Maybe it is because I teach seventh grade, but I have never tried shared writing before in my class. I have done some guided teaching with certain writing assignments that we started as a class, but have never written more than a few sentences. I definitely think this is something I would like to try with my sixth graders next year, as I feel they are still at an age where they can stay focused through such an activity. I would definitely use the "language that affirms and encourages participation" on page 92 as a resource for my first few times.
I have tried a few times giving my students a topic or a sentence starter that they are to use to start their story. After two or three minutes of writing, I would tell them to stop or finish their sentence. I would give them either a word or phrase that they had to use next, and they had to pass their writing to the person sitting next to them, and add to their writing. We would continue this process a few more times and then the student who started the writing got their original paper back. The kids loved reading out loud the story they had collectively written.
If I taught elementary school, I would definitely make use of activities like words with tiles or cutting up sentences. I am not sure how I could step up those activities to fit sixth grade. Any ideas? It does remind me of an activity I did with poetry this year. I cut up a bunch of adjectives and nouns, and had the students draw out five of each. They were to write a personification poem using one of the nouns, and four of the five adjectives in their poem. It was a challenge for some, but many of them enjoyed it and it finally got some of those students to understand personification!
Once before I got my own classroom I was subbing at the middle school, and the students did what you describe: writing a paragraph and then pass it on. It was fun to see what they came up with. Each row had a different starter sentence, and I was dismayed to see one that began "My name is John Wilkes Boothe and I ..." - it was evident that none of them knew he was Lincoln's assassin, and that was a shame.
ReplyDeleteSeventh grade (which I have never taught) seems to be the year for a shift from hands on activities to more "grown up" methods of learning, such as sitting and listening. I wonder why?
ReplyDeleteIn middle school, all we are doing is preparing them for high school. Our district is now having us take professional development courses on "college readiness" so our classes include a bit of college prep. This could by why it is so for my school.
ReplyDeleteComments by Jacinda:
ReplyDeleteI have not tried to use shared writing in my classroom either. I think my fear is because of the variety of ages I teach. I also have a hard time coming up with topics to write. Do you have a place on-line that you use to come up with yours? I like the idea of starting a writing sample and then passing it to other classmates. I bet it is exciting to see what kids can add. I have heard about doing something like that orally when telling a story, but not in writing. Maybe I will try that next year!