Step Up To Writing Training 2 Elementary and Secondary Teachers

1. Step Up To WritingTraining 2 Elementary and Secondary Teachers October 13, 2009 Weber School District Lil Sedgwick and Kathy DeVries, Step Up Trainers ksedgwick@weber.k12.ut.us kdevries@weber.k12.ut.us

2. Today’s Agenda • Problem Solving • Review • Organization and Paragraph Writing • Writing Process • Organization • Topic Sentences, Yellows, Reds • Demonstration Lesson-with Informal Outlines and Framed Paragraphs • Make and Take

3. So….How’s it going? • Celebrations • What have you tried? • What do you still have questions about?

4. 12 Writing Process Strategies to Greatly Enhance Student Writing

5. The Writing Process Student Outcomes: • Recognize the steps in the process • Understand the key elements of expository writing • Create informal outlines of various lengths with fluency

6. Strategy One: Teaching the “Writing Process” • This strategy defines and introduces each step in the process • Teach the process • Use the process as a prompt or reference as students write

7. The Process for Step Up to Writing 1) Prewrite 2) Plan 6) Write Final Copy 7) Proof Read 8) Share and/or Publish

8. Prewriting • Activities to help a person learn about, think about, and narrow topic. • Take a field trip • Watch a film • Read to gather info • Brainstorm, and • Make a cognitive map (Web, KWL)

9. Planning • How writers organize their thoughts and ideas • “Planning gives form to good intentions” • T = Charts • Post Its Notes • Blocking Out • Informal Outline templates for all levels

10. Drafting • Use the plan to make a draft copy • Encourage students to do more than one draft—this is what “good writers” do

11. Revising • Changing words, sentences, and paragraphs to make them better • Adding and taking away parts that don’t make sense

12. Editing • Fixing mistakes • Checking the common conventions

13. Editing with CUPS Strategy C U P S Capitalization Usage Punctuation Spelling Binder 7-4 and 7-5

14. Writing the Final Copy • Consider the “Neat Paper Rules”

15. Heading Title Margins Indent Cursive Pencils and Pen Front side of the paper Edit Proofread My best Writing the Final Draft: “Neat Paper Rules” B (7-2)

16. Proofreading • Checking the paper over one more time.

17. Share and/or Publishing • What are some ways to accomplish this? Document Camera Slides

18. Strategy Two: Color-Coding and the 5 Elements • This strategy introduces students to the Traffic Light colors, and the elements used in all forms of expository writing

19. Go! Write a topic sentence. Slow Down! Give a reason, detail, or fact. Use a transition. Stop! Explain. Give an example. Go Back! Remind the reader of your topic. 2-11, PS-69, CR-9

20. Using Colors to Teach Organization • Topic Sentence: • Green means “go.” • Green asks the writer to decide —“What am I going to prove?”“What am I going to explain?”“What information will I share?” 2-11

21. Using Colors to Teach Organization Reasons/Details/Facts: • Yellow means “slow down.” • Introduce key concepts to support the topic sentence. 2-11

22. Using Colors to Teach Organization Explain: • Red means “stop and explain.” • Present evidence. • Provide explanation and examples. 2-11

23. Using Colors to Teach Organization Conclusion: • Green means “go back to your topic.” • Restate the topic and the position. • Do not introduce new information. • Use synonyms and leave your reader with something to remember. 2-11

24. Ways to Teach Colors • Look for and highlight colors in reading activities • Matching activities • Your ideas-----

25. Organization is the key. Topic sentences and thesis statements are the heart. Transitions are the glue. Examples, evidence, and explanations are the meat. Conclusions tie it all together. The Five Elements of Expository Writing Section 2

26. The Table Analogy

27. The Table Analogy

28. The Table Analogy Document Camera Slides

29. Strategy Three: Planning with an Informal Outline • Teach this strategy to help students learn to plan a topic quickly and to visualize the parts of their paragraphs before they begin writing Document Camera Slides

30. Color-Coding the Informal Outline and Paragraph • Serves as a prompt in writing • Serves as a means for analyzing work

31. Color Coding Activity

32. Keeping Clean Creatures of all sizes find ways to keep themselves clean.Large animals like elephants head to rivers to cool off and clean up. After bathing in the cool water the elephant powders itself. Elephants use dust as powder to keep the bugs form biting. Rabbits also take time to clean. They often lick their ears and scrub them to keep them clean. Finally, little creatures like birds enjoy bathing in puddles. When they finish, they comb their feathers. This is called preening. Bath time, it seems, isn’t just for you and me. 2-46 (2.70)

33. Strategy Four: Accordion Paragraphs • This strategy helps students determine the best length for a clear and effective paragraph • Length is dependent upon: • Topic • Purpose • Audience • Star Ideas/ Yellows, and • Elaborations/ Reds

34. Mercer and Mayer Books

35. Avoiding 5 Sentence Paragraphs • Can be too short to include enough details to make the paragraph interesting • Encourage students to include the E’s

36. Great Expository Paragraphs Examples, evidence, and explanations are the meat. 2.69

37. Information to back up your reasons, details, or facts. Examples Events Experiences Explanations Expert opinions Elaborations Effective illustrations Evidence Everyday life E’s support your topic sentence. E’s make your writing interesting and believable. E’s educate the reader. Binder 2-46 Document Camera Slides

38. Strategy Five: Determining Key/ Star Ideas with the Thinking Game • Writers sometimes have problems deciding on the big ideas they want to write about. This strategy will help students practice thinking about their topics before creating their informal outlines

39. The Thinking Game • Give students a topic. Have students give you as many key/ star ideas as they can, or ask for a specific number • Keep the game oral to save time or have them write their ideas • Have students share and learn from each other • Great for recapping today’s lesson • Students can practice individually or in small groups • Start, initially, with topics they have studied or are very familiar—sports, food, toys, music, and so on

40. Additional Ideas for the Thinking Game • This is a good activity for review of content-area material. i.e. at the end of a math lesson, have students give three key/ star ideas to show they understand percentages • Have students develop informal outlines and color-code them. If time permits, have them write a paragraph based on their informal outline.

41. Let's Play the "Thinking Game" “The topic is _______ and I need ________ key/ star ideas.”

42. Strategy Six: The Organization Game • The Organization Game teaches students to think in categories and to sort information

43. Activity Time: Let's Get Organized Document Camera Slides

44. Strategy Seven; Informal Outlines of Various Lengths • Writers sometimes may think that every paragraph should have a set number of key/ star ideas. • Teach this strategy to help students learn to write informal outlines of different lengths, as appropriate for their topic. • Yellows are dependent on: • Topic, Assignment, and time available to write

45. Topic = Plymouth Colony R/D/F Hardships e Long winter e No food R/D/F First Thanksgiving e Invited Indians B 2-9

46. Topic = Plymouth Colony • R/D/F Mayflower • e Arrived 1620 • R/D/F William Bradford • e Governor • e Helped write Mayflower Compact

47. Topic = Plymouth Colony R/D/F Difficult trip across Atlantic e Dangerous waters e One ship turned back e Poor living conditions R/D/F Difficult winter e Arrived in wrong location e Arrived too late to plant garden e Arrived too late to build homes R/D/F Befriended by Indians e Invited to first Thanksgiving Document Camera Slides

48. Transitions are the glue for the key ideas. Strategy Eight: Teach Students to Use Smooth Transitions 2-39

49. Expository ParagraphsNeed Transitions Transitions: Introduce new key ideas Connect reasons, details, or facts Help the writer and the reader 2-39 (2.61)

50. (First) Get organized (Second) Get a mentor Topic = Advice to a new teacher First, a new teacher should get organized. Second, a new teacher should get a mentor.