writers’ workshop: teaching writing to english learners increasing 1st and 2nd grade student...
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Writers’ Workshop: Teaching Writing to English Learners
Increasing 1st and 2nd grade Student Interest in Reading and Writing by Supplementing the Open Court Curriculum with Reader’s Theater, Writer’s Workshop, and Video Production.
By Mathew Needleman
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Year One: Reader’s Theater
What Is It?
Engaging repeated reading with an
authentic purpose
Children prepare to make a movie by
reading and rehearsing a script
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The City Mouse and the Country Mouse
Classroom inquiry project goals: year one
• engage students in repeated reading with an authentic purpose
• increase reading fluency• increase students interest in
reading for pleasure
Results of Participating in Filmstudents at benchmark
Increased Enthusiasm for Reading
Year Two: Writing for Pleasure
Why?Students are normally
taught to write because the teacher says so
and not to:
reach audiences express feelings
communicateentertain
The research question:
Can student participation in writer’s workshop
positively impact writing on Open Court
unit topics?
The writer’s workshop described in the Open Court Reading Manual
• Students write on an assigned Open Court unit topic
• They move at the same pace (all students write a story one day, edit it the next, revise and publish the next, etc.).
• There is little room to change the focus of the essay, try new things, or explore different genres
Scaffolding for
teaching Open Court
Writing with ELLs
Disadvantages of Open Court workshop model
Students often have to learn three foreign languages at once
Some decreased student engagement
Many ELLs left behind
English Learners often had difficulty participating in the process.
Writer’s Workshopas it evolved over the year
Students chose their own topics
Students moved at their own pace within decided upon deadlines
Students could explore different genres and topics without commitment
Advantages
Students became more engaged in writing on
topics of their own choosing.
Students had familiarity with topic and only had
to learn the writing process
Prewriting
Drafting
Revising/Proofreading
Publishing
Jonathan
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Jonathan’s Film
Why Use Technology with ELLs?
• Audio and visuals assist ELLs with constructing meaning
• Provides real audience beyond the classroom
• Promotes higher level thinking• Teaches 21st Century skills to
close the Digital Divide
“Today’s graduates need to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, and effective
communicators who are proficient in both core subjects and new, 21st-century content
and skills.”
from “Results that Matter: 21st Century Skills and High School Reform” a report issued in March by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills
