october+20+and+22

October 20 If we think about the framework I drew on the board last week, the one that included three circles of a writing teacher's knowledge (knowledge of writers and learning to write, knowledge of writing, and knowledge of the moves teachers make) placed on top of the contexts in which we work (e.g., classroom context, school or district context, the context of teaching in a democracy, etc.) ), then we need to think about what kind of knowledge we are drawing from when we think about organizing our classrooms for learning. Today' s discussion on Kittle pp. 62-95 focuses on the routines and procedures she uses to organize the time and space and activity in her classroom. Two key questions today: One, how do the routines and procedures she employs reflect her theories of learning (and learning to write in particular), and two, how does she teach those routines and procedures to her students?

Writing our way in .... Krista has volunteered to lead the prompt this morning. Thanks Krista. [We'll post this prompt later so that it is recorded here]

Logistics: I'm still working on the Genre Challenge. One thing I've noticed is the number of times people mentioned how they "let go" when they wrote. What might that mean for us as writers and for our work with students?

On Thursday we'll be reading and responding to our student pen pals. The protocol we will use is the Collaborative Writing Response. (Protocol includes the following questions: What do you see? What questions does this work raise for you? What do you think this young person is working on? More details on this protocol [|here.])

Today, October 20, is [|National Day on Writing]. What do you think about us creating our own gallery on the [|National Gallery of Writing]? Might this be something we could do with our pen pals? Take a look at this and see what you think. Let's talk on Thursday.

Kittle discussion Quick Think/Write: When you think about your experience with the genre challenge, what do you believe writers need? That is, what do teachers need to believe about writing and learning to write in order for students to learn to write better, differently, or more strategically and independently?
 * Her Seven Interdependent Principles underlying her writing workshop (pp. 63-64)
 * First Day (Figure 6.1): Question: She writes, "We'll study ten different things that make narratives work, but they are tools you'll use in all kinds of writing." My question for you is, "When you think about your genre for the genre challenge, what are the different things that make that genre work?" Or, when you think about narrative writing, what to you think would be the ten things that Kittle might include in her list of things that makes narratives work?"
 * Structure of her Writing Workshop (p.70). Question: How does she organize her time with students? What does that organization help her learn about how her students think and write? What might this mean about what she believes about learning (i.e., how does this help her put her principles in action?)
 * Focus on the different types of mini-lessons: Studying mentor texts; My process in the genre we're studying; rehearsal, revision, and rereading; grammar and sentence structure work. Question: What does she hope students will know and be able to do as a result of each type of these mini-lesson
 * Conferring with students: What do you notice about what she does, how long it takes her, and what she aims for her students to know and be able to do as a result of these conferences?

How does what Kittle have to say reflect, extend, or challenge what Wilhelm or CCCC had to say in their work about writing in digital environments? For next time: Be ready to read and respond to your student pen pal.


 * Oct 22**

Writing our way in ....


 * It's who you met at a party.
 * Out of the corner of my eye.
 * In the heat of the afternoon.
 * Someone's playing the piano.
 * Write about a pair of shoes.

Reading and Responding to our writing partners.

Collaborative Writing Response Protocol: What do you see? What questions does this work raise for you? What do you think this young person is working on?
 * Their overarching question: Who am I and what do I stand for?
 * They used a PQI (praise, questions, improvement) protocol. Let's model it for them.

"I can tell you are this kind of person, because of [these details] ..." "I might have noticed that you [liked animals more] if you had added just this one more [detail, line,...]..."