organizing the chaos: designing a genre study presented by: cerise josephs, fort pitt ala julie...
TRANSCRIPT
Organizing the Chaos: Designing a Genre StudyPresented by:Cerise Josephs, Fort Pitt ALAJulie Mares, Northview ALADanila Woolley, Murray ALA
Let’s Get StartedPlease read the article for the next
10-15 minutes.Underline any salient points to
discuss in your group.Then, participants should share
discussion points.
WHAT IS A COLD WRITE?The cold write is an assessment given
before beginning a genre study.Students are assigned a writing
prompt before any lessons have been taught.
The results of the cold write will give the teacher the data necessary to develop whole group mini-lessons, small-group conferences, and individual conferences.
HOW DO I USE THE PROFILE SHEET?After the cold write is administered,
the results are analyzed to plan lessons.
The class profile sheet is designed using the description of a ‘3’ or a ‘4’ from the Macmillan rubric.
This means that in order to give a child a plus on the class profile sheet, they must be at a ‘4’ level.
A CLASS PROFILE SHEETPERSUASIVE Ideas & Content
Presents a clear opinion that is convincingly supported;
interesting facts and examples
included
OrganizationOpens with a clearly articulated opinion; presents reasons in a logical order; uses effective transitions
VoiceDemonstrates a strong sense of audience and
purpose; conveys an interest in the
issue
Word ChoiceUses opinion words
to advance the argument;
vocabulary clarifies the message
Sentence Fluency
Crafts sentences that flow
naturally; original use of repetition may strengthen the persuasive
position
ConventionsIs skilled in most
writing conventions;
editing is largely unnecessary
PresentationText is easy to read; whether handwritten or
word-processed; formatting
enhances the message
STUDENTS+ - + - + - + - + - + - + -
1 Steph- + - + - + +
2 Max + + - + + + +
3 Kate- - - - - - +
4 Hope- + - + - + +
5 Nick- + - + - + +
6 Steve- - - - - - +
7 Dan- + - + - + +
8 Chelsea+ + - + - + +
9 Tony- - - - - - +
10 Anna- + - - - + +
TOTAL 2 8 7 3 0 10 6 4 1 9 7 3 10 0
TYPES OF MINI-LESSONS
Procedural—focus at the beginning of the year
Craft—focus of the genre; what makes a great piece
Skill—mechanics of writing
FOCUS—Craft lessons When is a good time to hit skill lessons?
BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE MINI-LESSON
Metaphor Put a concrete picture in their mind
Link To yesterday’s topic, general idea, final product
State teaching point Pick one brief phrase and repeat several times
through the mini-lesson Active Engagement
Apply the teaching point to your work Link to ongoing work
Apply the teaching point to their work
METAPHOR
Profile sheet—audience Start mini-lesson with a metaphor
DJ for middle school dance—what type of music did he play? Jazz? Classic rock? Country? Classical music? R&B? Radio hits?
Before he comes to school he finds out who his audience is and what they care about.
LINK
“In conferencing, I have seen that you guys are carefully choosing topics that you care about. You have also chosen the right people that can help you solve those problems. I have noticed that you guys have given some reasons why the problem should be fixed.”
TEACHING POINT
“Today, we are going to focus on who we are writing to, and what they care about. Just like the DJ would only play music that his audience likes, we are only going to give reasons that our audience would care about.”
Repeat this teaching point after the active engagement and again when you link the work to their independent work for the day.
ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT “I’ve been writing my letter to the director of
transportation. I am asking him to move the bus pick-up to the other side of the building.”
Reasons I don’t like walking all the way to the bus. We miss learning time to get ready to walk to the busses. Cars drive fast on Mountain Street and could hurt a child. You could get sued if a child gets injured. It’s miserable when it rains.
Which reasons will he care about? “Remember, we want to include reasons that our
audience will care about. If they don’t care about the reason, then we probably shouldn’t include it.”
LINK TO ON-GOING WORK
“Today when you are writing your letters or meeting with your response partners, I want you to really think about who you are writing to. Think about what that person cares about. Include reasons in your letter that your audience will care about. Ask your partner for ideas, if you need any help.”
“We are going to add this strategy to our poster: Strategies for Writing a Persuasive Letter.”
Write– Know my audience and what they care about.
TIPS FOR GREAT MINI-LESSONS
Keep it short—10 minutes Limit student talking Keep connections brief Use texts that are familiar Repeat the teaching point several times Demonstrate the teaching point in your work
or in touchstone text
MAPPING BACKWARDS: LOOKING AT HOW TO VISUALIZE THE PUBLISHED
PIECE
Student work samplesTouchstone textStudent artifacts
GREAT RESOURCES FOR WRITER’S WORKSHOP
6+1 Traits of Writing, Primary and Intermediate Culham
Writing Workshop Fletcher Guiding Readers and Writers Fountas & Pinnell Writing Like Writers Johnson & Westkott The Writing Workshop Katie Wood Ray About the Authors Katie Wood Ray What You Know by Heart Katie Wood Ray Writing to the Prompt Angelillo Craft Lessons K-8, Fiction and Nonfiction Fletcher &
Portalupi Lucy Calkins Growing Readers Kathy Collins
Directions for Analyzing the Sample Class Profile Sheet This is a sample fourth grade class profile
sheet for the personal narrative genre. On the template provided, determine the
areas of the rubric that need to be addressed whole-group.
Next, identify the areas that need to be addressed in small-group conferences.
Last, identify individual students who need help in a specific area.
If time permits, consider trying to create a mini-lesson using the suggested framework. Consider how you would develop your artifact.