Hi! Keith's ideas make sense to me. I've evolved to a variation on what he proposes in my Humanities 7 course. Basically, to me, the kids seem to write better when they have a mentor text to react to, and from which to build a checklist for evaluation of their own work. If they're writing simultaneously in many different genres, it seems a near impossible task to get them all individualized mentor texts, discuss them, build the checklists, etc.
So I let them do their "independent writing" in pretty much any genre they choose, and conference individually with them to engage in formative assessment - to answer their questions and give suggestions as appropriate. Meanwhile, I associate required genres with the whole-class units they design, and we do the whole mentor text etc. thing in that context. My sister-in-law (an incredible 8th English grade teacher) has evolved to something similar - a series of genre studies with the whole class, and independent writing on an individualized basis. There doesn't seem to be any one ideal solution - but lots of models that are effective overall, with various pros and cons. Each teacher needs to choose what best fits their kids and their school. In my opinion, anyway! Take care, Bill Ivey Stoneleigh-Burnham School _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
