I was asked to be a guest writer for someone and was very honored at first. Until I actually had to sit down and decide what to write. The topic had to be writing. Our district is using a program from Steve Dunn and I wanted to share some information about that. But what? I had so many thoughts rolling around in my mind, I could not slow down enough to get something out on paper. But through careful reflection and a lot of listening I finally narrowed it down.
After attending 2 days of POWER and getting to hear all the amazing things teachers are doing in their classrooms with writing, I figured it would only be appropriate to point out all those amazing things and how they match with the process of Steve Dunn Writing.
Here is what I wrote...
Be courageous and try to write in a
way that scares you a little.
~ Holley Gerth
As I sit
here and ponder that quote and determine what to write about, I am not sure I
could “scare” myself by the end of this. However, I know that teaching can be a
scary thing. Constantly asking yourself, “Am I doing it right?” I am pretty new
to my job and I think I ask myself that every other minute. However, I came
across someone who told me “You are doing what you can with the resources you
have. You don’t know what you don’t know.”
Pretty
powerful right? So with the thought of the unknown and not knowing what
everyone knows, I present to you a little bit of Steve Dunn…
The
importance of turn and talk
As we look into writing and some of the
key elements, one that comes to mind is the turn and talk. This is an element
that is extremely powerful and can apply to all areas of teaching. The purpose
of turn and talk is so kids are able to share their answers out. You as the teacher
lean in and move quickly around to listen to student responses. Keep things
quick and ask kids to explain their thinking to each other. After observing Mr.
Dunn on several different occasions, the length of student discussions was on
average 9 seconds. 9 seconds! He
also had the students turn and talk on average about every minute. That was
powerful. It allowed the students to be part of the learning and kept the
lesson moving.
Sticking
to the Process
We are a system, a system that works
and moves together. If something in the system decides to do something
different, it affects the outcome of everyone else. Steve Dunn Writing in our district
builds a foundation starting at kindergarten and continues all the way through
5th grade (with it starting to carry over to middle school). The process
students learn in kindergarten carries over to the start of first. In first
grade, the process they learn carries over and builds to second. This process
continues over and over again. The students do not need to learn a whole new
writing system each year; they can make massive gains by just adding to the
system they already know. Which again, is powerful. We had several teachers
comment about kids making their own storyboards or t-charts during the NDSA.
YEA!
The
Importance of Visuals
As we work through the process of
writing, whether it is the introduction of new skills or reviewing a previous
learned skill, the importance of building anchor charts together as a class is
in high demand. An anchor chart is just that, it ANCHORS a student’s learning. When
these posters that were created with student language are posted, they are able
to recall lessons that were taught because they have access to the visuals. Does
that mean you need to clear half your room to fit everything? Of course not.
There are many ways of having access to anchor charts. Ask around…
Write,
Write and Write again
We are starting to hear more and
more about the rigor of Common Core and what it is expecting kids to do. We
have Writer’s Workshop set up to occur every day. So that means students should
have writing time every day. Remember
to keep your focus lessons to a minimum. If you don’t cover absolutely
everything, that is acceptable. Having a hard time keeping your lessons to a
certain time frame? Set a timer, or have a kid help remind you when you need to
be done so they have enough impendent work time. Remember to use Tracking
the Process to hold kids accountable and keep them on track in the process.
Share
it out
Remember to have your students share
their writing. It could be to a friend, a group or the whole class. This not
only strengthens their writing (because they have to know what it says) but
also builds communication skills.
Questions,
comments, concerns?
No problem. Your coaches are always
here to support you where you are. Want to see something modeled or know how
engaged your students are? We are here for you.
And
if this writing scared you, remember…
“You’re
only human. You don’t have to have it together every minute of every day.”
~Anne
Hathaway
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