Welcome, all educators to my language arts blog!
Thank you for reading to my third blog post on writing!
Today I will be talking to you and educating you on the language arts strand of writing. This strand is important, as it is something students will use and value throughout their lives. Moreover, it is important that students grow to love writing instead of being discouraged when it comes to expressing themselves and writing. Something I find numerous teachers use is fire writing as a tactic to teaching writing. This tactic I find discourages students from wanting to write because they aren’t learning by writing things down under pressure, yet through taking their time in their work and feeling proud of their writing.
(Alber, 2016)
The resource found above on Edutopia, I found, could be used as more than one resource in itself. Therefore, below I have divided the article into important writing information that can be used by educators just like yourselves when it comes to engaging students in writing.
Fire Writing Vs. Low-Pressure Writing:
This link above explains how educators can make students want to learn how to write and explains ways to better the traditional fire writing tactic. It explains that students can use low-pressure writing where they take their time and are not pressured to write, as in fire/ speed writing does. In addition, educators can improve the typical tactic of fire writing. They can do so by calming students by playing relaxing music or taking them into nature to calm them down while they fire write. These improvements can calm students down and explain to them that they are just jotting their thoughts down on paper so it’s easier for them to write later on. Nature and other calming elements will allow students to be less stressed out in fire writing, improving their mental state and allowing them to want to fire write, rather than being discouraged to do so.
(Muehl, 2018)
Peer Reviewing & Choice:
Another important topic from this article is peer reviewing, as well as giving students choice. As writing is important, I feel as if most students learn the most through peer reviewing other classmate’s work. This process allows them to test and use what they know about writing on others work, as well as to see what they need to fix in their work. In addition, giving students a choice of what to write about is beneficial. If students are able to choose which topic they are most passionate about, more often than not, their writing will reflect this passion. As opposed to being stuck with a topic that they dislike, and they are just writing to write, not because they want to write. This can both cause children to dislike writing, or allow them to love the writing process, all based on providing them with the option of choice.
Curriculum Connection:
The above resource connects to the Ontario curriculum, as in grade 6, students are required in the overall expectations, of the writing strand, to “draft and revise their writing, using a variety of informational, literary, and graphic forms and stylistic elements appropriate for the purpose and audience” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2006, p. 114). As well, within the overall expectations, they are required to “use editing, proofreading, and publishing skills and strategies, and knowledge of language conventions, to correct errors, refine expression, and present their work effectively” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2006, p. 114).
(TeachThought PD, 2018)
Teaching Writing With Technology:
This resource above is not only beneficial for teachers teaching literacy, but any subject. Yet, I believe it can truly benefit teachers in teaching writing or language arts to students. For instance, this can tie into the specific expectations of writing for grade 8 students as they are expected to “identify the topic, purpose, and audience for more complex writing forms (e.g., a personal memoir about the school experience to share with classmates, family, and friends at graduation; a report on a topic of current interest in the style of a newspaper article, including headlines, for a school or community newspaper; a campaign flyer or brochure to promote a candidate for school government)” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2006, P. 144). Therefore, with all activities in this specific expectation for students, teachers can educate them using technology such as asking students to use a specific website on the given topic, then asking them to watch a video of how to do the activity online, followed by providing exemplars of creative examples on sites such as Pinterest, then asking each student to post their final copy of the assignment in a collaborative Google classroom where each student in the class has access and is able to comment and give feedback to one another.
Activity to Make Writing Fun:
Allowing students to enjoy writing using a game like setting, is a brilliant idea. This link above, explains how teachers can use the game of bingo, which every child loves to play, in order to engage them in writing. With each square students cover, they are required to complete a writing prompt. As a future educator, this is a fun writing lesson that can be manipulated for multiple grade levels, and that I personally would use in my classroom.
No comments:
Post a Comment