I teach in Cherry Hill and live in Haddonfield.? Where are you?
Karen Onyx Carusi Middle School -----Original Message----- From: Mary Dovey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades. <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 7:39 am Subject: Re: [LIT] New member looking for help I thought Carusi Middle School rang a bell; where in NJ are you? On 2/24/08 11:05 AM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi Mary, > > > > I'm in Jersey, too!? It's like playing a game without knowing the rules... or > that the rules change without any warning.:) > > > > In my district, we have 3 writing units: feature article, persuasive writing, > and literary essay.? We are also expected to do quite a bit with test prep, > though it can be embedded rather than a specific unit.? All this plus reading > in a 50 minute period. > > > > Karen Onyx > Carusi Middle School > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mary Dovey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades. > <[email protected]> > Sent: Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:30 am > Subject: Re: [LIT] New member looking for help > > > > Hello, everyone. I haven't posted in ages so I doubt anyone will recognize > my name, but I could use your help. After teaching 7th and 8th grade reading > and writing for 7 years and fairly successfully instituting workshop > teaching, I was asked to become the instructional literacy coach. It's quite > a challenge, particularly getting my colleagues to evolve as writing > teachers. One thing I'm trying to do is introduce the idea that they need to > teach units of study in writing and the craft lessons specific to that > genre. > > Our state tests in NJ are changing, but this year they are testing kids in > narrative writing (they give them a "speculative" prompt and 25 minutes to > compose....I think it's a travesty, but that's a different rant....) and > persuasive writing, even as young as 5th grade. Unfortunately, a few > teachers think that's all they need to teach. > > I did a workshop for the teachers last week on persuasive writing, and > mentioned that successful persuasives often were built on the writing > techniques of other genres, particularly narrative and feature writing. I > saw a light bulb go on in a few eyes, and I'd like to capitalize on this > enthusiasm by getting teachers to begin adding these other genres of writing > to their curriculum. I'd always taught these units: poetry, memoir, > narrative, persuasive, informational. What units do you folks teach? Thanks, > Mary > > > On 2/22/08 4:29 PM, "Jenny Ovadia" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> I also just finished a feature article unit--you've already got some great >> suggestions for reading models, but I'd like to add another resource. The >> magazine *Muse* has high-interest feature articles for adolescent readers, >> and they have a lot of graphic features like sidebars and diagrams. >> >> I wrote a feature article along with my students, and seeing me write in >> front of them (or discuss what I wrote the night before) really makes the >> process more concrete for them. I know they get it when they start to >> suggest revisions for my draft! >> >> At the end of the unit, I had the students find connections among their >> articles and form their own groups to create magazines (they didn't know >> they were going to do this when they picked their topics). They had to make >> the connections among their topics, define characteristics of readers who >> would be interested in these topics, and create a magazine. They designed >> covers and bound their articles together. It was a nice way to end the unit >> creatively with a lot of higher order thinking. >> >> This is only my second year teaching, but the feature article unit has been >> my favorite so far. I hope you enjoy it too! >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - > http://webmail.aol.com > _______________________________________________ > 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 ________________________________________________________________________ More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://webmail.aol.com _______________________________________________ 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
