Writers in Action

1. Writers in Action

2. Writers in Action • Focus on writing -developing the basics of good writing in your classroom • Awareness workshop was held one year ago at our Inservice Day at Hebbville

3. Supporting the Young Writer with Meaningful Instruction

4. The Student As A Writer Supporting the Young Writer with Meaningful Instruction

5. The Student As A Writer • Know your students • Assessment should inform your instruction for students

6. The Student As A Writer Supporting the Young Writer with Meaningful Instruction The Stages of Writing Development

7. The Stages of Writing Development • Emergent writers • Purposeful marks and scribbles • Need author to understand • Early Writers • Write one or more sentences, single idea, some conventionally spelled words • Shows awareness

8. Stages Continued • Transitional Writers • Simple sentence structure • Write longer texts, several ideas • Mostly conventional spelling and punctuation • Inconsistent control of writing • Fluent Writers • Conventional spelling • Variety of formats and complex sentences • Write a variety of genre, vary length of texts

9. The Student As A Writer Supporting the Young Writer with Meaningful Instruction The Stages of Writing Development Genre of Writing

10. Genre of Writing • Focus on a variety of genre • Expose students to a variety of writing forms

11. Resources • English Language Arts Guide • Writers in Action Student Handbook • Guiding Readers and Writers 3-6 by Fountas and Pinnell • Writers in Action Teacher Resource • Grade 5- Write Traits • Lessons That Change Writers by Nancie Atwell

12. “What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.”--Samuel Johnson

13. Write Traits • Kits designed to support student writing. • Kits all have similarities in layout and design. • Looking at the Grade Five Kit • All grade 5 classrooms to receive a kit on Friday afternoon.

14. 1) Ideas 2) Organization 3) Voice 4) Word choice 5) Sentence fluency 6) Conventions “Six trait writing is based on the premise that students who become strong self- assessors become better writers and revisers.” (Write Traits) TraitRefers to a characteristic or quality that defines writing

15. Ideas • Narrow the topic • Strong main idea • Stay focused • Interesting details

16. Organization • Strong lead • Details in order • Strong ending

17. Voice • Sound like you, no one else. • Don’t be boring. • Connect with your audience.

18. Word Choice • Avoid tired words like: nice, good, fun, stuff, you know, really, very. • Use strong verbs. • Use synonyms and antonyms to enhance meaning. • Use sensory words. • Eliminate wordiness.

19. Sentence Fluency • Vary the length of sentences • Vary sentence beginnings • Check for smoothness-words left out, words repeated too many times?

20. Conventions • Check spelling. • Check punctuation-read out loud, slowly with expression. • Use a handbook to look up information you’re not sure of. • Always check it out!

21. Rubric-6 pt. scale • 1,2,3 needs serious revision • 4,5,6 generally strong • 3- indicates midrange performance with a few more weaknesses than strengths • 4- indicates midrange performance with a few more strengths than weaknesses

22. Using Traits • Teach your students to be observant. • Use rubrics to assess writing and guide in revision. • Students should practice talking and thinking like writers. • Students need to understand writing is a process involving multiple steps and time. • Insist on quality not quantity writing.

23. The Writing Process • Prewriting: find topic, narrow it and plan • Drafting: ideas, leads, details, shaping • Revising: focus, clarity, strengthen • Editing: fine-tune • Publishing: sharing finished work

24. “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”--Benjamin Franklin