Favorite quote from Thursday afternoon: “Mike, is it okay if I do some extra writing tonight?” Hmm, let me think about that…
Mike’s Musings on Teaching and Learning
Writing helps us make meaning of our experiences. It helps us form and express our opinions. We use it to fulfill and communicate our needs. We turn to it to give voice to the inner rumbling of our soul. Yeah, it’s pretty important.
Jeff and I spent the day yesterday with the leading researcher and educator on the teaching of writing, Lucy Calkins of the Reader’s and Writer’s Project at Columbia. I was reminded of my love for teaching writing–the progress students can make in one or two years with consistent practice and targeted teaching is inspiring, and expect a great deal of writing from your child this year, in all kinds of genres.
A few notes from Lucy:
- Many students at this level are working on moving from the external story to the internal one about character development
- When a students writes a story about a roller coaster, for example, it’s helpful to ask the student what the story is really about–the time with a friend, the conquering of a fear of heights, the freedom of summertime. Push for meaning.
- Writing gets taught every day as its own subject. Would you tell someone that you don’t teach math as its own subject, but rather, you integrate it into the other subjects?
- 4th graders should be able to write 1.5 pages in class each day, and 5th graders 2. They should write the same at home.
- Students should consider both what kind of writing they’re doing and for whom (genre and targeted audience).
Enough for now, and happy Tuesday!
Homework
Reading (most important therefore first): 20 minutes. Record the book and pages in your assignment planner.
Writing: Wordly Wise, finish chapter 1.
Cultural Studies: Study those states! Quiz on the first ten you chose tomorrow–spelling and location.
Math: 4th grade choice between pages 1 and 11, 5th grade is doing pages 25 and 26 in their handy dandy Spectrum workbooks