The beginning of the chapter states that writing may be the most complex communication process within communication arts. I agree with this whole-heartily, because teaching students with special needs especially, it is usually a long, tiring, stressful process to 1) get ideas from the students to 2) put those in writing the way the want it said. With communication deficits, it puts a lot of stress on the students I work with to form a sentence.
Importance of Reading-Writing Connection:
After reading, it is important students can clarify what they read in writing, showing they can make a connection between reading and writing. It is found that reading and writing are intricately connected. Sooner than ever, now teachers are encouraged to start writing with their students in all content subject areas as soon as the student can.
Writing as a Product
The textbook made it seem as teachers mostly use writing to evaluate an essay, or research report for grammar/syntactical errors, but I agree with the textbook, that teachers should also use what the students write as way to evaluate comprehension of a reading. The better teachers can connect the connect the content to something the students enjoy, the easier it is for the teacher to get good results from students' effort with writing.
Computers as Writing Tools
Whether we like it or not, computers are now a big part of school, and so is technology, so teachers have a duty to integrate technology in their writing instruction. Actually, computer usage improves student learning in general and student writing in particular. Since students like to email, teachers can set up pen pals, and have students email instead of writing letters. The theory is that students using media progress quicker than students who use more traditional ways, whether or NOT I believe that doesn't matter, because technology is not going to go anywhere.
Quick Write
This is a writing activity where the students come in, and write for 2-3 minutes on a given topic, or on a topic they choose. This is an "old-school" activity, because I remember doing this as a student, and I really enjoyed it. I think some of the fun came from trying to fit all of your ideas on paper in such a short time, so you really wrote and did not lolly-gag with this activity.
Assistance Phase of Writing
Much like the assistance phase of reading, students begin to realize what they understand and have to say about a topic. Students can use peers as an audience, because they provide support and comments/suggestions. Students seem to have a better attitude when working with classmates, as opposed to teachers. Then, the students can pick a topic so that they are motivated to write! The 3rd and 4th steps suggest that writing assignments should be varied and should connect prior knowledge to new information, to give a creative challenge.
Learning Logs
Daily, or weekly students can write in a log about what they learned, etc. Like we do, this can be a universal tool from beginning writers to professional bloggers.
Annotations
Something I think we all use, for older students to practice critical thinking in their reading and writing. Making notes about a reading, helps students think about their understanding of the material and enable them to have their reflections down in writing.
My favorite writing activity would probably be the guided reading procedure because although it is a reflection stage, it also involves preparation and assistance steps. Day 1, teacher activates prior knowledge to facilitate prewriting, then students fact storm and categorize their facts, then students write 2 paragraphs using the organized list, and then students read about the topic. On the 2nd day, students check their drafts for functional writing concerns, and assigns rewriting based on functional needs and revision to incorporate the information from the reading, then gives a quiz.
Collaborative Writing is when students work together, and seem to be less intimidated by the activity given, or amount of work, because they know together they can find a way to complete it. Smaller groups work better with this, and each student can independently gather their information, and as a group make a collective writing that utilizes every bodies ideas and thoughts.
At risk and struggling readers
Telling anecdotes and stories that connect to the principles being taught become memorable, and help the student comprehend the reading. For struggling writers, pictures can prompt discussion, and this is how I write with my students with special needs. Pictures with lots of opportunities for discussion are better, giving sentence starters, and choices for adjectives and verbs also help the student form sentences independently, and help them become more stable and frequent writers.
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