So I know you've just been dying to hear what I've learnt this week and I'm as eager to share. But, did you know that writing takes on different forms?
Yep! And I was just as surprised to find out! Writing is in stages, it is a process and it has 6 (plus 1) traits. Well since you never knew I'd be more than happy to inform you. Then I'm gonna tell you how this weeks' lesson went!
Great! So let's begin....
I learnt that there are four stages in writing: the emergent stage, early stage, transitional stage and the fluent stage. Each stage has its own unique attributes and children move from stage to stage smoothly. Each stage is just as important as the other and the stages are not bound to specific ages or grades. However, specific activities should be given to help them move on to the other stage(s).
Awesome!
So let's move on...... Writing is a process. The first part to writing is PreWriting, where you brainstorm and generate and explore ideas on what you are going to write. You can even use pictures and other tools such as a graphic organizer. The next stage is called drafting whereby the writing is put together as a coherent whole. I love that in this stage there is no need to focus on spelling and other mechanical issues. YAY! After drafting is revising. Here we were introduced to an easy way to help our students remember how to revise their work, using the acronym ARMS.
A- Adding
R- Removing
M- Moving
S- Substituting
Pretty cool huh!
The next stage in the writing process is editing and to help students remember how to edit we used another acronym called CUPS.
C- Capitalization
U- Usage
P- Punctuation
S- Spelling
OH YEA!!!!Now its time to publish or share our final copy which is the last stage in the writing process. The way it is published or shared is entirely up to you.
After looking at the writing process we looked at the characteristics of writing. The Six Traits of writing are Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency and Conventions. These traits create a guideline for teachers to use with students so that students would become familiar with the terms used in writing and help both the student and teacher identify the areas of writing that the student needs work at improving.
So what is the +1?
The “Plus One” trait is the presentation of the writing piece. This is the trait that is considered for all writing, but not specifically or directly taught as the other traits are.
NOW, let's get down to business.... how did I become such a master teacher of writing you may ask. Well, after the week's lesson I became an expert because we were asked to demonstrate the writing process.
A picture was placed on the board of a familiar scene...The Beach!
Students were engaged in a whole class discussion about what they saw in the picture while making real life connections to their own experiences on the beach. Afterwards, students began to write freely about a day at the beach.
The above prewriting checklist was used to help students to ensure everything is included in their story. I personally like this checklist because it would grab the students' interest and imagine the students asking themselves, "Did you remember to use farts?" Besides them getting a 'kick' out of using the word farts IN CLASS, they would certainly use it as a point of reference and in the long-run this will ensure that students think about all the things a good story needs to have when they are writing.
After the students wrote and edited their stories it was time to share. This was done orally. Teachers can use author's chair to have children share their stories. This gives our students a voice and allow others to celebrate and critique their writing.
The writing process should not be taught all at once. Students should be allowed to master each stage of the writing process and perfect the traits of writing. Many activities should be given to cater to this. One strategy I believe I would use the most is peer-editing. Peer- editing would allow students to not only recognize weaknesses in another students' writing but would also help to strengthen that students' writing as they become more aware of good writing.
Comment below if you've enjoyed this post and remember there is no wrong or write in writing!
I think it is important for teachers to present pictures,a scene and more to encourage students to generate they ideas. Also use acronyms to aid them in the writing process.
ReplyDeletePictures really help children to develop a great deal of ideas because as the saying goes " a picture tells a thousand words". It's amazing when those pictures help our children to put those words into writing.
ReplyDelete