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.
That sounds like a great observation. "Specific Craft" techniques seem like a great way to present the child with clearly defined goals inside of a school system which may lack the kind of traditional structure which is outdated.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, the technique can be applied in other subjects. I'm pretty sure we saw it last week in Mrs Seabrooke's class. The way she was poring over "The Dot" with the kids, having them identify craft, asking questions about the illustration, etc was definitely using the Reader's Workshop to give the kids little pieces or building blocks for their own writing as well as encouraging them to be more observant and thoughtful readers.
ReplyDeleteYou really hit on some important elements of Crafting Writers. I especially liked your reference to the senses as I overlooked these in my post, but now remember them clearly. You also pointed out how important it is to give students the "why" behind the techniques we are teaching them like the author did when referring to the "why"of the swim stroke. This analogy made a lot of sense to me too. I agree that these techniques can be used in other venues besides writing. How awesome!!
ReplyDeleteI mentioned this on someone else's blog, but I'll say it here too: the real trick, I think, is helping kids include *helpful* details. Not just details that add words to the story, but details that really help them communicate their idea. That's where craft comes in - how can I craft my writing to best express what I want to say?
ReplyDeleteMatt, what a great point! Kids need to see incorporating details as a way to help them communicate their ideas, not just a way to construct a "good" sentence. As teachers, I think it is our job to communicate to our students exactly that; we must encourage students to see details and craft as an aid for both themselves and the people who read their work.
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