Hello, I agree with both Bill and Keith. If you are going to teach someone how to ride a bike, you don't show them a picture of the bike and have them read the instructions on how to ride it. You don't buy them a bike and have them look at it. You get them on the bike, tell them what to do and then give them time to practice until they get it right. The same goes for any kind of learning. It's not enough to tell -- you have to tell, show and give them time to do it.
If you want you kids to be better readers, then you give them books to read -- books that THEY want to read. If you want your kids to be better writers, you have to let them write about what THEY want to write about. This is why I like the workshop philosophy. You give the group a quick mini lesson about a skill that they need to learn then let them practice the skill in their own writing. This is when they OWN the skill -- they have to use it in an authentic fashion. I'm not sure if this is an answer to the question! Using writer's workshop in the classroom isn't the easiest thing to do. You have to give yourself at least 2 months to get it up and running so that the students are working independently while you conference. However, when it takes off, it's awesome and well-worth the time and effort!! Please don't abandon it! Kim -----Original Message----- From: Bill IVEY [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 6:14 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [LIT] Writing curriculum 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 _______________________________________________ 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
