While reading more chapters in Crafting Writers by Elizabeth Hale, one point in particular stuck out to me. On page 100 of chapter 7 there is an entire section on "Modeling with Published Literature." I think this technique is such a great idea when teachers need to model an example of craft. Being able to use a piece of literature well known to your class is key because they have to be familiar with the text in order to focus on the craft rather than the story itself. Often times, I think, a child might not always be able to grasp the broad concept teachers are trying to get across to the class. However, by projecting the craft through a well-known piece of writing children are able to see that professional writers use the same techniques their teachers are teaching them. This could inspire them to be like a professional writer!
Furthermore, the next section after "Modeling with Published Literature" is about "Student Writing." I really liked the idea of after introducing a published piece of literature to teach a craft is to show a piece of student's work from your class who has made strides to master that craft. I think it is important for, hopefully, everyone to get a chance to be spotlighted. This allows the students to feel a sense of pride for their writing and for the other student to work towards the goal of being the spotlight. In fifth grade my teacher has weekly writing assignments that were given to us on Monday and we had to turn them in on Friday. He would give us a topic and we had to pay specific attention to the craft we had learned for that week in our writing. Every Monday, before giving us the new topic, he would read an example of a great piece of writing done by one of our peers. Every week I would strive to be the student whose work was read. Finally it happened and I was so proud!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Crafting a Writer
When I first started reading Elizabeth Hale's book, Crafting Writers K-6, I was seriously confused. I think the two things that threw me most was that she did not exactly explain what a "specific craft" is and naming it is kind of an arbitrary process. Hale says, "Specific craft techniques are what I consider to be the small building blocks of different aspects of good writing..." (Hale, 11). However, as I continued to read it became clear to me that specific crafts are labels or instructions that show students a particular way to write taking things one piece at a time instead of using grand gestures such as "use more detail" and other broad terms. Teachers need to be able to break down these statements to exemplify to a student how, exactly, "using more detail" can be incorporated into their writing. I especially enjoyed the part about the five senses being a learning technique for students to be more descriptive in their writing. By having a student include what he or she hears, sees, touches, smells, and tastes in everyday life into his or her writing can make it more lively and allow the reader to fully understand what the author is trying to portray.
After reading chapters one through six, Hale's story at the begining of chapter one about learning how to swim and the instructor giving her pieces to work on in a step-by-step manner was more successful than simply telling her she needed to "make her arm stroke smoother" made more sense to me (Hale, 8). I think that using specific craft techniques can be applied to any situation of learning. It can be applied to a child learning how to write, an adult learning how to cook, or a teenager learning how to drive. In general, I see this technique being applicable to not just writing but to all subjects of an elementary classroom.
After reading chapters one through six, Hale's story at the begining of chapter one about learning how to swim and the instructor giving her pieces to work on in a step-by-step manner was more successful than simply telling her she needed to "make her arm stroke smoother" made more sense to me (Hale, 8). I think that using specific craft techniques can be applied to any situation of learning. It can be applied to a child learning how to write, an adult learning how to cook, or a teenager learning how to drive. In general, I see this technique being applicable to not just writing but to all subjects of an elementary classroom.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Decoding a Kindergartener
I was so intrigued by Kate Foley Cusumano's piece entitled "Every Mark on the Page...". It brought many new insights and ideas to me that can help make a student successful at writing. One aspect of this successfulness that Cusumano focuses on is the impact the parents and or community has on reviewing a child's writing. I have to admit that after looking at the kindergartender's picture of the flag and her story to go along with it I was a little lost. Even more so, what I could comprehend I only critiqued and criticized as things she was doing wrong. For example, I made note of how her writing seemed to me to be all over the page, how her spelling was not correct on a lot of words, and how I could not even decipher what point she was trying to make. As I read on, however, I learned that my analysis of the student's writing is exactly the critique Cusumano makes of parents who assess their child's writing and thinks they are not progressing as they should be.
As Cusumano went through the stages of the student's writing there was one particular theory that stuck out to me and that was the section about "Letters Hav[ing] Flexible Shapes" (Cusumano, 12). She explains that children often view letters as flexible in the way they can be shaped or the form and direction of them; this often leads to written letters that are upside down or backwards. She even notes that this flexibility is an important stage of complex learning. I often think that now-a-days teachers and parents are too quick to "diagnose" something in a child. An example here could be thinking that the child is dyslexic simply because he moves letters around. By parents and teachers being able to understand that this is an important developmental stage for children there is bound to be less medicalization of children's inabilities to do something.
Furthermore, in chapter one of Sound Systems the authors note a table that has five "Stages of Spelling Development." I could not help but categorize the kindergartener mentioned in Cusumano's piece into a stage. I predicted that she would be in State II (Letter-Name) because spellings for "was" as "wus" and "very" as "vary".
As Cusumano went through the stages of the student's writing there was one particular theory that stuck out to me and that was the section about "Letters Hav[ing] Flexible Shapes" (Cusumano, 12). She explains that children often view letters as flexible in the way they can be shaped or the form and direction of them; this often leads to written letters that are upside down or backwards. She even notes that this flexibility is an important stage of complex learning. I often think that now-a-days teachers and parents are too quick to "diagnose" something in a child. An example here could be thinking that the child is dyslexic simply because he moves letters around. By parents and teachers being able to understand that this is an important developmental stage for children there is bound to be less medicalization of children's inabilities to do something.
Furthermore, in chapter one of Sound Systems the authors note a table that has five "Stages of Spelling Development." I could not help but categorize the kindergartener mentioned in Cusumano's piece into a stage. I predicted that she would be in State II (Letter-Name) because spellings for "was" as "wus" and "very" as "vary".
Monday, September 6, 2010
Groceries & Words
For the literacy dig my team members and I went to a local grocery store at 10 o’clock in the morning to observe how this community hot spot incorporated literacy into the business.
I was in charge of point D: “Observing and recording vocabulary, written or spoken, that is unique to this place.” With that being said I kept my eyes and ears open for words and or phrases that would be considered foreign to people if they had never been in a grocery store. Literacy was everywhere in this store! Everywhere I looked there were vocabulary words that stuck out to me. As I walked up and down the aisles I noted phrases such as “saving spot,” which was a sale item, on certain foods that were on sale that day.
The place where I found the most vocabulary that would be deemed as unusual to an outsider was in the bakery/deli section. In the bakery there were phrases like “cookie cake” that might be understandable to Americans and people who shop in grocery stores, but to a foreigner, this concept might be considered weird. Is it a cookie or a cake? At the donut bar there were four large signs instructing people to “please use tissue.” Use a tissue for what? For shoppers who are familiar with grocery stores we know it is to pick up donuts, but for the first time shopping that might not be clear. They might think you use a tissue to blow your nose. Finally, in the deli section there is a “salad bar.” Americans know this is a place where people can make their own salads with ingredients they like. They can make it however big or however small as they want. But for the virgin shopper this phrase might be confusing. They might think of a “bar” as an actual rod or pole. And then how would that incorporate into a salad?
In the checkout lanes there were two phrases that are unique to a grocery store: “Do you have any coupons?” said by the cashier to the shopper, and “Paper or plastic?” said by the bagger to the shopper. I cannot think of any other place where these two phrases are commonly used. I think it is important to always ask “paper or plastic?” because some people might be environmentalists and prefer paper or even have brought their own bags from home.
Literacy is crucial in a grocery store. Shoppers who are on a tight budget need to know sale items and how much things cost. That is why there are prices on every item in the store. I also think nutrition labels are an important part of the store. For people who are on a diet or who have food allergies, reading the nutrition label and ingredient list on foods could be a matter of extreme health precaution. Finally, hanging from every ceiling is a sign that describes what types of foods are located in that particular aisle. This is essential for people to locate certain items they are looking for. A grocery store could be very confusing if you do not understand how it is laid out. It takes a lot of trial and error to get used to grocery store design, but by using literacy and the guides at the top of the aisles can make it easier. For example, my dad NEVER goes grocery shopping, but if my mom needs him to pick something up that she forgot she will have to remind him to look at the guidelines above all the aisles which tells you where certain foods are located.
This assignment was interesting to me because grocery shopping is honestly one of my favorite things to do. I have always enjoyed it as a little girl going with my mom, and now that I am living on own I also find it as a fun escape from my daily routine. So to go to a grocery and look for aspects of literacy instead of actually shopping was a whole new world to me. I, of course, knew that words were everywhere in groceries, but the way they can impact a shopper and even confuse a first time shopper where things I had never considered. This experience made me realize that literacy is more than simply reading from a book or magazine or writing my homework. It is all around us in daily life.
I was in charge of point D: “Observing and recording vocabulary, written or spoken, that is unique to this place.” With that being said I kept my eyes and ears open for words and or phrases that would be considered foreign to people if they had never been in a grocery store. Literacy was everywhere in this store! Everywhere I looked there were vocabulary words that stuck out to me. As I walked up and down the aisles I noted phrases such as “saving spot,” which was a sale item, on certain foods that were on sale that day.
The place where I found the most vocabulary that would be deemed as unusual to an outsider was in the bakery/deli section. In the bakery there were phrases like “cookie cake” that might be understandable to Americans and people who shop in grocery stores, but to a foreigner, this concept might be considered weird. Is it a cookie or a cake? At the donut bar there were four large signs instructing people to “please use tissue.” Use a tissue for what? For shoppers who are familiar with grocery stores we know it is to pick up donuts, but for the first time shopping that might not be clear. They might think you use a tissue to blow your nose. Finally, in the deli section there is a “salad bar.” Americans know this is a place where people can make their own salads with ingredients they like. They can make it however big or however small as they want. But for the virgin shopper this phrase might be confusing. They might think of a “bar” as an actual rod or pole. And then how would that incorporate into a salad?
In the checkout lanes there were two phrases that are unique to a grocery store: “Do you have any coupons?” said by the cashier to the shopper, and “Paper or plastic?” said by the bagger to the shopper. I cannot think of any other place where these two phrases are commonly used. I think it is important to always ask “paper or plastic?” because some people might be environmentalists and prefer paper or even have brought their own bags from home.
Literacy is crucial in a grocery store. Shoppers who are on a tight budget need to know sale items and how much things cost. That is why there are prices on every item in the store. I also think nutrition labels are an important part of the store. For people who are on a diet or who have food allergies, reading the nutrition label and ingredient list on foods could be a matter of extreme health precaution. Finally, hanging from every ceiling is a sign that describes what types of foods are located in that particular aisle. This is essential for people to locate certain items they are looking for. A grocery store could be very confusing if you do not understand how it is laid out. It takes a lot of trial and error to get used to grocery store design, but by using literacy and the guides at the top of the aisles can make it easier. For example, my dad NEVER goes grocery shopping, but if my mom needs him to pick something up that she forgot she will have to remind him to look at the guidelines above all the aisles which tells you where certain foods are located.
This assignment was interesting to me because grocery shopping is honestly one of my favorite things to do. I have always enjoyed it as a little girl going with my mom, and now that I am living on own I also find it as a fun escape from my daily routine. So to go to a grocery and look for aspects of literacy instead of actually shopping was a whole new world to me. I, of course, knew that words were everywhere in groceries, but the way they can impact a shopper and even confuse a first time shopper where things I had never considered. This experience made me realize that literacy is more than simply reading from a book or magazine or writing my homework. It is all around us in daily life.
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