“Remember that our goals always extend beyond the reading and writing workshop. It is important to teach writing in part because writing is a powerful tool for thought. This session goes a long way towards helping children use writing as a tool for growing ideas on the page. We’re explicitly teaching children to say more and think more, to extend their first thoughts, and to know what it is to see new ideas emerge from the tips of their pens. This is important!” (Breathing Life Into Essays p. 47)
This was one of those amazingly busy weeks! However, teachers worked to move their students into sessions 8-12 which focus on selecting a thesis, refining it and making sure you really know enough to write about it, and moving into writing strong, personal narratives which support the essay points.
This was one of those weeks. You know what I mean… visiting authors, report cards were due, assemblies (you heard me… more than one!), and the kids collectively, were acting out (we had a fight, bullying issues, accidental falls, tears, etc.). In the midst of it all I had a meeting with the grade level writing team reps, which seemed like a bad idea… until we started talking about writing. The flood gates opened with all the ways this wasn’t working, but we moved into why we are moving our teaching this way, how much we value the vertical collaboration, ways we know we can improve this work today, in the next unit, and next year. The meeting was the highlight of my week.
Our main goal this year was for each grade (3-5) to work through every unit in the Units of Study series. To do that, we first created a year-long plan. We gave each unit roughly 20 days. Even with our holidays and breaks we were able to fit in all the units. The next step was to make monthly calendars for each unit. At first, I worked with a rep from each level to make these calendars. By Unit 3 however, we released the calendar creation to the teams so they could collaborate.
What we’ve learned, is teaching writing daily is critical to student success. However, realistically teachers need a buffer day in the week to catch up/reteach. Beginning with Unit 3, we have decided to provide for that. Interestingly, it doesn’t alter our month calendar much. What might need to be changed are the “product” days at the end. Which fits with what we are trying to do anyway- focus on the process and less on the pretty, perfect, final product. Regardless, teachers are finding ways to fit this in, try the units on, and learn from the process so we can improve our work next year.
What should a thesis look like in grade 3? Grade 4? Grade 5? I wrote about this last week in my weekly post, but it came up in our writing team meeting, so I’ll add some notes here. Basically, there is no right answer, no magic formula based on age or grade, and no way for me to outline a perfect scenario. What I can do is remind teachers that it will depend on two very important factors:
To me, a good thesis then, is one a student feels strongly about and can back up with writing from his own heart/mind.
Value the process. As Lucy describes on p. 110, “…hold to the principle that minilessons are occasions for teaching a strategy or an idea children can use often.” The work in this unit provides students with a voice they can use over and over again when they are taking a stance or giving their opinions. This unit also helps children understand the value of organizing thoughts and points, in order to select what is most powerful. How exciting to have an 8 or 10 year old considering his words and sifting through his thoughts to find those that are best suited for advancing his position on something!
The process of considering what you want to say and how best to say it is something students can use in many school subjects. Similarly, teaching children how to think about what they are saying (writing)- that evaluation- is something we hope they will do as adults.
In my last weekly write up I mentioned I would post one collection idea useful in session 9. (Click Here.) This is just one way children can collect and organize their ideas and thoughts. The goal of session 9, besides having them get organized is to teach them that organization leads to increased productivity and better writing. If you have a student who has been doing this kind of writing for years (your school is more secure in the spiral) then it might be appropriate for him to use a collection process, which works for him. However, if your children are new to this, asking them all to collect using the same strategies is a worthwhile, whole-class goal.
Watch Organizing for Essays. A short video detailing the organizational tool we used to help students during the unit: Breathing Life into Essays by Lucy Calkins. (It takes a minute for the movie to load, however it will begin playing automatically.)
I have been meaning to post the parent education articles I write for our school newsletter: The Link. There will be a series of posts here with those dating back to Dec. 10, 2009. In future, I’ll try to post one each week. I would appreciate any comments you have about connecting with parents.
“It is very important to notice that minilessons are not a vehicle for doling out the daily assignment. Instead of saying, “Today, I’d like you to each make a two column chart. On the top of the left column, write…” I say, “Another system I sometimes use is…” The goal of a minilesson is to add to students’ repertoire of skills and strategies, not to dole out that day’s assignment.” (From Breathing Life into Essays by Lucy Calkins p. 17)
All of the grades basically worked through sessions 3-7 this week. These lessons continued to show children how to generate ideas, however they also began to work on the ever-important “framing” of this work, what Lucy calls: Boxes and Bullets. Prep work for next week should include getting the materials ready for collecting stories for each topic idea (bullet) students decide on for their thesis. (See my example of a collection system we are planning to use in every grade this year Here.)
Again, as a coach, I’m not feeling that I’m offering solid support to teachers implementing this unit. (But sometimes that happens.) I’m not scheduled to coach in with any classes, and I’m beginning to feel like I’m out of touch with what is going on. So, I’ve requested teachers try to keep me in the loop. This is what I just sent out to them:
Don’t worry if your students aren’t selecting strong essay topics… yet. Part of the joy in teaching this unit for me, was in watching students develop a voice of authority or an expert stance in their writing. For example, last year a third grader wrote a compelling essay titled: Shawarma is the best food. While at first glance his teacher and I thought this wasn’t a strong enough topic for an essay, we soon learned that the child had strong thoughts about the topic, and that was what was important in crafting a solid piece of writing. My advice, try not to judge the topic. Instead when you are helping students in these early lessons to see if their topics are strong enough to be developed into essays, focus on whether or not the student has enough to say about the topic. Of course, our older students will probably develop more profound topics. However, if you are at the same implementation stage as we are at my school (all grades working through these units for the first time), then fifth graders might also write strong about simpler ideas. We are all learning.
Conferring and sharing: The heart of writing workshop. Just as you were doing in the past units, pulling alongside these young writers and asking “How’s it going?” is the key to moving each student, small groups of students, and ultimately the whole class forward. If you imagine your job during independent writing time is similar to being a journalist embedded into an army unit during a battle, conferencing is the key to understanding what is happening out there “in the field.” It is when you learn what is really going on, and not what you are being told is happening. In this unit, sharing what you see, hear and learn during a conference will have real power. I’m not referring to a student sharing his/her work here. Instead I’m thinking about you, the teacher, talking about what smart idea you’ve just read or smart writing move you learned a student used. Highlight what you see and explain why it is so smart. Just as the content of a minilesson isn’t a task you expect students to complete all together, at the same time, during independent writing; sharing the smart things you see is simply planting the seed for other students to pick up on… tomorrow, or better yet, when they are ready. (Pages 42-43 in Breathing Life Into Essays for more on this.)
Connect the learning back. Although we aren’t doing it deliberately yet, my school will eventually discuss how this work directly relates and connects to moves we want students to make in reading. The “conversational prompts” introduced in session 4 to push thinking forward are amazing tools to introduce into other curriculum areas. Whenever you are asking students to deeply think, write or discuss something, these prompts can help. The more practice students have in phrasing their thinking and layering it like this, the better they will become at it. However, one caution, as Lucy reminds us in her coaching notes on p. 47: “… When children begin to bring these phrases into their writing, you’ll notice a child may write a phrase such as “This makes me realize…” without begin aware of the meaning in that phrase…” My advice? Don’t expect students to memorize or become experts at using these phrases. Instead, allow them to try them on, attempt to use them, and help them understand how they work. The perfect place to do this? During your conferences.
Important Reading: An FYI. The writes up on pages 71 and 83 at the beginning of sessions 6 and 7 are important to read and digest. Sessions 7-9 introduce deep, slow, deliberate work. In fact, I find them to be different from any other sessions Lucy presents.
“Although essays are fundamentally different from narratives, the process of writing is remarkably similar. Whether we are writing stories or essays, we begin by living writerly lives, collecting bits that we grow into developed texts. The bits we collect are structured differently depending on whether we’re planning a narrative or an expository text, but the topics can be the same. Keep in mind that people can follow an expository structure while writing about very personal topics—and that’s the plan for this unit.” (From Breathing Life into Essays by Lucy Calkins p.2)
“One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. “Which road do I take?” she asked. “Where do you want to go?” was his response. “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”’ — Lewis Carroll
Grades 3 and 4 started Breathing Life Into Essays last week with grade 5 beginning this week.
I’m not scheduled to coach into any classrooms for the next two weeks. However, as teachers dig into this unit there might be opportunities for me to provide support. Prior to our Winter holiday, I met with each grade level to walk them through the unit. One of the key pieces of my presentation was to look at this unit in stages:
After a break it is always hard to get back to it. Just do it. We have a plan. In fact, we have multiple plans. Our year-long units of study calendar is set up to ensure we complete all six units in the series. The dates for completion are clear and allow us time to work through each unit. I remember how hard it is to get kids focused after a break. However, we have lots of teaching to do and needed to get started with our writing- right away. Sometimes this deeply focused response and structure provides children with a safe and comfortable way to re-enter school.
Follow the sessions, but make them your own. I’ve worked through the units in both the primary and intermediate units of study series and have found that Lucy’s stories and anecdotes are often easy for me to use when making a teaching point. (Which isn’t cheating- I’m learning from her, just like the kids are learning from me.) However, there are times when her words don’t fit in my mouth. Of course, in that instance I need to find my own stories and believe in my own words. Finding that is hard when you are new to teaching writing instead of simply assigning writing. This work takes time. My advice: try. Just as we are asking the kids to try and find big moments in their small ideas, take a risk and put your own story/idea/anecdote out there. Write right along side them, if you can.
Remember there is comfort in a spiraled curriculum. (But only if everyone at your school is teaching within and along the spiral.) Depending on how long your school has been working through these units and what grade you are teaching, your job within the spiral will be different. Right now at my school all the teachers are working at the beginning of the spiral. For all the children, writing essays is NEW. Next year, 2/3 of our learners will have one year of this work under their belt. They will be able to do more writing and deeper thinking. At that point our expectations will need to change and realign. For now, trust the units and move through the sessions with a beginning and an ending in mind. Remember the units build on themselves too. What you spent the last five months teaching, will be used in this unit. As Lucy says, “Each unit stands on the shoulders of the unit before it.” This is hard work. The essay unit is actually one of my favorites to teach. The first time I attempted it, I was amazed at the voice of authority my 3rd graders learned to tap into. They wrote about topics that mattered to them with well-thought-through reasons aimed at convincing an audience of their opinions. The children grew right before my eyes as writers, and as thinkers. The work wasn’t nearly as hard for them as it was for me. Part of the problem was I approached the unit thinking, “There is no way 3rd graders can write essays!” I was putting too little stock in our abilities as learners (myself and my students.) This unit was the turning point in my career as a writing teacher. I began to think about teaching differently and I began to think about my students’ capabilities differently. This is hard work. But it is worthwhile work.
Find a way to share this work with parents. Think about how differently you are teaching writing compared to how you were taught to write. Parents best guess about how to teach comes from their backgrounds as students. When you are ready as a school, plan to share the thinking behind this teaching, with parents. As a literacy coach it is easy for me to talk about a our “reading community”. It makes sense to ask parents to read with their children each night. Where does writing fit in? How can we make writing as family-friendly as reading? (I hope to have more on this in future posts, however if you have an idea, please share by posting a comment.)
