Time is Key!

              In chapter 6-9, Hale suggests a variety of crafting techniques that teachers can choose to implement within their classrooms.  My personal favorite:  Try-Its!  I totally agree with her that it is more likely for students to have an intrinsic motivation to really learn a concept if they anticipate that they are going to publicly share their version of the craft being put into practice.  Another thing that I really like about Try-Its is the versatility that the technique encompasses; it can be used for basically any lesson that you are trying to stress!  Also, they aren't designed to take up a lot of time, and time, as I learned from subbing in a fifth grade class on Friday, is a very valuable thing. 

                Within the Try-Its section, she points out the usefulness in telling students to begin writing after you inform them that they only have an allotted time period to compose their thoughts on paper.  Honestly, I don't know that I would have found that point to be that important if it weren't for that same fifth grade class.  From the minute the bell rang, it seemed that we were falling behind schedule.  For the first few subjects that I was teaching, I just pushed through trying to teach well given the amount of time, but the students really wanted to talk rather than listen.  So, after they returned from art, it was time for science.  Because the students were working in stations, a certain amount of time was allotted to each station, and I made sure that they were aware of this.  It was amazing to me to see how much more efficiently they worked.  I think that providing them with a time limit in some ways may provide them with a sense of responsibility, in that they know that they have to complete a task while meeting deadline.  Although this really did seem to help most of the students, I can't help but wonder how many students felt that the imposed time limit brought on a sense of anxiety.  Would the benefits of using this technique outweigh any risks? 

                Another point that Hale makes in this section of reading is that it is important to pick your battles.  Analyzing an elementary student's work for assessment is key to ensure that you choose to seize the right instructional point at the right time.   Because this can be an undoubtedly arduous and complicated task at times, I am thankful that she included many real-life examples with suggestion of how she would approach the sample.  I feel that these examples allowed me to align my thinking with hers a bit more than before! 

Critically Thinking about the Craft of Writing

Writing: it's a skill that serves many different purposes.  From making a grocery list to composing a research paper,  writing is a inevitably everywhere.  For some individuals, especially those who are just learning, the task may seem daunting.  As elementary teachers, it will be our responsibility to inspire children to overcome their hurdles.  Elizabeth Hale, author of Crafting Writers K-6, offers several suggestions on ways to approach how to write, but there is one method in particular that stood out to me.   Although this many seem obvious, we know that there is a direct correlation between reading and writing; additionally, many of the books that children read involve pictures.  These pictures are not just arbitrary, but they instead fit within the context of the story and reinforce the plot, providing imagery as a means of summary or an alternative way to read the text.  Since children are exposed to this early on, why don't we teach children, particularly those who have "writer's block", to write based off an illustration that they draw rather than to base an illustration off of what they write?  To me, it seems that this process would allow for the kids to subconsciously get their creative juices flowing.  Incorporating numerous details by "zooming in" on a particular area of a "whole story drawing" would allow for a bland story to come alive.  As seen in Figure 1, I drew a picture that I think would be typical of an elementary student.    To be quite honest there is nothing overly interesting about this picture on a surface level; however, if the student took a closer look at the boxed region of Figure 2, a more interesting story could develop.



Figure 1:  A "whole story" picture" that an elementary student may try to draw. 





 Figure 2:  The boxed region is representative of the zoomed in portion from which a student may be able to add details.



               If the student were to "zoom in" on  the boxed portion Figure 2, he or she may be able to ask questions that allow for a more detailed story to unfold.  Why would a bee have the desire to fly around a flower?  Was it the smell of the flowers that drew the bee or the vibrant colors?  What kind of scent: sweet or sour? Is the bee going to land on the flower? If yes, for what purpose? Are there any sounds that may be heard (e.g. the bee buzzing)? I think you can get the idea.   As an elementary student, I never applied this method, but I truly think that it would have helped me to think about how an interesting story  could develop if I had learned that there is nothing wrong with drawing a picture first. 

                Not only did I consider some of the approaches that Hale suggested, but I also began to think about the writing process, itself, in a whole new light.  For some reason, I have never directly labeled  the writing process to involve critical thinking; instead, I ignorantly have reserved the this term for subjects like math and science.  I mean how could critical thinking linked to writing? At best, I would consider critical thinking to be linked to the content within the writing rather than the writing, itself.  But a light bulb went off when I began to read page 78.  Here, Hale suggests allowing students to discover the ways in which punctuation affects reading and writing for themselves rather than just explaining it to them.  By completing an exercise like this, students are forced to use their critical thinking skills to make a connection between how something is written and how something is read or even interpreted.  Furthermore, since every story contains some kind of punctuation, a writer has to put on their "thinking cap" and begin to think critically about " every mark on the page" since there IS a meaning behind every single mark that a writer includes.  Thus, the act of composing a sentence involves as much critical thinking as the process to develop the content within each sentence. 

In conclusion, from this reading I was able to discover new methods for crafting good writers through the "zooming in" method that can be applied to not only illustrations but also sections of writing. Equally important, I was also able to shift the way I typically regard writing.  Little did I know that I was subconsciously underestimating the power that a sentence can hold when crafted thoughtfully.  

Learning to read and write "every mark on the page"

I found the Cusumano article entitled "Every Mark on the Page: Educating Family and Community Members about Young Children's Writing" to be beguiling and informative. Because my extended family is close, my parents and I visited my 7-year-old cousin's school last spring for a program that showcased the work that the kids had done over the year. Among the pieces on display were writing samples. Although I didn't vocalize it, I must admit that I also began to subconsciously critique her work in the same manner that many of the parents that Cusumano describes: I looked at the grammatical conventions rather than focusing on the content and the ideas from which the stories were comprised. Like many of the parents, I think my assessment involved ignorance, simply because I didn't really stop to consider that at this stage in her writing career it truly is more important that she be able to express her thoughts than be able to express them correctly. Thus, I believe that it will be imperative for me, as a teacher, to effectively communicate with the parents of my students so that they are aware of what I am looking for in their child's work and where I believe their student should be. Moreover, I like the approach that Cusumano took by strategically showing parents the works of students who were a grade level below and above in order to visually suggest where their children are coming from, at now, and going to be developmentally.


Although I am aware that the content of writing is important, I also know that grammar is too. As children hone their critical thinking skill and learn to write them down, they should also be learning to construct effective sentences. Throughout reading the Cusumano article in addition to the assigned chapters of Sound Systems, I found myself wondering what the best approach would be for pointing out the mistakes found in students' writing. Coming up with mini-lessons was one suggestion that Cusumano gave, and it seemed that she looked down upon simply identifying them for the students to correct; however, I would how effective peer-editing would be. It seems that not only would students be able to test their own grammatical knowledge, but they would also be given the chance to hone their reading skills. Also, would identifying spelling mistakes by merely circling the misspelled words and then having the student look up the correct spelling in the dictionary be an effective approach? I am interested to know what others think about these ideas.

It is no secret that reading and writing are invariably linked together. I really liked the suggestion of utilizing a "print-rich classroom" found in chapter 6 of Sound Systems. In this section of the text, the authors proposed picking a sound (e.g. long "a" vowel sound) and having the students "read the classroom" to discover words from displayed writing samples that the children had composed, bulletin boards, or other posters within the class. The identified words would then be listed on the board so that they could be sorted according to the letters that were involved in making the sounds. What a great technique for interactive and collaborative learning, granted that the words from the children's samples were spelled correctly!

Overall, I found these readings to be inspiring by providing me with many useful tools that I could potentially use as a future language arts teacher!

A Walk in the Park: Observing Literacy in Action

In an attempt to observe literacy in a real life context, five of my colleagues and I visited a local park. It was my goal to carefully listen for characteristic words or phrases that would be exclusive to this location. Indeed, words like "slide" and "swing" were heard, but I soon realized that the uniqueness of the language wasn't merely found in the vocabulary, itself; it was the connotation behind the words being said that distinguished the language found in this area from other places in society. For instance, I overheard a little boy say to his seemingly younger brother, "I'm going to push you." In many instances with children, especially siblings, this sentence would indicate that they were quarrelling with one another; however, in this case, instead of fighting, the brothers were getting along. In fact, the older brother wanted to be of service to his younger brother by simply pushing him in the swing. Furthermore, a grandmother was repetitively instructing her granddaughter by stating, "out and then back, out and then back." Although "out" and "back" individually often have a very specific meaning to many people, in this context, they are grouped together with the purpose of teaching a child how to effectively propel herself in the swing.


Not only was uniqueness found in the language spoken, it was also observed in writing around the park. There were a series of x's and o's found in a 3x3 block. Is it likely that these same letters are signifying hugs and kisses as they would if they were found at the end of a love note? Probably not; instead, they were intended for the children to play a three dimensional, interactive version of Tic, Tac, Toe.

In addition, there was a large mural on the ground with a quote by G.B. Shaw that encompassed the picture and read, "We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing." This is certainly not a quote that would be appropriate in all settings, but it is definitely suitable for the park, a place intended for family oriented activities. It serves as a friendly reminder to parents and grandparents that it is okay to simply forgo the busyness of life for a bit and take on the imaginative mindset of a kid again.

When I reflect on my experience at the park, it really does seem fascinating to me that words can easily become variables with unknown meanings or definitions when they are removed from context.  Phrases or vocabulary found in the park have the potential to mean something completely different elsewhere. Who knew that a walk in the park could prove to be so educational?