All this week our students have been taking the mock EOG’s. This is a very draining time for them. I know they feel totally exhausted; therefore I don’t give a lot of homework during this week. I really feel bad for my students. The fact that they have to be able to retain and recall facts. They have all worked very hard, and I’m proud of them. I hope they all achieve a level III or IV.
Multigenre project
I’ve been researching, reading, and learning lots of interesting facts about Donnie McClurkin. I’ve decided to create an interpretative dance, as one of my genres, to help show the struggle, pain, and praise Donnie has endured and overcome.
This morning my students and I went to the computer room to type their I Poems on Kids Space. Well…once they were able to copy the very long URL address in the box they were fine. The way Kids Space have their site setup, only 10 students can type their I poems in at a time. So as 10 of my students were trying to type in their I poems, the other 13 were working on learning.com in Creating and organizing content. In this lesson, students learn how to use a word processing program to help with the writing process. Specifically, students organize information, create lists, identify audience members, and insert pictures. When they finished with that, they were to also complete a lesson on Revising and Formatting. In this lesson, students use a word processing application to review and modify work by moving content and formatting documents. Both lessons are interactive. It was fun for them while they learn and review skills.
Getting back to the 10 who were typing their I poems. Well, I found out that my 3rd graders….can not type. I reserved the computer room for an hour and 15 minutes and three students had not finished typing theirs. The only reason why they other seven did is because I helped them with the typing. The other three didn’t want my help!! So now since all ten didn’t do what they were suppose to do, I’ve emailed kids space to see if I can go back into their peom and edit them. WOW what a day. Today, those students who were typing their peom in today learned that getting what you want isn’t always easy.
BLAH!! BLAH!! DAY
Today was truly a crappy day.
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Several students did not have their homework.
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Nine students didn’t have a name on their paper.
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It rained, therefore interring with our recess time.
Maybe because they were couped up in the classroom… somewhat quiet due to the 4th grade Writing Test. I DON’T KNOW! But today was NOT a good day in Mrs. Wheelersville.
***We discussed how we will go the the computer room tomorrow, and write some of our poems on Kids Space. Now that was exciting, and yes they are excited to hear that, and finally get to post their work on the BIG WEB (as they say).***
Writing Without Boundaries (Pages 1-41)
Chapter 1- I was very surprised with the introduction of this chapter. My 3rd graders surely didn’t respond to knowing what multigenre writing was like the elementary students in the text. Initially I thought they were older students, then to my surprise…..they weren’t, they were 3rd graders who had previous exposure to writing different genre style….”WOW”, that is great! P. 3: I’m very grateful to Camille Allen for extending the work of Romano to elementary students, so they too can be engaged in writing that is based on one topic or theme. P. 4: The author recommends that students be exposed to a wide variety of genres, especially those that are pervasive outside classroom walls. What I’ve noticed is that by the time 3rd graders get to me, they have very little knowledge if any of expository (informational) text. So, the text is true that some primary grade teachers still do value narrative over informational text.
Chapter 2 – I understand that it is important to set up the classroom, establish routines, set examples in place, and then scaffold students in order for successful writing and students’ awareness of genres to take place. P. 19: Practicing within a genre - From the personal experience I’ve had with exposing my students to writing poetry, it is truly important for students to get as must exposure and practice to writing a particular genre before they are just set loose to do so. Before my students wrote their I poems about their famous African Americans, first I shared my I poem with them. Next I shared the format with them of what I expected. Then we brainstormed and wrote one together. Then they were set loose to create their own I poem from the format I had given them. Like I said earlier, scaffolding was very important in the entire process….with my students, it is the key!
Chapter 3- I think it is interesting how this chapter starts out by letting students choose their own topics….topics that inspire them!! Maybe it’s just with my class, but I have to model, demonstrate and continue scaffolding in order for my students to be successful. It may be because they haven’t had any prior exposure to multigenre writing. So what I’ve already done is told my students that they will be writing a multigenre paper on the life cycle of a plant (or seeds, or just plants….that they will decide). I chose this topic because we have just completed a hands on experiment with our science kit on how a seed grows, all the way to a bee pollinating flowers. A lot of the research they have already done due the interactiveness of their prior science lesson. P. 29-30: Investigating Multiple Texts Centered on a Single Topic – My students are already comfortable with identifying and discussing genres from a single text, due to their active engagement with their science unit. Now I do think that introducing my students to picture books and chapter books on their topics will definitely enhance their knowledge about their topic. P. 31-32: The Proposal – I think it’s an excellent idea to have students complete a proposal. Not only does it help students to organize their thoughts on their topics and genres they have selected, but it also gives the teacher a an idea in the direction they are going. Therefore the teachers can direct or redirect them in a different direction. (Love the template on P. 32) P. 35-41: This book is an excellent source for multigenre writing. I really appreciate the, Structure of the Multigenre Project section. It is good to know that I can introduce my students to the overall layout of the project while they are still completing their proposals. Various parts of the project want need as much time to teach as others. For instance the section – defenses for each piece will definitely require explicit lessons while others only need an introduction, model and an example. Well the three to six writing pieces section will require using the writing process over again. The students will really enjoy the visual or graphic elements section, since all of them love to illustrate.
The multigenre paper
This article by Margaret R. “Cookie” Moulton was definitely what I needed to get me jump started on my multigenre papers. Initially when reading the syllabus and hearing Dr. Frye discuss with us her expectations and everything that had to be done, I was very overwhelmed. Know I understand that having students create multigenres, instead of the same old standard research papers, “gives them tools other than books, such as interviews, Internet data, and the of use different genres of writings to present different aspect of their research”. I understand that some educators may feel that students need to know the basic skill of writing a research paper. But creating a multigenre paper allows students to use the standard bibliography, and end-notes. While a multigenre doesn’t include in-text citation, but the end-notes provides “an explanation of each genre that included the source for the material and how the genre had been selected or inspired”. These end-notes are beneficial to both the writer and the reader. It allows the reader to know and understand the perspective from which the writer is coming from, as well as gain knowledge about there inspiration and insights gained. Personally I am very excited to have my students write using a multigenre; I agree with the author that it allows students to use their creative writing skills. After all, once students get the exposure to multigenres, and see how much fun it is to create, instead of just sitting down and memorizing facts, and record factual date, I too think they will take ownership in the process and actual learn the practical skills of writing….while having creative fun doing it!
