#SOLSC21: Depending on when you met me
I’ve returned to this invitation three times, so it literally is time to act. Leigh Ann Eck issued an invitation to a party with an ID required here and in Margaret’s post here. This is my fourth draft. I’m not ready to call it a final copy yet.
Depending on when you met me, I might have been: that kindergarten student hiding in the classroom during reading class as I devoured the books; that first grade student who read all the books on the single first grade shelf who wasn’t allowed to read books from other shelves; that first grade artist with a purple sky, red sun, and green and purple blooming flowers who watched her teacher tear up her paper, that third grade student who recopied her “When I Grow Up” story in red ink so the teacher could not red ink the page, that middle school reader who read Alcott, Hemingway, Henry James, and Tolstoy (to name a few) as I read my way alphabetically through the fiction stacks, that sophomore in high school who wrote “To Wear or Not to Wear” to question the school dress code; that college student who questioned authority and arbitrary rules; that special ed teacher who questioned rule exceptions that had 28 students in my resource room program (limit was 18); or that adult who continues to ask WHY?
Depending on when you met me I might have been: a middle child, a child with her nose in a book, an egg gatherer, a tree waterer, a bike rider, a knitter, a teacher of religion classes, a cousin, a bass player, an international traveler, a student desperately trying to fit in balancing school and work, and work, and work, a transfer student, a marching band afficiando, a teacher, a researcher, an inquisitive soul who craved deeper understanding, a cross stitcher, a professional development provider, a teacher, a college instructor, a mom a learner, a principal, a consultant, a speaker, a listener, a writer, a grandmother, and a quilter.
Which version did you prefer and why?When and where do you share writing drafts and finished product? How do you model revisions for your students?
_______________________________________________________________________________ Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for this daily forum during the month of March. Check out the writers and readers here.
#SOLSC21: Summing it up in 5
I remember the obligatory third grade paper “What I want to be when I grow up”copied carefully in red ink on manilla tablet paper so that my teacher could not bleed red ink corrections on my pristine paper that was reverently stored in the family Bible for posterity.
Writing was something assigned only in English classes after months of grammar drills and diagramming sentences until we were allowed to take a course entitled Creative Writing in high school and then I doodled my way through poetry and bits and pieces of plagarized phrases and lines of writing that caught my attention and my ear.
College took so much out of my writing spirit as I was spoon fed through the expectations of my first humanities paper, “The Role of Imagery in ‘The Sounds of Silence'” to the published graduate school thesis chock full of charts at the paid typing rate of $2.00 per page (before computers) and the fear that allowing anything to bleed into the required one inch margins or the template frame laid over random pages would cause it to be rejected and the degree denied.
As a teacher, I took a writing course and discovered the “Six Traits”, taught them, and assessed them for decades before a writing workshop institute where Colleen told me I could write and others heard my writing so I began to blog in order to share a small part of myself as a writing teacher/coach with friends far and near, including the TWT community and the Slice of Life.
As a writer, I have hundreds of blog posts, thousands of tweets and scribbles here, there and everywhere on post its, notebooks, and computer files galore as I collect words, phrases, lines of writing, and pictures of what I would like to imitate in writing as I continue to write daily and publish occasionally.
What is your history of your writing life? Can you summarize it in 5 sentences?
Today’s format was inspired by Julieanne Harmatz here and Multifaceted Musings, It’s Elementary, and Elisabeth Ellington at The Dirigible Plum. It was also, without a doubt, my most revised piece of writing thus far this month!
_______________________________________________________________________________
Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for this daily forum during the month of March. Check out the writers and readers here.
#SOLSC20: Day 11
Flames
Red tongues leaping skyward
A wall of flames
Directed by the wind,
Steadily moving,
Stealthily moving,
Radiating heat.
A wall of flames stretching toward the house
Charred path behind,
Demanding action,
Fast-paced decisions,
No time for fear,
No time to waste.
Process: I began with this line, “I was greeted by a wall of flames about 40 feet long and 2 feet high on the other side of my driveway yesterday afternoon.” from this post. (Link)
Goal: Build in more description by bundling standards
CCSS Anchor Writing Standard 4. “Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.”
CCSS Writing 4.3.d. “Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.”
CCSS Language Standard 4.6. “Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being (e.g., quizzed, whined, stammered) and that are basic to a particular topic (e.g., wildlife, conservation, and endangered when discussing animal preservation).”
Craft: twin phrases, repetition, specific words
How did this play with poetry add to the description from the original sentence? How can “notebook play with words and ideas” provide revision practice? How do you demonstrate/model this?
Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for this daily forum in March. Check out the writers and readers here.
#WhyIWrite
Why I write:
To think
To reveal
To process
To deepen my understanding
To check my understanding
To analyze my thinking
To share my learning
To wonder
To share
To be a model for teachers and students and
To experience the JOY of a community . . .
Those are some of the reasons I write.
(And as soon as I hit “publish” I will think of at least 10 other “better”reasons that I wish I had thought of during the three days that I worked on this draft!)
Planning
Drafting
Revising
Conferencing
Revising
Publishing
Do these steps look familiar?
But do they match your current reality in your writing?
Do they match your current reality in your writing instruction?
I’ve been spying on my writing for over a year . . . literally in search of patterns that I could identify in my own writing. Trying to decide on that next big goal for myself – ambitious or “doable”? . . . lofty or practical?
Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as finding a pattern, setting up some demos and “off you go” because writing is complicated.
Steps are added or revised . . .
If I have to stop and research.
If I have to completely scrap my draft because it is really so pathetic.
If I have to continue my “search for a topic”.
If I have to . . .
So here are some resources,
Quite literally, some food for thought!
Because all of these relate to just one simple standard in writing and yet this standard (and its intent) are often overlooked in a search for a priority or a way to reduce/simplify the writing standards!
“CCR. W.5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.”
A previous blog post that connected to this standard is in the 2014 archives here!
Planning
Planning – Where does an idea come from? – my blog post
Celebrate Celebrating – a blog post from Julieanne Harmatz (grade 5)
Learn by Writing – Lynne Dorfman’s blog post
Helping Students Plan their Writing – a blog post by Melanie Meehan
Using Technology for a Kindergartner’s Writing Process – a blog post by Melanie Meehan
Writing Goals
Introducing a Hierarchy of Writing Goals – a blog post by Jennifer Serravallo
Goal Setting – my blog post
Drafting: Beginnings (somewhere – trying more than just one beginning – trying a new approach
21 of the Best Opening Lines in Children’s Books
The Beginning – my blog post
Strong Leads – Jennifer Wagner (2nd grade)
Drafting – Endings
Behind the Books: The Perfect Ending – blog post by Melissa Stewart
The Ending – my blog post
Drafting – Telling a Story Bit by Bit
Celebrating Story – blog post by Julieanne Harmatz
Drafting – Organization, Elaboration, and Craft
Elaboration Strategies for Information Writing Dig- Two Writing Teachers
Text Structures – blog post by Melissa Stewart
Specific Examples of the Power of Three – Stacey Shubitz
First Graders Get Crafty – Dana Murphy
DigiLit Sunday: Craft – blog post by Margaret Simon
Revising
Revising as part of the Process – blog post by Melanie Meehan
No Monkeys, No Chocolate: 10 year Revision Timeline – blog post by Melissa Stewart
Editing as a part of publication
Your Turn Lesson: The Colon – A blog post by Diane and Lynne
Editing Sticks – my blog post
Editing – my blog post
- Editing stations for upper grades – Shana Frazin informed
- Daily light editing – Shanna Schwartz informed
Revising or Editing? – my blog post
Fun tool – Eye Finger Puppets (Amazon or craft stores) – Make editing time special and reminds the reader and the writer to pay close attention to the work!
Reading Units of Study Mini-Lessons
MiniLessons are strong invitations to learning! (TCRWP_
Reading and Planning MiniLessons – Rachel Tassler
A Short and Sweet MiniLesson Format – Two Writing Teachers
How to Plan a MiniLesson from Scratch – Two Writing Teachers
There are More Ways than One to Plan a MiniLesson – Two Writing Teachers
How to Read a Unit of Study – Two Writing Teachers
Fundamentals of Writing Workshop – Two Writing Teachers Blog Series August 2017
Share Time in Writing Workshop – Lynne Dorfman’s blog
Choice in Writing Workshop – blog post by Tara Smith
(Almost) Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Partnerships I Learned in Kindergarten – blog post by Shana Frazin
Why I Write – Stenhouse Blog
Writing is Not a Linear Process
Mentor Texts – Books that would be nice to have as Resources
Craft Moves: Lesson Sets for Teaching Writing with Mentor Texts – Stacey Shubitz (Stenhouse)
Writers are Readers: Flipping Reading Instruction into Writing Opportunities – Lester Laminack (Heinemann)
Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children’s Literature (2nd etition)- Dorfman & Cappelli (Stenhouse)
Learning from Classmates: Using Student Writing as Mentor Texts – Lisa Eicholdt (Heinemann)
What;s Your Plan?
What are you going to do NEXT?
Today’s best draft, (Kelly Gallager)
this post,
This post I wrote to organize!
#SOL17: Revisor
It’s a typical Tuesday morning at my house. Tuesdays when I draft, revise, and publish my “slice” before work.
It’s time to write my slice on my blog post, but I don’t know what to write. Where will my idea come from?
I pace from the living room to the kitchen and back again. “No idea YET!”
I stare out the window. It’s still dark. “No idea YET!”
I reread last week’s post. “Can I write a part two? No idea YET!”
I stop. I ask myself, “What did I do this weekend?”
I went to the Homecoming parade. I went to the game. I watched the bands (alumni and current) march. I went to watch high school band competition.
I remembered how much I loved marching band when I was in high school and college.
I was so excited. When I looked at my pictures from the weekend, I had tons of pictures of both my family and the marching bands. Finally I have an idea. I know . . . My slice is going to be about how I found my idea . . . and I begin to type.
And, now for the rest of the story . . .
Paul Harvey story (Part 2)
The story above is the “Prequel” to last week’s post. I used the prequel in a second grade classroom to demonstrate some revisions that the writers could consider to make their writing stronger.
I am quite confident in my “revising” skills. It is easier for me to say that I am a revisor than to say that I am a writer. In the midst of writing, I have doubts. In the midst of revising, I feel like my super powers are engaged. There’s structure power, elaboration power, and the so important editing/conventions power.
How does that impact my writing?
How does that impact my instruction?
I believe that my love for revision enables me to be both a more-focused and a more-flexible writing coach.
Here was my first draft of my writing – deliberately designed so I could use it with my second grade friends! A very short three page story
How did I get from my original nine sentences to the final draft (25 sentences) above?
What were my revision points?
In our narrative mini-lessons these were some of our teaching points:
What were student writing goals?
Student goals included strong beginning, writing more sentences across pages, or adding more details.
Beginning – Page one – I need to add where and when because I have the who and what.
Middle – I need more details so I decide to have two pages and decide to repeat the “No idea YET!” (page two) and on page three I leave the first sentence and change the ending.
Ending – I check to make sure that I add details that bring the story full circle.
I use bright neon paper strips or green marker for my revised sections to make the revisions very visible for my readers and writers.
This revision basically happened in order: beginning, middle, and end. Not all happen to work that way!
Are you a revisor?
How do you teach revision?
How do you match revision, instruction, and goals?
Did you see Betsy’s post yesterday on Revision? AMAZING! Sticky Notes, Arrows, and Margins, Oh My!
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here. 
#SOL17: Silver Lake
Where do YOU begin?
Here’s a simple list of words from my writing notebook
Begun with an early morning observation
Sipping coffee
Waking up
At Silver Lake
Some words from the present.
Some from the past.
Some added over time.
How does a list evolve?
Grow?
Morph?
What categories would you make?
While waiting for inspiration to strike,
I’ve learned to keep my fingers moving across the keyboard.
Looking for photos
Looking for organization
and word clouds suddenly appeared in my brain.
Changing colors
Changing shapes
Changing colors
Adding a filter.
Using a visual as a stimulus . . .
Ready to write!
One of Those Moments
One of those moments
Etched on my cornea
Burnt into my brain
Captured in my heart
Gray sky
Combinations of clouds
White, thin, wispy
Surrounded by large and fluffy white-topped clouds
With an under girding of gray
Ready for a sprinkle or
Perhaps a shower or
Sheets of rain or
Buckets full pouring from the heavens
Harmony in thoughts shared
Rich in laughter
Engrossed in fun
So much to do!
A boat ride,
Pictionary,
Writing talk,
3 Truths and a Lie, and
Learning to play a ukelele.
Friends
Voxer Cousins
Readers
Writers
Thinkers
Teachers
Students
Bound together by a few moments in time
One of those perfect summer moments!
June 24 – Silver Lake, MN
How do your thoughts become your ideas?
What shapes your format?
Where does your organization come from?
How do you share this process with your students?
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Lanny, Lisa, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here. 
Process:
My first draft was totally a description – what I saw, heard and felt while outside
But it seemed really boring
And felt like it could be any lake anywhere
So this is Draft Two . . . after some revision!
#SOL16: Planning
Words,
Phrases,
Sentences,
Pictures in my brain
Some clear
Some jumbled . . .
This way or that?
Physically sorting materials,
Ideas,
Charts, and
Lessons.
Mentally sorting . . .
One path visible
One path unseen . . .
How do I know I’m making progress?
It’s too early for product . . .
The fact that I persevere
I continue
More jotting
More drafting
It’s all ugly
Collecting,
Sifting,
Rearranging,
That first draft.
Rewind.
That second draft.
Revise.
Have another go.
Another.
And yet another.
Revision will continue even through that first presentation.
Revision in planning . . .
Revision in drafting . . .
Revision in life . . .
How do you see evidence of your planning and drafting?
How do you allow the time for both the visible and the invisible planning and drafting?
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Dana, Deb, Kathleen, Lisa, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#TCRWP Writing: Takeaways Day 2
| Celena Larkey
Ratchet up the level of your students’ writing by teaching them revision: Tapping into the power of mentor texts and checklists (K-2) |
Our 30 minute writing workshop felt like heaven. Time to write, time to think, time to talk with our partners!
“When we revise for meaning, we ask, “What’s this piece for?” Do I want the reader to feel a certain way? What do I want them to do? After I figure out that meaning, I scan my writing piece quickly. Any part that doesn’t match, I cross it out with one line. Any part that matches the meaning, BLOW it up ad I make sure that I tell it bit by bit.”
With that, Celena demonstrated in her text, had us read our own pieces and we were off revising. And it felt very comfortable and very doable.
Meaning – Development / Elaboration Strategies
- Jump into the moment & tuck into details later
- Make time matter
- Find heart of mater and add details, thoughts!
- End in the moment
- Stretch the moment across the pages!
- Show don’t tell – use describing words.
- Make characters talk.
- Make the characters move – add action words
- Add feelings
- Add thinking
- Find the important part – say more
SHARES
- Symphony share.
Find one revision.
Put your finger on it.
Read just that revision for a single share.
- Museum share.
Physical revision.
Walk around and look at the revisions.
Don’t take work to carpet. Quick.
Works in primary.
Can quickly see a variety of types of revisions.
Choosing a Mentor Text
We are using this format to study our mentor text.
|
Title and Author of Mentor Text |
||
|
What do we see? |
What do we call it? |
Why would we use it? |
Takeaways:
- The standards (CCSS.W.5) can be a guide for revision with vertical teacher conversations about the expectations for each grade level. CL
- Revision is not like moving day where the big truck backs up to the door and EVERYTHING is loaded at one time. Choose one lens – meaning and revise. It will take practice. CL
- Use teacher written mentor texts to model how to “revise” so students can see the marked up copy. CL
- “A tool is only as good as the tinker’s hand in which it is!” CL
- Two ways of quickly sharing revisions are symphony or museum shares. CL
Consider: How do we make revision a part of every day’s work?
How and when do teachers study mentor text in order to really KNOW it?
| Colleen Cruz
Power Tools, Methods and Strategies: Access and Support for English Language Learners and Kids with IEPs in the Writing Workshop (4-8) |
Tools: What should students write with?
Is this teacher preference? Student preference or both?
| Write with Pencils | Write with Marker / Gel Pen |
| First problem with volume
Hard to “push” a pencil – slows writer down Great for sketching “Are you writing volumes with #2 pencil? |
Cannot erase
Edit/ Revise with one line through previous text Cannot lose data Flows when writing What most adults use in real world |
(Skills list – draft by genre – not all inclusive)
Narrative Skills (fiction, historical account, personal, etc.)
- Generate story ideas
- Structure plot (sequence)
- Dramatize action
- Summarize
- Make meaning evident
- Develop characters
- Imbue voice
Information Skills (all about, lecture, article, etc.)
- Generate topics
- Structure content
- Elaborate on information
- Summarize
- Develop central idea
- Imbue voice
Persuasive/Opinion/Argument Skills (essay, lit. essay, speech, editorial, etc.)
- Generate ideas/opinions/arguments
- Structure piece
- Support with evidence and reasons
- Summarize
- Prove thesis/idea/opinion
- Imbue voice
Takeaways:
- A skill is cooking; a strategy is the way you do it (boil, bake, fry, sear, broil, etc.) CC
- Skill? Strategy? Leads could be both – just like a square can be a rectangle! CC
- “I have to write a novel. Where is my #2 pencil?” says NO published author ever! CC
- Consider the physical demands on writing when a student uses pencil vs. pen. CC
- Make decisions about organization of notebook based on what students need and less on what is neat and tidy for the teacher. (If the organization of the notebook is a constant battle to get students to do it, are there more options / possibilities?) CC
To consider: Is the big question – Is this a skill or a strategy? Or is the big question – What can the student do over time in multiple pieces and with multiple genres?
How do we teach for transfer?
| Closing Session
Mary Ehrenworth – Studying Mentor Texts for Possible Small Group Lessons – Read like a teacher of writing, considering: Structure Craft Conventions |
What is the rationale for using mentor texts?
- Even in the Units of Study in 18-20 days, you can only teach about 6 new things.
- Mentor Texts – so you aren’t the only source of information about narrative writing.
- Mentor Text – opens up to 3-12 other things kids can be exposed to.
- Don’t wait until they are GOOD at it – not waiting for this work to be perfect!
- Mentor Text is important. Study. Incubation period may be long. You may not get the benefit of student learning this year.
Mary began with a demonstration text, “Brave Irene” and showed us how to look at Structure in terms of a movement of time. If it starts right away in one moment, when does time change? And then we did the same work in “Fly Away Home”.
Strong writers in small groups:
- Find things.
- Name them.
- Are they repeated?
- How would that work in our text?
Process that we used:
- Come to any text that we have and ask any questions by looking for most accessible text.
- Visual cues and language for a tool to help students. . . academic discourse.
- Sometimes I will do this work in video – engaging
- I try to demonstrate in my own writing – in the air.
Takeaways:
- Teacher “shows” mentor text but doesn’t try it out is often the biggest problem with mentor texts.
- The teacher must know the mentor text very well.
- Students can make decisions about what to look for in mentor texts when the author’s repetition of structure, craft, or conventions is used.
- Mentor texts are the best way to study grammar “like an author”.
- Use of mentor texts should be engaging – and that might be why you consider video.
To consider: What if students were in charge of more “noticing” and determining what can be found in mentor text?
Is this the reciprocity that you would get from reading workshop?
| Closing Keynote
Ralph Fletcher Rethinking Mentor Text |
Ralph Fletcher began with sharing letters from students, quotes from authors and many “craft” moves in the mentor texts. He also had us write during his keynote speech.
Using Ralph Fletcher’s mentor text, “The Good Old Days”, (keeping first and last stanzas), here is what I wrote:
The Good Old Days
Sometimes I remember
the good old days
Riding bikes on Sundays
Playing baseball games in the evenings
A carefree family life
Living on the farm
I can’t imagine
Anything better than that.
10 Tips for Using Mentor Texts to Teach Writing
- Read what we love ourselves
- Take advantage of “micro-texts” that can be read in one sitting (Picture Books, Poems, Paragraphs)
- Talk about the author behind the book. What itch made them write that story?
- Don’t interrupt the first reading of a text
- Leave time for natural holistic responses
- Reread for craft
- Design a spiral of Mini-Lessons that cycle back to teach craft
- Use the Share to reinforce the craft lesson from the Teaching Point – showing students in the class who did the craft move in their writing
- Invite (don’t assign) students to experiment with craft element
- Be patient – The student may not be able to do the craft this year but instruction was not in vain.
Bonus Tip – Don’t kill the book!
Take Aways:
- Understand Means “To stand under”
- A writer MUST read!
- Mentor texts are available everywhere!
- There are many places to start but these institutes grow you personally and mentor texts will grow your classroom.
- Collect a lot of writing, including student writing, for mentor text use.
To consider: What if more teachers were writing? What supports do readers need in order to be better writers?
THANKS, Readers!
Writing: Planning, Revising, Editing, Rewriting, or Trying a New Approach (CCR. W.5)
If you are in a Common Core state, you may already have digested this standard:
“CCR. W.5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.”
If you are still trying to figure out what it means for you as the teacher (instruction) or for the students (learning) or even to real-life authors, you need to check out Kate Messner’s book: Real Revision – Authors’ Strategies to Share with Student Writers.
Why?
It’s written by a REAL teacher who is also a REAL author who has REAL practical, crystal clear examples. You can preview parts of the book online here at Stenhouse!
Not convinced?
Here is the Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Real Revision: Where Stories Start to Sing
Chapter 2: Creating a Revision-Friendly Classroom
Chapter 3: The Elephant in the Room (And It’s Ticking Away the Minutes!)
Chapter 4: Back to Brainstorming
Chapter 5: Real Authors Don’t Plan . . . Or Do They?
Chapter 6: Big-Picture Revision
Chapter 7: Returning to Research
Chapter 8: Magic in the Details
Chapter 9: Are the People Real?
Chapter 10: Whose Voice Is It Anyway?
Chapter 11: The Words We Choose
Chapter 12: Cut! Cut! Cut!
Chapter 13: Talking It Out
Chapter 14: Clean Up: The Copyediting Process
Chapter 15: What If the Writing Is Already Good?
Chapter 16: Technology Tools of the Trade
Chapter 17: The Revision Classroom, Revisited
Appendix
Resources
Index
What grade levels would benefit from this text?
This book is listed for grades 3-9, but it could work at any grade with some thoughtful planning by the teacher. The copyright is 2011 but the strategies will withstand time!
Check it out!
Remember:
“When you’re done, you’ve just begun!” – Lucy Calkins
Example:
Chapter 6 “Big Picture Revision”
“Revise for:
- theme – What is this piece really about?
- seeing the forest instead of the trees – Create a “to-do” list
- reading to revise – listen to the piece; how does it sound?”
And then how is this supported by what this first grader revises here in “Austin’s Butterfly”
and what Lucy Calkins says here in “Being a Good Writer”?
Resource - Full 