(Page 27) “It is entirely possible for a student to glance through a textbook and copy down these answers without ever reading the chapter, doing any thinking, or ultimately, having a glimmer of recollection—of anything.”
But it’s so eeeeasy to have them answer the questions and give them a grade for it! How many times in your school career did you have to answer the questions in the textbook? The answers could always be found in the order of the questions, and it was pretty simple to skim through until you found matching words. Well, simple for pretty good readers. When I first started teaching, I was amazed at how many of my resource students struggled with this. Part of the problem was their difficulty with reading and part of it was their difficulty with understanding how textbooks work. And so those students would end up with not so great grades. The teachers would then see a clear range of grades on the task and think there must be some merit to it because not everyone made a 100.
Think about how much more effective it is for teachers to use writing to learn activities instead. I like how the authors provide us with lots of examples of how we use such things in our everyday lives. I can’t tell you how many times I swear to myself that I’m going to remember something so I don’t need to write it down only to end up forgetting it completely. The reason I always think I’ll be okay is because the times that I do write something down, I end up not needing to look at it because I remember it. Well, duh! The reason I remember is because I wrote it down. How much more do you think your students would remember things if you just paused and had them write down what you had just discussed in class? Did anyone have the chance to try out any of the WTL strategies discussed in the book? If so, how did it go?
But it’s so eeeeasy to have them answer the questions and give them a grade for it! How many times in your school career did you have to answer the questions in the textbook? The answers could always be found in the order of the questions, and it was pretty simple to skim through until you found matching words. Well, simple for pretty good readers. When I first started teaching, I was amazed at how many of my resource students struggled with this. Part of the problem was their difficulty with reading and part of it was their difficulty with understanding how textbooks work. And so those students would end up with not so great grades. The teachers would then see a clear range of grades on the task and think there must be some merit to it because not everyone made a 100.
Think about how much more effective it is for teachers to use writing to learn activities instead. I like how the authors provide us with lots of examples of how we use such things in our everyday lives. I can’t tell you how many times I swear to myself that I’m going to remember something so I don’t need to write it down only to end up forgetting it completely. The reason I always think I’ll be okay is because the times that I do write something down, I end up not needing to look at it because I remember it. Well, duh! The reason I remember is because I wrote it down. How much more do you think your students would remember things if you just paused and had them write down what you had just discussed in class? Did anyone have the chance to try out any of the WTL strategies discussed in the book? If so, how did it go?
15 comments:
Content-Area Writing
Chapter 2 through page 47
Blog due November 10
Okay…. how exciting is this?!? The media center is presenting a summer programming proposal at our LAC meeting Nov. 13. To summarize the proposal, students will have access to the media center on certain days throughout the summer months. Imagine that?? Making better use of resources (traditional print books, digitized books!!!) that sit idle all summer long and turning summer vacation (watching TV, hanging with friends, playing computer games, etc.) into a literacy rich opportunity is a win-win for everyone.
One component of the summer programming proposal is for students to view a critically acclaimed movie on the days the media center is open. Now, for all you legal eagles out there, this is following copyright to the letter since we have a current Public Performance Site license on file (thanks to the senior class!). The media specialist (remember, I mentioned on the previous blog post that we are teachers first and book counters second) can easily turn the movie into a literacy rich event by implementing a writing to learn strategy. How simple for the students (and the media specialist) to have index cards and use these as exit slips at the close of the movie? Makes me wish for the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer so we can get started on this new programming initiative NOW!
Andrea, I am so excited about the proposal of having the library open during the summer. This should help summer reading, also. That’s a great idea to show a movie and have the students respond using an exit slip.
“Remember the last time you went to the grocery store?” Did you bring a list with you? We sure hope so because whenever we go shopping listlessly, we always forget the bread and the milk while piling up the cart with unplanned purchases, costly treats, and calorific impulse buys.” (page 20) This is so me. I also have this same type of problem when it comes to getting things done, making meetings, or remembering what I need to do when I come up to the main part of the building. I am a huge list and agenda person. I have to be to stay organized and to remember what I have to do. I wish I could just get my resource students to write down their homework assignments in their agendas and check them off as they complete them. Checking to do items off a list would help them now and in the future.
As far as trying any of the writing to learn activities, I do exit slips on occasion. I also do a lot of quick writes or I sometimes call them response writings. These are just short, 3 to 5 sentences, reactions to a reading passage, a poem, or maybe a song. At the beginning of second nine weeks, I played Tim McGraw’s song, “How Bad Do You Want It?” and asked my students to tell me why I played this song to them and what message I was hoping them to get. Most understood that nothing in life comes easily, and that if you want something badly enough you have to work hard for it 24/7. Many of them mentioned needing to work hard in school in order to earn their diploma.
I am off to Myrtle Beach for a long weekend. I will miss being in class on Monday, but I look forward to seeing everyone’s blog responses and hopefully stealing a few good ideas about how you use writing in your classrooms.
Deb said……….
Content Area Writing: Chapter 2 and 3 through pages 47
This week’s reading presented some great strategies I would definitely use with my students.
On page 21, it states—“If we competent adults use writing-to-learn activities in our lives, maybe it is not just “aw, shucks” throwaway, but a window into how smart people think. Maybe using a wide variety of casual writing and graphic representations is actually one of the keys to our success.” You never think that simple things that we do naturally are really helping us in our writing, for example writing a list when going to the grocery store can actually be a key to success in WTLs). When using these writing-to-learn activities it never appears to be a big deal, but the author enlightened me to understand that all these simple mechanisms we do day by day to benefit us in our writing we can help instill these same qualities with our students.
In previous lessons in class, we have taken our reading by paragraphs-- stopped, discussed, reflected, visualized, and drew a picture of their interpretations of what they have read. In this writing strategy, Writing Breaks: students stop, reflect, and write during intervals could be another way students could benefit and help develop greater comprehension, and higher order thinking skills. Also in doing this technique, it allows every student to be involved in class participation and not the same students. On page 32, it mentions to best use this informal writing is to follow with some pair sharing in order to guarantee accountability by every student.
Some of the other strategies I will use with my students are the Exit Slip and Brainstorming techniques. I like how the book simplifies the steps in how to get started and what could possible go wrong when using the techniques.
I agree with the statement that the intensive correction of student papers does not work; it has never worked and it never will work. I think WTL strategies are a great way to get students to write. They can also turn their writing from these strategies into a more developed piece of writing.
Chapter 3 contained a lot of great easy writing-to-learn strategies. I really liked the writing break strategy. You definitely could use that to break up a lecture so that it doesn’t seem so long and boring. I liked the way the book suggested using questions from the textbook to write about or having students to look and write about charts, drawings or pictures from the textbook. That would be great to use with a science textbook.
With exit slips, I liked the idea of honoring students writing by using it and not grading it.
I really liked all the strategies and I wish I had learned about these earlier when I was still in the classroom.
Content Area-Writing
Chapter Two, Chapter Three through page 47
I really enjoyed this read. I think it’s great how Daniels, Zemelman, and Steineke emphasized the importance of writing to learn. Just as we read differently…skimming, reading in-depth, etc., we write differently, for completely different reasons. Writing to learn activities truly are vital to our students’ learning. Even though there were just a few strategies, they all seem very helpful. I have to honestly say that I’ve not used Admit Slips or Exit Slips before because I thought it would just tend to create more and more paperwork for myself. However, Daniels, Zemelman, and Steineke reminded me that these slips don’t even have to be graded. They noted that the kids who don’t participate the first time eventually will participate when they see that it’s actually being used to address the issues they have. I agree, also, with what Lisa wrote in regards to breaking up instruction with writing. I know that after about 10-12 minutes, just like it was mentioned in this text, the students start to get that glazed over, “I’m not really here” look. Breaking up the instruction with writing gets them back on track, but it also ensures that they’re much more likely to remember what they’re even studying. I think brainstorming is another great strategy. I have to say that I do believe I use this a lot, but I think there’s always room for me. I also agree that you should tell students to write, write, write in brainstorm lists. A lot of time the first few answers are all the same, but the students who keep digging for ideas are the ones that bring a lot to the class and the discussion. I enjoyed this read thoroughly…as I usually enjoy the Daniels/Zemelman reads.
I always enjoy readings that come with a lot of strategies. I really like the “Writing Break” strategy. Like Lisa said, this strategy could easily be used with a science textbook. There is so much more to a science textbook than the text in the paragraphs. The “important” stuff is located in the margins as pictures, tables, and graphs. Often students skip over these things and only read the paragraph text. However, if I draw there attention to a specific chart or graph then they would definitely get more out of the textbook. When I have created guided reading questions for the textbook, I always included questions about the stuff in the margins. I wanted my students to focus on these things. Sometimes I would even have them draw the table or graph in their notes for quick reference.
I have often thought of using exit slips or admit slips in my class. I just haven’t quite implemented that plan. I know that this would be a quick and easy way to check for any misconceptions. I think it would also be easier for me to try this with my classes this year since I only have 3 classes per day instead of last year’s 6. Also, with the A/B schedule, I would have an extended period of time to review the exit slips and prepare for the next class period.
Content Area Writing
Chapter 2 & 3 through page 47
If you look at the top of my desk right now, I have, hmmm, 5 lists on it and around my computer. I cannot function without my lists!! Think how much better my students could remember facts and themes if they had time to think and write things down. I did a variation of the writing break (it is part of my strategy highlight so I won’t give much away now!) but I believe the authors hit the nail on the head. We need to SHUT UP so our students can THINK about what we are doing and why!! I forget to do that and it is so important. I even tell my own children to be quiet so I can think for a second. Our students need that too. I think for the teacher that cannot figure out how to incorporate writing into their curriculum, WTL’s are the way to go. They are quick, easy, and so beneficial (Collins’ Type One). As the author says on page 26, “To get learning power, kids need to grapple with ideas, transform them, and put them into their own words.” WTL’s allow that to happen!!
I, too, was surprised to realize that little things I did, like making out a grocery list, were examples of WTL. I can't imagine functioning without a list (particularly since the state of my desk right now might indicate that I can't function WITH my lists! :-) So it seems even more foreign to me that our students wouldn't automatically think to do stuff like that on their own.
As far as trying this in my classroom is concerned, I tried the writing break, but it didn't go very well. I think the question I asked was wrong. I also did an exit slip that afternoon and that was much more productive. I'm always amazed at what students will be willing to tell you in private like that, when they wouldn't raise their hand and let you know that they don't get it during class.
Oh, and what is "KWIM"? (p.23)
Content-Area Writing
Harvey Daniels / Steven Zemelman / Nancy Steineke
First of all, I love this book. Not only do they provide great teaching strategies, but it also re-enforces some of the activities I already do in my classroom.
“Writing breaks are a reminder to me to just shut up every once in a while and let the kids think,” (31). This statement is so true, the kids need a chance to process what is being learned and teachers need a minute to “regroup” and take a breath for the next / continued lesson. My students are constantly writing. They have reading response logs in which they are given a prompt and have to respond to after their independent reading time is over. They then have a journal and a word of the day. A good ten minutes is devoted to quiet reflective writing. We then take five or so minutes to share. With this they are one, generating ideas and thoughts to share aloud which promotes further thinking skills, and two, more importantly, after having 25 minutes of silence, they are finally given the opportunity to talk.
I really like the idea of an “admit slip.” As oppose to an exit slip which allows the students to leave class, and admit slips allows them in class. It’s a useful tool for reviewing the previous days lesson prompted by student discussion. I think it’s also a great way to figure out what they students have actually learned and what needs clarification. The only problem with this is that it will have to be assigned to them as homework and many may not do the slip. So I am going to have to figure out a way to make this a desirable assignment.
I like the idea of start-writes. My students would not do admit slips at home, so I was very excited to see an alternative and a good one at that. I’ve tried exit slips a few times and gotten mixed responses, but I do believe they are a valuable tool. I also make my students create brainstorming webs before every essay. Having the webs to refer to is often the only thing that keeps them from frustration when writing long assignments.
I’m a huge WTL person. I’m anal enough to make lists for my lists on occasion. It’s pretty bad. My desk is covered with lists, post –its, notes, and it’s the same way at home. I couldn’t get through the day without my little reminders.
Content Area Writing Chapter Two and Three (through page 47)
Pam, I have to agree with you; I am so excited about students having access to the media center over the summer break. I know kids could access the public library system during the summer break, but opening our media center should send the message that we promote literacy all year long, not just when school is in session.
Christy, I’m a big list person myself, so I totally understand your comment about not knowing what you’d do without your lists. I’m curious to know how many of the people in study group write lists. I know Pam does. I think Diane does. What about the rest of you?
As for the text itself, WTL is so important for students. It’s like Diane wrote in her post about remembering things she writes but not remembering things she doesn’t write, “The reason I remember is because I wrote it down.” I’m sure we’ve all seen that chart about what percentage of things we remember if we just hear something vs. writing something down, etc. There’s a reason why that’s true. Writing things down helps us commit them to memory. It also helps us figure out what we know and what we don’t know; or in the case of teachers and students; it helps us figure out what students do or don’t know or understand. I think if we did more writing to learn during the course of a unit of study, the end-of-unit assessment scores would be higher. I am a little concerned that the text says WTL is not to be graded. Does that mean not at all? Not even for a completion grade? So a student does an exit slip, do you do anything with it other than read it? If I read it, I’m going to put some sort of grade down in my grade book. I’m looking forward to reviewing the rest of chapter three so I can be reminded of those strategies!
KWIM=Know What I Mean?
C'mon I'm a digital immigrant and got that one! Just kidding--I cheated and looked it up on Google.
As far as exit slips go...I think grading them is completely up to the individual teacher. It's really intended to be more of a formative assessment, so grading isn't completely necessary. If you're one who hates to grade everything, you can just flip through them to see what the students do or don't know. If you're like Claire and want to give at least a participation grade since you took the time look at it, that's fine too.
I think the activity I would like to talk about from Content-Area Writing is the Writing Break. I like the idea of the Writing Break activity, but I feel that it needs a little more "color." I took an Adolescent Writers class in college and we did a lot of the exit slips, admit slips, take a second and write type activities. While I see the connection between retention and writing, I got rather bored with numerous free writes, journal entries, etc. So, while I do think the Writing Break activity is a great idea, I think, from experience, that I'd like to think of ways that I can make a Writing Break more appealing visually to break up the monotony of just "take a second and respond to..." Some ways that I think would help to liven the activity would be to have students respond on colorful index cards, post-it notes, or colored paper. Also, the teacher could perhaps create templates with a visualization that corresponded with the reading. Teachers could also incorporate pass the reflection. The only point that I want to make is that while all the activities in the chapter are important to writing and learning, they can get very dull and not engage students.
Content-Area Writing
Chapter 2 and 3 through page 47
I think the media center being open during the summer months is a fantastic idea! Giving students access to books is a wonderful way to encourage them to read. I also think it shows the community and parents that our school is dedicated to literacy and that is shown through our putting forth the effort to open our library during the summer.
Man... I truly loved it when the teacher would say read chapter ?? and answer the questions at the end... Well, you know me and how I abhor reading, so I was a searcher... I read the question and then searched for the answers and filled them in. EASY! No thinking and no real work! And... well, no learning either! I can admit though that I did this my first couple years teaching entirely too often. I taught US History, Civics, World History, Physical Science, and General Math in my first 4 semesters in the classroom! Honestly, it was survival to have them do that!! I really didn't know what I was doing in a resource classroom to begin with, and then to be thrown all of those different subject areas (with EOC's for several of them) so I just gave them assignments to fill time and to keep them busy. I shudder to think how little they learned those years (but I must say, most passed the EOC tests!) I think many teachers go into 'survival' mode or are just (at the risk of sounding ugly) lazy and therefore they have kids do these assignments. If we truly utilized writing to learn techniques, think of the knowledge that our kids would be leaving our classrooms with?!
I like the idea of giving students the opportunity to listen to discussions and then to pause while they write down the information they just heard. The scary part of that is for me, and many special needs kids, that is too hard. I may hear it, and be listening, but I need to be writing as much as possible in order to ingrain it into my memory. If I had to wait until after a lecture was given, I would be so very stressed out that I would have forgotten key information and my learning would suffer from that. I think if kids were allowed to do this and then the teacher would go back and highlight some of the key points and make sure kids have them in their notes, this might work better for myself (and our special needs kids). As most kids probably do, I am a 'dumper' meaning once I learn something and am assessed on it, if I don't use that information soon or don't make a very good connection with it, I 'dump' it from my memory. I am sure that is what many (most) of our students do. I think if I could illustrate it or use clustering, I probably could retain that information longer (and so would our students).
Content-Area Writing
Chapter 2 and 3 through page 47
I think the media center being open during the summer months is a fantastic idea! Giving students access to books is a wonderful way to encourage them to read. I also think it shows the community and parents that our school is dedicated to literacy and that is shown through our putting forth the effort to open our library during the summer.
Man... I truly loved it when the teacher would say read chapter ?? and answer the questions at the end... Well, you know me and how I abhor reading, so I was a searcher... I read the question and then searched for the answers and filled them in. EASY! No thinking and no real work! And... well, no learning either! I can admit though that I did this my first couple years teaching entirely too often. I taught US History, Civics, World History, Physical Science, and General Math in my first 4 semesters in the classroom! Honestly, it was survival to have them do that!! I really didn't know what I was doing in a resource classroom to begin with, and then to be thrown all of those different subject areas (with EOC's for several of them) so I just gave them assignments to fill time and to keep them busy. I shudder to think how little they learned those years (but I must say, most passed the EOC tests!) I think many teachers go into 'survival' mode or are just (at the risk of sounding ugly) lazy and therefore they have kids do these assignments. If we truly utilized writing to learn techniques, think of the knowledge that our kids would be leaving our classrooms with?!
I like the idea of giving students the opportunity to listen to discussions and then to pause while they write down the information they just heard. The scary part of that is for me, and many special needs kids, that is too hard. I may hear it, and be listening, but I need to be writing as much as possible in order to ingrain it into my memory. If I had to wait until after a lecture was given, I would be so very stressed out that I would have forgotten key information and my learning would suffer from that. I think if kids were allowed to do this and then the teacher would go back and highlight some of the key points and make sure kids have them in their notes, this might work better for myself (and our special needs kids). As most kids probably do, I am a 'dumper' meaning once I learn something and am assessed on it, if I don't use that information soon or don't make a very good connection with it, I 'dump' it from my memory. I am sure that is what many (most) of our students do. I think if I could illustrate it or use clustering, I probably could retain that information longer (and so would our students).
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