- How are Lucy Calkins' lessons similar or different from what you currently do for writing instruction?
- What are your thoughts on starting with informational writing in September (as described in this unit) as opposed to narrative as we're used to?
- What is something new you plan to incorporate into your writing instruction?
- What do you think might be challenging?
- What resources might we need?
Monday, July 4, 2016
Post 1
I'm interested to hear your impressions of our first reading selection! Here are some questions to drive our discussion. You don't need to respond to all of these questions, but think about what we can do now to get a head start on our writing instruction this fall!
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I currently use Lucy Calkins, but this past year, I adapted these lessons to use with narrative writing, which worked quite well. I enjoy teaching narrative writing in the fall, but I do not have a preference whether we continue to do that or follow Lucy with more fidelity, trying out informational writing in September. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI love the writing club idea, and will definitely have my class decide on a club name! I will also apply the phrase, "I am the boss of my own writing" when teaching writing independence and problem solving.
One of the biggest challenges for me in applying these lessons is student independence. It's a challenge to meet with enough students when I am the only adult in the room. During the years I have help from an aide or parent volunteer, I find that writing time goes more smoothly. I also struggle with having enough time for a full daily writer's workshop (mini lesson, independent writing/conferencing, and sharing) when fitting WTI into my schedule. Any thoughts or suggestions?
I have a When You're Done, You've Just Begun poster that I made, as well as an adapted one to put on the students' writer's workshop folders, which I think Sue made. I'm happy to share these with you! I have not found a way to upload attachments on the blog, so I will email these resources to you instead. Looking at the lessons we just read, the other resources we might want include a name chart (from Session 5) and different types of writing paper. Would anyone like to make or share either of these items? Any other resources you can think of that we might need?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts! :)
Emily...I have used the writing club name idea and the kids love it! They chose the name and when I referred to them using this name, it just seemed to motivate them more to want to write!
DeleteThe last two years I have used Lucy Calkins’ lessons for Launching the Workshop, and I really love these beginning ones! Lucy packs so much content into a single lesson that I find myself extending the lesson over several days so that I can use a mid-workshop teaching point or “share” as my mini-lesson. I actually don’t mind starting with informational writing in September because the labeling required in teaching books seems like a good entry point for hearing/recording sounds in words as opposed to telling a story across multiple pages. Students also are able to develop some comfort with this type of writing for the November writing assessment where they write something they learned from a non-fiction text.
ReplyDeleteI also find that Writers’ Workshop goes much more smoothly with another adult in the room! Lucy Calkins gives suggestions for managing the workshop like table compliments (p. 6), non-verbal settling cues (p. 14), and voiceovers (p.14), but nothing beats having another adult to support students (especially in September)!
Does anyone use date stamps? I’ve been contemplating buying a set because I think it would be neat to track their growth in a writing portfolio.
I extend lessons over several days too! I agree; there's tons of content in each lesson! I use a date stamp in the fall. Later in the year, I just have the kids write the date themselves. It's great for having kids reflect on their writing growth.
DeleteI extend lessons over several days too! I agree; there's tons of content in each lesson! I use a date stamp in the fall. Later in the year, I just have the kids write the date themselves. It's great for having kids reflect on their writing growth.
DeleteKylie, I was thinking about using a date stamp too. Emily, I like your idea of having them use it for the fall and then having them write the date themselves later in the year.
DeleteI have used Lucy for my entire Kindergarten teaching career. I started out helping another teacher implement it while I was an AIS reading teacher and continued to use it in my own classroom. I truly love the program and Lucy's style. I know that there are flaws and things that I change around to meet my own teaching needs but I think it's great! I have always started using narrative writing as well but I could see some benefits to beginning with informational as well. I agree with Kylie that the amount of writing that students are expected to do (such as labeling objects in their picture) is really appropriate for them in September. On the other hand, I also love teaching narrative at this time because Kindergarteners are so in tune with their own experiences and love to talk all about moments in their lives! Truly labeling is what students are capable of at this time so labeling items in their picture is their goal in either narrative or informational. What does everyone else think?
ReplyDeleteEmily, I also really liked how she lets the kids brainstorm a writing club name! That's so cute and really gets the kids involved! I don't know how I missed this in the past but I will also begin doing this with my class! Kylie, I have never used date stamps with my class either. I have always had the students write the date but I know a few teachers who have them (Sue Morgan and Karen Ekeze) and loved using them. I think they bought them at garage sales. :) I could also bring this up to Deb at a grade chair meeting if this is something we need as a grade level. Ladies, let me know if this is something that you would like me to do.
I COMPLETELY AGREE that there is no better help than to have more adults in the room but it was nice to hear Lucy describing kids off task and being true Kindergarteners (like fighting over the blue markers). I feel like it shows a true writing block in a Kindergarten room looks like. I also like how she said "now put on your roller skates" bc that's truly what it feels like. You will have to be in a million places at once but, in my experience, if you stick with it and are consistent, your Writer's Workshop can be very successful and full of awesome writers!
I love joining classes to help during writing. It seems that reading and math take priority and if more AIS pull-out times are needed, unfortunately they seem to come out of writing time. Hopefully schedules will work out to allow for more time for CT teachers to be available during writing times. :)
DeleteJess, I would definitely love to have the date stamps!
DeleteWhen I had my own classroom I started using Lucy Calkins's Workshop. I loved it and I thought it helped motivate most students to be writers. I love her enthusiasm for writing, although I may not be dressing up as an old "granny" for any minilessons, but who knows!? I think the positive attitude and her expectation that they will be writers, even though some may not be able to write any letters, is so important to build confidence that will help them become more independent. I love how she compares their writing to other author's writing and shows them in books things that they can do in their own writing. I like the times during the sharing portion when she quickly goes around and lets every child tell the topic they are writing about or allows them to all hold up their paper for a minute. Kindergarteners all want to share so this was a nice quick way to do that once in a while.
ReplyDeleteOne of my biggest challenges was trying to keep them working during the whole writing period. I appreciated her examples of mid work time stops, which didn't really interrupt their writing for very long, but could be beneficial to refocus students. Her technique of avoiding eye-contact, and turning your attention to the paper, rather than the student, to encourage independence was interesting. I'd have to work on reminding myself to do this. I don't think it would come naturally.
I love introducing students to everything we do at school and showing them procedures and tools we will be using all year and so this book is my favorite. I definitely agree that our enthusiasm for anything we do has a huge impact on the class and I love how Lucy really thought about little ways to put this into writing lessons...calling students “writers”, creating and naming a writing club, pretending to be the students/other characters, using student work as example, etc.
ReplyDeleteI think that it might be better/easier for curriculum alignment to follow the books as they are. That way the grade can use the units as an official “resource” and make changes in assessments and anything else accordingly. We are hoping to purchase some (or maybe lots!) of the class books that she uses too. (I’ll let you all know what happens at curriculum writing soon!)
I am thinking about using the time stamps too! I have used them in the past…eons ago when I did writing journals with my class. The students did well with it and really loved having that extra job, but I only had 1 so it became harder for everyone to get on every paper and I went to having students write the date themselves. I think I might get one for each table and see what happens!
Hi Lisa! The narrative vs. informative writing decision will likely be left to you and Kylie during curriculum writing this summer. It will be helpful to pull the ELA/Writing timeline (document that is laid out horizonally and organized by month), the pacing calendar, along with whatever the district is thinking. Jen Cropo and I met at the end of the year to talk about the writing framework. You girls will probably need to touch base with her. It may not be a big change in our teaching, but it will definitely impact the assessment timeline :)
DeleteI have used Lucy Calkins for the past two years as well. I love that her lessons are real and showcase what real kindergarteners do or don't do yet. I would like to begin with informational writing in September because that is what the fall writing assessment focuses on. However, it also makes sense to me to begin with narrative writing like Jess said, because kids are experts at knowing about themselves.
ReplyDeleteI plan on incorporating "I am the boss of my own writing right from the beginning of the year. I think the more the students hear that language, the faster it will be internalized and then become problem solvers. I also plan on trying to focus my attention on the paper instead of making eye contact with the student. I agree with Kim that it would not be something that would be a natural thing to do but I think it would be an interesting strategy to try out and see if that helps the student to gain more independence.
I really love getting excited about writing and seeing how excited they get when they believe that they are writers just like grown ups and that they have really important ideas to write down! It's fun!
I really like how the first Lucy Calkins’ unit lays out the beginning of writing workshop; it is in a very logical and easy to implement sequence. As some have mentioned previously, there is so much content, I often have to stretch one of Lucy Calkins’ sessions over the course of a couple of days. Sometimes, depending on my students’ needs, I need to go back and revisit lessons that I have already done because students may not have fully grasped a particular strategy or skill.
ReplyDeleteWhen I did writing workshop this year, one of the hardest aspects was teaching my students independence. I will really try to focus on students “being the boss” of their own writing and reminding them what more they can do when they say “I’m done.”
I do use a date stamp during writing workshop (I ordered it from Amazon at the beginning of school last year). Usually, when students start writing at their tables, I quickly walk around the room and stamp everyone’s paper. I find it helpful to track student progress throughout the year, especially when I check their writing folders. I also like your idea, Emily, of having the students write the date themselves later in year. I will definitely try that this year.
This is my first full year using Lucy Calkins for Kindergarten. I have used Lucy Calkins' units when teaching others grades, so I found it interesting to see how her Kindergarten units compared when I used it this year.
ReplyDeleteLike many of you have said, I too like the idea of a writing club. This is something I did not use this year, but I plan to use next year, as I think it would be very engaging for students to feel like they are a part of a special club.
When reading this section a second time through, I really had the opportunity to go deeper into the reading and pick up little ideas I had not picked up on before. I am definitely going to make sure I explicitly teach little things, such as calling the session before writing a "mini-lesson". While I taught the mini-lessons, I did not refer to it as a mini-lesson before. I think by calling each section a specific name, it will help students to be able to organize the components of the writer's workshop. Having taught older grades before this year, I think I was used to having students already aware of this terminology so I did not introduce it as explicitly as I could have. I also plan to explicitly model more of the steps of the writing process. While I did model the steps, I want to keep in mind for next year that this is their first exposure to Lucy Calkins and the Writer's Workshop.
I love that almost everything Lucy does is a celebration. I like the idea of taking pictures of students who are modeling good writing behavior and putting them on display for the class to see. I think it is both rewarding for that child to see, as well as encouraging for other students to make the same choices. I also like the idea of giving praise for even the little things that students do. Since all children will be at different capabilities in their work, I think it's great to be able to acknowledge them with where they are at and celebrate it. Many times students become frustrated if they aren't able to do the same work as their peers next to them, so I feel that it is especially important to let them know it is completely if they can't do what their neighbor is doing.
Again, like many others have said, the independence factor is a tricky one during writer's workshop. I am going to continue to point out even more next year students who are working independently and not coming up to me after working for three minutes and saying they are finished. Is there anything specific other than time and practice that anyone uses to help ensure that students do not just rush through one piece to get to another, especially in the beginning? Or is this just part of the natural progression?
One final thought I had about this reading section is about name charts. I did notice during the year, especially as the year went on, students would visit each others tables to find out how to spell their friends' names. I was pleased they were using resources to spell names correctly, but I also like the idea of having a name chart at their seat. ( I was thinking they meant names of the students in the classroom, to help them come up with beginning letter sounds) Did I have the right idea about this? Does anyone use them or something like this?
I agree with you Laura about how Lucy makes everything seem like a celebration! Her excitement is so evident in reading her units, it really is contagious. Which is good-because Writer's Workshop in Kindergarten takes lots of energy, especially at the beginning! I have the kids' names on the word wall (along with many other words) on magnets so that the kids can come up and take the words off to use. This definitely takes a bit of patience on the teacher's part, because it does involve lots of practice in your expectations and the words don't always end up where they began! But, it is empowering to them to be able to seek out the resource they need. One other thing I do is have the kids keep a personal word wall on the back of their writing folders. This is essentially a list of words I write for them on the fly as I do quick conferences. It is words I notice they use often-this way they always have it handy (it really is a win-win as this eliminates so many "how do you spell??" questions!)
ReplyDeleteLove love love the idea of their own personal word walls! I tried something similar towards the end of the year this past year and I really wish that I had started it from the start. I will definitely make sure do to it this year. I just had the popcorn words and added more as we learned them, but I like your idea of making it even more personalized.
DeleteThanks for the idea Alissa! I love the idea of taking my word wall I have and making it more interactive. I too like the idea of a personal word wall. I had considered the idea before, but wasn't sure how Kindergartners would handle it. I'm anxious to give it a try next year!
DeleteHappy summer everyone! As I am reflecting on the first days (or weeks, or months) of writer's workshop, the biggest challenge I always find is helping them to sustain writing independently for a period of time. I love that Lucy anticipates these roadblocks, and simply expects them to keep trying. I really like all of the play acting that she does to show the kids how to solve problems on their own. Regarding management, I am wondering if any of you let your kids use pens and markers for their daily writing? I have never had success with this, perhaps because I simply do not like the messiness that can result. But, I can see that writing isn't a neat process! Does anyone implement this with success?
ReplyDeleteI use pens for everyday writer's workshop. At first, it's a big deal and many of the students get a little too excited about it, but after a while the novelty runs out and they do a great job. It takes some time and teaching to show the class how to put a line through mistakes and for them to do that rather than scribble things out. I really like using pens because I can see students' mistakes and if/how they fix them. I also tried having markers be an option for students too, but that didn't work out so well!! Definitely more messy than pens!!
DeleteLisa, I too added this into my writer's workshop, but towards the end of the year. I was surprised what a great job students did with this after having some practice. It was really motivating for them too. I agree with you that it is a great way to see students' mistakes and how they are fixed.
DeleteLucy gives good examples throughout these pages of things she notices kids do during writing workshop...for example "I like how yesterday Gabriella closed her eyes and then opened them to draw the details she remembered in her head...". One thing I would do is keep a notebook on my desk and jot things down during writing workshop as the kids were working. Some days it was hard to remember but I tried because then the next day I could refer to something that someone did that was a teaching point or review for today's lesson. And often times, the student's face would light up because they would realize I saw them and noticed what they were doing even if I didn't sit down with them and have a conversation. They feel like what they are doing is important even if the teacher is not right there.
ReplyDeleteLaura had mentioned above about the independence factor and yes this desire to rush and get through several pieces is definitely part of the natural progression. They don't have the stamina or even the ability to sustain writing for that long in the beginning. I think it is better to make your writing period shorter in the beginning and gradually extend the time they write. You don't want them to dislike writing and they are going to get annoyed with having you say go back to your seat and keep writing. For many at this time, writing 3 letters and a couple details takes a lot of their energy.
I have a word wall with words that can be removed and taken to their seat. So they can take their friend's names off. I also include thematic words for them to take off and use. This is nice when they learn a few words such as I, like and see. They can put together I like or I see with several of the words up there.
Thanks for the ideas, Liza!
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