Sunday, October 24, 2021

Writer's Notebook/Journal

 Keeping a notebook is the single best way I know to survive as a writer.  . . . It gives you a quiet place to catch your breath and begin to write.” – Ralph Fletcher

 

Recently my granddaughter who is teaching 2ndgrade shared with me the writing that her students are doing.  I was a bit disturbed to learn that they are working on writing informative paragraphs -- in other words essays -- this early in the school year.  My concern is that they will find writing to be very frustrating. Perhaps one way to offset this expectation would be to have students keep a writer’s notebook/journal.

 

The type of notebook/journal can vary from pocket notebooks to composition books, to online notebooks/journals.  A writer’s notebook/journal is not expected to be graded.  Definitely the teacher can establish goals – number of entries? pages? Perhaps have the student select one of the entries to share with the teacher.  Also, I would also encourage the teacher to keep a notebook to share writing experiences with students.

 

A writer’s notebook/journal provides a place for the student to write thoughts/feelings.  It is a place to for ideas, for questions, for exploring possibilities. Write about favorite books, tv shows, movies, events/memories. Maybe keep a section for favorite words/phrases. The idea is to encourage students to experiment with their ideas, their writing voices.  

 

When my high school students were expected to write critical essays about works of literature, I encouraged them to keep writing notebooks as they were reading.  Writing notes about the author’s style of writing, about the various themes that were emerging, about the point of view, about the characters, setting, etc. made drafting the essay much easier.

 

A favorite resource of mine was A Writer’s Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You by Ralph Fletcher. Check it out.  I found so many great ideas that I think work for any age. I especially like this entry from Briana Carlin, a fifth grader:

A notebook is where you keep dew drops from a dew drop morning.  It’s where the sun sets.  It’s the wind in your face at the beach looking out over the water.  A notebook is where you’re playing with your dog.  It’s where you have dreams about walking on rainbows.  It’s where the good feelings and the bad feelings spend the night. 

 

 

Thursday, October 14, 2021

Write Out!

 Have you heard about Write Out! ?

Check it out on the NWP website.

    Write Out (#writeout) is a free two-week event, organized as a series of online activities where educators, students, and the public are invited to explore national parks and other public spaces to connect and learn through place-based writing and sharing. The theme of this year’s event is Palettes, Storyboards, and Cadences and will run from October 10-24, 2021 which includes the National Day of Writing on October 20th. 

Yes, you have missed week one, but there's still another week to go and, if you join, you can still use all of the activities with your students. This is the time of year to do a great deal of free writing with your students, and this project totally fits in with learning more about your students, both as people and as writers.

For me, when in the classroom, this would be a great notebook activity. I wasn't looking for polished, finished pieces at this time of the year, but I was looking to build interest and stamina in my students. I was interested in finding out more about them as well as setting a writing tone in class.

Write Out! is tied to a national park theme, so the activities involve a video introduction to many different parks with a writing prompt tied to the park. For example, Golden Gate National Recreation Area is discussed and then the prompt is given: Create a story about someone who passes through an imaginary portal in the park. Where would this magic door lead? 

Students could freewrite on each of the 4 themes, in their notebooks (online or physical notebooks). An option would be to take one of their pieces to a finished product. If you haven't done much with writing yet this year, here's the perfect opportunity to set a tone, try pair-shares with rough drafts/ideas, use writers' notebooks and create final drafts.

Enjoy!

On another note, look for pieces coming up on writers notebooks and publishing student work.

Happy Writing!

Micki 

Thursday, August 26, 2021

A New School Year

 My granddaughter is so excited about her new job of teaching 2ndgrade, after high school SPED for two years.  She’s been posting pictures of her classroom and recently shared about meeting most of her students. I also have a grandson teaching in the middle school. This fall he will be teaching in-person and is looking forward to the new school year, but doesn’t know how many students will choose that option. I just worry with the continued Covid concern that it will be another very difficult year for teachers.  

 

Their anticipation reminded me how much I enjoyed my teaching career.  Having the opportunity to help shape the learning of young adults was extremely fulfilling for me. The majority of my career (32 years) was at Burnsville High School.  I was so fortunate to be part of a vibrant department, one that continually strove to improve education.  In addition, my work with the Minnesota Writing Project provided unexpected learning experiences.  I became involved with staff development for various MN schools, even traveled to Norway for work.  I also attended and presented at several National Writing Project conventions and international workshops (Bordeaux, Netherlands).  These opportunities occurred because staff development was supported by district, state, and federal funds.  Unfortunately, it seems that much of that support has dried up.  With the loss of this funding, teachers are often left to work isolated in their own classrooms. 

 

Recently Micki and I participated in a virtual writing conference that included educators from the Midwest.  One of the sessions was an opportunity for participants to share concerns about teaching writing.  The concerns expressed were the same ones that have existed since we began our careers.  By creating our earlier podcast (Breaking the Barriers of the 5 Paragraph Essay) and this blog, we hoped that we might provide helpful resources for teachers.  

 

We welcome your comments, ideas, etc. Let us know what are you struggling with this year.  Perhaps from our years of teaching and staff development, we can offer some support.

 

Friday, July 30, 2021

Writing Prompts from Our Writers Group

As we participated in the Midwest Writers Group this weekend, there were a few items that we wanted to share. The following topics and prompts are ones we've used over the past couple of years...In the coming month or two, Muriel and I will share some of the thoughts that were generated from these prompts. Perhaps others from our group will also share.

Look these over and do a few free writes as you prepare to enter back into the crazy busy world of teaching.
Enjoy!

Minnesota Retired Writers:

Writing Topics/Genres

Chosen by Members

Topics

-Daily Life

-Events/People

Events/Holidays

Nature/Gardening

Reactions to World/National Events

Loss/Challenges

Caregiving/Illness

Emotions/Personal Beliefs

Humorous Incidents

Genres

Fiction - Short Stories

Family Histories

Memoir

Poetry

__________________________________

Sample Writing Prompts

(Usually a 10-15 minute write)

Reactions to magazine

photos/photographs/visuals

(Ex.: Write a response to a picture of a

masked girl; A photo of the bridge to

nowhere)

Write about a piece of furniture

React to a quote or a section of poetry

(Ex.: Poem from Mary Oliver: “Things I

didn’t have to worry about when I was

older”)

General

Write About…

*Things in life that give you hope today

*A Solution for one world problem

*Something that has been a defining part of

whom you’ve become

*An event in your life that had a before and

after

*One profound learning experience

*“In spite of ------, we can build -------.”

*What you have missed most this summer

*What you learned from the pandemic

*The MN State Fair

*“We’ll Cross that Bridge When We Come to

it”

Family

*The first date you had with your husband

*A family tradition.

*Positive/negative aspects of retirement.

*Something that disturbs you

*How you calm yourself

*What you dream about

*An Inexpensive Item that means a lot to

you

*Favorite seasons and how you adjust

*What you are ready to say goodbye

Nature

*A wonderful moment in winter

*The most exciting thing you did this

winter

*What summer means to you

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Midwest NWP Writing Conference - Minnesota Bio Links

Thanks for following up to our previous post on the Midwest NWP Writing Conference.

Many of you have asked questions about who we are - what our background is - so, this post will give you some bio information as well as ways to contact us individually.


Minnesota Retired Writers

Participant Bios

 

Bev Alsleben:  B.A. English Education, ESL licensure, Masters of Liberal Studies

Retired English Learners teacher, St. Paul Public Schools;  served on the ELL Leadership Team of the NWP, attending many national conferences and writing retreats.  

 Debra Hartley, PhD English

Taught college writing courses and worked in college writing centers; Assistant director of the Center for Writing at the University of Minnesota: redesigned and managed the MWP website and helped plan MWP activities and produce publications.  

 Mary Kirchhof  M.Ed. Special Education/Elementary, Reading Licensure, Writing and Critical Literacy Certificate 

Taught early childhood, elementary, middle high school and universitycourses; continues to write with a dynamic cohort of MWP retired educators and through Pen Pals, a Program of the City of Minnetonka Senior Services and the Minnetonka Public Schools, as well as personal books for the family; co-led MN Writing Project grant for cohort of 22 teacher leaders; helped meld MWP involvement with a two-year study of Writing and Critical Literacy through the University of Minnesota to change writing instruction in Edina Public Schools. 

 Joyce Malwitz. M.Ed. English

Taught high school English for over 30 years; served as a curriculum facilitator and as a consultant for the Minnesota Department of Education; served on the MWP Board of Directors as Outreach Director, assisted with the Summer Institute, co-facilitated various MWP workshop offerings, and led a three-year NWP/MWP action research project for youth workers. Assistant faculty coordinator for the University of Minnesota’s College in the Schools program. 

 Sandy Nesvig – B.S., M.A.,  Administrative Licensure

Taught middle school language arts ; administrator at Annunciation Catholic School. 

 Micki (Margaret) St Sauver: B.S. English/Education, M.Ed. ESL/Reading, PhD Literacy

English Teacher, 7-8; District Program Manager for Literacy 7-12; Literacy Consultant, Institute for Student Achievement, Columbia University; MWP, advisor and presenter; consultant for the Minnesota Department of Education; served on the MWP Board of Directors: Currently working with Muriel Thompson, former Director of MWP in creating a podcast, Breaking the Barriers of the Five Paragraph Essay and a blog, M&M Writing Essentials K12+. 

 Ann Thompson: M.A. Communications

Taught high school English and middle school English, speech and Theatre;. Developed business communications; MWP Continuity Director


Muriel Thompson: B.A. English M.Ed. English

Former Director for the Minnesota Writing Project ; High school Language arts teacher, Burnsville Public Schools; developed district's curriculum work and staff development programs. Micki St. Sauver and I have created a podcast: Breaking the Barriers of the Five Paragraph Essay and more recently a blog: M&M Writing Essentials K-12+. 

 _________________________________________________________________


Retired MWP Writers

Contact Information

 

 

         

         hartley@umn.edu                              (Debra Hartley)

 

         beverlyalsleben@gmail.com           (Bev Alsleben)

 

         sjnesvig@comcast.net                      (Sandy Nesvig)

 

         thomp402@umn.edu                        (Ann Thompson)

 

         mstsauver@me.com                         (Micki St Sauver)

 

         mthompson679@gmail.com           (Muriel Thompson)

 

joycemalwitz@comcast.net             (Joyce Malwitz)




Thanks for checking in with us! We look forward to hearing from you in the future.


 

 

  

2021 Midwest NWP Conference

 How is your summer going? For me...FAST! I thought it used to fly by when I was still teaching and was home for the summer with my kids, but this summer seems so crazy and we haven't even gone on a designated vacation. We are spending time with family and friends and just enjoying seeing people again.

Muriel and I have also found time to prepare for a conference coming up this Saturday:

2021 Midwest NWP Conference

 Muriel and I and five other former MWP members will be presenting information about starting and maintaining writing groups. Hope you can join us!

Friday, April 23, 2021

More Resources

Now that we are coming to the end of the school year, are you looking for ideas for closure? 

You've probably got your own routine, but if not, here's some ideas:

Use these lesson plans to keep students engaged through the end of the year!

You may also like these favorites from the 2020-2021 school year.

Here's to powerful learning adventures! These ideas are fully expanded upon at CreativeEducator@TechforLearning.com

Creative Educator can also be followed on Instagram...

Do you have ideas of your own? Help out your colleagues and share them here! Hoping your year ends well...

Sunday, March 28, 2021

WRITING TO LEARN

“Writing is a tool that enables people in every discipline to wrestle with facts and ideas.  It’s a physical activity, unlike reading. Writing requires us to operate some kind of mechanism – pencil, pen, typewriter, word processor – for getting our thoughts on paper.  . . . It forces us to keep asking, ‘Am I saying what I want to say?’ . . . It’s by writing about a subject we’re trying to learn that we reason our way to what it means.”

                                                                        William Zinsser in Learning to Write

 

Although my area of teaching was language arts, writing is not just for language arts!  I have interacted with educators from all disciplines. Through our discussions and sharing, we discovered ways that writing could definitely benefit students in all subject areas.  Using writing as a tool for learning helps to organize, channel and give extra leverage to thinking.  

 

This kind of writing works best when it is 

       Frequent

       Short

       Spontaneous

       Exploratory

       Informal

       Personal

       Unedited

       Ungraded

 

Ask yourself:

·     How do you use writing to introduce a subject and to find out what students already know?

·     How do you use writing to help students gain control of the subject material?

·     How do you use writing to help students clarify their understanding of what they are learning?

·     How do you use writing to help students know themselves and to help you to know them?

 

During my work with the Minnesota Writing Project, I was fortunate to gain several helpful ideas from a master St. Paul educator.  Here are a few of them to try in your classroom.

 

·     Admit slips – Have students turn in short pieces of writing on pre-assigned topic upon entering the classroom.

·     Start-up write – Have students write for the first five minutes of class time on the topic of the upcoming lesson.

·     K-W-L – When a topic is being introduced, have students make a list of all they already Know about the subject, Want to investigate.  After completing the lesson, have them make a list of what they’ve Learned.

·     Clustering – Put a key term, concept or name in a circle in the center of the page and then write all associations with that term in whatever pattern “seems right.” Often clustering reveals unrecognized connections/relationships.

·     Stop and write – Pause the video, discussion, etc. and ask students to write and reflect.

·     Double entry – Divide a page and on one side have students put quotations, problems, etc. On the other side, have them write reaction, explanation, question, etc.

·     Visualize – Have students draw a picture, diagram, or model to demonstrate what they know.

·     Exit slips – Have students do a short piece of writing (summary, question) before exiting the class.  (These can be a helpful in learning what students understand and where they have confusion.)

 

Our next posts will share even more ways to use writing to learn.  Why not share some of the ways that you use writing to learn in your classroom?  

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Book Recommendation - Revision

 Just when I thought we were through talking about revision, I came across one of my favorite books on the subject by Janet Angelillo. Her book, Making Revision Matter, is a practical, easy-to-implement book on revision that incorporates studying mentor authors, revisiting published pieces, and applying additional revision strategies to student writing.

Early on, Angelillo helps teachers with gauging students' abilities to use the revision process by giving the reader the qualities of a stage one reviser through those of a stage four reviser. For example, a stage one reviser "looks [the] piece over without purpose," while a stage four reviser, "is able to change sequence and reorganize chunks of writing." She says that a stage one reviser basically, "resists revision completely," while a stage four, "internalizes revision repertoire and chooses techniques from it purposefully."

As you can see the range is wide. The chart gives many more specifics, but I am intrigued by the stages and how they correlate with the characteristics of quality writing. In order to teach revision, Angelillo implements the essence of good writing into engaging lessons that use mentor texts as well as student texts. From beginning to end, tips given and lessons provided are useful to writers of every stage and can be used by all teachers who want to see their students grow as writers. Check it out.

Monday, March 15, 2021

A Final Note on Editing/Revision

 "A teacher has two roles as a reader of student work: one, to hear what the writer is communicating, to listen well, to consider and respond to the thinking in the piece; and two, to help the writer communicate it with as much grace as possible, which might mean to correct and suggest and model the conventions of the genre." Penny Kittle Write Beside Them

Kittle reminds teachers that sometimes we get so caught up in grading that we forget the first role and end up only focusing on the second. Muriel and I have been talking about revision and editing in our last few entries, and we have conveyed the difference between the two. Revision is of utmost importance - does the piece say what the writer wants to communicate? Kittle talks of teachers "kidnapping" the piece and just focusing on how they would say something or maybe just focus on misspellings or missing punctuation.

We need to listen to our students and really hear what they are trying to communicate - if we take the time to talk about the writer's intent and guide them through revision, helping them say what they want to say, we can enter the editing process confidently. Luckily, we now have computer software that eliminates much of our mechanical editing. I have found students are not the best to judge each other's mechanics. They are great, however, at looking for concrete problems that need solving before the piece is finished.

Nancie Atwell, in Lessons that Change Writers, gives some great examples of what needs to be edited out of final manuscripts...concepts that students can point out in each other's papers.

    1. Everyday conversational words that are overused: 

          absolutely    just    so    all    kind of    sort of    (a) big    (a) little    totally    completely    quite

            very    definitely    really    would

    2. Too long or too short paragraphs

        Atwell suggests students look for connections between and within paragraphs. Can two paragraphs

        that are on the same topic be combined? Does one long paragraph need to be split? What feels     

        comfortable to the reader?

    3. Should "I" be used?

        Sometimes we explicitly tell students not to use "I" in their writing, but in reality, there are times 

        "I" makes a lot of sense - in retelling a personal experience, for example.

    4. Passive sentences

        Use the active voice in writing of any kind.

    5. Exclamation Points

        Avoid exclamation points except in dialogue.

    6. "Hopefully" and a few other issues

        Be confident - Use "I hope" instead of "Hopefully..." Also, pay attention to "a lot," "alright,"

        "gonna," "gotta," "wanna" ( going to, got to, want to)

        "would of," "should of," "could of" (would have, should have,  could have or would've, should've, 

        could've)

    7, Stories that end "The End."

        Writing should come to a conclusion that is evident to the reader.

Editing is the final step but by no means is a writing ever finished. We can always go back to previous writings and add new ideas, take out sections and rearrange thoughts. We can repurpose our writing and transform it into a different genre or just put it aside until some future date. Classrooms are artificial writing situations where students learn the process while not creating perfect products. What is important is that they have a chance to see new possibilities as they work on their classroom pieces. Reading each other's pieces and helping each other edit, helps both students grow as writers.


Our next topics will focus on writing tips for specific genres. Let us know what you are working on!


Sunday, February 28, 2021

TIME TO EDIT

 “. . . the last act of the writing must be to become one’s own reader. It is, I suppose, a schizophrenic process.  To begin passionately and to end critically, to begin hot and to end cold; and, more important, to try to be passion-hot and critic-cold at the same time.”                         – John Ciardi

 

As you move toward the final draft, take the opportunity to clarify your writing even more. 

1.  Read your work out loud.  

  • Do you like how it sounds?
  • What parts do you like the best?
  • What parts are you unhappy with?

2.  Consider purpose/audience.

  • What have you done to catch the reader’s attention?
  • Do you share enough information for the reader to truly understand your work?
  • What else does your reader need to know?

3.  Re-think your work carefully.

  • Is it organized clearly?  Could you regroup your ideas in a more effective way?
  • Find places you could add/change/delete to make your work better.

4.  Look carefully at your ideas.

  • Are all of them complete?
  • Do they clearly express your thoughts?

5.  What words could you change to improve the work?

  • Interesting, descriptive/picture words
  • Stronger verbs

6.  Have you checked your work for correctness?

  • Spelling
  • Capital letters
  • Punctuation

 Finally, editing!

In the November 4, 2020 entry to our blog, Micki shared information on using RAG (Read Around Groups) as an effective way for students to receive feedback when drafting.  This activity also works extremely well as your writers are moving into the editing stage. 

On the first read, have students mark spelling. On the second, have them mark punctuation, etc. Again, do one topic (for instance, spelling) per group rather than per student so that you have several students looking for mistakes

Another option is to create a peer editing checklist.  Discuss with your students what components to include in the checklist (depending upon grade level, etc.) and how to evaluate (excellent, acceptable, errors noted, etc. -- or yes, no). 

Finally, try this fun activity adapted from Jeff Anderson’sMechanically Inclinedthat works nicely when checking for grammatical problems:

1.    Each student needs a writing draft 

2.    Remind students how express lane works at store

3.    Use similar routine as a way to reread writing

4.    Check out important items in writing

5.    Make a “shopping list” of items to “Check Out”

6.    Students create a box containing Items to “Check Out”

·     Include details (brief rule, etc.) about each item

7.    Students create a box with “Receipt”

·     Show changes made and give reason for change for each item in “Check Out”

8.    If no mistake is found, student writes – I found no errors after reading the writing three times – followed by student’s signature

 Here are a couple of resources to check out:  Grammarly (grammarly.com) and writingfix.com