K-5 Writing Units of Study Training

1. K-5 Writing Units of Study Training Session I September 6, 13, and 20, 2013 Presentation Link: http://nwgaresa.com/resources/

2. Introductory ActivityTable Talk about Writers Workshop(5 min.) Gravel Pig Trail Paved Freeway

4. Activity: 4 Corners • Instruction: Choose the corner that best fits your current belief. Discuss and select a person in the group to report out. • I believe that children need to learn to read first. • I believe that children need to learn to write first. • I believe there is not an empirical order to the acquisition of reading and writing. • This thinking is new to me so I am not sure I know what I believe and would like to know more.

5. Research Base • Writing to Read • Write First!

6. Recommendations • Have students write about the texts they read. • Teach students the writing skills and processes that go into creating text. • Increase how much students write. Funded by Carnegie Corporation Advancing Literacy Yellow HANDOUT

7. Writing First! by Peter Elbow (5-7 min.) • At your table, read the article and find “why’s” for the author’s belief statement that “children need to learn to write first.” • TTYP to compare your findings and prepare to share as a whole group. Yellow HANDOUT

9. Instructional Shifts: CCGPS (ELA) • Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction and informational texts • Reading and writing grounded in evidence from text • Regular practice with complex text and its academic vocabulary

10. Shift 1: Content and Nonfiction

11. Shift 2: Evidence (Reading and Writing)

12. Shift 3: Practice and Language

14. Navigating and Using the Series

15. Writing: Key Conceptual Understandings • Writing needs to be taught like any other basic skill, with explicit instruction and ample opportunity for practice. • Children deserve to write for real purposes, to write the kinds of texts that they see in the world and to write for an audience of readers. • Writers write to put meaning on a page. Children invest themselves in their writing when they choose topics that are important to them. Kit Source: A Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop Chapter 3 – p. 23

16. Writing:Key Conceptual Understandings • Children deserve to be explicitly taught how to write. • Children deserve the opportunity and instruction to cycle through the writing process. • To write well, children need opportunities to read and to hear texts read, and to read as writers. • Children need clear goals and frequent feedback.

17. Understandings…Digging Deeper • Teach the WRITER, not the WRITING. • Study and emulate REAL writers. • Teach kids to EXPLODE the moment. • Keep multiple pieces of writing “in progress” (flash drafts). • Don’t sweat the small stuff.

18. Understandings…Digging Deeper • Start each year with Narrative Writing. • Teach students the power of VOLUME and INDEPENDENCE. • Write with students. • Write for REAL purposes. • Don’t expect significant impact unless writing is a SCHOOLWIDE PRIORITY.

19. Whole Group Discussion What do you think?

20. Reflection Activity: Take a few…(5 min.) • Create a timeline of memorable points from your life…asa WRITER! • Using phrases or key words, place the + points above the line and – points below the line.

21. Now write…(5 min.) • Using your timeline, choose one + or - point from your timeline and begin a personal narrative piece of writing. • Quick Talk with a Partner – Write – Pair/Share • EXPLODE the moment!

23. Approaches to Writing Activity • Instructions: Read about the three approaches listed below. Then remove graphic organizer from handout (last page) and do individually for a “turn and talk partner” discussion at tables. Volunteers to share out. • “free to be me” approach • “assigned task” approach • “demonstrate, scaffold, release to write” approach Pink HANDOUT

24. Emphasis • Opportunities for differentiation in the “demonstrate, scaffold, release to write” approach! • Helps students develop repertoire of skills for each stage of the writing process • Demonstrate process writers use depending on type of writing studied • Scaffold students to practice steps in the process • Release students for independently using repertoire of strategies by writing without support

25. The Writing Process(3-5 min.) • TTYP and describe YOUR ideas of the writing process. • Jot notes as your partner describes.

26. The Writing Process (K-2) • Rehearsal • Drafting • Revising • Further Revision • Editing • Publishing • Celebrating Lavender HANDOUT

27. The Writing Process (3-5) • Rehearsal/Prewriting • Drafting • Revision • Editing • Publishing • Celebrating Kit Source: A Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop Chapter 4 – pp. 32-37

28. Brainstorming and The Writing Process(K-2) • Collection • Gathering • Sketching (like DaVinci)

29. Rehearsal and The Writing Process • Approach varies by genre and focus: • Literary (read with questions in mind) • Narrative (think of a person, place, or thing) • Teach strategies for generating ideas. • Weigh possible structures. • Narrative: mentally replay event and capture initial action or dialogue • Informational: tour guide of topics with overview to help readers anticipate where tour will lead • With experience, what students do during revision become recycled into rehearsal.

30. Drafting and The Writing Process • Is an “early” product. • Is less strategic. • Is “playing in clay, not inscribing in marble.” • Impacts powerful writing when “full of one’s subject and keeping one’s eye on that subject.” • Is a trial effort and when written quickly, fosters a writer’s willingness to revise.

31. Revision and The Writing Process • Is an “improved” product. • Means to “resee and reconsider” through various lenses. • Look at writer’s goals. • Look for qualities (from studying a mentor text) brought into writing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBKqgOvmJ8w Revision Video Link:

32. Editing and The Writing Process • Is a “final” product. • Is done along the way via minilessons, mid-workshop teachings, share sessions, and homework assignments.

33. Publishing and The Writing Process • Calls for decision making by teacher • Am I a copy editor making all corrections? • PRO: easier for others to read • CON: not a reflection on writer’s independence • Reminder: Put “next-to-final draft” in portfolio

34. Celebrating and The Writing Process • Make public by spotlighting • Gallery Walk • Small Group Fridays • Use precise and specific compliments Can you think of other examples?

35. The Writing Cycle “I want children to plan and draft their writing, anticipating the day they’ll revise it and, better yet, anticipating the day they’ll send the text out into the world. …I look for indications that the version of the writing process that I imagine for them matches what they can do with only a little support. I want to see that children are productive, engaged, and purposeful throughout the entire process.” Lucy Calkins A Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop, Intermediate Grades, p. 37

36. Learning Progressions Refer to pp. 178-181 in Writing Pathways (Grades K-5) from your kit as you “turn and talk” to a partner about this question: How are learning progressions different from scope and sequence documents? Also a White HANDOUT

37. Learning Progressions Activity • Instructions: At your table, read the sample student writing and use the Narrative Learning Progression Chart (handout or in Writing Pathways’ book) to assess the student’s writing development. • Take notes to share with your table partners. Use Sample Student Writing Handout and Refer to Learning Progression Chart

38. Why learning progressions? “What students are expected to know and be able to do at a given grade and content area describes learning horizontally. Learning progressions, on the other hand, describe learning vertically and show a sequence along which students can move from beginning learner to advanced learner. Consequently, student learning is viewed as a progression along a path that connects knowledge, concepts, and skills or the big ideas—the essence of concepts/processes.” Bellwood-Antis School District Bellwood, PA http://www.blwd.k12.pa.us/district_info/curriculum/Shared%20Documents/SAS%20Resources/SAS%20Learning%20Progressions_6-02-10%20(2).docx.

39. As compared to Scope and Sequence Scope is defined as “a clearly stated set of K-12 learning objectives that reflects local, state, and national expectations. Sequence is the order in which those objectives are taught.” (Nichols, Shidaker, Johnson, & Singer, 2006) Often scope and sequence will provide information as to what students should master at each grade for a given content area; however, scope and sequence charts do not always provide information designed to help teachers understand where students are in their learning relative to the curricular aim or goal. In addition scope and sequence charts may not always be organized in such a way that teachers can clearly visualize the intersections along the road to learning.

40. LP Continued . . . Take Home • Information (pp. 124-127) • Opinion(pp. 82-85) • Video Clip: Learning Progressions and Informational Writing http://vimeo.com/55951746 Kit Source: Writing Pathways (Grades K-5), Performance Assessments and Learning Progressions

41. LUNCH

43. Provisioning a Writing Workshop • Dedicated Writing Time • Room Arrangements • Meeting Area • Work Areas • Writing Center • Materials • Writing-in-Progress Folders and Papers • Writing Utensils and tools • Chart Paper, Marker Pens, and Easel • Exemplar Texts • Word Walls, Dictionaries, and Thesauruses • Writing Partners • Writers Notebook (Teacher and Students)

44. Be a Ski Instructor! Importance of the Teacher’s WNB Let the children see you as an author as well. * DOING * Enthusiasm * Language (failure/strengths) * Tools Writing Workshop The Essential Guide By Fletcher & Portalupi page 4

46. The Architecture of the MiniLesson “…intervals (10 minutes long) for explicit, brief instruction in skills and strategies that then become part of a writer’s ongoing repertoire to be drawn on as needed.” (Guide, Chapter 7, p. 60-61) • Connection • Teaching • Active Engagement • Link

47. Connection (The MiniLesson) • Rally the students for the lesson. • Recruit students to recall work that they have done prior to this lesson, which provides context for the lesson • Share tiny excerpts of student work and vignettes from working with students • Share a story… (Guide p. 62) • End with a CLEAR Teaching Point • “what” (content) and “how” (strategy) • Example: Today we are going to talk about… • Apply cautionary advice (p. 63) • Avoid barrage of questions to student5s • Avoid assigning (i.e., “Today I want you to do…”)

48. Teaching (The MiniLesson) • Demonstration • Sequentially structured like a “how to text” or “step-by-step process” • “Write/Think” in real time • Used in 80% of minilessons • Guided Practice • Walk through a process so coaching allows students to do same without support • Explanation/Example • State strategy and show example • Use Mentor Texts/Read Alouds • Inquiry • Starts with question • Use in studying example of good work • Use in contrasting effective and ineffective examples

49. Active Engagement (The MiniLesson) • Must be 100% • Give students chance to practice what’s taught with “off you go” prompt • Be specific about what students are trying out • Make sure prompts are simple: • What happened first? • What do you see? • Encourage students to do both (speak and listen) in “turn and talk” • Avoid predictable problems: • Teacher: the minilesson becomes a maxilesson • Student: the real work doesn’t get done

50. Link (The MiniLesson) • Is shortest part • Reiterates teaching point • Links to previous learning • Refers students to their toolkit of strategies (use anchor chart) • Time to release students with “off you go”