Goals for the Day

1. Goals for the Day • Review the lenses and 5 Processes • Focus: Process #2 Composing Text • Get started on Final Project • College Credit

2. Share your reflection with someone you don’t normally work with… • Choose a partner to share your paper with-- either the reflection of what you read or your try-out strategy. • Person A will read, Person B will respond. Then Person B will read their paper and Person A will respond. • Pair to Quads

3. What is the #1 Predictor of Student Success?

4. I Have Who Has….

5. Please Do Now Write 7 lines –Compare a traditional classroom to a student-centered classroom.

6. Writing – Are we doing the write stuff?

7. For you consideration… • Most students don’t have models for writing at home. • Why is it important for students to write? • How much should they write? How often? About what?

8. What are your concerns about students’ writing… • What are we doing right, to encourage them to be writers? • What are we doing wrong, that inhibits their development as writers?

9. What does writing look like in your classroom? • What do students write about? • When do they write/how often? • How do they write? • Who reads it? Ginotti PIIC/PLN

10. Students need… • Opportunities to write in many environments – the more they write the better they learn, they need 9-12 opportunities/day – this is more important than length of writing! • Need to compose with paper/pencil – composing at a keyboard is a separate skill • A purpose beyond a grade – by grade 9, both boys and girls have a negative attitude about writing

11. Choice in topic and form • Opportunities to experiment with voice and audience (RAFT) • Consistent structure or framework – see it, say it, write it • Appropriate, contextual instruction • Purposeful feedback (within 1-2 days) • They must make the revisions – we must resist overgrading!

12. Some Interesting Facts • Less than 2% of HS students will major in English in college. • Less than 1% of HS students will enroll in journalism or professional writing related majors in college. Elmore and Abelman, “When Opportunity Knocks…” CPRE, 1999. Ginotti PIIC/PLN

13. Some Interesting Facts • Writing is identified as #2 on the list of academic predictors for college success. • Professors cite the lack of habit, voice, passion, and completeness as the most pronounced deficiencies in college freshmen. Higher Education Research Institute, “Report on Academic Readiness,” 2008 Ginotti PIIC/PLN

14. Some Interesting Facts • Writing skills are identified as a core requirement of more than 95% of the 25 top paying jobs in America. • Writing skills are identified as a core component of 75% of the top job opportunities for HS graduates entering the job market . Sauter, “High Skills, High Pay…” ACT Information Brief, 2007 Ginotti PIIC/PLN

15. What Stands Out for You? • What are the implications of this research for elementary and middle school educators? • Does this challenge any long-held beliefs? Please discuss. Ginotti PIIC/PLN

16. Why is Writing So Important? • Promotes critical thinking skills • Promotes learning: • Connections to prior knowledge • Comprehension • Deeper understanding • Retention • Promotes vocabulary development • Promotes effective communication skills • Promotes effective assessment – “a window to learning” Brown, Collins, Duguids, The Culture of Learning, 1999 Ginotti PIIC/PLN

17. What Will Make a Difference? • Habit • Fluency • Authenticity • Variety • Focused Practice • Feedback Writing Next, Carnegie Commission, 2007. Ginotti PIIC/PLN

18. Why The Collins Writing Program? • Provides a structure consistent with the recommendations of the Writing Next Report. • Consistent with NAEP’s recommendations regarding improving writing achievement: • Frequent, informal writing opportunities to think, explore, and observe. • Frequent writing in all content areas. • Opportunities to write in a variety of formats. • Focused, consistent feedback. • Contextual teaching of writing skills. Ginotti PIIC/PLN

19. How Does Collins Do It? • Structure: Five Types of Writing • Type One: Capture Ideas • Type Two: Writing to Learn • Type Three: Focused Practice • Type Four: Finished Product • Type Five: Publishable Work Ginotti PIIC/PLN

20. How Does Collins Do It? • Content: Creating Great Assignments • Assignment • Writer’s Role • Audience • Purpose • Format • Focus Correction Areas (FCAs) • Process Ginotti PIIC/PLN

21. How Does Collins Do It? • Consistency:Developing Focus Correction Areas Vertical Articulation 12-K • Organization:Writing Folders Ginotti PIIC/PLN

22. Collins’ Writing • Type 1 – • Use to capture ideas • No right or wrong • No revision/one draft • Best if done 8 to 10 times a day • Accountable for length and staying on topic only • May need to be “timed” • Benefits: • Builds habit • Uses language • Rewards success

23. Collins’ Writing • Type 2 • Purpose of writing to learn • Responses are an explanation that helps cement understanding • Best if done 4 to 6 times per day • Accountable for content only • Usually are soft-timed • Evaluate with 4 point scale • Benefits: • Improves quality of learning while providing opportunities to write • They can self correct

24. Let’s try a Type Two Writing… • Describe one of the processes of learning from Plainer Truths and write 2 ways you have connected it to your teaching.

25. Collins’ Writing • Type 3 • Edit for FCAs – Focused Correction Areas • This type is the most authentic academic writing experience • Best preparation for testing situations • Pick 3 FCAs at most and keep those until mastery is evident • Model first and be prepared to differentiate • Can be done in class or for homework • Benefits: • Has the most impact on writing • Requires less time on your part for grading

26. Let’s try a Type 3…Cocktail Party Each participant gets a napkin. Round 1—Talk about a book you have read or a movie you have recently seen. Round 2—Tell about a favorite holiday memory. Round 3—Tell about a school memory.

27. Collins’ 4 and 5 Type 4 – Type 3 writing and has been read out loud and critiqued by another (2 drafts) Type 5 – Publishable work based on multiple drafts; represents real-world standards

28. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE… • Work in 2 groups. • Count off by 2’s • Group 1—Read It, Group 2—See It • Chart your noticings about the text/illustrations

29. Big Ideas/Wrap-Up • Complexity of Teaching • Assignment—2 Wiki responses/try-out , Plainer Truths, Bulkpack article • Kathy Genzano will be back for the next session • Study Table—Nov. 21; Bring materials to work on your your project.