I cannot believe that this semester is coming to an end already. I feel as though it was just the beginning of the semester and I was trying to feel out the boundaries of graduate school. As I reflect back on this semester and this class in particular, I have learned so much!
As I review the syllabus and see if I gained knowledge in all the specific areas this course was supposed to encompass, I noticed that I achieved all the learning goals or outcomes and then some. I have gained an in depth knowledge of the various genres that people read, write and communicate in. I am not less intimidated by a lot of the more difficult genres that I was not comfortable teaching and writing in. I know see the importance that each genre has and why students need to learn specifically about each genre. Modeling and scaffolding the process of reading and writing each genre is key to a students success.
Also, I have been made aware of the importance of the role of the audience and purpose that each writing piece should take on. I believe that through the writing process and completion of my Genre Pieces Project, I have become even more aware of this aspect of writing. I always just thought of my writing as being for my teacher and only my teacher, so that was the constant audience that I was writing for and the purpose was just to complete the assigned task at hand.
This semester has opened my eyes to the connection that reading and writing truly have together. I do believe that both a teacher and student is better able to write a specific genre after they have been exposed and taught how to read a genre. When a student has been made aware of the characteristics of a genre they are better able to adapt them into their writing of that genre. The mentor texts used to display a genre are very valuable tools to be used in a classroom as both modeling tools and exploration for students. By having students explore genre texts, they will become curious and hopefully want to write with the characteristics of the genre they are learning about.
Finally, I have reinforced my previous knowledge on scaffolding and differentiation throughout this semester. I believe that each genre of reading and writing can be taught to every grade and developmental level of students as long as it is differentiated to meet the needs of the students and is at a level at which they are able to comprehend and apply the knowledge they are gaining. For example, some students may be able to handle more individual work while others may need the teacher to walk them through each step of the writing process. Also, some students in your classroom may need to be challenged or need to go through the writing process in a different way so they could be publishing their works through some type of word processing system. Technology can be implemented into your classroom to aid in the writing process but only when it is developmentally appropriate for your students. I believe that differentiation truly is the answer to reaching each student in your classroom no matter what content area you are teaching.
Showing posts with label word processing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label word processing. Show all posts
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Entry 9
When I was doing research on the expository genre for my genre presentation next week, I found myself questioning if I did enough instruction concerning expository reading and writing in my own classroom. Did my students even know what the word expository meant? Did they know what type of books would be considered expository? Have they ever read an expository text? Have they ever written an expository piece before?
I assumed that the answer to many of my questions was yes to some extent. But once I learned more about the expository genre myself, I felt compelled to teach my students more about it and implement it more into our daily reading and writing activities. I thought I would start small by introducing what a non-fiction or expository text is. I gave every one of my students a weekly reader that they are all very familiar with from this year and last year as first graders. They knew that the information that they would be reading about was true but they were uncertain of what the specific genre was. After we discussed the similarities and differences between fiction and non-fiction, as a class we slowly went through the weekly reader together. As we read along, I began to point out some of the non-fiction text features that could be seen throughout the weekly reader. Many of the students were already familiar with the features but were somewhat uncertain of the purpose of each. So I explain why we need each specific text feature to help us understand and read expository text. When we were done reading the weekly reader, I had the students take a few post- its and write three things they learned from the reading and three things that they had questions about or were still wondering about. I wanted my students to see that you can still make a lot of connections from expository books or readings as well as from fiction stories that we read. After I had them put their post- its into columns depending on if it was an "I learned" statement or an "I wonder" statement. I began to think that these post-its could lead to an expository writing piece from having many of their ideas and facts on a certain topic down on paper and easy to organize. With these post-its the students could decide to write a report on the topic that we read about and could broaden their knowledge of the topic with doing research of their "I wonder" statements. This idea then led me to thinking about how to teach my second graders about basic research skills through books and the internet. I believe that with my support and guidance that they would be able to complete their research and find the answers to their questions. Once the answers are found, we could then write reports to inform people about a certain topic that we have been studying in school.
There are just so many options that can happen when using expository text within your classroom. My presentation has got me thinking so many possibilities! I will keep you posted on how this little endeavor goes!
I assumed that the answer to many of my questions was yes to some extent. But once I learned more about the expository genre myself, I felt compelled to teach my students more about it and implement it more into our daily reading and writing activities. I thought I would start small by introducing what a non-fiction or expository text is. I gave every one of my students a weekly reader that they are all very familiar with from this year and last year as first graders. They knew that the information that they would be reading about was true but they were uncertain of what the specific genre was. After we discussed the similarities and differences between fiction and non-fiction, as a class we slowly went through the weekly reader together. As we read along, I began to point out some of the non-fiction text features that could be seen throughout the weekly reader. Many of the students were already familiar with the features but were somewhat uncertain of the purpose of each. So I explain why we need each specific text feature to help us understand and read expository text. When we were done reading the weekly reader, I had the students take a few post- its and write three things they learned from the reading and three things that they had questions about or were still wondering about. I wanted my students to see that you can still make a lot of connections from expository books or readings as well as from fiction stories that we read. After I had them put their post- its into columns depending on if it was an "I learned" statement or an "I wonder" statement. I began to think that these post-its could lead to an expository writing piece from having many of their ideas and facts on a certain topic down on paper and easy to organize. With these post-its the students could decide to write a report on the topic that we read about and could broaden their knowledge of the topic with doing research of their "I wonder" statements. This idea then led me to thinking about how to teach my second graders about basic research skills through books and the internet. I believe that with my support and guidance that they would be able to complete their research and find the answers to their questions. Once the answers are found, we could then write reports to inform people about a certain topic that we have been studying in school.
There are just so many options that can happen when using expository text within your classroom. My presentation has got me thinking so many possibilities! I will keep you posted on how this little endeavor goes!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Entry 4
Hicks (2009) made me begin to think more about implementing technology into the writing process. I knew that it was something that should be done, especially with the generations of students who are coming into school knowing more about technology than I do. But Hicks (2009), truly has began to open my eyes on how I can adapt the use of technology with my second graders.
My second graders are just beginning to learn to type using the home keys through a typing program in computer class. I believe that with the help of this program and practice, my students will be able to master typing in a word processing program very soon. Once they have become more confident with their typing skills, I believe that they will be able to use the word processing program on their own to work through the writing process. This whole thought excites me!
I am excited for my students to know how to type and for me to be able to utilize their knowledge of technology to incorporate throughout writing. There are so many different avenues that I am able to take when implementing technology into the writing process. My students would be able to use the laptops in the school to write throughout the school day while taking advantage of the other tools on the word processing program, such as spell and grammar check. But I believe that my students need to have mastered the rules of spelling and grammar along with the conventions of writing to a certain extent so then they are able to know how to correct their own mistakes without having to rely on spell and grammar check. I believe that a student should not completely rely on spell and grammar check to make sure their writing has followed all the rules of English writing. But on the other hand, for the student that does struggle with spelling, the spell check tool may be a useful gadget for them to utilize when needed.
There are so many options for a teacher to incorporate within his/ her classroom's writing workshop. The ideas are overwhelming at times. I can see my students beginning the writing process in a word processing program and then moving on to other options, such as creating their own blog or having an email pen pal with another student from another second grade classroom. I believe that these are great ways for students to work through the writing process while still being able to take advantage of the technological advances that their school offers. Technology is such a large part of our lives today that I believe that it needs to be incorporated in schools and what not a better way to do that than through the writing process.
My second graders are just beginning to learn to type using the home keys through a typing program in computer class. I believe that with the help of this program and practice, my students will be able to master typing in a word processing program very soon. Once they have become more confident with their typing skills, I believe that they will be able to use the word processing program on their own to work through the writing process. This whole thought excites me!
I am excited for my students to know how to type and for me to be able to utilize their knowledge of technology to incorporate throughout writing. There are so many different avenues that I am able to take when implementing technology into the writing process. My students would be able to use the laptops in the school to write throughout the school day while taking advantage of the other tools on the word processing program, such as spell and grammar check. But I believe that my students need to have mastered the rules of spelling and grammar along with the conventions of writing to a certain extent so then they are able to know how to correct their own mistakes without having to rely on spell and grammar check. I believe that a student should not completely rely on spell and grammar check to make sure their writing has followed all the rules of English writing. But on the other hand, for the student that does struggle with spelling, the spell check tool may be a useful gadget for them to utilize when needed.
There are so many options for a teacher to incorporate within his/ her classroom's writing workshop. The ideas are overwhelming at times. I can see my students beginning the writing process in a word processing program and then moving on to other options, such as creating their own blog or having an email pen pal with another student from another second grade classroom. I believe that these are great ways for students to work through the writing process while still being able to take advantage of the technological advances that their school offers. Technology is such a large part of our lives today that I believe that it needs to be incorporated in schools and what not a better way to do that than through the writing process.
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