Inquiry II: Part A

Inquiry II: Part A

1. Writing Instruction; ‘The 6 Traits of Writing’:

            - Ideas & Content

                        - Narrow your topic

                        - Write about what you observe

                        - Use details to support your point

                        - Use the five senses to describe

            - Organization

                        - Become an expert on your subject

                        - Hook your audience with a strong lead

                        - Link ideas together, and guide your audience with transitions

                        - Sum up all your ideas, and end with a bang!

            - Voice

                        - Be original with your ideas

                        - Connect with your audience

                        - Make your writing “come alive” with feeling and emotion

                        - Bring your personality out in your writing

            - Word Choice

                        - Write to your audience

                        - Be precise and select words that fit your purpose

                        - Use clear and colorful language to convey mood

                        - Use powerful verbs and strong adjectives

            - Sentence Fluency

                        - Vary sentence length and structure

                        - Start sentences with a variety of first words

                        - Make smooth transitions between sentences and paragraphs

                        - Read aloud for flow and rhythm

            - Conventions

                        - Follow grammar, spelling, and capitalization rules

                        - Use paragraph breaks and correct punctuation

                        - Hunt down errors

                        - Know and use correct editing symbols

2. I will have between 45 and 50 minutes a day to instruct my lesson.

3. Common Core Standards include 6^th grade writing standards 4 and 5.

4. In sixth grade, students use writing as a tool to learn, instead of focusing on learning to write. They use writing in a way that allows them to explore new content and create their own interpretations of concepts they encounter….

5. All types of classroom talk take place during this time, depending on what is taking place. There is initially teacher-led communication but eventually students will be expected to talk with their peers and also think for themselves during higher-level thinking activities. It will be understood that everyone is to contribute to the group conversations, each bringing their own opinion to the table. No one’s interpretation will be considered right or wrong, and everyone will have an opportunity to be heard.

6. The ‘Core Practice’ I hope to develop through teaching this target area of Writing Instruction is “fostering meaningful revision practices”. Writing is a life-long area where one can continue to learn, and focusing on this ‘core practice’ as a professional learner will hopefully both better my understanding of the six traits of writing, and also improve my writing overall. Revision is a crucial skill within the writing process, and I feel like the better I, and my students, are able to grasp this and master this process, the better their own writing, and mine, will become. If you, as an editor, know what to look for and what is needed in a given piece of writing, it makes it easier for you to produce writing that contains these things.

7. Ideas and inspiration for writing can be pulled from anywhere in the world around us, and students will be able to use their own funds of knowledge while mastering these six traits. The community and neighborhoods they live in and where they spend time outside of school, and the school and classrooms they visit every day. Each of these places provides me, as a teacher, with ideas to incorporate into relevant writing activities, and provides my students with experiences worthy of putting into a piece of writing. I can also use newspapers, letters, or local restaurant menus as examples of kinds of writing in everyday life.

8. Additional resources I might consider using throughout the unit are samples of my own sixth grade writing. I don’t know that it will necessarily aid in my teaching, but I think it might be fun to share that piece of my past with my students and show them that I was once in their shoes and understand that learning these writing traits takes time. Also, as a learner, I appreciate seeing samples and know my options before constructing my own work, so perhaps seeing some of my writing could inspire my students.

9. Pre-assessments for teaching the six traits of writing will include obtaining several samples of writing; letters, poems, etc. Also, in the beginning of the year my students filled out both reading and writing surveys that addressed thoughts about writing including:

            > Are you a writer?

            > Why do people write? List as many reasons as you can think of.

            > What does someone have to do or know in order to write well?

> How do you decide what you’ll write about? Where do your ideas come from?

> In general, how do you feel about what you write?

Starting by reading through these surveys, I hope to gain a better understanding of how my class thinks and feels about writing. From this stage I hope to administer a fairly general writing prompt of my own, asking what they feel the six most important traits of writing are, or if they are already known, which of them do they find most helpful in their own writing.

10. The more I am able to find out about my students hobbies and interests, the better I will be able to shape and develop my lesson plans for this unit. Getting to know their daily schedules and where and how they spend their time outside of school allows me to get to know them as individuals, and therefore better plan how I construct classroom activities. Its also helpful to take the time to get to know my students because when the time comes that I am the lead teacher, I will hopefully have gained some respect from them. They will see that I am interested in what they have to say and care about them and their learning, hopefully translating into them actively participating in my lessons.

11. I hope to obtain different samples of writing and then practice revising them considering each writing assignment will require unique revisions. There is not one single rubric to follow that will say that is or is not “good” writing, so learning how to revise different styles of writing is an important skill to work on. Also, as part of my lesson, I plan on my students being able to revise different styles of writing, hopefully improving their editing skills overall.

12. So far, I don’t have many concerns about planning and teaching this unit, but I’m sure that as time goes on and I begin to plan more in-depth, questions and concerns will arise.