Writing Multiple Genres

Writing Multiple Genres

 

Romano—“Multigenre Stirrings”

Creating Flow: Pulling It All Together

Styslinger—“Mutligenre-Multigendered Research Papers”

Biltz—“Teaching Literature Through Multigenre Paper: An Alternative to the Analytical Essay”

Wilhelm, Smith, and Fredicksen—Get It Done!

 

SAY:

 

            I find it very interesting that we are reading about multigenre pieces this week because the class I am observing is working with them right now.  I have looked through multiple projects that have been turned in, and I have become very intrigued by them.  I was very happy when I started my reading for this week because I have wanted to learn more about multigenre projects ever since I have seen them in my internship.  After reading this week’s articles and Get It Done, I feel much more educated about multigenre projects, and how significant their role in the English Classroom can be. 

            In Romano’s article, “Multigenre Stirrings,” gives a great overview of multigenre projects/papers and how they work.  Though I have seen extensive examples in my internship classroom, I like the examples in this article because of the diversity given.  Though I do not exactly like that he only put in college student examples, I do not let it cloud my judgment too much because I have seen so many successful projects come to life in my internship.  Also, I feel like I will use this reading again in my classroom to show students samples of multigenre entries. 

            My favorite part about Romano’s reading, aside from the multiple examples given, is the routine of making this work (starting on page 27).  Because I am such a concrete thinker, I like to see how things actually work in the classroom.  The routine given by Romano makes the Multigenre project feel much more accomplishable.  On day one, the teacher is share an encyclopedia entry and a poem about the text at hand to get students thinking about multiple writing styles. You are then supposed to engage in a large class discussion about how these multiple genres work together.  On day two, share an entire Multigenre paper with the class.  This is where the project is essentially introduced, and engage in a class discussion about how everything relates together (27).  On day three, let students choose the topic of their Multigenre project, and share topics that can be written about.  Let students talk together and discuss different ideas.  On day four, students need to submit their chosen work.  They will have had a day to make the decision.  Again, students will immerse into small groups to discuss everything.  On day five, students will actually begin writing (28). I really like this approach because everyday frontloads the next day.  By this schedule, students should not feel overwhelmed.  I like this schedule because it shows how doable this can really be in the classroom.     

            Next article I read, “Creating Flow,” was a great read after learning all of the basics in Romano’s text.  In “Creating Flow,” it becomes apparent that it is important to let students make the creative decisions in the project.  My limiting them too much, the process will be pointless, be letting students choose their own modes of genre, they are gaining much more insight.  Essentially, they have to feel out their own “flow.”  My favorite quote from this article is, “It is best if you let them think the problem through on their own before they rely on others” (97).  Essentially, for students to really learn through this project, they have to be able to make the creative decisions so that they can work through textual problems on their own. 

            In Styslinger’s article, I feel much more comfortable with actually immersing high school students with multigenre projects.  As I said before, Romano uses college examples, but Styslinger makes us feel like this is actually accomplishable with high school students.  Styslinger’s article gives a lot of great insight about how we can still immerse students with reading and writing without asking them to only focus on the 5 paragraph essay.  Even though a lot of the same skills may be applied to both forms of writing, the multigenre projects shows how the needed writing skills can work with so many different forms of writing.  Also, students will not feel forced into writing one specific way.  It becomes much more about form than formula because students are able to apply what they know about writing across multiple genres (54).   Along with this article being very informative, I think it also helps that it was written by Styslinger.  Because we all know her, it makes multigenre projects feel much more feasible because I know she would be telling us the same thing if she were teaching this course.  As weird as it sounds, it just feels much more factual than theoretical.

            My favorite reading for today was “Teaching Literature Through the Multigenre Paper” because it shows how multigenre projects explicitly work in the classroom.  She outlines some of the important goals that are met while implementing the multigenre project, and she explains how it works with her curriculum.  Additionally, she includes a list of purposes and state standards that are met by implementing this project.  Furthermore, the examples of how to implement multigenre projects with specific texts was very helpful. I will definitely use this resources again in the future.  This reading made me want to implement the multigenre project into my classroom as soon as possible. 

            Though the articles do a great job of explaining Multigenre projects, Get It Done gives a great deal of insight on writing and analyzing informational texts.  Though I feel like informational texts usually have the negative reception by teachers and students.  This book addresses that right off the bat by implying that nonfiction is a better term to use, so that students (and probably teachers) do not go into each lesson kicking and screaming.  This book shows how studying and writing informational texts can be treated just like other engagements.  One of my favorite parts about this books is the 5 Stages of Composing.  Planning, practicing, transferring, first drafts, and final drafts are all intricate steps to the formal writing process.  Even though some of these stages cannot be applied to all forms of writing, it is still a good idea to familiarize students with them.

            Additionally, this book gives a lot of great insight on the fundamental writing styles in a way that makes them seem a lot less traditional.  Some of these forms include: cause and effect, summarizing, and compare and contrast.  Instead of only engaging in these forms of writing through essays, Get It Done gives us more creative ways of implementing these strategies into the classroom.  Therefore, they can be transferred into the multigenre project. 

            Altogether, I think that this week’s readings are my favorite so far.  Because I have seen hands on examples of multigenre projects in my internship, I feel like these readings have answered a lot of my questions.  Additionally, these readings really illuminate the practicality of implementing multigenre projects into my future classroom.  This will be a much more fun and insightful way of bonding reading with writing without turning to the traditional 5 paragraph essay.  All in all, I really enjoyed the reading for this week. 

 

DO:

 My "do" for  this week can be found here: 
https://sites.google.com/site/saydodocuments/

Please look in the folder labeled "Say/Do Oct 30 2014."  It is an artifact from my internship.  This is the handout she gives her students about the Multigenre project they are required to do. 
 

Reading like Writers

Reading Like A Writer

Daniels and Steineke--Mini-Lessons for Lit Circles (188-210)

Ray—“Another Invitation to My Library”

Ray—“The Craft of Writing”

Ray—“Organized Inquiry: Teaching Students to Read Like Writers”

Ray—“Reading Like a Writer”

Calkins, Ehrenworth, Lehman—Pathways to the Common Core (58-62)

 

SAY:

            Teaching students to read like writers will simultaneously help their reading and writing skills at the same time.  Also, students who are reading like a writer are going to invest more in what they are reading. It is a great skill to teach students because writing and reading become more personal.  After reading a few chapters from Katie Ray’s Wondrous Words, we given great explanations of why reading like a writer is a great skills to teach.  Additionally, the chapters for today’s reading in Daniels and Steineke Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles also shows us how teaching students to read carefully like a writer can reflect in literary circles.  Furthermore, Pathways to the Common Core gives evidence of how these strategies can align with the common core standards.  Altogether, each of the texts give evidence that shows how teaching students to read like a writer will help them with their reading and writing skills.

             In Ray’s chapters, she discusses many different aspects of teaching students to read like writers.  In the chapter “Reading like Writers,” Ray discusses some of the basics of introducing readings that students can in turn use to better their writing.  For example, she discussed how one of her students wrote the poem “Something Dead” after they read exotic poems.  Ray then discusses the idea of how reading different types of literature can influence student’s creativity when writing.  The student who wrote “Something Dead” would not have had any way of writing that even an hour earlier.  She then goes into how writers learn to write from other writers.  This reminded me of what Dr. Oglan has said before about students imitating writing before they can create their own; they have to start from somewhere. 

            From the philosophy on writing like writers, reading like writers is beneficial too.   I love how Ray explains reading like writers with the metaphor of studying “the techniques of others who practice the same craft as you” (12).  If you want to get better at a particular skill, you will observe others to see how they do it.  Even if you do not particularly like the way they do it, by observing them you are still learning something about the craft.  The same applies to reading.  If we teach students to read like writers, they will see reading through many different ways.  Just like writing is unique to each person, reading needs to be treated the same way.  Everyone can interpret texts differently, and we need to value that (17).

            In the few chapters, we learn about particular needs when reading and writing.  In the chapter “The Craft of Writing,” Ray gives specific examples of how we need show students to “attend to the craft of writing, learning to do the sophisticated work of separating what it’s about from how it is written” (25). Essentially, students need to see what to look for as they are learning to write from other writers.  Some of the aspects Ray discusses are: intentional vagueness, grammar needs, sentence structure, and closings.  Additionally, something in particular that I liked in this chapter was when Ray discussed connecting to other text because students need to connect multiple outlets of literature together to strengthen their writing (38).  Altogether, studying the craft of writing will help students strengthen their own writing and improve their analytical skills when studying literature. 

            My favorite chapter from today’s reading was “Organized Inquiry: Teaching Students to Read Like Writers” because it explicitly shows teachers how to use this method in the classroom.  Ray does not expect students to just do this over night.  First, we need to let students read like readers.  Students need to feel comfortable with the text; this can be done by a read aloud.  Next, students need to be explicitly told what reading like a writer means.  Also, I think that modeling this would be helpful for students.  Ray even gives five major parts of reading like a writer that students need to be made aware of:

1.    Notice something about the craft of the text.

2.    Talk about it and make a theory about why a writer might use this craft.

3.    Give the craft a name.

4.    Think of other texts you know.  Have you seen this before?

5.    Try and envision using this craft in your own writing.

(120)

These parts will help students learn to how read like writers. Another chapter we read from Wondrous Word was “Another Invitation to My Library.”  This chapter gives many great text ideas when teaching specific writing and reading skills.    This is definitely a reference that I will turn back to in the future.  Altogether, Ray gives a great deal of information about teaching students to read like writers.

            For today’s chapter in Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles, Daniels and Steineke’s discuss how studying the author’s craft that can be used when studying books in literature circles.  This chapter teaches us to savor powerful language, take note of strong verbs, examine the setting with research, predicting plot, and looking at characterization.  All of these can be done in book club groups to study the text even further.  Essentially, Daniels and Steineke’s are wanting students to read texts through different scopes like Ray wants. 

            Additionally, a quote from this chapter really stuck out to me.  Daniels and Steineke’s state, “We think American students spend too much time dissecting books they don’t want to read, and not enough time enjoying books they choose themselves”
(188).  Even though it does not necessarily have to do with reader like a writer, I think read this after reading Ray’s chapters made it really resonated with me.  An important part of getting students to want to read in the first place is allowing them to choose texts they want to read.  If we can give them the choice to choose, then making the connection between reading and writing (or author’s craft) will already be more appealing to students. 

            Pathways to Common Core also gives evidence that explains how reading like a writer can be incorporated into the common core standards.  The standards want us to study crafting and structuring writing (59).  By incorporating reading and writing together, we are taking care of these standards while also interrelating two major aspects of the English Classroom.

            Altogether, all of the readings from this week argue how reading like a writer can improve reading and writing skills.  If we study different literary texts through the lens of a writer, we are gaining insight that we would not have picked up on before.  Teaching students to read as writers also supports common core standards because students are learning how to study the craft and structure of written texts.  Altogether teaching students to read like writers will simultaneously make them better readers and writers. 

 

DO:       **I want this to count as one of the internship artifacts.**

To find artifacts for this lesson, please go to:

https://sites.google.com/site/saydodocuments/home

Daily Lesson Plan 4

 

Instructor And Room #:   Kim Tiedemann 521A	Date & Start-Stop Times:    8:35-9:25 (repeat from 9:25 to 10:15)	Subject and Block/Period:   English I 1st and 2nd Period		Unit and Topic:   Understanding Cornell Notes and how The Great Depression correlates with “Marigolds”
Student Objectives:   Create understanding of Cornell Notes Apply Cornell Notes strategy to “The Great Depression” article Understanding how the article connects with “Marigolds” Comprehension of fewer and less in bell ringer			Common Core:   RL.9-10.2 W.9-10.8 SL.9-10.1
Items to Display as Agenda:  (Activities)   ·         Practicing the Difference between “Fewer” and “Less” Going Over Cornell Notes PowerPoint Independent reading with Great Depression Article
Purpose: Opening Statement of Value for Day’s Lesson—the WHY   The purpose of this lesson is to engage students with specific note taking skills and non-fiction text.  This lesson will help students make connections with the real world and the short story “Marigolds.”  Additionally, students will be able to practice take sufficient notes through the “Cornell Way” note taking strategy.  Altogether, this lesson will help students in the future by showing them how narrative texts can connect with informative articles and students will learn how to take better notes for all classes.
Lesson Procedures: (Introduction, Development, Conclusion)   Before: (10 minutes) ·         While students are coming into the classroom, there will be a slide up on the board that prompts them to take out there earbuds and put away their phones.  Additionally, the note will ask students to put away their Chromebooks for this portion of class. There will be a bell ringer on the board that introduces them to the difference between fewer and less. After we discuss the differences between fewer and less, students will engage in a small online assessment.  (5 minutes) SEGUE: I will tell students, “When you finish your bell ringer assignment, talk to your groups about the PowerPoint you viewed last night on Cornell Notes.” NOTE: The Cornell PowerPoint was found online previously. (Woods 2001) During: (35 minutes) ·         As I enter into the formal analysis section, I will ask students to talk to their groups for a few minutes and discuss the PowerPoint they viewed for homework that night on Cornell Notes. This will help student remember what they worked on. o   NOTE: This lesson has some “Flipped Classroom” elements.  For homework the night before, students had to view a PowerPoint on how Cornell Notes work.  After students have discussed the major points of Cornell Notes with their groups, we will engage in a whole class discussion on the elements of Cornell Notes.  This will help get everyone on the same page. ·         Next, I will give students a New York Times article on “The Great Depression.”  Independently, students will take Cornell Notes on the article.  ·         I will walk around the room and help students individually.  This will allow for one on one instruction with students.  (15 minutes) ·         Once students have finished reading the text individually, they will discuss the text together.  In this discussion, they will be required to talk about the style and structure of the article, savoring powerful language, taking note of strong verbs, and unpacking any research that may have been conducted in the article.  All of these requirements will be written on the white board for them to refer back to. At this time, I will be walking around to make sure students are on task.  (15 minutes) ·         The class will engage in a brief whole group discussion about what they found in small groups. (5 minutes) **NOTE: Blythewood is a one to one school.  Therefore, every component of this lesson (the PowerPoint and worksheet) are done online.**   Closing: (5 minutes) After students discuss the article, they will then be asked to write an article that could be submitted to the New York Times about African American life during the Great Depression that mirrors the structure and style of the Great Depression article.  Students will start this at the end of class.  If they do not finish (which is unlikely), they will work on it for homework, and they will have class time tomorrow to do it.  This assignment must be submitted on Google Classroom.
Materials and Resources:   SMART board PowerPoint on “Fewer/Less” PowerPoint on Cornell Notes Cornell Notes Template New York Times Article on “The Great Depression”
Assessments and Assignment:   For this lesson, students will be assessed on their bell ringer, participation, exit slip, and Cornell Notes worksheet.  The online bell ringer assessment will count for accuracy.  This will be counted as Bell Ringer/Exit Slip/Homework grade.  The exit slip also be a classwork grade, but it will count as an effort grade.  Bell Ringer/Exit Slip/Homework grades will count as 15% of overall grade.  For students to gain full participation points, they will have to engage in small group and large group discussion, at the appropriate time.  Additionally, they will have to work diligently and quietly during the independent work time of this lesson.  If students meet all expectations, they will receive a 100%.  If they meet most, but not all requirements, they will receive an 80%.  If students hardly meet any requirements, they will make a 60%.  Participation will count at 20% of overall grade. Students will also be assessed on their ability to take Cornell Notes.  This grade will count for accuracy.  It will fall under the classwork assignments category; this category will count as 20% of overall grade.  The writing assignment will count as another classwork grade.  This will not count as a major writing assignment, so it will not be graded like an essay.  If the student puts in substantial effort and include the majority of the discussed structures, the student will receive a 100%.  If they incorporate mediocre effort, they will receive an 80%.  If they do minimal work, they will receive a 60%.  This assignment is just to immerse them in a new writing style.    REFERENCES: Woods, Lonny.  “Cornell Notes PowerPoint.” 2001.

 

Close Reading

Close Reading

Beers and Probst—Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading

Say:

Close reading strategies are an intricate part of working with literature in the classroom.  On all reading levels, students are going to need to know how to implement close reading strategies.  Kyle Beers and Robert R. Probst’s book, Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading, shows us how to teach students close reading strategies in very practical ways.  Notice and Note is probably my favorite book we have read so far this semester because of how practical their strategies are to implement into the classroom.  The reading strategies are not very intimidating, and judging by the sample lesson plans, they seem very easy for students to use.  I think I liked this text so much because it does seem like it can be applicable to a wide range of students with very different reading levels. 

            In Part I, the focus is to make teachers think about the necessity and implications that come with close reading strategies, and the questions that we think about.  Beers and Probst state, ”We want them inside the text, noticing everything, questioning everything, weighing everything they are reading against their lives, the lives of others and the world around them” (3).  Essentially, the authors explicitly argue that students need intricate interaction with the text for the best understanding possible.  Questioning the text is the first major step in making this happen. 

            The first major thing that Beers and Probst ask us to consider is how reading has changed.  Technology has become a huge part of our world, and we cannot ignore it.  Instead of only thinking of the past, teachers need to see the advantages of reading through technical devices.  Reader-to-reader and reader-to-other-text connections will be much easier to make.  Additionally, there are many online resources, like Goodreads, that can help students find texts that will be more appealing to them (13).  Altogether, teachers need to embrace what technology can do to help students, rather than think only of what it can do to hinder it. 

            Furthermore, section I asks us to consider many questions.  Some of my favorites were: what is close reading and are we creating lifelong readers?  In terms of close reading, Beers and Probst acknowledge that most people would answer that it is closely studying the text.  While this may be true, they also argue that it is much more complicated than that.  Close reading also involves forming cohesive arguments from the text, understanding your own interpretation in the text along with others, and thinking about your own experiences with the text while also considering others experiences as well (36).  Close reading is not a black and white process.  Some of the characteristics associated with close reading are: it works with any text, the focus is intense, it will extend throughout the whole text, discussion is key, and rereading is necessary (38-39).  To continue, the questions “are we creating lifelong learners” was also one of my favorites because this is the most important goal.  Through using close reading strategies, we are creating more careful readers which then creates careful learners.  Essentially, we are trying to rewire the way students approach text (62).  Therefore, change in their learning process will definitely follow.  Altogether, Part I provides and answers many important questions about close reading.

            In Part II, the goal is to make teachers aware of signposts noted by the two authors.  This is my favorite section because it explicitly states some of the best strategies that we can implement in our classroom (68).  The major signposts noted in this book are:

·         Contrasts and Contradictions— when character does something that contrasts with what you’d expect or contradicts his earlier acts or statements. This helps you as a reader make predictions and draw inferences about the plot and conflict .

·         Aha! Moments—When A character realizes, understands, or finally figures out something.  This tells you as the reader something about the conflict or the theme.

·         Tough Questions—When a character asks himself a very difficult question.  This tells you as the reader about the conflict, and helps you predict what might happen later in the story.

·         Words of the Wiser—When a character (probably older and wiser) takes the main character aside and offers serious advice.  This advice is probably the theme of the story.

·         Again and Again— When a word, phrase, or situation is mentioned over and over.  This tells you as the reader about the theme and conflict, or will foreshadow what might happen later in the story.

·         Memory Moment-- When the protagonist reflects on a past memory.  This is usually telling you something specific and important about the character.

(71-73)

Altogether, these are the strategies that will help students connect with the text on multiples levels.  My other favorite part of Part II involves the anchor question.  “We didn’t want to lose the power of asking questions, because questions have almost always been a teacher’s primary way of helping students” (76).  Essentially, questions are the driving force to making these strategies work.  In Part III, Beers and Probst give us many lesson plans that show how we can actually implement these strategies in the classroom (112). 

            Overall, I really enjoyed reading Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading because it gave so many meaningful ways to implement close reading strategies into the classroom.  Instead of only arguing that we need them, Beers and Probst give us tangible strategies that we need to implement, and they show us lesson plans to help us implement them.  This is definitely a resource I will use in the future because close reading strategies will be necessary on any reading level. 

 

DO: **This is a lesson that I actually taught in the classroom.**

 

 

 

Daily Lesson Plan 3

 

Instructor And Room #:   Kim Tiedemann 521A	Date & Start-Stop Times:    8:35-9:25 (repeat from 9:25 to 10:15)	Subject and Block/Period:   English I 1st and 2nd Period		Unit and Topic:   Identifying Major Themes and Close Reading Strategies in “Marigolds”
Student Objectives:   Identifying the major themes in “Marigolds” with specific passages Identifying forms of close reading strategies with “Marigolds” Identifying correct summaries with the given passages Comprehension of affect and effect in bell ringer Working collaboratively with group members			Common Core:   RL.9-10.1 RL.9-10.2 SL.9-10.1
Items to Display as Agenda:  (Activities)   Small Group Discussions Whole Group Discussion Summary of previous mini-lesson given on the major themes in “Marigolds” Summarizing “Marigolds” into major points Jig sawing passages
Purpose: Opening Statement of Value for Day’s Lesson—the WHY   The purpose of this lesson is to engage students with specific passages in “Marigolds.”  In yesterday’s lesson they learned about the themes, but today they will actually be identifying those themes in specific passages.  Additionally, students will be identifying how some close reading strategies may also be found in the given passages.  The purpose of this lesson is to get students to collaborate with one another to identify major themes and close reading strategies throughout “Marigolds.”  This will give students hands on practice with themes and close reading strategies, and it will help them learn how to collaboratively work with others.
Lesson Procedures: (Introduction, Development, Conclusion)   Before: (10 minutes) ·         While students are coming into the classroom, there will be a slide up on the board that prompts them to take out there earbuds and put away their phones.  Additionally, the note will ask students to put away their Chromebooks for this portion of class. ·         I will ask students to give a short summary of yesterday’s class.  This will help student remember where we left off and also segue into the next part of the lesson.    During: (45 minutes) As I enter into the formal analysis section, I will introduce the next class activity.  In this assignment, students will be instructed to work with their table groups.  I will pass out passages from “Marigolds.  In the first group activity, students will be given flash card labels with the major themes on them.  Students will have to work together to identify which theme goes with each passage.  The passages should be pretty familiar for students because they are the same passages from yesterday’s lesson.  ·         We will then discuss their answers as one major group. ·         Next, we will go over the major close reading strategies that they have previously learned about.  I will show them a PowerPoint as a reminder.  Mrs. Tiedemann has already taught them these strategies, but I wanted to give a short review. ·         Then, students will open their Chromebooks.  They will begin an individual assignment on their class website that asks them to identify close reading strategies that would work best with the “Marigolds” passages.  I will explain this assignment, and pass out a reference sheet with all of the close reading strategies on it.  This reference sheet will be put in their binders to turn back to for the remainder of the year.    Closing: (5 minutes) If students finish their close reading strategies worksheet, they will start on a new writing prompt activity.  This will be found on Google Classrooms (their classroom website).  This prompt will ask them to discuss how one of the themes and/or one of the close reading strategies works with the passages and/or text.  Essentially, this assignment will ensure that students were paying attention and understand the discussions that happened in class.   This writing engagement will only need to be 5-7 sentences.  This assignment will not be due until Friday.
Materials and Resources:   SMART board PowerPoint Passages from “Marigolds” Labeled notecards for themes Close reading strategies Worksheet
Assessments and Assignment:   For this lesson, students will be assessed on their participation with their groups.  To earn full points, students must be helping and contributing to conversation.    Additionally, there will be a worksheet administered to assess their close reading strategies skills.  This will be graded as a classwork assignment; I will be looking for accuracy.  Furthermore, the writing prompts will also be graded.  These writing prompts will ensure that students were paying attention in class and understand the major themes happening in “Marigolds.”  This will count as a classwork grade.  Classwork grades count as 20% of the overall student grade.

 For documents pertaining to this lesson, please go to the link below:

 https://sites.google.com/site/saydodocuments/home