Writing Day 2 Reflection

·         What students learned and which students struggled with the lesson. 

·         Students learned that scenes create a picture in the reader’s head. They learned to include dialogue and details about their characters or their scene in order to make their readers understand what they are trying to convey. I noticed that some struggled with generating dialogue that actually made their story move forward. Their dialogue was just a conversation that could be had anywhere and about anything rather than one that gives their audience insight into their story or their scene. All students were able to include details in their stories; however, some had a lot more description than others and I will continue to work with them to include more as we move along. I collected the students’ work and wrote remarks in all of their journals after asking them if I had their permission to do so, they all obliged. I gave them areas to add details that seemed logical to me and I am hoping this will give them a starting point by asking my who, what, where, when, why questions that may appear in their margins depending on the student.

·         What are alternate reads of your students’ performance or products?

·         Alternately, the students who did not have the appropriate amount of details or dialogue that furthered their story may have simply not had enough time. Our writing block is limited to 40 minutes and even though I strive to keep my launch under 12 minutes, the students do not have a long duration to write independently. Today my launch was ten minutes long and the students were able to write on their own for approximately 13 minutes without being interrupted. Their products for today may not indicate that they do not know how to add details and dialogue, but that they were not given ample time to apply the strategies. This is why we are continuing to work on their scenes tomorrow and I will be looking for improvement to better inform me of where students stand in their understanding of the strategies.

·         What did you learn about your students’ literacy practices that extend beyond your objectives?

·         I learned that some students are aware of how to appropriately use quotations marks, while others are still struggling with that. I will focus on these grammatical errors when we come to the editing stage of their pieces. Also, during our sharing time I learned that the students truly know how to speak to one another in a mature and respectful manner. Each group was asked to share a passage from their table that they thought met my objectives of using dialogue and vivid details well. They would share the piece and state that they were proud of their peer because he or she tried very hard to paint a picture, or they knew ____’s story was great because when _____ read it they felt like they were there. I was proud of their reactions and ability to point out what I am looking for which lead me to believe that they were actively listening during my launch and instructions.

·         When and how will you re-teach the material to students who need additional support?

·         I have placed their revised pieces on their desks for them to look over as morning work and to make appropriate changes or additions. They will be able to do this in order supplement the lack of time for writing in the afternoons. After looking at their scenes today I noticed that all of them could at least demonstrate an understanding of details through their sentences and they incorporated dialogue at least once in their scenes as well. I do not feel that re-teaching the material is necessary, but I do think it needs to be constantly reinforced. I will be continuing to call attention to details and dialogue during reading instruction, read aloud, and writing times. Also, tomorrow’s lesson will be focused on allowing them to continue their scenes and this will give them the opportunity to add the strategies into their stories.

·         If you were to teach this same lesson again, what would you do differently and how do you think the changes would improve students’ learning?

·         If I were to teach this lesson again I would strive to provide the students with more time and instead of focusing my time on a few students when they raised their hands to ask for help I would make a stronger effort to circulate the room to conference briefly with many students. This would improve the students’ learning by allowing them all an opportunity to ask questions and receive input from me on their stories and areas for improvement.

·         What did you learn so far about implementing your ‘core practice’ and what do you need to do to continue your professional learning?

So far I have been able to keep my mini-lessons short, but I want to shift my focus a little to ensure that I am striving to reach my goal of conferencing as well. I will continue to keep my launches concise and direct, but during their independent writing time I am going to make a better effort to move throughout the room and read as many pieces as possible.