1. Discuss the components of an effective writing program and why they are important.
The main components of an effective writing program are personal connections, writing conventions, and inventions. For one, I feel that personal connections are extremely important for students when writing; students can become more engaged to write more apt to write when they can relate to a topic through a personal experience. I believe that if students are encouraged to write about a topic using their own experiences, then their will be more creative with their writing. I feel that these components are important to have in an effective writing program because they keep students interested and they also greatly help them with their writing.
2. How might you rearrange your schedule to create more time for students to write in general and, in particular, for students to write about their personal experiences?
I would rearrange my class schedule and set aside 10-15 of class time each day for writing. During this time students would write in their write in their journal or scrapbook. The topic can be either something related to the lesson or free writing where students just write creatively about anything they find interesting. I would then set aside one or two days a month where students who choose, get to share their writing in class and read aloud to the class.
3. How can you create ways for students to make personal connections in different subject areas through writing?
Depending on the subjects, I would ask students if they can relate to the topic through something they experienced, heard or saw, and write about it.
4. How can student work help you decide which conventions to teach?
Through the observations of student writing the teacher will be able to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the class. So for example, if the teacher finds that a bulk of the class is having problems with certain verb tenses, then the teacher will know to focus more on making sure that the students are familiar with that.
5. When can you promote student inventions and experimentation with different formats in writing?
A teacher can promote students to use invention and experimentation with different formats in writing creative writing during writing time, language arts, and basically throughout the day when she/he feels it to be necessary
I like the reading writing connection. Often students are not doing enough writing and writing is often assigned rather than taught.The only way to improve student writing is to have students write. Writing is a skill, and as such, only improves with much guided practices.
ReplyDeleteDr. Hsu, YOu are absolutely right..writing is often assigned to student but never taught. I will definitelytake your advice and have my future students write all the time!
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