Sunday, December 6, 2009

Regarding Routman's chapters on teaching and organizing writing (ch. 7, 8):

I greatly appreciate being in the different placements and visiting other classrooms to see how teachers teach writing. I'm happy to see teachers who really try to help their students enjoy and care about what they are writing. Conventions, traits of writing, and editing will emerge next. I can tell if teachers enjoys writing themselves. I've witnessed a certain kind of contagious enthusiasm whereby students' writing is honored and the students are ecstatic to be noticed!

Identifying the writer's AUDIENCE will be very helpful to students as they approach writing assignments. I've seen my supervising teachers issue fun and engaging writing exercises for students. In sixth grade, students were asked to write a letter to the principal about why the school should continue to support field trips for students. The students, by way of trying to convince the principal of their position FOR field trips, learned how to write a strong, persuasive piece. Another writing task involved a paper about the importance of good food being offered for lunches at school. These were topics that were "life applicable," that kids could care about and express a personal opinion.

As a teacher, I will want to try to follow the Optimal Learning Model for teaching meaningful writing. There's nothing worse for students than to be taught that learning how to write is REQUIRED. Of course it is--but we can ease students into an appreciation of their own writing through a multitude of processes--several presented in Routman's book. Students do need to assume responsibility gradually. Our goal is for them to become independent in their writing, but first they need to experience writing as a shared activity and through meaning gained through the teacher's (and sometimes peers') modeling.

Focusing on the trait of VOICE, Routman emphasizes the need for teachers to train kids to write and think out loud. Then they will get a better sense of noticing or identifying an author's voice. I think the trait of voice is key to students developing a love of writing; they are given permission to maintain their own personality or identity in their writing. Routman also talks about the important practice of reading writing out loud. Listening to yourself as a reader--not just the writer--is critical for reorganizing or revising the writing for the purpose of strengthening that piece of writing.

Routman proposed so many ways in which to immerse students in writing. I only hope I can make it a priority in my teaching. I especially appreciate that you can incorporate writing into most subjects in school. I agree with Routman that writing needs to happen daily. I appreciate the reminder about provided choices to students, also. Routman says, "Sometimes, we just have to plunge in" (p. 179). Writing should be part of the classroom routine with emphasis on prewrites and freewrites, peer conversations about writing, and a trusting classroom climate.