Week Ten Assignment Two

What factors support student growth in writing? 

      The video describes three stages of writing that teachers use to help their students become proficient writers. These stages of writing are called: writing to children, writing with children, and writing done by children. The first stage implies that teachers should be doing 75%-100% of all of the writing. Students during this stage are either too young to read or are just learning how to read. The second stage implies that students should be doing about 25%-75%. The teacher should be modeling how to write properly for the children and the children should be doing their best to try and imitate the teachers writing. The final stage is writing done by children which imply that students should be doing 75%-100% of the writing. In the final stage of the writing process, students are most likely handing in assignments that are going to be checked and/or graded by the teacher.

      In order for students to grow in the writing process they need to practice writing as much as possible. It helps students to grow as writers by providing them with a choice about what to write about. Students need to learn how to express the ideas in their heads with the written word. In order for students to be able to express their ideas they need to be given a chance to do so. Teachers should also set aside a specific time in class where the students can use the freedom of choice to write about anything that they choose to write about.

How does a personalized response encourage students in writing? What changes might you consider based on Professor Ruiz's comments and the classroom examples? 

      A personalized response helps students see that writing is important. It also encourages students to see a perfect example of “good” writing. When students are learning how to write it is important that they are given model pieces of writing to observe and analyze. It is also helpful for teachers to read their personalized responses out loud to the children so that they can also hear what a good sample of writing sounds like.

      I appreciated the idea of students having writing portfolios. It is important for the teacher, the parents and the students to see examples of the child’s progression over a period of time. This enables the students to see mistakes they have made and help improve on their writing skills. I also enjoyed the idea of having both the teacher and the student select pieces to place in the portfolio. This idea gives the students ownership of their work and allows for the teacher to select work in which he or she feels is important to the writing process.

Consider the opportunities you provide for student discussion before writing. How could you increase those opportunities? What kinds of writing exercises lend themselves to discussion? 

      I am not currently teaching so this question would be difficult for me to answer. In an ideal classroom I would choose to have my students complete an independent writing task every day for approximately 15-20 minutes. This writing task would instruct that my students write about a personal experience, a short story they are thinking of writing, a future event that they are excited for, their mood of the day and why and other which means they can write about anything that they feel is important to share. It would also be ideal to have my students share their writing pieces with the class at the end of independent writing time. This type of activity would allow my students to be proud of their writing and will \provide them with an opportunity to share their ideas with the class.

How can you provide models of writing for your students? 

      My students will have models of writing in almost everything that they do. They will read the instructions from an assignment as well as short poems for literacy projects. It is important to provide my students with a wide variety of different writing styles such as emotional writing, storytelling writing, expository writing, essay writing and so on. Students need to be aware that the writing that they choose needs to be appropriate for the assignment of which they are asked to complete. With every writing assignment I will provide a model that my students should look to so that they are equipped with the tools they need to be proficient writers.

How can you enhance the use of oral language to promote students' writing skills? 

            I believe that my students should read, out loud, everything that they write. I tell some of the children I work with “Say it out loud. If it sounds funny or if it doesn’t make sense you should probably reword it.” If students are reading a book they expect it to sound flawless. I encourage students that the same idea goes for their writing. When students are writing their own pieces of work they should read what they wrote out loud and listen to how it sounds.