SIM-SDL EdEng 1 Unit 6-7 ULOa PDF

Teacher Education Obenza Street, Island Garden City of Samal...

Teacher Education Obenza Street, Island Garden City of Samal Davao Del Norte Big Picture Week 6-7: Unit Learning Outcomes (ULO): At the end of the unit, you are expected to: a. Explain the processes, genres, and motivation in the language art writing b. Inspect the different handwriting and keyboarding skills as well as spelling and grammar. Big Picture in Focus: ULOa. Explain the processes, genres, and motivation in the language art writing Metalanguage Below are essential terms that you are going to encounter in achieving ULOa: Please note that you will also be required to refer to the previous definitions in the previous lessons. 1. In Essential knowledge I. Guidelines for the Teaching of Writing The curriculum for written composition in the elementary grades is concerned both with writing genres or the varied forms of promoting content that students wish to relate and the writing process needed for the most effective communication of that content. Both areas are addressed most effectively when teachers plan curriculum according to the following guidelines: The child must recognize the significance of writing in his or her own life and in the lives of others. The child must have a variety of experiences and interests about which to write. The child must enjoy a satisfying and supportive classroom environment in which he or she can communicate orally. The child must hear and read literature to write well. The child must have a teacher who enjoys and practices writing. The child must have broad-based experiences in which writing is integrated across the curriculum. The child must realize that a writer always communicates with someone when he or she writes. The child must appreciate that vocabulary is a major element contributing to effective writing The child must be aware that writing occurs in various genres/ domains/ purposes/ forms. The child must understand that the writing process actually consists of five major stages: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing II. Factors Affecting Children’s Writing Performance A variety of factors affects children’s written efforts. In recent years studies have established the positive correlation of the following factors with the development of most student writers: Reading achievement Grade level and chronological age Oral language proficiency Availability/use of reading materials in the home Parents’ level of education 96  Teacher Education Obenza Street, Island Garden City of Samal Davao Del Norte Gender Classroom environment Teacher’s positive attitude toward writing Strong literature program in the classroom Teacher support and instruction III. Emergent Writing Although it was once believed that children could not learn to write until after they were able to read—and preferably had a minimal spelling vocabulary—teachers today realize that boys and girls can and do learn to write at an early age, provided that they are given encouragement—and writing tools—and see writing modeled. Each child passes through a series of stages in writing development, although not in a linear fashion and always at an individual rate. A. Early Writing Stages Scribbling: Drawing Letter strings Invented spelling B. Principles of Emergent Writing There are several principles of emergent writing that were first identified by Clay (1975). These provide clues for teachers who wish to nurture children’s early writing. Meaning principle Exploration principle Sign principle Generative principle Directional principle Inventory principle Spacing principle C. Prerequisites for Beginning Writing As young students slowly acquire the principles of emergent writing, the teacher is also introducing them to three skills that they must have to become independent writers. 1. Writing the alphabet. While beginners can copy words without ever knowing letters and sounds, this is not the same as making deliberate connections between them. Knowledge of the alphabet, together with phonemic awareness allows children to connect letters to sounds. They can then start to invent the spelling of many words and thus, with adult support, begin writing independently shortly after entering first grade or even kindergarten. They need not be able to form all the letters of the alphabet, but merely a few vowels and half of the consonants. 2. Phonemic awareness. The abilities to recognize that words are made up of a particular set of sounds and to manipulate those sounds are helpful for beginning writers. Once they can isolate one sound from another within words, they become able to associate speech sounds with the letters that represent them (Adams, 1990). 3. Associating letters with sounds. Girls and boys who can talk have learned the phonetics of their language. Long before starting school, they can recognize even slight differences in the sounds of the voices that surround them. This knowledge of phonology assists children in their writing earlier than has been previously recognized. 97  Teacher Education Obenza Street, Island Garden City of Samal Davao Del Norte IV. Abilities Needed for Effective Writing Although good writing demands numerous skills, children need four major skills or abilities to achieve success in their writing efforts. Generally, these skills should not be taught in isolation but rather as opportunities arise. Nevertheless, in classes with English Language Learners (ELLs) or at-risk students, teachers should plan direct instruction in these areas, either with small groups or even an entire class, when they perceive that the children are not skilled in writing sentences or paragraphs or do not understand punctuation and capitalization rules. A. Ability to Write a Sentence B. Ability to Write Paragraphs C. Ability to Use Capitalization D. Ability to Use Punctuation V. The Writing Process In the past, in the traditional approach to writing, students depended on teachers to supply the topic for any assignment, thereby promoting what Graves (1976) terms “writing welfare.” Today, however, children learn to assume responsibility for selecting their own topics for writing. This daunting task is accomplished through the writing process during which teachers guide students through five distinct stages of writing, sequentially labeled prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. A. Prewriting Said to be the main ingredient of the writing process, prewriting has been defined as “anything that is done prior to composing and that creates motivation, increases conceptual knowledge…stimulates the imagination or spurs new thinking” (Bergquist, 1996, p. 16). Its goal is simply to move the writer from merely thinking about a topic to the physical activity of writing about it. No wonder Murray (1990) believes that 70% or more of writing time should be spent in prewriting, Strategies for promoting prewriting vary with the age and writing experience of each student. Younger or less experienced writers are in greater need of them than older, more mature writers. Strategies that are both possible and useful and can readily be adapted to students with varied writing backgrounds include the following: Drawing Talking Reading Mapping Questioning and researching Brainstorming Fact-storming B. Drafting Facing a blank sheet of paper and writing that first rough draft are never easy. However, students who have spent time doing one or more of the prewriting activities described above find drafting less intimidating. Students can write independently or in pairs, small groups, or at times even large groups, depending on the assignment or the teacher’s instructions. Furthermore, at this stage, they need not worry about spelling, grammar, punctuation, or other mechanical constraints. Some find, according to Tompkins (2004), that as they prepare their drafts they may need to alter their earlier conclusions about the writing assignment’s purpose, audience, and form; an anticipated story, for instance, may evolve into a report or poem. 98  Teacher Education Obenza Street, Island Garden City of Samal Davao Del Norte An important element in drafting is the opening sentence or writing lead, which should attract the attention of the audience. Intermediate students especially should consider this matter carefully and develop such techniques as dialogue, questions, problems, brief stories, or facts in their effort to provoke the interest of the intended readers. The teacher’s principal responsibilities during the drafting stage are to be certain that the classroom atmosphere is conducive to writing and that he or she is available for reassurance, assistance, or occasional prodding. The children should see their own teacher modeling writing tasks from time to time, thereby directly displaying empathy for writers and indirectly validating his or her ability to teach writing. C. Revising During the third or revising stage, children rework their drafts, but the changes deal only with the content of the written text. To make their communication more precise, they insert and/or delete words and phrases and often rearrange their writing. According to Heard (2002), students must understand that revision is not a punishment. Instead, since the word means “seeing again,” students should first reread their rough drafts and make some changes. Next, they can share that rough draft with their teacher and a small writing group of classmates, both of whom supply compliments and feedback, but only after listening to the composition. Finally, the students each commit to a plan for revision, which includes some or many of the suggestions offered. At this point, the use of the computer is helpful, whether it is in a centralized school lab or in the individual classroom, because it simplifies the manipulation of the written text. Nevertheless, the final draft is still the creative effort—and responsibility—of the original writer. D. Editing It is in the fourth or editing stage that students become concerned with the mechanical aspects of their writing or what Cramer (2001) terms “surface changes.” These aspects include principally spelling, punctuation, paragraph indentation, capitalization, sentence structure, grammar, and format. Teachers should realize that the most effective way to teach mechanical skills occurs during the editing stage, rather than through workbook pages or practice exercises (Fearn & Farnan, 1998; Weaver, 1996), since children want to communicate with a genuine audience and sense the importance of correcting their mechanical errors. In the early grades most editing is done in conference with the teacher since many beginning compositions are relatively brief and so require less editing time. By the third grade, however, students are more self-reliant and can be slowly introduced to editing techniques that they will eventually apply on their own. By the intermediate grades, many children can edit independently, provided that they have been oriented to correct proofreading procedures. Students in those grades often are pleased to use professional proofreaders’ marks. A teacher can demonstrate proofreading by placing an unedited composition (written by an anonymous student) on the overhead projector. He or she reads it slowly, touching each word with a pen or pencil and marking or correcting possible errors with proofreaders’ marks. Children can then proofread their own work, at first searching for only one type of error (e.g., capitalization), but gradually becoming able to proof an entire paper by themselves. Sometimes they may prefer to trade papers and peer-edit with a neighbor. Some classrooms even have “editorial boards” comprised of students especially adept at helping others locate mechanical errors. 99  Teacher Education Obenza Street, Island Garden City of Samal Davao Del Norte E. Publishing Publishing or sharing written work with an appropriate audience is the single best way to encourage children to revise and edit their writing (Elbow, 2002). It is an essential component of the writing process because it helps students become aware of the significance of their work. Otherwise, they may believe that what they write only fulfills a teacher-made assignment and has no importance of its own. In reality, however, there are four benefits of sharing written work, according to Cramer (2001). First, published pieces integrate writing with listening, speaking, reading, and content subjects and so they meet broader curricular goals. Second, they foster acknowledgment and acceptance of children’s writing, promoting children’s self-worth as writers. Third, students are motivated to improve their written products because publishing is a form of review by peers and others. Finally, an interested audience advances and strengthens the child writers’ understanding of their own capabilities. Sharing and publishing writing can be done in a variety of ways, including some that are done strictly within the classroom or school and others that involve outside sources: 1. Teachers can prepare books or booklets to be placed on the classroom library table where other students can read them. 2. Writing can be shared with partners or small groups of classmates. 3. An “Author’s Chair” arrangement can be set up whereby children share their work with the entire class. Writing can also be shared with audiences outside the classroom, as in the following activities: Reading the work aloud to parents, siblings, and other family members; grandparents are generally among the most enthusiastic supporters of young writers Participating in an Authors’ Luncheon held monthly at the school site, with each classroom represented Participating in a Young Authors’ Conference held yearly at a designated school district site or at a nearby college Submitting work to the PTA newsletter, school newspaper, or student page in a local newspaper Submitting work to national magazines and organizations that publish children’s work; their names are available in Henderson’s Market Guide for Young Writers (1996) VI. Writing Genres A critical consideration in writing is the form or genre that any piece will take. This form in turn relates to its purpose (e.g., Does it inform or does it persuade?). There are four major genres of writing that students in the elementary grades encounter: narrative, expository, persuasive, and poetic. A. Narrative Writing Narrative writing concerns personal experience and imaginative writing. The first efforts a young child makes on paper indicate the beginning of narrative writing. Initially there is scribbling, then drawing of circles and lines to portray objects and persons, and finally the forming of letters. All this time, the “writing” remains both personal and important as children have a strong desire to share their ideas and thoughts with others through writing. Elementary students can complete various types of narrative writing. 100  Teacher Education Obenza Street, Island Garden City of Samal Davao Del Norte 1. Journal Writing In every kind of journal or diary, the focus is always on the writer’s thoughts and therefore not on the correctness of English mechanics. Britton and his associates (1975) describe this type of writing as a written conversation either with oneself or with trusted readers who are more concerned with the writer than with any mechanical errors. Journals are used for different purposes and kept for various reasons. Primarily, however, they encourage metacognition. Tompkins (2004) has identified six types of journals. a. Personal Journals b. Dialogue Journals c. Double-Entry Journals d. Simulated Journals e. Reading Logs f. Learning Logs 2. Letter Writing One of the ways to develop children’s writing ability is to encourage letter writing, even among young students learning to read. Such early letter writing reinforces reading skills, according to Clay (1991). Again, as in journal writing the focus is on content and purpose, but gradually more attention is paid to correct form for either friendly or business letters. The former are described as letters written to someone the child knows personally (a friend or relative) or would like to know personally (such as a pen pal). They include invitations, thank-you letters, and letters to favorite authors or illustrators. Business letters, on the other hand, are written to companies, stores, nonprofit organizations, government offices, or even civic or political leaders. 3. Story Writing Dealing with personal and imaginative experiences, story writing encourages creativity. In addition to experiences, other sources for stories are the children’s feelings and beliefs (Graves, 1989). Young children learn the concept of story writing by hearing stories read and told frequently, first at home or preschool, and then by elementary teachers who read to them daily. Then gradually they begin to consider themselves as authors when their teachers, according to Lamme (1989), explain that books are written by persons called authors, not by mysterious machines, and then read aloud several books by the same author. B. Expository Writing Also known as informational or nonfiction writing, expository writing uses composition to satisfy a practical need. Its focus is on putting information across in a style that will give the reader new knowledge. Kindergartners and first graders write many informational compositions, although it has been widely believed that their first writing is narrative (Bonin, 1988). Actually, some teachers of these young children prefer to introduce expository writing to the class before narrative writing because it is based on facts and is therefore easier to structure (e.g., how to take care of the class aquarium). Elementary students generally, however, find informational writing difficult because, while narrative writing sounds similar to spoken language, expository writing does not. Consequently, teachers interested in introducing nonfiction writing successfully to children should follow the four-step model developed by Wray and Lewis (1997): 1. Demonstration: The teacher models for the whole class the steps involved in researching and preparing informational writing. 101  Teacher Education Obenza Street, Island Garden City of Samal Davao Del Norte 2. Joint activity: Student groups each compose a single collaborative piece of informational writing. 3. Supported writing: The teacher assists individual students by providing an outline or guiding questions. 4. Independent writing: Students each research and write on their own, following the process approach. The teacher provides assistance as needed. There are numerous types of expository writing, the most common being reports, both collaborative and individual. Some reports are based on research that can be done in the library or on the Internet. Other types of expository writing include alphabet books, autobiographies, biographies, dictionaries or glossaries, and directions. Again, although they can be written individually, most can also be written collaboratively, especially in classes with second-language learners or struggling writers. C. Persuasive Writing Elementary students have considerable difficulty with persuasive writing, which has proved to be the most challenging genre for many of them. They are less able to compose written arguments than they are to write in the expository or narrative form. Although most are capable of persuasive speaking or orally winning over someone to their cause or viewpoint, they cannot write persuasively very well. Studies conducted among sixth graders by McCann (1989) and Crowhurst (1991) concluded that persuasive writing receives little attention in elementary schools partly because teachers believe that it is too difficult for children to master. Yet, both researchers found that persuasive writing does improve with direct instruction: Students’ work becomes longer and better organized with more conclusions and greater elaboration of supporting reasons. The format for beginning persuasive writing is a five-sentence paragraph: one sentence for a statement of topic and opinion, three sentences for reasons for that opinion, and a one-sentence conclusion. Each of these elements is modeled and taught separately before students can assemble them into a paragraph. Student writers should realize that there are three basic ways to persuade the reader to agree with them. The first is an appeal to reason that is supported by factual information of concern to the reader’s intellect. The second is an appeal to character, which involves trusting the reputation of the persuader. The third is an appeal to emotions that attempts to arouse the reader’s anger, fear, or other strong feeling. Forms of persuasive writing include (but are not limited to) letters, advertisements/commercials, posters, and essays. Topics come from home and school activities, study units in social studies and science, and literature. D. Poetic Writing While there is no one general definition of poetry as there is for other forms of writing, it has been recently described as “the expression of ideas and feelings through a rhythmical composition of imaginative and beautiful words selected for their pleasant sounds” (Lynch-Brown & Tomlinson, 2005, p. 44). For elementary children to learn to write poetry, they must first have it read to them and read it themselves. Gradually, with a supportive teacher, they can learn to write five types of poems: formula poems, free-form poems, syllable-and-word-count poems, rhymed verse poems, and model poems (Tompkins, 2004). 102  Teacher Education Obenza Street, Island Garden City of Samal Davao Del Norte Although lessons involving the writing of poetry do not always follow neatly the stages of the writing process described earlier most of these poetic types can be introduced through a four-step presentation: 1. The teacher presents a short introduction or conceptual overview. 2. The teacher reads examples of poems written in that style by peers (to boost the confidence of young would-be poets). 3. Children write either individually or in groups in a work session. 4. The teacher shares student poetry promptly after a work session of 20 to 30 minutes. Simple formula poems as developed by Koch (2000) involve repetition and include I wish…poems (where each line begins with the same two words); color poems (where each line generally starts with the same color); five-senses poems (where each of the five lines concerns one sense); and if I were… poems (where each line tells how the poets would feel and what they would do if they were something else). Free-form poems ignore rhyme, repetition, or proper use of punctuation marks to weave together words and phrases that tell a story or express a thought. Forms include concrete poems (where words are arranged pictorially on a page, sometimes in the shape of an object); found poems (where words are cut out of newspapers or other printed material and arranged poetically); and poems for two voices (where poems are written in two columns, side by side, and read together by two readers or two groups of readers, sometimes separately, sometimes as a duet). Syllable-and-word-count poems include haiku, cinquains, and diamantes. The first two types consist of five lines each, whereas diamantes have seven lines. All are carefully structured. Rhymed verse poems can be written by intermediate students and include five-lined limericks and four-lined clerihews. The first is light verse, often with a surprise or humorous ending. The second follows a formula: The first line is a person’s name (e.g., a character in a story or a historical figure), the second line rhymes with the first, and the third and fourth lines rhyme with one another. Model poems as suggested by Koch (1990) allow students to read a poem composed by an adult poet and then write their own poem using the same theme expressed in the model. VII. Motivational Strategies That Promote Writing Teachers soon realize that children often do not leap at the opportunity to write, regardless of the genre of the writing task or whether that assignment has been self-selected or prescribed by the teacher. So, the problem of motivating writers remains acute, partly because students are more accustomed to electronic devices that stress the spoken word over the written word. Consequently, special efforts must be made to kindle student excitement about writing and to make it a daily project involving the major genres. Most of the motivating situations or topics described in this section can be adapted easily to other grade levels. VIII. Writing Development Through the Grades Teachers should be aware of what they can expect of students in the area of writing as the children move through the grades. Although wide variations exist among child writers in any grade level, still there are some similarities among students in each grade that may guide teachers as they plan their writing lessons. 103  Teacher Education Obenza Street, Island Garden City of Samal Davao Del Norte A. Kindergarten Beginning kindergarten children display a broad range of writing abilities. A few can already write due to encouragement at home or preschool, others have only a limited knowledge of alphabet letters, while still others are completely unaware that an alphabet even exists. Most kindergarten students, according to Sulzby (1992), do enter school in the scribbling and drawing stage. By the second semester, however, those drawings may relate a message that is actually legible in some instances, with real letters and invented spelling. Once children acquire a rudimentary knowledge of print, they consider themselves to be writers, states Calkins (1994), and they quickly learn the conventions of written language. Teachers can promote this interest by providing paper and envelopes for letter writing or index cards for labeling objects around the room B. First Grade First graders begin narrative or story writing, with pattern stories a special favorite. Patterned writing often evolves from literary picture books that have repetition. Beginning writers find such patterns appealing because they can use them as a crutch and need only to fill in the blanks in their own stories. Expository or informational writing can also be done in a fill-in-the-blank style (e.g., A field trip to the zoo could be written up as “We visited the zoo. We saw big animals like… We saw small animals like… The noisiest animal was…). After patterned writing children may next choose to follow the example of writing unpatterned stories as read aloud to them by their Such books furnish new ideas that students need in order to write effectively. Some first graders who write every day complete many different forms of writing, including keeping daily personal journals and science journals of concluded experiments, compiling word lists related to math, and preparing follow-up stories or reports related to literature read to them (Morrow, Tracey, Woo, & Pressley, 1999). Finally, primary teachers should remember that, although first graders like to write, they do not like to revise. In fact, if asked to rework a piece without being able to incorporate any new ideas themselves, many become inhibited and fail to progress in their writing abilities (Salinger, 1992). C. Second Grade As children enter the stage of concrete operations, they begin to realize that while some topics are acceptable for writing, others are not. Although earlier in the first grade, students wrote mostly for their own enjoyment, now they desire approval and acceptance of their work by an audience. This concern, coupled with their limited writing experience, results in the destruction of several drafts before they are satisfied with their work. Second graders have been described as “authors of opposites” (Calkins, 1994; Skolnick & Frazier, 1998) because at times they write with complete confidence and in other instances their efforts are plainly laborious. For this reason, their writing on the whole is less creative than that of first graders. Teachers of second graders should continue to model a writing strategy (e.g., adding more and different descriptive words) before assigning the class to use that strategy. They also should spend time daily on reading and sharing children’s literature that can serve as new models for the students’ work. They know that some second graders prefer to imitate the plots of familiar tales such as Galdone’s The Little Red Hen (1979). 104  Teacher Education Obenza Street, Island Garden City of Samal Davao Del Norte D. Third Grade Third graders continue to be concerned with the mechanics of writing just as they were in the second grade. They wish to be certain that their spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar are correct, as is their new responsibility for cursive writing. Bed-to-bed stories continue, and these children tend to include every detail in their description of an event. They therefore need the teacher’s help in learning to summarize because they do not know which details to omit as they revise their work. Editing is also difficult for many third graders. Third graders prefer writing narratives with simple sentences and paragraphs. Nevertheless, some do become interested in writing informational reports about topics in social studies and science. Others enjoy experimenting with poetic forms or developing story problems involving math concepts. E. Fourth Grade While third graders generally write in a straightforward predictable style, fourth graders are creative and individualistic in their writing. Their growth in background experiences is reflected in their written work, and they enjoy preparing more factual reports than they did earlier. These students are eager to share their work with others so they accept revision and editing more readily than children in the lower grades. It has been found that, although fourth graders enjoy writing, they do not spend much time writing outside the classroom. This places additional importance on planning writing activities that challenge nine-year-olds at school. F. Fifth and Sixth Grades This age group has diverse skills, interests, and abilities, but that variability is an asset and can be reflected in their writing (Hansen, 1986). Students discover that everyone has his or her own strengths and weaknesses, and they should write in areas that emphasize personal uniqueness. They can then “celebrate, challenge, and defend” their own writing as well as that of their classmates and even well-known authors of children’s literature. Upper grade students are growing in their confidence as writers and are able to discuss writing problems with their peers. They aim for perfection and persist in improving each piece through several drafts. Happily, they handle mechanical skills comfortably, although they still have some difficulty in developing new ideas and organizing their writing. One study found that fifth and sixth graders regard good writers as those who listen to others, read a lot, have an adequate vocabulary, are familiar with their topics, and write in a style that interests others (Bright, 1995). Furthermore, good writers are determined workers who write often. 105