March 8 , 2007 |
WHAT WE ARE LEARNING
Beth Ware, WCPSS Instructional Services - On March 13, fourth graders across the state will be taking the North Carolina Writing Assessment. Every student will be given a prompt (or specific beginning) for writing a story or narrative. These students will have approximately an hour to plan and write a first draft of their narrative. This assessment is one way North Carolina ensures that our students are developing the writing skills that they will need for success in a future that depends on the ability to communicate effectively.
Although, writing has been assessed in North Carolina since the early 1990’s, a new writing assessment and scoring procedure was put into place in March 2003. This revised scoring procedure included a detailed scoring rubric based on the features of effective writing. These features or characteristics of good writing have helped teachers and students better understand what is expected in a proficient piece of writing.
These features address both the content of writing and the conventions of Standard English. The following is an overview of how these features are evident in stories.
Content
- Students learn to select a clear focus or main idea of their story. They learn to narrow that focus so that it is manageable. (Is this a short story or a novel?) They see the importance of maintaining that focus throughout the story.
- Students also learn that stories have a well-defined organization. They learn that every story has a beginning, middle, and end. Students also identify effective ways of connecting one idea to another, resulting in a coherent and unified story.
- Students learn that the main idea of a story must have sufficient support and elaboration. The main event of the story is supported with specific and relevant details, so that the reader can visualize the action. The writer lets the reader in on the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters.
- Students also learn that style enhances their writing. By using specific and purposeful vocabulary, such as strong verbs and specific nouns, students lend power to their writing. By using a variety of sentence beginnings and sentence types, the writing reads fluently.
Conventions (Understanding that this is a rough draft, the scorers look for reasonable control, avoiding patterns of errors.)
- Students learn to attend to sentence formation in their writing. They write in complete sentences, avoiding run ons and incomplete thoughts. They recognize the boundaries of the sentence.
- Students pay attention to correct usage in their writing. They do not confuse homonyms (i.e. to, too, two). They keep the same verb tense throughout the story.
- Students also learn to show proficiency with the mechanics of writing. They learn to capitalize properly, use punctuation, including quotation marks, and spell grade appropriate words correctly.
The WCPSS Literacy Department acknowledges the need to support our classroom teachers as they work to teach our students to write well. Many of our teachers have taken the 3-5 WCPSS Writing Training. In that training, the participants receive an introduction to the features of effective writing and a notebook of specific mini-lessons that develop those features. The training also presents Writer’s Workshop as a framework for an effective writing program. Writer’s Workshop is a way to both model good writing and provide a significant amount of time each day for students to write. Teachers learn to give students specific feedback through individual or group writing conferences.
The Literacy Department also recognizes that writing is not just a fourth grade concern and has presented a model for a school-wide writing plan. In an effort to support that school-wide vision, every elementary school was provided a K-5 Writing Support Document in the fall of 2006. This document included a series of grade specific mini-lessons that help the teacher “launch” Writer’s Workshop in his or her classroom. There were year-long planning calendars for each grade providing a structure for writing instruction based on a variety of units of study.
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SUSAN WIEDENMAN IS A FOURTH-GRADE TEACHER AT SALEM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - Wiedenman has been teaching for nine years, the last seven at Salem. She is a National Board Certified teacher. She uses reading journals, student-led conferences, writing notebooks and data notebooks to create student responsibility.
Wiedenman says her classroom is an active place. "I believe in providing a framework for learning that points students in the right direction and allows them to discover steps on their own," said Wiedenman. "In order to point a child in the right direction, I must first figure out how far along the path that child is. This is one of the greatest challenges of education, but also one of its greatest rewards. When I am able to determine a child's needs and am able to discover how to help him reach for his potential, I feel satisfied that another day has been successful."
Fellow teacher Sheri Fowler says Wiedenman has a love of learning that is contagious. "Her passion for reading and her strong commitment to help all children to become independent, successful readers is at the heart of all she does," said Fowler. "Mrs. Wiedenman searches out and brings to life reading activities that will immerse her learners in the heart of the stories they are reading, while continuously building self-confidence. Although she realizes the importance of her students' ability to master reading skills and objectives, she realizes it is equally important for children to have a belief in themselves that they are special and that they can learn and achieve what it is that they set out to do."
IN MY CLASSROOM
Action! Suspense! Slow motion replay! Is it ACC March Madness? No, it’s just another typical morning in fourth grade Writing Workshop. As all North Carolina fourth grade teachers know, the month of March blows in with the North Carolina Writing Assessment. I admit it has taken me several years to feel comfortable in my role of writing instructor. I struggled to teach skills while imparting a love for the art of writing. Accomplishing my mission and creating eager young authors sometimes seemed to be an impossible task. Yet, over time, I began to develop and modify Wake County workshops and other training sessions into a program that fit my needs.
Now, I spend most of the first nine weeks modeling and sharing outstanding stories and authors with my students. From the first day, we see ourselves as “budding writers” using our seed books to gather ideas for stories that can be planted during the year. After accumulating strategies and ideas from other authors, students are ready to apply what they have learned to their own ideas. It is a slow process as we begin to hook the reader and focus on a main event. Along the way, we learn to organize and sequence our ideas just like the rows in a garden. Eventually, the children start adding the secret ingredients that helps their ideas grow into creative, imaginative narratives.
Each year as I guide my students through lessons on action chains, relevant details and sensory descriptions, I am amazed at the awesome power of the written word. The students gain confidence and eagerly volunteer to share their stories. As we share, we offer compliments and suggestions for improvement. By the time March rolls around, we look back with pride on what we have grown. The seeds we planted in August are in full bloom and another crop of writers is ready to move on. It’s a part of my job that never loses its magic.
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The Classroom Connection is published electronically monthly for everyone interested in the Wake County Public School System. Is what you read in this edition helpful? What information would you like to see in future editions? Contact me by calling 850-1829 or e-mailing bposton@wcpss.net.
Bill Poston
Wake County Public School System
Communications Department
3600 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27611
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