Chapter 13: Writing: Commonsense Matters

I love the opening story of this chapter. Those children of Haapsalu had a story to tell, but due to their customs they weren't allowed to express it! I absolutely love how the teacher gave them their voice to write. These students had something to say! This reminds me so much of the movie Freedom Writers. The teacher in this movie gave each child a journal. At first, the students were not so sure about the journals and didn't want to write. Then, they realized they had a voice, and someone cared about what they had to say. I watch this movie every summer to pump me up for the next school year. Writing is crucial in anyone's life! I believe this is an area that many schools lack in. Many schools are all about literacy and forget about writing. When students feel like someone cares about their writing or that they have a real audience they want to write. They want to voice their opinions. I love that in writing you can teach many of the craft and conventions in writing. Grammar and spelling go perfectly with writing. A teacher doesn't have to teach any of those conventions independently. Students need a place to write. All of my students have a writing binder that is full of notebook paper and resources to use to assist them in their writing.

One part of this book that I LOVE and will use in the classroom is the tellingboards. What a great idea!! Many of my students love to draw but hate to write. The solution is tellingboards! Students can tell their stories in pictures. If I was to use this in my classroom. I would do a lot of modeling. I would tell students this considering writing because writing is thinking and drawing is thinking. This is a great way to brainstorm. Students can do multiple drafts of their pictures adding more details to their second draft. Their third draft can be their actual writing. By the time they finish their second drawing drafts, they will have a great guideline to start their story. Students can't say anymore "I don't know what to write!"

I really hope that high-stake testing does not take the importance of authentic writing away. I couldn't believe the teachers that had to sign a clause in their contract that if they didn't raise their scores in their classroom that they could be fired. There is so many factors in students passing or failing a test. I know that in third grade we spend a lot of time teaching students the format for writing for ISAT. I am spending time teaching this when I should be teaching students writing skills that they will use in the future, not writing skills that will help them pass a test!