric? Oh, and if anyone knows how to solve world hunger, I'll take that answer as well!
I wondered why my students writing was so much better when they sat with me at the computer and read their recent writng to me as I typed it all down for them. They were actually taking ideas from my writers workshop and using them! They : used questions as a lead..They used interesting words to describe ...They had fun with onomompeia thanks to Thomasens fun lesson..They still have no concept of puncuation or spelling but because I took care of all of that "Hard Stuff" they were free to really think about their writing! What a difference it makes.I wonder if I always worked as their personal editor would their writng continue to improve ? Would I be failing as a teacher of spelling and grammer? I don't think so,first graders just can't do it all by November and as the teacher I need to continually think of ways to get their great thoughts out of their heads and onto the paper.
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