Team Writing
Making Meaning
Goals: Collaboration focused on planning lessons that move beyond CC expectations
- Using modeling to enrich students' writing skills in prewriting, drafting, and revision stages
- Helping young writers to achieve more authenticity; make meaning
- Motivating young writers with choice within a rigorous curriculum
- Help students recognize the importance of purpose and audience
- Assess writing in ways that drive better writing performance
Kelly Gallagher's In The Best Interest of Students
In his new book, In the Best Interest of Students, Kelly Gallagher notes that there are real strengths in the Common Core standards, and there are significant weaknesses as well. He takes the long view, reminding us that standards come and go but what remains constant is the need to stay true to what we know works in the teaching of reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Kelly Gallagher's Teaching Adolescent Writers
In Teaching Adolescent Writers, Kelly Gallagher, author of Reading Reasons and Deeper Reading, shows how students can be taught to write effectively. Kelly shares a number of classroom-tested strategies that enable teachers to:
- understand the importance of teaching writing;
- motivate young writers;
- see the importance modeling plays in building young writers (modeling from both the teacher and from real-world text);
- understand how providing choice elevates adolescent writing (and how to allow for choice within a rigorous curriculum);
- help students recognize the importance of purpose and audience;
- assess essays in ways that drive better writing performance.
Jeff Anderson's Everyday Editing
Editing is often seen as one item on a list of steps in the writing process—usually put somewhere near the end, and often completely crowded out of writer's workshop. Too many times daily editing lessons happen in a vacuum, with no relationship to what students are writing.
In Everyday Editing, Jeff Anderson asks teachers to reflect on what sort of message this approach sends to students. Does it tell them that editing and revision are meaningful parts of the writing process, or just a hunt for errors with a 50/50 chance of getting it right—comma or no comma?
Instead of rehearsing errors and drilling students on what's wrong with a sentence, Jeff invites students to look carefully at their writing along with mentor texts, and to think about how punctuation, grammar, and style can be best used to hone and communicate meaning.
The Plan
1. Volunteers for Team Reading
2. 6 ED Hours this summer:- 3 Hours for reading & annotating the book
- 3 Hour meeting: Pick a date in the summer and we meet to discuss our books and make a plan for PD focused on topic.
3. 15-16 school year: PD time focused on collaboration, creation of materials, and lesson planning to meet goals.
=Homegrown meaningful PD
Thank You
Email: lwitman@eastpennsd.org
Website: http://intranet.eastpennsd.org/curriculum/#
Phone: 610.966.8323
Twitter: @Laurawitman