week+of+nov+3+and+5

November 3 This week we're going to focus on error analysis - what kinds of errors do we notice in student writing? how do we decide which errors to address first? how do we decide which errors to mention to students and which to wait on? how does noting student errors help us to learn about the student as a writer? We'll be reading and discussing Smith and Wilhelm chapters 3 (today) and chapter 4 (on Thursday). Today we'll practice with some sample student writing and on Thursday we'll be looking at the writing from our writing partners. The hope is that by the end of the week you will have a more refined vision of the hierarchy of error you might hold in your head as you think about the students with whom you might work (or are working with).

Writing our way in ... from a Writer's Book of Days (p. 91)


 * Write about something to hold on to.
 * Write about a silence.
 * Once, when I was ...
 * What are you looking for?

Some questions from last week (questions you wrote on your exit slips on Thursday)


 * How do you decide which grammar terms are the most important? which terms to focus on (and how long to focus on them)?
 * Do you employ this instruction throughout a school year or do you devote a unit of study to it?
 * I didn't agree with some of the choices Smith and Wilhelm made for grammar terms, how do we decide which ones matter?
 * Is there a different way to approach grammar when discussing writing as "art" rather than more technical writing?
 * How can we integrate learning the uses of the parts of speech, or other grammar, without making it seem like a writing prompt or checklist?
 * How do we approach teaching terms that students may not use as much? Do we just dismiss these terms?
 * How do we make time for application for all that is taught?
 * How do we assess student learning of grammar?
 * How creative does a teacher have to be when teaching grammar terms in order to make the learning meaningufl but still getting the students educated in the terms?
 * How do we teach the basic building blocks without insulting their intelligence?
 * I'm still confused and uncertain about some of the grammatical concepts, how do I handle not knowing?
 * What do you do about the one or two students who might not understand the concepts they need to understand in order to do the activity?

Error Analysis Protocol
 * 1) Notice and name students' writing for any editing or proofing errors.
 * 2) Identify patterns of error.
 * 3) Infer the causes of the errors -- the students' misunderstandings behind the errors. (You can do this by inferential reading or by talking with students. What seems to be the logic behind the error they have made?)
 * 4) Teach a new, more functional understanding or strategy that helps students see a new logic instead of the logic they held when making the error.
 * 5) Ask students to apply the new understanding in their current writing.
 * 6) Look for change (improvement) in students' subsequent writing. (Sometimes students will overgeneralize a new rule they have learned, and this is a sign that they are learning, because they are trying to apply the new logic. You see this often with new speakers of English or young children when learning the past tense (e.g., attaching -ed to lots of words)

Looking at sample writing. Pieces include: Time Piece, The Dolphin Report, Car as Hobby piece, Fashion Designer piece, Journalists piece, and Joshua's piece on medical care.

Patterns in individual pieces of writing; patterns across the pieces of writing

For next time, take a look at Smith and Wilhelm chapter 4

November 5

Writing our way in ...

Try to write a poem/story that includes 5 nouns, 5 verbs, 5 adjectives from the lists below. Challenge yourself to write clear English grammatical sentences (all sentences make sense) AND to have the poem/story be meaningless. For a greater challenge, try to have four beats per line, six lines to the stanza, three stanzas total, and a maximum of two end stops per stanza.

belief rock frog dog slag eye cloud mud highway || to kiss to curve to swing to ruin to bite to cut to surprise to bruise to hug to say || blue hot soft tough important wavering sharp cool red leather ||
 * Nouns || Verbs || Adjectives ||
 * throat

Examining the error analysis of Time Piece, The Dolphin Report, Favorite Hobby
 * What errors did you notice?
 * What patterns did you notice for each writer?
 * What patterns did you notice for the group?
 * What would your hierarchy of concerns look like? (Prioritize which errors you might address)

Reading and Responding to your writer partner's writing
 * What errors do you notice (in their letters and in their pieces of writing)?
 * What patterns do you notice for each writer?
 * Response for next Tuesday ... Praise, Question, Polish
 * Letter for next Tuesday includes your response to their writing and maybe previewing a couple of things you hope to talk with them about when we visit their classroom.

Brainstorming possible survey questions
 * What do we want to know about this group's literacy practices?

For next time ... I'm going to try and set-up a visit to a lab in order to introduce you to the technology for podcasting. You might want to start thinking about what grammatical concept you want to learn more about and present in your grammar girl-like podcast.