Superkids Reading Program Teaching Tips for Daily Writing Time

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1 2007 by Rowland Reading Foundation K33279.AP.0707 Superkids Reading Program Teaching Tips for Daily Writing Time Here are some suggestions to help you and your students make the most of Daily Writing Time. Suggestions for differentiating instruction are included in How to Teach Daily Writing Time in the teacher portal and the Superkids Skill-Building Book. Setting up resources Daily Writing Time lessons can be viewed online or printed and kept in a binder. Each lesson identifies any writing masters and other materials needed to teach it. Some masters are intended for you to project on a whiteboard and use for a whole-class activity. Other masters need copies printed and distributed to children. You may want to keep on hand extra copies of frequently used masters, such as Journal Paper or the List Template. At the beginning of the year, establish procedures regarding the use of materials for writing. Talk with children about how to get the materials they need to be ready to write, what to do if they need to sharpen a pencil or get additional paper while writing, how to stay focused on their writing and not disturb others, and what to do with their work and materials when they ve finished a writing task. With prompting and practice, children can learn to work efficiently and independently. (At right are some Superkids materials that you and children can use for expressive writing.) A Super Kid s Journal by First Grade t h e s u p e r k i d s r e a d i n g p r o g r a m A Super Kid s Journal Book Ice Cream Journal Paper Put dates on children s work so you can see how their writing develops over time. You can write a numeric date on the board and have children copy it on their work. You could provide a few date stamps and inkpads and teach children how to use them. Modeling writing The lessons include examples of the types of writing you should create and use for whole-group instruction. It s important to model your writing in front of children so they see how thoughts can be said aloud and then written down. Models can be written on chart paper, dry-erase or interactive whiteboards, or overhead transparencies. The lessons indicate when you need to save an example to use again for a later lesson. The writing masters for Daily Writing Time include a variety of templates and graphic organizers, such as Journal Paper, a List Template, and a Web Starter, that you can use for modeling. Ice Cream Chart Paper TEACHING TIPS FOR DAILY WRITING TIME 1

2 You can project these images on a dry-erase or an interactive whiteboard and then write on top of the projected images using a dry-erase marker or an interactive pen. If you have an interactive whiteboard, you can save your work and display it again at a later time. Masters can also be printed, copied onto transparencies, and then displayed on overhead projectors. Using Word Walls and environmental print Create separate lists of a unit s Pattern Words and Memory Words and display them on the wall. When you model writing, demonstrate how to use each list to help you write a word or check its spelling. For Pattern Words, remind children that they can use the pattern in one group of words to help them spell a word they think has the same pattern. You can keep the lists for the current unit and one or two previous units displayed and then replace the older lists with new ones throughout the year. As you assist children as they write, point out words on the class calendar, the Superkids Poster, the class roster, and other displayed materials that they can use to aid their spelling. However, don t crowd the walls with a lot of words that children can t read. Instead, remind them to sound out an unknown word slowly and spell it as best they can. Finding partners fast Many lessons have children discuss their writing ideas with a partner. Decide in advance how you want children to find a partner so they can do it quickly. Depending on seating arrangements, you can have them simply partner with the classmate sitting next to, in front of, or diagonally across from them. You could also assign children to work together as partners for a unit. Having children share their work At the end of most lessons, a few children share work they ve written that day or from a previous lesson. Establish a system for children to take turns sharing, such as drawing names from a jar, calling on individuals, or asking for volunteers. Keep track of who has shared during the unit so everyone gets a chance to present their work. Make sure children understand that not everyone will share every day and that it s fine to share something that isn t finished. You can also do quick shares where children turn to the person next to them and each take one minute to read or describe what they wrote that day. Pattern Words ish dish fish wish ash dash crash trash unch lunch punch crunch atch catch match patch Sample lists Memory Words I my she her he his TEACHING TIPS FOR DAILY WRITING TIME 2

3 Help children develop their sharing skills by modeling and reminding them of good listening and speaking behaviors. Guide them in asking presenters relevant questions and giving constructive feedback. Review Lessons 2 and 10 for Welcome Back, Superkids Daily Writing Time focus on sharing and listening to others share. Sharing time can also be about the writing process. Children can tell what they like or found challenging about the day s writing practice. If you observed or helped a child figure out a good solution to a writing problem, ask the child to share that experience. Saving and assessing students work Have two folders for each child. One is an active work folder that holds a child s writing and drawings for the current unit. The other is the child s portfolio that holds selected pieces of work for the entire year. Keep the active work folders in a designated place that children can access easily so they can continue to work on pieces and add new pieces to their folders throughout the unit. After you review children s writing for the unit, choose pieces to put in portfolios that reflect their writing strengths and weaknesses. Use these portfolios to assess children s developing skills across several units and to share with parents during conferences. Use the portfolios to assess how well children s writing skills are developing over time. Children get repeated practice in different writing types throughout the year, so you can easily compare earlier work to later work. For example, look for improvements in narratives written near the beginning of the year with those written in later units. Daily Writing Time includes a variety of forms you can use to record your evaluations of children s writing. Include copies of the completed Student Record Form for each unit, the Student Progress Forms, and the Student Conferencing Form in a child s portfolio. Share your evaluations and children s portfolio work with parents during parent-teacher conferences. Review the writing rubric for a unit before you teach the lessons so you re aware of the expectations for children s writing. These expectations are integrated into the writing instruction, but you can reinforce the characteristics of good writing as you assist children as they write or conference with them. Use studentfriendly language to talk about things they can be doing to make their writing stronger. For example, you can remind them that a list needs a title that tells what the whole list is about. TEACHING TIPS FOR DAILY WRITING TIME 3

4 Publishing children s work In addition to sharing time, provide a variety of ways children can present their work to others. This reinforces that writing is a great way to communicate ideas and they are writing for real audiences. For example: Compile children s writing into a class book and add it to the classroom library. You or children can read aloud from the book during read-aloud time or they can choose to look at it during independent reading time. Create a writers gallery where children choose work that they want displayed in the classroom. Invite special guests, such as school staff or parents, to view it and have children tell about their writing or read part of it. Display children s writing in the school s hallways, the library, the cafeteria, and other areas. Have children visit another class and share their work. If children s writing isn t very legible or coherent, have them tell you or a volunteer want they wanted to say. Then write or type that text and place it near the original writing. Have a publishing party at the end of a semester or the year that celebrates children s work as authors and showcases their best work. Include author bios that they write about themselves and reviews that classmates have written about their work. Invite guests and have snacks. Encouraging free-choice writing Writing is a skill that most adults use every day of their lives. We write for real purposes to express our thoughts, to help us remember things, to persuade others, to share information, and more. Children need to recognize that writing is a useful skill to develop for their own benefit, not just something they do because a teacher tells them to. This is why it s important to give children opportunities to write what they want for their own purposes in addition to the writing tasks you assign them. You can encourage free-choice writing by providing fun materials that children will enjoy using during their independent work time to write their own lists, notes, letters, captions, posters, and stories. Validate this writing by allowing children to choose to present it during sharing time. TEACHING TIPS FOR DAILY WRITING TIME 4

5 Ask families to help you create a real-world writing box that includes everyday materials adults frequently use for writing, such as: self-sticking notes pads for lists mini notebooks stationary (personal and business) envelopes address labels stickers (for stamps or decoration) construction paper pens and washable markers small staplers clipboards cards for special occasions blank invitations order forms, such as those used in restaurants index cards for recipes poster board Keep the box in a writing center and allow children to use materials from it during independent work time. After you introduce a template or graphic organizer during instruction, you can add copies of it to the box. See also the Expressive Writing section of the Superkids Skill-Building Book for fun activities to inspire independent writing. TEACHING TIPS FOR DAILY WRITING TIME 5