I get a little nervous about expecting all that children produce to be perfect. A friend owns a bookstore and often shares her pre-published review copies of novels with me (lucky me). Certainly, these represent the best work of not just the author, but the editor and the publisher and are primarily released to generate press for a novel. Guess what? There are errors in these books. Do I want to pay for a book with errors? Certainly not, but my point these are all grown-ups and they still miss things. I feel comfortable when the errors in student work represent genuine risk-taking and are 'sensible approximations'. I feel uncomfortable when high utility words are misspelled. I feel uncomfortable when a single word is repeated with varying spellings. That said, I think this has to be negotiated within a school so that expectations are consistent.
One school I work with has set an expectation for hallway work to be largely 'perfect' and for that which is displayed inside the classroom, teacher judgement is the rule. Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach and Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 5755 ----- Original message ----- From: Deb Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: 'Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group' <[email protected]> Date: 2008, 12, Saturday Of April 18:15 Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Writing to be displayed for public viewing-should itbeperfect? > Deb wrote: > > > Susan, I have heard, experienced, and read about this debate in schools for > many years as you have experienced too. Both sides can argue both sides > really well. > > The advice I give is simple. If children are reading the writing to learn > to read, it should be in the correct form. For example, if a book is > 'published' in a first grade classroom and other first graders are going to > read it, then the word w-e-n-t should be spelled correctly so that the other > kids can learn to read 'went.' Students already see too many opportunities > of a misspelled 'wint' or 'whent.' This book might be included in a self > selected reading opportunity. > > > OR > > A piece of writing is 'published' and read only by the writer. For example, > the writer published the piece. The writer 'reads the writing' to the > class. The writer knows what was written so it is not a problem for anyone > that some of the words are misspelled or missing. This book should not be > part of another child's reading curriculum. > > I don't claim to have the final word, this is simply how I have come to live > with publishing both ways. deb > > Debra Renner Smith, > Author, Writing & Reading Consultant > Beyond Retelling Toward Higher Level Thinking and Big Ideas > Writing Mini-Lessons for Second Grade > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > www.debrennersmith.com (new lesson posted daily) > > > Question by Susan: > I am a Reading Recovery Teacher and my teacher-leader (from New > Zealand) was quite fanatical about the fact that everything on the walls > needed to be a perfect model because children would be the audience. Her > feeling was that if it was worthy of publishing or display it should be a > model for all who read it. > > My colleagues and I have looked in various places to see if research > exists (either way) on this subject. I have ventured into most of Marie > Clay's work...this just isn't something that appears in the contents or > index. How do you feel about this? Is it an issue, or is it more important > for children to display whatever THEY think is worthy? > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
