In terms of attitudes of writing about writing in the RRJs, I think we are getting somewhere. I have brought in colorful pens for the students to choose from when writing. They acted as though they had struck gold. I guess it's the little things that make a difference to 2nd graders.
One struggle I am having is finding a separate time for the students to all write in the RRJs at the same time so I am able to better observe them. As of now, they all write in them immediately after I meet when their particular guided reading group. This seems to work well because the reading material is fresh in their mind, but now I am not able to see their facial expressions, how long they work, etc. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Another struggle I am having is not being able to correct the spelling and grammar mistakes. According to
Simpson (1986), having no pressure of the journals being graded
for right or wrong is a major confidence booster.
There was no fear
of writing because thoughts, perceptions, and insights were what mattered—
not
mechanics and spelling. They were not burdened
by the need for correctness. The
students
became convinced that there were no right or wrong answers. They learned that each comment
was valuable
because the person expressing an opinion was valuable” (p. 47).
My goal is to continue writing back and modeling correct writing mechanics. Hopefully this will stick with them and they will realize my expectations are a little higher.
Here are some examples of some student responses this week (again... sorry for the random angles. does anyone know how to rotate them?).
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Simpson,
M. K. (1986). A teacher's gift: Oral reading and the reading response journal. Journal
of Reading, 30(1), 45-50.
It sounds like you're doing great! I never would have thought of the colored pens idea, I can imagine that would go great with even my third graders, you're right-it truly is the small things with kids at this age! As far as not correcting the spelling in their journals, I do have one suggestion. Are you familiar with Daily 5? In that program/system it suggests to teach your kids to write freely and not to stop to worry about spelling. However, you teach the kids to underline the word they any words they don't know when they are writing and just move on. Then, at a later date (when you are in the revision phase) they can look the word up or get assistance another way. I realize the full picture of this won't be carried out in your circumstance, but it would show effort on their part that they know that they have not spelled the word correctly (if they underline it). Maybe that isn't a remedy, but it is a suggestion. Also, on the rotation of pictures, you need to rotate them before you upload them into the blog. I'll email you my phone number and you can call me this weekend whenever you're working on class stuff, as it will probably be WAY easier to explain over the phone than over the blog! =)
ReplyDeleteI am also struggling with observations, I'm not sure I fully understand the rotations of when your students respond in their journals, but have you ever thought of sending them to a corner to respond where you can video tape them and then you could document observations based on the video tape. Just a thought. I know it sounds weird, but it might help?
On another note, I am really curious to hear about your students thought on your responses in the journals. Do they write back to you, or ever make comments to you about what you have written in their journals? Hope I have helped, it not, just disregard it.
I agree-the colored pens idea was brilliant! :) Way to get them even more excited about writing!
ReplyDeleteI was also going to suggest the videotaping idea too. I like Liz's idea of having them possibly going into one spot on the room where you could videotape them too. You would be able to take great observation and field notes then.
I also love that you have your students go write as soon as they are finished with guided reading with you. This is awesome because, like you said, it is very beneficial for them to write immediately after and when the text is still fresh in their minds.
Is your goal to eventually have them write a full paragraph back to you?
Thank you both so much for your helpful comments!
ReplyDeleteI think I will attempt the videotaping idea (maybe once a week) because it could get a little crazy if I did it more often.
Amy- yes, my goal is for them to write using more details without me having to prompt them to do so. Due to the drastic ranges of each of the 4 students, I guess I have different expectations for them individually. One student- I am happy to get a complete sentence that makes sense. Another student, I feel as though she could write an entire page on one journal entry with success.
Liz- Thank you... I will call you next time I attempt to download a picture if I am still running into the same issue. And I am excited to hear about their direct thoughts too--- I will let you all know because I am conducting interviews in a few minutes!
LOVE LOVE LOVE the links to research and actual data from your field.
ReplyDelete