April - Non-Fiction Books

     I am really excited about my current unit in writing - Informational Books. Our students had to create a few essays during the essay unit so we wanted to switch gears (for their sanity and ours) to informational writing with a twist. Our new Lucy Caulkins rubrics almost require us to move in this direction as it asks our students to include text features in their written work.
     Part of my excitement comes from the fact that I am able to implement so many amazing materials into this unit. We began yesterday by brainstorming in Padlet and I challenged the students to pick a topic that relates to a culture or a historical event. This decision on my part was two-fold: 1) They would all pick animal topics or Legos if I let them and I want to challenge their thinking and 2) We are reading books during reading that relate to different cultures and historical events so it was an easy way to tie all that work together (yeah Common Core). Today they will be placing their topic and title in a Google Doc so I have a class list of their topics. This will allow me to house them in one place and make sure their topic is appropriate without having to call each one of them up independently.
     I also created some templates in Google Docs that can house the research they find. This will allow them to use the research tool as well and type directly into the document to make their research easier to keep track of. I was able to link these to my website so it is all in one central location. I am able to use technology to support my students while incorporating curriculum like Lucy Caulkins as well - this to me is best practices - and that makes me feel like I am getting more comfortable with all of my teaching tools. I also know I am a better, more effective teacher when I am excited, and I am definitely excited by the possibilities of this unit!
     The one thing I am still pondering is how I want to publish their work. Google Docs is a great tool for so much of it, but I am wondering if there is another publishing device out there that could expose them to something new. Let me know if you have any ideas!

https://sites.google.com/a/lpsk12.org/miss-wyman-s-4th-grade/writing

March - Authenticity of Blogger Work

    This month I had my students revisit blogging using our class read aloud and our class blog. I had them answer some questions about our book Hard Gold since we had just finished reading it aloud. The students used their "Blogging Docs" to create their responses and then posted them to the blog when complete. What I realized was what an authentic experience this was for them as writers. We have blogged before, but I don't think I realized how powerful this work really is.
     Before I publish anything on the blog, I call the students up to look through their pending response with me. I am able to give them immediate feedback before I send them back to their seats. If they have made convention errors I point them out, if they haven't used enough detail I point it out, and if they didn't answer all the questions (which was common in this post) I point it out. The best part about this is they go back and edit immediately while the comments are still fresh in their minds. Because they have it typed in their "Blogging Doc" the edits are easy to make as well so no one has to start from scratch. I also make sure my SMART Board screen is on so that other students can glimpse at the responses that are submitted. Many of them gauge their work by what they are seeing on that screen. I have had students add more to a response (more than they would have on their own) because of what they saw on the board. I also watch as many of them listen to my mini-conferences with students. Some of them take the information I give to others and use that advice in their own work before they publish. I am amazed that something so simple can create such wonderful editing experiences. I am also looking forward to April when we will have parents blogging with us as well because this will create a bigger audience and hopefully push them into creating their best work! Thank you Blogger :)

http://misswymanblog2013.blogspot.com/

Failure February - Teaching Writing is HARD!

     There are so many amazing quotes about "failure" and getting back up again, well sometimes it is hard to get back up again when it comes to teaching my students how to write. This past month we have been working on the all important five paragraph essay - an essential skill for young writers. Having taught this now for years you would think I would be an expert, that this would just be another piece of my year. Welp, not so much...all of us teachers know the struggle that how you taught one year might not work the next. I know my students have struggled with this in the past and I have learned from those struggles, but every group of learners is different and needs different things. Can I sit here and say they have made no progress or no growth, no. Can I sit here and say I am still struggling with how best to meet their needs, yes. I tell my students that failure is the path to success everyday in my classroom, so why am I struggling so much to take my own advice?
     I am constantly open to trying new things, I incorporate student choice whenever possible, and I take my students' lead whenever I can. You would think these would be the keys to success, but while they are leading me to the door it is not yet open. This month I needed this blog post to be a true reflection with where I am at as a writing teacher. I am using great tools, I am conferring with my writers as much as possible, and I am using mentor texts to support my lessons. I know I have done good work, but as I watch my students struggle with pieces of their essays or the essay as a whole it is hard not to feel deflated and let down. When I watch students with incredible potential hating on the process it is hard not to internalize that.
     There is an amazing quote that I was given last year that has guided me every since, "You can open the door for your students, but they have to actually walk through it." I am opening the door, but some of them are not walking through, or stumbling through, or barely tip-toeing through. To me this continuously challenges me to go back to the drawing board, which is the part of teaching that I do love, but sometimes it is hard to walk away feeling like I have a concrete answer. I know I am not the only one who struggles with this, I guess I am just looking to find some new resources to turn to when my other ones run dry. I need to get creative and step out of the box again! I know this month felt a little stale, but I know it can be good again, I still have the opportunity to positively shape my current essay writers. All this shows me is that 'Failure February' has the potential to turn into a more positive March. This doesn't mean that teaching writing won't continue to be hard, we all know that isn't possible, but it does mean that I can continue to challenge myself and my students to be better and want more from their instruction.

January - Beginning Work on Essays

     This time of year always brings about our Essay Unit in 4th grade. I have always had a love/hate relationship with this unit because it challenges my writers in so many ways. They have never been asked to write “this much” before and the structure of it can be a lot to take in. I love the challenge that is poses for them, but can also struggle with that as well. This year my goal for them and myself was structure, structure, structure. Lucy Caulkins starts her essay unit with a lesson called “Essay Bootcamp” and I think this is the perfect way to look at it. Each “exercise” is asking my students to tackle new material, while strengthening their skills at the same time.

     

     We started brainstorming again using their personal Padlet walls. Because they already had ideas stored here from other points in the year, I figured it could give them some ideas to start with if they needed. Many created new ones, but I like that it is a collection of ideas to always refer back to for inspiration. Padlet is not hugely structured though, and after getting on Twitter a few weeks ago I discovered a new tool that they could have used instead that was more structured for expanding their ideas (oh well there is always next year, or later on this year). The tool is called Popplet and it is a web creation tool that they could use to type more specific information for their plan. Really I could use Padlet for their brainstorm and then Popplet for their actual plan - two great tools to get them started!

    Today we actually started writing. They have been researching information on their chosen topics and now we need to put it all together. One element I have added to help with structure is color-coding (highlighting) on Google Docs. This way students can visually see if they are missing any pieces. For example, their introductory paragraph needs a hook, a thesis/topic sentence, and a list of their body paragraph topics. I assigned each of these a color: hook = blue, thesis = red, and topics = green. Once they typed their introduction paragraph they had to color-code each sentence. If they were missing a color they had to go back and add something they forgot. I want to carry this through the whole essay process using different colors along the way. Once they know they have every piece, they can remove the highlight from their writing. There is a lot of potential here for peer editing as well. Their peer might need to color code a paragraph and see if they got all the pieces they needed. It is amazing how something so simple can have such a great impact on how they view their writing.

    If there are any other helpful structure tools out there to help my students with essays PLEASE pass them along, I am always looking for new things to try! I do feel more on top of the unit this time and that has helped me to better guide my students!

November - Rough Draft vs. Final Draft With EEEs

     Now that I am having more of my students rough draft on their EEEs, I have come across an issue I haven't seen before. Because publishing has been the step where students have used EEEs in the past, they aren't understanding that just because it is typed doesn't mean it is perfect and in "final  draft" format. Many of my students are typing their rough draft and are not finding the need to edit because it is already in a published format. I have had to have a lot of conversations this past month about what a Rough Draft is and what a Final Draft is. If anything I think I might change these terms because as a colleague of mine pointed out "No draft is really a final draft." Many authors who type their work edit 80 or 90 times before a book is reading for publishing. More of my students need to understand this!
     My students are coming along with their editing and revising work, but I am still looking for ways to translate and have them apply this to their typed pieces as well. We will be using the highlighting tool moving forward, more comments with their writing partners moving forward, etc, but I am still working on hitting home that one editing, one revision, does not a "Final Draft" make. Has anyone else run into this using their EEEs more for writing? I am glad it has been part of our discussion in our classroom, but I want to find more effective ways to address it. I love how I am constantly being challenged in my instruction based on real world issues I see with the implementation of technology in my classroom!

October Success (a a little late) - Research Tool/Quotes on Google Docs

      I love learning new things with Google Docs. At our Inspired Writing half day meeting we were introduced to searching for quotes in the Research tool. I had an immediate application for this in my classroom. We were reading the incredible book Wonder by R.J. Palacio. One of the characters in the story is a teacher named Mr. Browne. He had a precept every month that he shared with his students. They had to write a paragraph explaining what the precept meant to them and how it connected to their lives. I start everyday in my classroom with a “Thought of the Day” (much like a precept). We use these quotes to start our day on a positive note and get our wheels turning. Using this idea, I asked the students to come up with a precept that was meaningful to them and their individual lives. Using the Research tool they searched for a quote they wanted to use. I then had them write an explanation of what the quote meant to them and why it was important in their life, much like Auggie (our main character) had to do for Mr. Browne. They typed these responses in their Blogging Doc and then posted it onto our classroom blog. When finished they had to respond to other people’s blog posts as well. I was very impressed by what they came up with and how they really did pick quotes that meant something to them. It was a great way to write about what we are reading using helpful technology to support.

http://misswymanblog2013.blogspot.com/

September - Padlet, What a Tool!

     Part of the reason I love Inspired Learning so much, is that I constantly leave feeling inspired. One of the tools we were introduced to was Padlet. This is Wallwisher aka an electronic planning page, idea storage house for students. As we are transitioning into the new Lucy Calkins materials this year, I am having to change how I teach/think about teaching. This tool became of immediate use as we embarked on Lucy's first book. The students needed to generate a list of ideas/small moments that they could turn into a realistic fiction story. Instead of doing this planning in their notebook, I had them do it on Padlet. It was a huge success. Not only does Padlet link to their Google accounts so they don't have to register, but it will house this idea wall for the rest of the year so they can always refer back to it for ideas. There is no losing it or misplacing it, it is housed at all times online for their individual use. It also helped some of my students to generate more ideas because they weren't caught up in the pencil/paper work. They were able to click and add a new idea immediately.
     I am excited to use this tool moving forward as a successful option for student planning. I am excited by the work they have done so far, and I can't wait to see the stories that they generate from this first brainstorm of ideas.