Discovering Genres

For the past year and half, I have been working with a group of teachers through the Red Cedar Writing Project on a teaching action research project engaging upper elementary writers.  The nine teacher cohort, Discovering Genres, has worked on adapting Cathy Fleishcher and Sarah Andrew-Vaughan's book, Writing Outside Your Comfort Zone: Helping Students Navigate Unfamiliar Genres to the elementary level. This group (and book) have changed the way I view and teach writing.

On Friday, October 20th, I was fortunate to be able to speak at the MCTE (Michigan Council Teachers of English) conference about the work our group has been doing. Two other members from the team joined me. It was phenomenal! We had about 20 people attend the session and two of them were Cathy Fleischer and Sarah Andrew Vaughan! We have been in contact with these two ladies about our work, and they couldn't be more supportive.

Although this book was written for the high school level, our group has figured out a way to adapt it to the elementary school classroom. The book doesn't tell you how to teach unfamiliar genres to students but rather gives you a process to use. It is called the four I's: immersion, inquiry, instruction, and integration (19-25).

To me, immersion is the most important part of this process. It is where we give students multiple chances to read in a specific genre they are not familiar with. Through immersion, students take notice of characteristics specific to that genre and as they read more and more in the genre, they begin to notice similarities.

The next step is inquiry. Through this step, students come together and discuss their findings. It is here that students begin to ask questions. It is these questions that guide the mini lessons.

After that, you have instruction. In my opinion, instruction is two-fold. It involves mini-lessons that come out of the inquiry process, and it allows students to try out the genre.

Lastly, is integration. This is the goal we want students to get to. During integration, students begin to follow this process on their own each and every time they find themselves in uncharted territory. In the beginning, integration may be something simple as having a student ask for an extra copy of their author blurb because they just published their own book and want to put it in there. Eventually, the student will begin to follow this process on their own or possibly teach their sixth grade English teacher about discovering genres because it helps them feel successful as a writer.

Discovering Genres is the theme in my writing classroom this year. With each new genre we discover as a class, the process becomes more ingrained in my students. We have created graphic novels based off R.J Palacio's Wonder and author blurbs to highlight ourselves as writers. We are about to begin obituaries on the Founding Fathers and menus to reinstate story elements for Shiloh. No matter the genre, it fits under one of the common core purposes for writing.

I teach this way because one day one of my students is going to be an author and have to update their author blurb.

I teach this way because one day one of my students is going to personally know someone who has died and need to write an obituary.

I teach this way because one day one of my students is going to see they can make a living with their artwork and need to write an artist's statement.

I teach this way because one day my students will start recognizing how many writing genres are out there.

I teach this way because my students need to know how to write in a variety of genres.

I teach this way because I believe in this process.

I teach this way because one day I won't be their teacher anymore.

I teach this way because one day I hope my former students will follow this process without me.

Writing Club

For many years I have wanted to start a lunch writing club for my fifth graders, but it never seemed like the right time.

Until this year. 

We meet on Tuesdays during recess and lunch in my classroom. Last week, during our first meeting, we generated a list of things the students want to do this year. These range from learning to write in cursive (sadly not a standard in my state anymore) to publishing a book. There are about eight things on the list and all involve some sort of writing. 

I wasn't sure what writing club was going to look like, and I decided to let the students be my guide. They are all here because they LOVE to write. 

So today we started with Sacred Writing Time. This is a time to honor writing. 

I posed the question: Why are you here? Why are you willing to give up your lunch and recess every Tuesday to spend it with me?

The students wrote. 

I wrote. 

And then, we shared. 

But not everyone. 

They just aren't ready yet. 

After that, we decorated our writer's notebooks. Some used magazines. Others drew pictures. Each made their notebook their own. 

Here is what I enjoy about writing club:

I am a facilitator of writing while I let my students lead the way. 

I can make connections with kids through writing because they want to be here. 

I am giving the students the time and space to write without the worry of a deadline. 

I am able to share what I am passionate about. 

I can't wait to see what these kids will do this year. I am sure I will write about it again. It's one of the reasons why I chose to have writing club on Tuesdays!

Reflecting on the Process

In one of my writing classes today we discussed the difference between a final draft and the process we took to get there. The students were able to pinpoint that the final draft is the final product; the writing that gets handed in. But they struggled with telling me what process they took to get to that final product.

So I asked questions.

When we started author blurbs what did we do first? Next? Then what?

And after a few more questions, they understood the process; the journey to get to this final piece. For me as teacher, I am more concerned with the process they take than the final product. It is through this process that my students learn to become better writers. This is why I teach my students to reflect on what they have written.

Part of my students' writing grade is their reflections. At the beginning of the year, they reflect about the process after the final copy is submitted. As the year goes on, they will learn to reflect during the process, daily. This gets them thinking about their writing. But right now, they aren't quite ready for that.

I go through and pick six to ten questions from Edutopia's 40 Reflection Questions that I feel will help my students reflect on what they just wrote and improve their next writing piece. Done correctly, this reflection will take anywhere from 20-30 minutes. I think sometimes as teachers we forget how important and powerful the reflection process is. It validates to the students that what they have to say is important.

If you don't quite agree, just read the reflection below.

Greenbelt Writing

This past summer I read Joy Write: Cultivating High-Impact, Low-States Writing by Ralph Fletcher. Many of the ideas in his book I found myself already doing in my classroom but there were a few that were new to me and one in particular that I new I was going to put into action, Greenbelt Writing,

Greenbelt Writing is about giving students a time and place to write and create whatever they want. Since I was an art major in college and have a love of incorporating art into my lessons, I created a makers space area in my classroom that can be used during Greenbelt Writing time, which will take place every Friday during the school year.

During our first full Friday of school I talked about Greenbelt Writing with all four of my fifth grade writing classes. We discussed what it was, what it will look like in the classroom, and generated a list of ideas of what the students could create. To say they were excited would be an understatement. These students were ecstatic!

Last Friday was our official first day of Greenbelt Writing. When I watched the students in class, I knew I was going to write about it.

It.
Was.
AMAZING.

Here are things I noticed:

I was extremely relaxed, which is a great way to end the week.
All but three of my 90 students were 100% engaged.
Students that aren't normally excited about writing, were the first to begin working.
Creative juices started flowing.
Books were started.
Stories were created.
Students collaborated.


When class was over, students asked if they could take their work home to continue working on it over the weekend.

My students can't wait until next Friday for Greenbelt Writing.

They are hooked, and my plan is working!

One of our paper drawers for Greenbelt Writing

Sacred Writing Time...Writing Times Four

If you asked me about my success in school as a child, it would be a short, sad story. If it wasn't for my high school math teacher, Mr. Kisken, I probably would never have been accepted into college. I didn't have the best high school GPA but Mr. Kisken got me. I  had him for three of my four years of high school math. He took things slow in his explanations and trusted the process. He created his own practice worksheets with a less is more philosophy. He also knew that academics weren't everything.

Mr. Kisken loved photography and would come and take pictures of his students during sporting events. For me, this is where I shined. I was fast, versatile, and could read the field well. And Mr. Kisken captured those moments while I played lacrosse.  It was also those moments that he wrote about in my college recommendation letter.

He took time to get to know his students; their interests and their strengths.
And a few times a year I find myself thinking about him.

This school year I have the opportunity to teach writing to all four sections of fifth grade. I have never been so happy! Each day during Sacred Writing Time I learn a little more about my students, and they learn a little more about me. It is through our sharing process that helps create more depth in our writerly community.

We recently created a heart map during one of our brainstorming sessions.  I knew when I read it about twice within a week (Two Writing Teachers and Aimee Buckner), I had to put it into action. So all four sections created a heart map, and I had the opportunity to create one too.

Four different times.

You see when my students write for Sacred Writing Time, I write.

We are currently building our writing stamina and are up to six minutes of uninterrupted writing time.

There are rules.

Don't stop writing.

The whole time.

And if you stop,  your pencil needs to be in your hand and you need to reread your work to figure out what you can add until I say, "Finish the sentence you are on. Not the sentence you are on and three sentences after that, but the ONE you are on."

So we write.

Including me.

You will usually find me in a spot where someone should be, but he/she is absent. I like doing this because my students see ME writing. (And they want to impress me).

Then. We share.

This is... my favorite part. As the days turn into weeks more students are coming forward and sharing. It is during this precise time that I feel as though I am getting to know my students in their own lives.

Today I learned that one student had to put her dog down recently.
I learned that one student enjoys playing musically.
I learned that one student was stung by five bees at once.
I learned that one student thoroughly enjoyed her field trip to the aquatic center in fourth grade.
And the list goes on...

But did I mention that I get to write?
Four different times in one day.
Four different stories.
And my students get to learn a little about me.

One class learned that my daughter shoved a Polly Pocket shoe up her nose when she was four.
One class learned that my other daughter fell head first on a cement floor while wearing roller skates. And yes, it wasn't pretty.
One class learned that I am not as invincible as I think I am and that was proven true when I threw my back out.
And the last class learned about my fear of diving off diving boards.

Just like Mr. Kisken, I have learned to trust this process.

Sacred Writing Time is just that.

Sacred.

I will never compromise it.

But it is also a  process that takes time to develop.

And it is with this process that will help these students realize what amazing writers they are capable of becoming.

Our Writerly Community

After going through the Red Cedar Writing Project Summer Institute in 2016, the way I teach writing has changed drastically. The summer institute was the best professional decision I have ever made.

This school year I have the opportunity to teach writing to all four sections of fifth grade, and I couldn't be more ecstatic about it! On the first day of class I asked each group how many of them saw themselves as writers. Out of the 91 students that I questioned, a total of 11 students raised their hands.

Eleven.

How is this possible?

I told them not to worry though. By June, all their hands would be raised.

This short conversation led to two questions: What do writers do? and What will our writerly community look like? The first question was a natural segway into the second. Listed on the white board in the back of the classroom are the characteristics of our writerly community.

And it wasn't more evident than today during my third class. In their writer's notebooks the students were coming up with external and internal character traits about themselves. We then took some time to share. During our sharing session, one specific girl was struggling to find internal character traits to describe herself. Using this as a teachable moment, I relied on the other students in the class to help her out and taught them how to do this. The girl next to her didn't know this student well but said in the week they have been in the same class she felt she was very kind. Another struggled to describe what she was thinking. These two had been in the same class the previous year but after letting her talk it out  and asking a lot of questions, she came up with calming. The girl who couldn't think of any characteristics to describe herself relied on the writerly community to help her.

With each day the students become more confident in their ability to write. Their stamina is increasing and often I catch them trying to add more and more while I am teaching.

It has only been three days since I met these 91 fifth graders and our writerly community is already taking shape. I can't wait to see how they develop as writers throughout the year and to ask them the same question the last day of class:  How many of you see yourself as writers?

A Letter to My Students

To the Students I Taught During My 20th Year of Teaching,

I only find it fitting that right now as you write letters to me, I am writing a letter to all of you. But that's what we do. You write. I write. We have been doing this all year long. The only difference is you just learned about this writing assignment today, and I have been thinking about what I want to say to you for many weeks now, and as I type, I am still not sure how to put everything that is going through my mind into words.

You fall into a special category. One that only two classes have so far in 20 years. You are a group of students that I am not ready to send on. There is something about you as a class. A connection. One that is special and rare. I knew it from the first day you walked into the classroom. I can't explain it but have been trying to figure it out for many months now. Maybe it was the way I created community, giving you choice each week as to where you sat and encouragement in your choice to sit next to those you didn't know. Or maybe it was the Monday morning talk time the first half of the school year where you talked to your neighbor for a few minutes, asking questions, getting to know them, so you realized that you were more alike than different. It could possibly have been Tell the Teacher. Our weekly ritual that allowed me to get a sneak peek into your daily life. Whatever it was, know that you will always hold a special place in my heart.

As I look out at each of you writing, I can't help feel that the end of this school year is bittersweet. It's a milestone year for me. I will always remember you as my 20th class. I think of the growth you have made this year and swell with pride. You made 193% growth in reading and 208% growth in language usage. Who does that!

You do.

Why?

Because you trusted me.

My sayings and beliefs became our sayings and beliefs: Always give 150%. And, I don't care of the score but the effort that is put in.

It was November when I had you where I wanted you. You matured and started to really listen. And because of that, you soared.

My absolute favorite time with you was Sacred Writing Time. I am not sure if you ever realized what this time did to you as a writer. You trusted the process.  You went from reluctant writers whose hands hurt to ones that asked for more time to write. You went from asking me a million questions before we wrote to asking none. You fully understood when I said, "I will not write in your writer's notebooks." It was a safe place for you to experiment and a place that you found your voice. You went from students who were afraid to share with one another to ones that couldn't wait to.

Although I am not ready to let you go, you are ready to leave. You are responsible, capable, and a wealth of knowledge. You know how to listen well, ask questions. and write with passion and voice. I can't wait to watch you grow as students, writers, and adults.

It has been an honor to teach you.

I will forever miss you.

Your 5th grade teacher, 

Mrs. Waugh