I checked the calendar this morning, and yup, it is already the beginning of January! My students are writing up a storm; wild and blustery, but writing nonetheless. While the range of mastery is wide, the one constant recently is the motivation caused by our inquiry project. Seth and I have literally jumped into this project with a "yee hah" and a prayer, troubleshooting as we go, solving a variety of SKYPE snafus that have to do with audio and/or video, flurries of emails, blog barriers as simple as how the heck do you post and label, and the occasional frantic cell phone call at 10:18 a.m. while students all over the classroom yell into their mikes: "Can you hear me?"
Through it all, the students have embraced each other as they build this unlikely community of writers: hesitate 3rd graders who have an assortment of writing challenges including phonetic spelling and the proverbial "I'm all done", and AP English students who are working hard to draw the stories out of these young writers.
You can find our work at: aronsonauthors.blogspot.com
When you click on the student author's names you'll see a variety of writing they've done to date: personal narratives, and non fiction pieces with a focus on the Winter Solstice. You'll be able to read the Ap English students "praise and polish", and then in red text, the 3rd grade author's attempt at revision using their writing partners feedback.
A few comments overheard while the students were SKYPING:
"I just read the story about your little sister. I absolutely love how you went from talking about memories from the past with all of the dialogue (talking), to the future. That flowed really nice."
"Mr. Mitchell, I'm so proud of my partner!" ( She was impressed by her kiddo's revisions (Caleb) and felt so happy to be part of that growth.
" If I could have said one more thing to my Uncle before he died I would have said "I love you."
"I think that you could help the reader understand more about how you feel about your dog by mentioning what you like to do with your dog."
"My writing partner (Cassie) has a great laugh".
"I think you should try combining sentences because you have a lot of short sentences clumped together. For example, instead of saying “She lives with our fish, Swimy. He has a lot of energy.” You could say, “She lives with our fish, Swimy, and he has a lot of energy.” The sentences flow better that way, so try combing some more like that."
"I’m sorry your gram died, but maybe you could describe what she was like before she died."
Pretty amazing stuff, don't you think? Up next, realistic fiction and then onto In Pictures and in Words: an Illustration Study.
See you all in February! MICHELE
Very awesome stuff. I love that you include the voices of your students - as they speak with each other about writing. I love over hearing little moments like these with students - it's validating. So often kids will be really smart and helpful with each other when they don't realize anyone else is listening....ha ha.
ReplyDeleteFor the blog do you update the pieces yourself or do your students all have access?
This process is too cool. My kids are loving it, and we're having some neat conversations about writing and editing. Here's a snippet from the reflection blog to which my students post:
ReplyDeleteAngel says, "I do enjoy the whole virtual aspect (Skype) because I can really get to know my buddy on a more personal level, instead of what I see on paper. I believe it will be easier to understand what she's trying to say, which will make it easier for me to help her. Sometimes when I'm editing a paper, on my own time, instead of meeting with the person, I get nervous as to what my tone may come off as. This way, I'm able to put my personality into my edits. I also love giving compliments, and this makes it easy to do so (if I have more time). Even if I'm giving a simple smile during feedback, I think it's a little more encouraging than just words on paper."
It's great to hear so much excitement about writing. What a great way to encourage revision in your third graders. It sounds like the High school students are also benefiting. Thanks for sharing comments.
ReplyDeleteOH MY GOD THIS IS AWESOME!!!! I went on and read some of the feedback...you can tell from even a couple of minutes of reading your students' writing and Seth's students' feedback how much both parties are getting out of this. I feel like this is what it's all about...meeting kids where they're at, giving them a meaningful audience, and engaging them through writing. Huge, huge kudos Michelle and Seth!
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful. You must be really proud of all the writing and revising that's occurring and the relationships begin built!
ReplyDelete