Finding #2: Middle school teachers should allow space for informal writing practice to build writing fluency and comfort.
Kirby et al (2004) state the following in their book: "We suggest that when you begin teaching writing to a new group of students, you declare a moratorium on concerns about rigidly defined forms and structures of writing. Emphasize fluency." (Kirby et al, 2004, p. 6). This year I have created space and time in my ELA class for more informal writing activities. These activities not only get students more comfortable with writing and increase their fluency, but they engage students in writing and create a positive attitude toward writing in general. There are two ways that I have built writing fluency this year through informal writing activities:
1) Writing journals twice per week
Two times a week in my class, students engage in some journal writing during our class "Do Now." I provide a prompt on the screen-- sometimes it's an opinion prompt; other times it's a creative writing prompt; on other days, I ask a question that leads into our lesson that also gets them using their current vocabulary words. The writing is not graded and students are encouraged just to put pencil to paper for at least five straight minutes. Then, we share our writing with our peer partner and sometimes to the entire group.
Example journal prompts from this year:
1) Write a story about a wedding reception in which the bride wrangles with the groom and anarchy ensues. Be sure to use vivid, detailed VERBS in your story. Feel free to also use even more Unit 1 Flocabulary words.
2) What aspects of your identity are you proud of, and why? (Remember, identity can include your gender, ethnicity/race, country you were born, family, religion, neighborhood, city, school, clubs or sports you are apart of, etc.)
3) Where did your name come from? Share any stories you know about your name (first, middle, last). How do you feel about your name?
4) Choose ONE of the following Maya Angelou quotes and write what it means, whether you agree or disagree, and any examples that support your argument from your life or the world.
1. “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
2. “I speak to the Black experience, but I am always talking about the human condition—about what we can endure, dream, fail at, and survive.”
3. “Hold those things that tell your history and protect them. During slavery, who was able to read or write or keep anything? The ability to have somebody tell your story to is so important. It says, ‘I was here. I may be sold tomorrow, but I was here.’”
5) What did you fear when you were a child? Thunderstorms, spiders, being alone? Write a poem about one of your childhood fears. It should be at last 8 lines. Make it creepy, sad, or suspenseful. SHOW, don’t TELL! Use IMAGERY!
2) Reader response letters between teacher and students
In the book Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice (Beers, Probst, and Rief, 2007), which I read in my Teaching Literature for Young Adults class, Harvey Daniels recommends teacher-student letter-writing as a way to build relationships with students but also get them practicing their writing. He speaks on the value of dialogue journals and teacher-student notes: "This simple adult-child correspondence allows the teacher to model good writing, to create a just-right text for each child to read, to see and assess each students' writing skills, and to get to know the student personally-- a highly productive use of a few minutes." (p. 127-128). Daniels recommends simply asking students to write letters to you, telling them about their lives and what is going on with them personally.
After reading this chapter and while taking this class, I began this writing process with my students. It started as a simple, "Write to me about what is going on with you," but I had trouble staying on top of it for longer than a few months. This year, I decided to combine reader response with the personal letter writing. I have my students write letters to me once every two weeks. Their letters must be at least a page. In these letters they do the following:
This structure has really worked for me this year. Not only does it build fluency, but students really look forward and enjoy writing the letters. They get so excited to read what I write back to them and get mad at me when I don't write back quickly enough! Some students choose to just write about books, and others use the space to get a little more personal. I have been able to get to know certain students so much better through this process, for some students open up more easily on paper than in person.
Here is an example of an exchange I had with one of my more avid readers:
1) Writing journals twice per week
Two times a week in my class, students engage in some journal writing during our class "Do Now." I provide a prompt on the screen-- sometimes it's an opinion prompt; other times it's a creative writing prompt; on other days, I ask a question that leads into our lesson that also gets them using their current vocabulary words. The writing is not graded and students are encouraged just to put pencil to paper for at least five straight minutes. Then, we share our writing with our peer partner and sometimes to the entire group.
Example journal prompts from this year:
1) Write a story about a wedding reception in which the bride wrangles with the groom and anarchy ensues. Be sure to use vivid, detailed VERBS in your story. Feel free to also use even more Unit 1 Flocabulary words.
2) What aspects of your identity are you proud of, and why? (Remember, identity can include your gender, ethnicity/race, country you were born, family, religion, neighborhood, city, school, clubs or sports you are apart of, etc.)
3) Where did your name come from? Share any stories you know about your name (first, middle, last). How do you feel about your name?
4) Choose ONE of the following Maya Angelou quotes and write what it means, whether you agree or disagree, and any examples that support your argument from your life or the world.
1. “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
2. “I speak to the Black experience, but I am always talking about the human condition—about what we can endure, dream, fail at, and survive.”
3. “Hold those things that tell your history and protect them. During slavery, who was able to read or write or keep anything? The ability to have somebody tell your story to is so important. It says, ‘I was here. I may be sold tomorrow, but I was here.’”
5) What did you fear when you were a child? Thunderstorms, spiders, being alone? Write a poem about one of your childhood fears. It should be at last 8 lines. Make it creepy, sad, or suspenseful. SHOW, don’t TELL! Use IMAGERY!
2) Reader response letters between teacher and students
In the book Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice (Beers, Probst, and Rief, 2007), which I read in my Teaching Literature for Young Adults class, Harvey Daniels recommends teacher-student letter-writing as a way to build relationships with students but also get them practicing their writing. He speaks on the value of dialogue journals and teacher-student notes: "This simple adult-child correspondence allows the teacher to model good writing, to create a just-right text for each child to read, to see and assess each students' writing skills, and to get to know the student personally-- a highly productive use of a few minutes." (p. 127-128). Daniels recommends simply asking students to write letters to you, telling them about their lives and what is going on with them personally.
After reading this chapter and while taking this class, I began this writing process with my students. It started as a simple, "Write to me about what is going on with you," but I had trouble staying on top of it for longer than a few months. This year, I decided to combine reader response with the personal letter writing. I have my students write letters to me once every two weeks. Their letters must be at least a page. In these letters they do the following:
- Tell me about the books they've been reading independently-- questions they have, predictions, opinions, connections they are making, etc.
- Discuss how they feel about their reading progress and what books they plan to read next
- Ask me for book recommendations
- Include any other thoughts about what is going on in their lives--what they are nervous about, excited about, etc.
This structure has really worked for me this year. Not only does it build fluency, but students really look forward and enjoy writing the letters. They get so excited to read what I write back to them and get mad at me when I don't write back quickly enough! Some students choose to just write about books, and others use the space to get a little more personal. I have been able to get to know certain students so much better through this process, for some students open up more easily on paper than in person.
Here is an example of an exchange I had with one of my more avid readers: