Wondrous Words Writers and Writing in the Elementary

Wondrous Words Writers and Writing in the Elementary Classroom by Katie Wood Ray

Chapter 3: Envisioning Text Possibilities Teachers get bang for the buck when they slow down the prewriting process and allow students time to envision their piece from draft to publication. This will allow revision to drive itself with very little input needed from the teacher Cynthia Rylant When I Was Young in the Mountains - revelation

Chapter 4: Reading Aloud: Filling the Room with the Sound of Wondrous Words Mem Fox said we should be read to everyday by someone who values wondrous words KWR maintains that there’s power in reading a students’ work back to them as you confer. Choose stories so beautifully written that the language takes your breath away.

Chapter 5: Studying Writers’Office Work: Powerful Writing Begins Long Before the Draft The more time students spend envisioning their writing before they ever begin to draft, the less revision will be necessary Writers get their ideas from reading others’ writing, also from newspapers, magazines, Internet, museums, newsworthy criminal cases, diaries, logbooks, walks historical time periods, family members, friends, immersion in other cultures, travel, pop-culture, eavesdropping on strangers’ conversations, people-watching in any given setting, researching public documents, talking to experts in a field, interesting sounds they hear, imagining themselves living in another time or place, listening to children play and talk, learning a new skill (pottery, yoga), music, art, unusual experiences (spending the night in a cave), formulating opinions on a topic, itchy questions they have about the world around them, making lists of plot ideas, formulating characters in their minds over a period of time, etc.

Chapter 6: Organized Inquiry: Teaching Students to Read Like Writers Teaching students to read like writers begins with having them read like readers. They must have multiple opportunities to read and comprehend the text as a foundation Then routinely discuss text structure and ways with words They’ll soon develop that habit of mind Extend that pattern of inquiry across texts

Chapter 7: An Invitation to My Library: The Craft of Text Structure Writers show us possibilities beyond just essay and story: *alphabet books *diaries /personal correspondence *story within a story *two-sided text

Chapter 8: Another Invitation to My Library: Ways with Words Close-Echo Effect Repeating Details Repeating Sentence Structures Striking Adverbs, Adjectives and Verbs Make-your-own-words Intentional vagueness Artful use of “and” and sentence fragments

Chapter 9: Selecting Books for Craft Study Texts that have background information included Texts in which the concept of the writing is interesting Texts that remind you of another text Texts crafted with interesting structures Texts full of crafted ways with words Texts in which writers take risks with language

Chapter 10: Growing Taller in Our Teaching Good learning messes with what we thought we knew and creates a tension that nudges us toward positive change Incorporating all the elements of writing workshop to have students learn to write from writers is a career-long quest. The most important thing is to be on the quest.

Chapter 11: Planning for the Workshop Writers Learn from Writers “Let read aloud time wrap its arms around your students’ reading and writing lives. ” Read alouds are the single most important thing you can plan for the entire year.

Chapter 12: Focus Lessons: Filling the Writing Workshop with Craft Possibilities Whole group instruction (minilesson) of less than ten minutes that covers topics all writers need to grow Give them immediate opportunities to try out their new learning

Chapter 13: Brave, Bold Teaching: The Power of Suggestive Writing Conferences Katie calls allowing students to lead the way in their own writing brave and bold. Student/Teacher conference is for checking in, problem solving, and gentle nudging. Students do all the work, not the teachers (coaches).

Chapter 14: Assessment that Focuses Our Eyes on Craft Our assessment of student writing teaches them what we value. Because our assessments will help shape our writers, we must be careful what message we send them. This assessment issue is where many students learn to hate writing. Katie recommends a grid with each student’s name in a box where teachers can make notes throughout the week and jot down comments for ongoing informal assessments that can drive minilessons, small group work, or conferencing