Writing with Expanders... it's that easy!

If you've ever looked at a 4th graders sentence construction, at the beginning of the year, you'd notice they are pretty basic.  Subject, predicate, an adjective or two, and maybe a prepositional phrase... but don't hold your breath.  As a fourth grade writing teacher, I'd love to have all of my students coming to me with a better vocabulary, and more detailed sentence structure.... alas, this is not reality.  Reality is that it falls to the fourth grade teacher to teach the writing skills needed to pass the ever so controversial Writing STAAR (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness) test. 

For those of you who haven't heard, the TAKS test is being replaced with the STAAR test this spring 2012.  The STAAR test, we are being told, (though we know little about it just yet, as TEA has not released any sample test questions) is being designed to become more rigorous and promote higher level thinking skills.  "Rigor".... is the new "it" word being thrown around in educational circles these days.  What is "rigor"?  Here is the definition I found in Webster’s Dictionary, "a condition that makes life difficult, challenging, or uncomfortable".  Seems a little extreme to me, but I don't see TEA coming to my classroom to ask my opinion anytime soon.  Thus... my challenge begins!  AND... like every year before, I will take this challenge and tweak my lesson plans to include higher level thinking.  But, one thing I won't change is the concept of teaching Expanders, which is a program written and designed by Victoria Green of the Written Expression series in Project Read. 

Take a minute to reflect upon your own experiences as a young writer.  If I had to guess, at one time or another, we've all heard these words, "Your sentences are weak, and you need to add more details."  Did you know what to do when you went back to your desk to revise your paper?  I didn't, and unfortunately, in the early years of my career, I was just as guilty of giving my students the same response to kids who didn't write with details.  Luckily, I was introduced to Expanders!  I love using expanders with my kids because as I conference with my students, I can promote higher level thinking by asking specific questions.  For example, if my student wrote a story about cats, and had a sentence that read:  The tabby cat ran.   I can stop right at that sentence and say, "Good basic sentence, but I'd love to know more details like, 'Where' the cat ran, or 'How' the cat ran, let's see if we can expand this sentence."  After brainstorming with the student, we might come up with a more detail sentence like this: The tabby cat ran quickly down the alley.  Subsequently, I would ask the student to go back to their desk, and make sure each sentence had at least one expander in it, if not more in order to promote a variety of sentence lengths.  It's that simple!  When they know what to add, it becomes much easier to provide more details.  (See: 'What is an Expander?' under the Parent Resources, to the right of this blog for more information on the use of Expanders)

Looking Ahead:

The coming week will find us diving into 'How' and 'When' Expanders, and attempting to write short paragraphs using a variety of sentence lengths, to express a thought.  Through these exercises, we will also be looking at the basic structure, or "lay out" of a composition:  Introduction, Body, and Conclusion, concentrating on Introductions and the various ways in which we can 'lead' into a story. 

Take a moment to sit with your child and their Writing Composition book.  Ask them to show you what we are working on.  Giving them an opportunity to verbally express what we have been doing in class, will help to reinforce their prior learning.  Just a short 5 minute talk can really make a difference! 

**Side Note** There will be no Spelling the week of 9/26, AND 10/3.  Hmmmm... What was that?  A sigh of relief from my parents?  Well, that would go along with the cheers that I received in class once the kids found out. :)  Instead, we will be working more heavily on our writing skills, and moving into using better Word Choice throughout our stories.  Have a great week-end!

Understanding the Traits

In class we're beginning to put the pieces together, and understand how the Writing Process and the 6-Traits fit together, as we compose our stories. 

                                    Prewriting
                                         Ideas/Focus
                                   
                                    Drafting
                                         Organization
           
                                    Revising
                                         Word Choice
                                         Sentence Fluency
                                         Voice         
           
                                    Editing
                                         Conventions

                                    Publishing

This past week we looked at the definitions of each trait.  I asked the kids to take a few minutes each night to learn these definitions, in preparation for the 6-Traits quiz next week (Thur. 9/22).  Have your students study pages 13, 14, and 15 in their writing composition book, these activities will help to put the definitions to memory.  It is important that the kids be able to apply each of these traits to various scenarios.  For example, I might give a scenario similar to the one below, and the student will need to be able to apply their prior knowledge by telling me which trait is being corrected. 

Sample Quiz Question:

Toby had Lisa read his draft to help him with the Revising section of the Writing Process.  When Lisa was finished reading, she gave Toby some suggestions.  She told him that his paper had a lot of "babyish" words.  She thought he should go back, with a thesaurus, to come up with words that are more appropriate for a 4th grader.  Which trait will Toby be working in to correct his paper?

Answer:

Word Choice, we know this because Lisa referred to his story as having "babyish" words.  Words that are not clear, precise, and colorful.

Looking Ahead:


The coming week will find us diving into EXPANDERS!  This is one of my favorite concepts to teach, because I get to witness a lot of "Ah ha" moments.  "So... THAT's what you meant when you said to add details... OHHH, I get it!"  It’s so much fun to see them "figure it out"!  We will begin with the WHERE expander, and practice composing longer more detailed sentences that tell "where" something is taking place.  For a more detailed description of expanders, please go to the Parent Resource section to the right of this post, and click on the link that says, "What are Expanders?".

Just a reminder... we have now finished our 2nd week of nightly journaling, however there are still some students who think that this exercise is an option.  Please remember that your child should be writing in their nightly journal (or notebook paper, if they do not have a journal) four nights a week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  They can write about ANYTHING that is on their mind at the time.  The content of the journal entry will not be graded.  I will only be looking to see that each student has met the minimum requirements, of 5 - 10 complete sentences written in PARAGRAPH form.  Each week of journaling will be worth 20 pts. and 5 weeks of journaling, will give the student an easy 100 in the grade book, under the composition section.  I hope to see all students journaling this week, and I will be checking for completion this Friday, Sept. 23.  Thank you parents, for all of your support in this matter.

Differentiated Instruction... what's that?

"The definition begins with this: Equal education is not all students getting the same, but all students getting what they need. Approaching all learners the same academically doesn't work. We have to start where each child is in his learning process in order to authentically meet his academic needs and help him grow."  (Alber, 2010, http://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-definition-strategies-alber)  One way that we differentiate in writing class is through spelling.  Our new spelling series, Spelling Connections by Zane-Bloser publishing, is designed to advance students individual needs and spelling proficiency through leveled lists.  Beginning with Unit 4, our students will be leveled, hopefully allowing for each child to feel successful by test time.  We will have a CIRCLE list, a DIAMOND list, and a SQUARE list.  Each of these spelling lists will promote the same spelling patterns, but contain different words.  Please look for the Unit 4 spelling list to come home on Friday, Sept. 9th.  In the top right hand corner of the paper, next to the unit number, you will see a circle, diamond, or square, which indicates their placement.  For those of you using http://www.spellingcity.com/ , you will see THREE different lists, clearly labeled: circle, diamond, and square, for each unit.  Please make sure your child chooses the correct list when working online.  If you have any questions regarding the leveled lists, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Looking Ahead:

Next week, we will continue looking at Expository writing.  We have been working our way through the Writing Process, explaining to our readers; "how-to" do our favorite activity.  We have completed the Prewriting step, and though some of us are finished Drafting our essay, many of us need more time next week.  Once our drafts are complete, we will work together with a partner, on the Revising step, looking for ways in which we can add/combine/delete ideas within our essay for a more coherent piece.

While working on our Expository essays, we will be taking a closer look at the 6-Traits of Writing, another important part of our writing class.  For a better understanding of the 6-Traits, please go to the "Parent Resource" section to the right of this blog, and click on "The 6-Traits of Writing".  Hope everyone has a great week-end!

Getting into the swing of things....

This week we continued working on the Writing Process, the foundation of our writing class.  On Friday, we took a quiz to see if we had a good understanding of the process order, as well as the identifying features of each step in the process, and OOOOPPSSSS.... some of us forgot to study.  I will be sending these quizzes home in the Tuesday folder (which comes home on Wed. this week, due to Labor Day) for your review.  Those students who had a tough time on the quiz can bring their grade up to a 70, IF they correct their mistakes.... CORRECTLY, and get a parent signature. 

Looking Ahead:

This coming week, we will continue looking at the Writing Process and be introduced to Expository writing, a writing mode that is used to inform or explain something.  To get a better understanding of expository writing, we will be reading a variety of peices, as well as looking at some graphic organizers, before putting pencil to paper.  Over the next two weeks, I will be asking students to bring in examples of expository writing to share with the class, so please keep an eye out for this type of writing within your home.  For examples of expository writing, please refer to the "Parent Resource" section to the right of this post, and click on "Modes of Writing". 

Hope everyone had a safe, but fun Labor Day week-end!  See you at school!