Week 3 (Taryn Knedgen)

1. For me, it is essential that students enjoy writing and use it as a creative and expressive outlet. I believe writing should be interconnected with reading and incorporated in all subjects. Students should be immersed in writing throughout the day and should have opportunities to share their work with others. I believe a sense of authorship comes from appreciating their work and overcoming any struggles that took place while writing.

2. In my 2nd grade classroom, we spend quite a bit of time on writing. We have Writer’s Workshop where the students have the opportunity to find a comfortable spot to write. At first they had to write a “small moment” but once that is finished, they have the chance to explore other kinds of writing. Routman says, “length has nothing to do with quality, and it’s quality we’re after. We want kids to be focused, coherent writers who engage their readers with interesting, accurate writing.” (pg. 197) This is exactly what small moments are and the goal we are hoping to achieve. Our students are suppose to pick one moment out of their day and give us a detailed description with what happened during that time. During this time, my mentor teacher is usually working on DRAs and I walk around and talk with the students and have them read me their stories. I have noticed that some of the children are having difficulties grasping the concept of a “small moment.” We have not began conferencing them yet, so it appears that not all students are engaging deeply with this portion of our day. In reader’s workshop this week we are incorporating writing; the students will stop partway through reader’s workshop and write or draw about their favorite part of the book, the opening, etc. Students write in every subject and are also working on improving their handwriting.

3. T.T. is a student in my class who is low in all areas. While working on his handwriting, he is unable to replicate what he sees, nor can he write down what he is thinking. In writer’s workshop he tends to draw illustrations rather than writing out his stories; he is currently being tested as a special education students. I have noticed that he can say what he wants to read, but cannot articulate it to form words on a page. Routman states, “A critical part of teaching writing is having students talk about their writing before they write, while they are writing, and even afterward.” Because T.T. has trouble, my mentor teacher or I will usually sit down and talk with him when doing assignments and write what he is saying, and then have him read it back to us.