Discovery
Creating curious, confident and empowered writers
Presented by Stacy Foss, Ph.D. and Tracy Vogel, M.Ed.
Austin, TX
June 11, 2015
Our Amazing Students and Us, as students, ourselves
Our Writing Philosophy for students:
- First and foremost, have the COURAGE to write.
- Write to express emotions, thoughts and feelings.
- Know your ideas are important and know you are heard.
- Be able to use writing to entertain, persuade and educate others.
- Discover new ways to use writing to convey meaning.
- Utilize what you know to publish writing pieces.
- READ and recognize the importance of various styles and genres.
- Notice voice and personality in writing and discover YOURS.
- Write about what you know and what you love.
- Readers are writers and writers are readers. Readers & Writers=Leaders!
Discovering: The Neglected Step in the Writing Process
What does discovering mean?
Creative time.
No rules.
No red pens.
No grammar, mechanics, or usage.
No spel chek. :)
Messy, messy, messy!
It’s very freeing.
To let your mind wander.
To spend time discovering.
Discovering…like when you were a child digging in the dirt in your back yard, or the sand at the beach. And then finding something you weren’t even looking for.
Discovering.
-Dr. Mira Reisberg (Mondays with Mandy and Mira)
INQUIRY: Will emphasizing the importance of self discovery in the writing process create more confident, capable writers?
For the most part, this inquiry worked well in our current classroom setting. The biggest challenge was finding time to allow students to free write, when we had specific areas we had to focus on. Our students loved free writing SO much that that is all they wanted to do, many even asking if they could take their journals to recess to write!(#teacherforthewin) It worked out that we allowed them to do this every day during Daily Five, Work on Writing.
RESEARCH
Everything you need guide to spark your imagination.
Even MORE ways to infuse your writing with personality and emotion!
How to find a voice, develop a plot and overcome writer's block.
THE CHALLENGE
who me...write?
anything?
hmmmm
how much?
a page...?
hmmmmm,
maybe...
how about-
blood and guts
or aliens
or...
last night's DVD
ok
i'm Done
can i go?
-Kellie Buis
Samples of Reluctant writer pieces at various stages of discovery
Challenges Faced by Emergent Writers
1. They do not view themselves as writer's
2. They have limited knowledge of what constitutes good writing
3. They do not engage in advance planning
4. They have difficulty generating content and articulating ideas
5. They rarely make meaningful revisions
6. They often struggle with the fine motor aspect of writing
7. They evidence minimal persistence
8. They lack motivation due to past perceived failures
More Research...
Building on strengths is key for reluctant writers.
Emotions and learning are linked. Students do well when they think they can.
The right to be heard, to make writing process a part of their thinking.
- reflecting
- finding personally important topics
- going off topic
- personalizing the writing process
- writing badly to unearth and clarify meaning
- observing other writers at work
- assessing constructively-and well
- experiencing structural freedom
- unearthing the power of each writer's voice
"Good writers write about what they know and what they love."
Open Discussion
What are the worst things about writing?
Let's all write down some of the best and worst things about writing on this chart paper.
What are some ways we could change writing so that we love it even more?
Model & Collaborative Work
I want to share a piece of my writing that was FUN for me! I got the idea from this prompt on a writing blog I read.
What are you an expert at? Make a top ten list. It doesn’t have to be something you are “good” at. It can be a list of things you know well. For example: I’m an expert at:
· Eating sweets
· Reading books in bubble baths
· Making little kids laugh
· Procrastinating
· 5 minute dance parties
· All things dogs
· Orange tic tacs
· Growing up in the country
· Daydreaming
Independent Free Write
Once you have finished, let me know if you would like to share your writing with our class, or even just me or a friend. Some of the best ideas come from others, so your writing may inspire someone else!
Classroom Community is KEY to empowering young writers
Examples of ways to create an enjoyable and inspiring environment include...
establishing an exciting mood during writing time;
encouraging students to take risks when writing;
developing writing assignments that reflect students’ interests;
allowing students to select their own writing topics or modify assigned topics;
having students arrange their own writing space;
encouraging students to help each other as they plan, write, revise, and edit their work;
holding student conferences to discuss writing goals, achievements, and challenges;
asking students to share works-in-progress and completed papers with each other;
praising students for their accomplishments, effort, and use of writing strategies;
reinforcing students’ efforts and accomplishments by “showcasing” work and sharing with other children/adults; and
consistently modeling and promoting an “I can do this” attitude.
STEPS TO TEACH WRITERS SELF DISCOVERY:
The next step is to give them time to figure out that they actually do have something to say.
And the final step is to spend an insane amount of time brainstorming ideas. (You know, like an entire month.)
Brainstorming stories, pictures, and thoughts without having to write them in complete sentences. Without having to spell every word correctly. Without making sure their handwriting fits perfectly on the lines and is in perfect print or cursive or whatever. Without the need to be perfect (all the time.)
Because, as adults, how would we react if everything new we were learning, had to be performed on the spot, for the first time, with perfection, every time?
We Would Hate It.
We Would Quit!
So my point?
There simply isn’t enough time dedicated to allowing kids to discover who they are as writers and what they want to say.
Wanna make them good writers? Give them the time to discover."
(From The Children's Book Academy, Dr. Mira Reisberg)