never hear "i don't have anything to write about" again!
TRANSCRIPT
Never Hear “I Don’t Have Anything to
Write About” Again!
Marla RobertsonUniversity of North Texas
Texas Woman’s University
Juanita Ramirez-RobertsonDenton ISD
Texas Woman’s University
Reading is breathing in. . .Writing is breathing out
Ralph Fletcher
Computer Brain
Input vs. Output
Writing requires thinking!
“Meaning is not thought up and then written
down. The act of writing is an act of thought.”
(Murray, 1985, p.3)
Writing is Learning
Donald Murray:
“…meaning is not thought up and then written down. The act of writing is an act of thought” (1985, p.3)
Read Aloud - Journal Writing
Getting Started
Author’s
Chair
Generating
Topics
1. "I don't have anything to write about.
In the classroom generating writing ideas and topics can be one of the most daunting tasks that young writers face.
The teacher’s role is to provide students with strategies for generating and selecting their own topics and ideas, not to feed or give the students topics.
The Bucket
List
Write, write,
write!
Strategies for Generating Topics
BrainstormingFree Writing
LoopingClustering
ListingCross Pollination
Strategies for Generating Topics
• Cubing
• Journalistic questions
• Nut-shelling
• Researching
• Dialogue
What are
Quickwrites?• 1st draft writing
• About ideas not conventions
• Springboard to other Writing with
specific focus
• Writing for reflection or closure
• Write the whole time
Using Quickwrites
What are you thinking?
What do you know?
What did you learn?
When can you do Quickwrites?
Science
Math
Social Studies
English/Language Arts
Let’s Try It!
Science Quickwrite – 5 Senses/Taste
◆ Write for 2 minutes
◆ Share with your table
1 from each table share with the group
Response to Literature
After a read aloud
Let’s try it:
Dichos/Proverb/Aesops Fable
Social Studies
Let’s Try it !
Cultures - Holidays
Social Justice
What do you do when students
only write about one thing over
and over again?
1 Topic = 18 Topics
Choose a topic
Write for 2 minutes
Real-World Writing Purposes
• Express and Reflect
• Inform and Explain
• Evaluate and Judge
• Inquiry and Explore
• Analyze and Interpret
• Take a Stand/Propose a
Solution
Student Example
Teacher Modeling
Insert a picture from Gallagher book
Teacher Modeling
Work on your 1 Topic = 18 Topics
Writing requires a
different level of
engagement
“Use writing as a way of learning, a way of discovering and exploring, of finding what
you may have to say and finding ways in which you may
say it.” (Murray, 1985, p. 6)
Writing
Brainstorm how you can use what
you learned today in your
classroom?
Write for 2 minutes
Wrap-up/Discussion
Ah ha Moments
Workshop References
Allington, R. L., & Cunningham, P. M. (2006). Schools That Work: Where All Children Read and Write. New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon, Inc.
Brindley, R., & Schneider, J. J. (2002). Writing Instruction or Destruction? Lessons to be Learned from Fourth Grade Teachers’ Perspectives. Journal of Teacher Education, 53, 328-341.
Cambourne, B. (1988). The Whole Story: Natural Learning and the Acquisition of Literacy in the Classroom. Auckland, New Zealand: Ashton Scholastic.
Capello, M. (2006). Under Construction: Voice and Identity Development in Writing Workshop. Language Arts, 83(6), 482-491.
Corden, R. (2007). Developing Reading-writing Connections: The Impact of Explicit Instruction of Literary Devices on the Quality of Children’s Narrative Writing. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 21(3), 269-89.
Elbow, P. (2000). Everyone can write: Essays Towards a Hopeful Theory of Writing and Teaching Writing. New York: Oxford University Press.
Gallagher, K. (2011). Write like this: Teaching real-world writing through modeling & mentor texts. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
Graves, D. H. (2002). Testing is Not Teaching: What Should Count in Education. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Murray, D. M. (1985). A Writer Teaches Writing. Dallas, TX: Houghton Mifflin.
Workshop References Nava, Y. (2000). It's all in the frijoles: 100 famous Latinos share real-life stories, time-tested Dichos, favorite folktales, and inspiring words of wisdom. New York: Simon & Schuster..
National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges. (2003). The Neglected “R”: The Need for a Writing Revolution. New York: College Board.
National Writing Project, & Nagin, C. (2006). Because Writing Matters: Improving Student Writing in our Schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Ray, K. W. (2006). Study Driven: A Framework for Planning Units of Study in the Writing Workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Shelton, N. R., & Fu, D. (2004). Creating Space for Teaching Writing and for Test Preparation. Language Arts, 82(2), 120-128.
Short, K., Harste, J., & Burke, C. (1996). Creating Classrooms for Authors and Inquirers. 2nd ed. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Smith, F. (1988). Joining the Literacy Club. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemman. Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, trans. M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, and E. Souberman. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. New York: Cambridge University Press. Whyte, A., Lazarte, A., Thompson, I., Ellis, N., Muse, A., & Talbot, R. (2007). The National Writing Project, Teachers’ Writing Lives, and Student Achievement in Writing. Action in Teacher Education, 29(2), 5-16. Zinsser, W. K. (1988). Writing to Learn. New York, NY: Harper & Row.