Writing Process

1. Writing Process Plan for Daily Writing

2. Talking Points Key Research Findings Writing Process Lesson Framework for Writing Instruction Writing Workshop Break Writing Conferences- Observe RegieRoutman conduct a Writing conference Writing Aloud Helpful Strategies and timesavers to better organize your instruction for daily writing! Try it and Apply it!

3. “Writing well is not just an option for young people – it is a necessity. Along with reading comprehension, writing is a predictor of academic success and a basic requirement for participation in civic and life and a global economy… Because the definition of literacy includes both reading and writing skills, poor writing proficiency should be recognized as part of this national literacy crisis.” (Graham & Perin, 2007)

4. Read and complete the worksheet. In small groups discuss your responses. Each group will choose a spokesperson to share their ideas. Agree – Disagree Activity

5. Key Research Findings • Create predictable writing routines. • Predictable routines make it easier for students to write. (Atwell 1998; Routman 2000a) • Provide time for extensive reading and writing. • Students need to read and write a lot, in all genres; this need is critical for our culturally and linguistically diverse students. (Ball and Farr 2003; Allington 2001) • Provide support through conferences. • One-on-one writing conferences with students can be very effective for assisting learners to improve their writing (Graves 1994; Calkins 1994; Harwayne 2001)

6. Key Research Findings cont.. • Emphasize writing as a process. • Student achievement in writing is greater when teaching approaches emphasize writing as a process rather than as a product. (Graves 1983; Hillocks 1984; Cotton 2002) • Writers need demonstrations (teacher writing, shared writing, student writing, published authors) along with opportunities to talk about and try out various forms with sufficient time for practice, guidance, and feedback. (Graves 1994; Atwell 1998; Calkins 1994; Holdaway 1979; Routman 1994, 2000a)

7. Key Research Findings cont… • Write every day. • Students need to write every day for varied purposes and audiences to become fluent, competent writers. (Graves 2004: Fletcher 1993; Murray 1989) • Develop professional knowledge. • Teachers’ knowledge of and comfort with how to teach writing greatly impacts students’ writing progress, competency, and writing enjoyment. Ongoing professional conversations can help teachers become more knowledgeable. (Simmons and Carroll 2003)

8. Writing Process 1. Prewriting 2. Writing 3. Revising 4. Editing 5. Publishing • The writing process involves teaching students to write in a variety of genres, encouraging creativity, and incorporating writing conventions. This process can be used in all areas of the curriculum and provides an excellent way to connect instruction with core standards. Here is the What! Now let’s discuss the How!

9. Prewriting • This step involves brainstorming, considering purpose and goals for writing, using graphic organizers to connect ideas, and designing a coherent structure for a writing piece. • Prewriting is necessary to produce effective writing but need not be time consuming or laborious- or even written down.

10. Sources of Inspiration- How do I get ideas in the first place? • Magazines/ newspapers/periodicals/ CD-ROM • Conduct an interview based on your topic • Media- radio, tv, internet • Experiences • Film-movies and documentaries • Music • Visual art-observing or creating • Memories • Discussion and brainstorming • Responding to literature • Research • Role playing • Imagination • Personal interest inventories • Class interest inventory • Dreams

11. Prewriting Tools and Strategies- What ways can I prewrite? • Free writing • Journalling • Image streaming (transplant yourself to another place or time and describe from a first person point of view • Lists • Visualization • Brainstorming- individually or as a group • Webbing/mapping/ clustering • Graphic organizers • Topic or word chart • Graphic Organizers • Five senses chart- Brainstorm the five sense in a chart • Looping • Outlining

12. Think Sheets

13. Writing • Have students work independently at this stage. • Conference with students individually as they write, offering praise and suggestions while observing areas with which students might be struggling and which might warrant separate conference time or mini-lessons. • Provide the students with sustained writing time: 20-30 minutes

14. Tips for students when transitioning from Prewriting to Writing • Be selective in the ideas that you include. You don’t have to include everything that was in your prewriting! Pick your best ideas. Make sure they relate to each other and your topic. • Write! Write! Write! Don’t stop once you start writing. Revising and editing can come later. Just let the ideas flow! • When YOU feel that you have completed your ideas, you are then ready to go to the next stage. • Hold it! Before going to the next stage, make sure you have enough content to work with. If you feel that you are lacking content, go back to your prewriting for more ideas and details.

15. Revise To See Again • Show students how to revise specific aspects of their writing. • Think aloud about how you could add more details and make it clearer. • Teach students to reread their own work more than once as they think about whether it really conveys what they want to their reader.

16. Revision Process • REREAD- Constantly • Read whole text first. • Read and ask questions as you go. • Does this sound the way I want it to? • Is it interesting? • Cross out: • It’s boring. • It doesn’t sound right. • Repeated word (put in a better one). • Add words: • DECIDE WHAT YOU LIKE- keep it!

17. A.R.R.R. Method- • Adding: What else does the reader need to know? • Rearranging: Is the information in the most logical and most effective order? • Removing: What extra details or unnecessary bits of information are in this piece of writing? • Replacing: What words or details could be replaced by clearer or stronger expressions.

18. R.A.G. Read Around Group General Rules for Read Around Groups • 3-5 writers per group in varying ability • Make sure there are no names on the pieces of writing. Student work is to remain anonymous. Photocopies work well. • In each group, everyone reads each paper once. Nothing is written on the papers. This is the first read. It is read to get a general idea about what has been written. • During the first read, on a separate piece of paper, each person rates them on a scale of 1-4. (4-outstanding, 3- above average, 2-acceptable, 1- insufficient) Students also write comments about each piece for later discussion with the group. • Students discuss why they assigned the score that they did. • Staying in the same group, students then revise the anonymous work during a second reading. Students can a) read each paper and mark suggestions on it b) read the piece as a group and mark the group’s suggestions on each paper.

19. Editing • Editing is.. • Spelling • Capitalization • Punctuation • Grammar • Sentence Structure • Subject/verb agreement • Consistent verb tense • Word Usage

20. Editing- Methods • Self Edit • Read your own work backwards. • Read the last sentence, then the second last sentence, etc. • Does each sentence make sense when you read it on it’s own? • Do you see or hear any errors in the sentence? • Peer Edit • Peer editing, with clear guidelines for students to give feedback on each other’s work, motivates students, allows them to discuss their writing with their peers, and makes the work load a little lighter for you.

21. Editing Checklist My Editing Checklist Name: __________________ Date: _________ Title of My Writing: _________________ • I read my writing myself to see if it made sense. ____ • My writing is focused on one important idea or topic. ____ • My introduction attracts a reader’s attention. ____ • The title fits the piece and gets a reader interested. ____ • I replaced weak words (went, nice) with specific words. ____ • I deleted unnecessary words by combining short sentences. ____ • I deleted over used words (then, and so). ____ • I checked for correct punctuation. (.?!,””’) ____ • I checked for correct capitalization. ____ • I indented or used a paragraph symbol () to begin a new paragraph ____

22. Spelling Strategies Chart • Try spelling it another way. • Put a check over the letters you think are correct. What’s the tricky part? • Stretch out the sounds in the word? • Read the room, use your resrouces. • Ask a friend. RegieRoutman, Writing Essentials

23. Publishing • Encourage students to publish their works in a variety of ways, such as a class book, bulletin board, letters to the editor, school newsletter, or website. • Having an authentic audience beyond the classroom gives student writing more importance and helps students to see a direct connection between their lives and their literacy development.

24. Suggestions for Publishing

25. Lesson Framework • Demonstrations (5-15 minutes) includes one or more of the following: Mini-Lessons • Sharing writing by others, such as discussing kids’ writing -includes mini-lessons woven in on aspects/elements of the genre of writing. • Teacher thinking aloud and writing. • Scaffolded conversations (building on previous learned lessons) before writing. • Sustained writing time and conferencing (20-30 minutes) • Sharing and celebrating (10-15 minutes) Regie Routman, Writing Essentials.

26. Writing Workshop Typical Workshop looks like… • Teacher conducts mini lesson on a specific skill or concept (5-10 minutes) • Students write while teacher confers with individual students (30 minutes) • Selected students share completed pieces or works-in-progress with whole group (5-10 minutes) • Students complete final edits and publish their works when they are finished. • Mini Lesson • Writing and Conferencing • Peer Response and Editing Groups • Group Share Sessions • Publishing and Publication Celebrations

27. Writing Conference- What is it? • The writing conference is at the heart of teaching writing and is the core of the writing workshop. • One-on-one strategy. • Best opportunity for direct and immediate teaching of the complex processes and skills involved in writing. • Generally are short, about 2-5 minutes • Take place while other students are working on their independent writing.

28. Writing Conference- A glance at.. • The “golden rule” is to listen to the student • Focus more on the writer than the writing. • Some sample questions to ask during a conference: • What is happening in your story? • How did you get that idea • Will you put that information in your story? • Can you tell me more? I don’t know much about… • When this happened, what do you remember most?

29. Writing Conference- Make it Happen! • Start small • Take your time • Keep it simple! • Establish centers and a variety of activities before you start individual conferences. • Other students should be busy on their own independent writing projects: • Drawing or brainstorming topics in prewriting phase • Writing • Sharing with partners • Revising • Editing center • Publishing center with bookbinding materials

30. RegieRoutman: Conducting an Writing Conference • View DVD

31. Writing Aloud • Modeled writing in which teachers use the “think aloud” strategy to share their thinking as they compose a piece of writing in front of students • The writing can be about anything • Teacher: • explicitly demonstrate the writing process and directly teach key writing skills and concepts. • Students: • Listen in as you explain your thinking and planning before you write and while you write. • Get ideas for writing and composing

32. Shared Writing • Students and teacher compose together with both contributing thoughts and ideas to the process: Should be done at least 1 a week • Teachers: • Make the writing process concrete and visible • Act as a scribe; writing the text as it is composed • Students: • Focus on meaningful message making as you do the transcription. • Offer ideas without the pressure of having to write them down. • Hear your and their peers’ thinking and ideas. • Observe the parts of the whole (ideas, words, grammar, spelling, editing) as you shape and write the content/message. • Reinforce and rethink content area concepts. • Receive needed support and more easily generate their own language Regie Routman, Writing Essentials

33. Important Timesavers • Schedule writing every day • Limit the use of prompts that have no real audience ( such as write a letter to the author telling him one thing you would change about the story) • Provide more choice of writing topics. Students write more easily about something they’re interested in. • Integrate test preparation. • Teach basic skills in context. • Teach students to revise and edit as they go; this saves time later on. • Expect high-frequency words to be correctly spelled. This saves correction time and aids speed of writing. • Expect legible handwriting. This saves time for your students and for you. • Encourage invented spelling within reasonable, agreed-on guidelines. This speeds up writing and encourages broader use of words. • Use parents. (carefully selected and trained) as final editors in the classroom. • Tell students why- make writing purpose understood. Students will invest more in their writing. RegieRoutman, Writing Essentials.

34. Model Writing Behavior • Write on every other line (allows for making changes). • Write on only one side of the paper (allows for cutting and pasting and easy rearrangement of pages.) • Date everything (shows writing history and progress). • Write legibly (makes it easier to read drafts.) • Spell high-frequency words correctly, and use your best invented spelling for others words (raises expectations for spelling, makes drafts easier to read, and saves time during editing process.) • Keep writing records (writing history, sticky notes of suggestions, writing plans). • Model on projected transparency using the same paper your student will be using- size, lines, spacing. RegieRoutman, Writing Essentials.

35. The Top 5 things to do to ensure students become excellent writers • Demonstrate that I am a writer who always writes with a reader in mind (sometimes that reader is myself) and make my writing and thinking processes visible. • Connect writing to reading through literature; notice what authors (including student authors) do. • Guide students to choose topics they care about (by offering them choice within structure) and give students time to talk and write about them. • Teach students the strategies they need to draft, revise, edit, polish, and publish. • Rely primarily on regular conferences with students to assess and evaluate; note strengths, give feedback, teach, and set mutual goals. Regie Routman, Writing Essentials.

36. Top 10 Suggestions for fitting writing into the fabric of your classroom every day and keeping it manageable and enjoyable • Keep it short (modeling, requirements, assignments) • Keep it simple (directions, routines, assignments). • Slow it down. (Write “small”; less is more.) • Start with the whole. (Focus first on meaningful content.) • Move on. (In shared writing, accept any reasonable response and continue.) • Teach it first. Label it later. • Trust yourself as a writer and as a teacher of writing. • Stop when energy is high. • Use common sense. • Enjoy writing! RegieRoutman, Writing Essentials.

37. Mine, Ours, Theirs Activity • Fill out the first column (Mine) for everything you learned about the writing process. • Work with your small group and share what you have written down adding in the second column (Ours) new information from your partners. • Create a visual that represents the information you have. It can be listing, a flow chart, a concept map etc.. • Take a gallery walk looking at the various representations that the groups have made. • Add to the third column (Theirs) the new information you have learned. • Think about the one thing you have learned about the topic and share with the group.

38. Try it and Apply it! • Adopt practices of Highly Effective Teachers • Engage in professional conversation with your colleagues about effective writing practices. • Read books and journal articles about writing and teaching. • Demonstrate writing by thinking aloud and writing in front of your students • Share with students the writing you do outside school: ask them to do the same. • Examine and evaluate student writing samples at your grade level meeting. • Observe other teachers’ writing classrooms, at your grade level and across grade levels. • Conference with students about their writing.