Summer is the time for us as educators to take some time to learn so we can become even stronger in our classrooms. Why, because I have never met a teacher who didn't want to do what is best for their students. We all have the same goal, but are in different places in our journeys.
Like in my last blog (The Last 33 Years) I admitted that I made many mistakes along my journey. But truly, I thought I was doing the right thing at that time for my students. It is never too late or too early in any teacher’s journey to continue to learn and bring your best game to the classroom each and every fall.
So starting on Wednesdays this summer, we will bring you some of our thoughts, research, book recommendations, articles, and ideas to think about so you can bring your best to your classroom this fall.
So Let’s Start Wednesday Wisdom…….
Let's start with writing. I choose this area first because I am coming off my second year of teaching first grade. I have been in the kindergarten world for over 20 years. Wow, the difference between just one year in the start of their educational journey is incredible. As we know as educators, the importance of learning foundational skills in reading and writing can only help all students find success in their upcoming years. So, I need to continue to unlearn what I thought was working and learn the best practices for teaching writing to my students.
As I started to research, I talked to my colleagues, looked at social media, and listened to podcasts to find where to start. I really was not looking for a new program. My day is completely packed with the new curriculum that my school district adopted for the ELA standards this past year. Then as an elementary classroom teacher we also have a math, science, social studies, and social and emotional block, we are busy. So, I decided to start with the book called The Writing Revolution by Judith C. Hochman and Natlie Wexler. I was already a fan of Natlie Wexler from her book, The Knowledge Gap, that I read last summer. And boy, was I hooked after just a few pages.
Here are just a few of my takeaways,
According to the National Assessment of Education in March of 2022, 8th and 12th graders had only 25% of students where found proficient in writing. It makes me think that we are in the same crises that our country has in the area of reading. But I do know that decoding and encoding go hand in hand, so this should not be such a big surprise to me. I don’t consider myself a strong writer or even my own children being strong writers. But looking back, I really think I was never taught how to write and neither were my own children going through their early educational years. I was for sure never taught in my undergraduate and graduate work on how to teach writing to young students.
As teachers we need to remember that your writing instruction for all
students need to be explicit. It has to start in the early elementary
grades.
Start with the basics and start simple. Every student at all levels
needs to be able to write a complete sentence. Capitals, ending
markings that match the purpose of their sentence. Sentences are
the building blocks of all writing. When teaching young beginning
writers to write a complete sentence, they must be able to speak in
a complete sentence first.
You don’t need to have a separate writing program. I need to integrate writing instruction in my daily routine within my daily content areas. What does that look like? Well one example would be in the area of math, we answer an application problem daily in our curriculum material of Eureka. What a simple way to work on building and writing a complete sentence within your math block.
If I, as the classroom teacher, are not working on our foundational reading skills, then we are building knowledge during the day with read alouds, science and social studies concepts, and social and emotional curriculum. Another great way to check your students with understanding and their comprehension is with writing.
One way to support the learning and teach writing is using conjunctions to write a response on what they are learning about. The conjunctions that I will focus on this next year will be because, but, and so. Each one gives each student a slightly higher level of understanding of the content they are learning about, then just a simple open ended question.
Like using these sentences stems for the human body unit.
Muscles make up your muscular system help your body because___________________________________.
Muscles make up your muscular system help your body but_______________________________________.
Muscles make up your muscular system help your body so___________________________________.
Using the word because will make the writer explain why it is true. The word but indicates the change of direction or like taking a U-turn within your writing. Then the word so tells us what happens, as a result of something else, a cause and its effect writing.
I am excited to start this new journey in the area of writing in the fall for my young writers and readers. So, I highly recommend the book, The Writing Revolution, A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grade to help start or support writing instruction. I guarantee that you will walk away with many outstanding strategies, activities, and the professional development of why to improve your writing instruction at any grade or any students’ level next fall.
References:
The Writing Revolution Website
The Writing Revolution, A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through
Writing in All Subjects and Grade
Podcast - Melissa and Lori Love Literacy
Ep. 117 The Writing Revolution Authors
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