Vertical Alignment - December by Jacqui Barna

Robin McCoy

rmccoy44 — 2023-12-21 12:48:43 UTC

Consistency, and modeling. Giving the student feedback. Helping them brainstorm, revise and edit properly. If students are struggling, provide sentence starters.

Kris Matson

kmatson19 — 2023-12-21 12:54:01 UTC

We teach the students the writing process. prewriting, outlining, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading. These steps have become a lost art in writing today.

2023-12-21 12:58:23 UTC

Model, model, model, and then throw them in head first! I have always found this is the best way to get them to get it on paper. There is always room for improvement and growth after the first attempt.

Michelle Richar

mrichar — 2023-12-21 13:02:47 UTC

Graphic organizers and outlines - I did a Classkick to walk them through their first essay and it helped tremendously. Each paragraph had a different Classkick page and each page had a graphic organizer for that paragraph. It was so helpful to not just say "here write a paper," but to walk them through it step-by-step. Hopefully for future papers, we can scaffold and not give as much support.

Jen Cole

jtreacyc2 — 2023-12-21 13:05:07 UTC

I know that they did a lot of freewriting in 5th grade, but they need to come back to stream-of-consciousness to get over the hump. Regular practice is very good for moving some kids past that writer's block. Also, surprisingly, our STEM project really freed my students up to just get all kind of ideas down and then go back and refine things. The brainstorming was a struggle because there was no "correct" answer at the other end -- it truly helped them!

Danielle Adams

dadams148_2 — 2023-12-21 13:06:21 UTC

Scaffolding, start doing it with them, then take away more support each time until they are able to do it independently.

Kelsey Reckless

kreckless1_2 — 2023-12-21 13:08:32 UTC

Mentor texts allow students to see what their writing can look like. When we read mentor texts and and take time to analyze the strategies the author uses, students can learn how to apply these same strategies in their own writing.

Always opportunities to write

ltraut3 — 2023-12-21 13:08:40 UTC

In exit tickets, have students write one thing they learned, one thing they already knew, and one thing they still wonder.

2023-12-21 13:09:29 UTC

I'm trying something new today. We're going to practice writing thesis statements using whiteboards in Zoom. Each student will write a thesis statement. Then we'll make suggestions for each one. Finally, the students revise their thesis statement.

Lauren McElrone

2023-12-21 13:11:12 UTC

In small group I start with modeling and examples, then allow students to brainstorm ideas and share their thoughts; all building up to writing a final product. As an LST I have the flexibility to incorporate different topics, as well as tapping into their interests and making it fun for them.

Judy Bannister

2023-12-21 13:12:31 UTC

Post a few "Words of the Week" at the beginning of each class that are Math terms (words with their definitions)

Sam DiMauro

sdimauro11 — 2023-12-21 13:13:27 UTC

The biggest thing I have noticed is that students need to have a model of what they are asked to complete. Breaking down the assignment into manageable parts and making sure they understand why they are writing the way they have to write (thanks Michelle for your Classkick!). Talking about how it is applicable beyond ELA also helps with increasing their writing. Just like anything else, practicing the skill does help with increasing the ability to successfully communicate ideas in writing. Lastly, thinking about how we assess our students. Does it help to assess each part or the whole thing? Assessing each part can help them learn the process of revising, for example, thesis statements.

Christy Purnell

cpurnell16 — 2023-12-21 13:16:10 UTC

Always model examples and non-examples. Kids needs to see what we are expecting versus what is "not good enough". And have them grade and make recommendations for revising the non-examples. Kids also like choice to write.

Carissa Blair

2023-12-21 13:17:39 UTC

Break down the probe. I've been teaching a mini series in my writing goal instruction class on how to break down the question or the probe so that students know what the question is asking. After we understand what we need to write about, we can start brainstorming.

Katie Mangiacarne

kmangiacarne2_2 — 2023-12-21 13:21:09 UTC

As a reading specialist, I know we have a large population of students that are 3-4 grade levels below. I think it's important to support them in my small groups with knowledge of graphemes then dictation to apply the skills learned. Modeling how to edit and revise. Supporting the struggling students with the basics of sentence/paragraph writing.

Greek and Latin

lisathorwart2 — 2023-12-21 13:21:21 UTC

There is value in teaching the affixes that apply across all subjects.

Stacy Lindermuth

slindermuth1_2 — 2023-12-21 13:24:51 UTC

Establish the steps, model the expectations, and allow students to choose topics.

Jennifer Pizzani

2023-12-21 13:29:58 UTC

I appreciate seeing the student's handwriting. We also know that psychological science has shown time and time again that handwritten notes produce better recall of information. Students are more engaged in their writing and better connected to it when the use pen or pencil to paper. We could also investigate how they can use their new tablets to write. There are many benefits to handwriting vs typing. There is more critical thinking when we handwrite. I would like to see us move towards both the steps of brainstorming and rough copies being handwritten then allowing final copies to be typed.

Many students really enjoy working together on writing in breakout rooms. I create rooms based on the possible topics for writing, and I have students move themselves to the room that matches the topic they chose. This allows them to brainstorm ideas together, and also do peer review.

rporterfield2_2 — 2023-12-21 13:30:26 UTC