Teaching Writing Fast and Effectively!

Diamante Poems | Rhyme Schemes | Rhymes | Acrostic Poems | Quatrains | Haiku | Limericks | Clerihew | Tanka | Free Verse | Simile | Metaphor | Alliteration 

Combine teaching these pattern based poems with the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” writing program and your students will be both highly effective and highly creative authors!

Diamante Poems

Keys to the Diamante Poem:
• Has seven lines formed in the shape of a diamond.
• You can base the poem around either synonyms or antonyms. What’s similar or what’s the complete opposite?
• Using antonyms seems to be the more popular version. “Two sides of the same coin” is a fun and interesting concept to explore. It’s the “ying and the yang” that makes it so much fun!
• There is a turning point midway through the poem where the focus shifts from one subject to the other subject.

Outline:
Line 1: One noun (Subject 1)
Line 2: Two adjectives describing the Subject 1 noun
Line 3: Three Gerunds (verb + -ing) connected to Subject 1
Line 4: Four nouns – Two connected to Subject 1 and two connected to Subject 2
Line 5: Three Gerunds (verb + -ing) connected to Subject 2
Line 6: Two adjectives describing the Subject 2 noun
Line 7: One noun (Subject 2)

Example:
Puppies
Funny, playful
Ripping, running, licking
Ball, leash, bell, mouse
Stalking, sleeping, watching
Silly, cuddly
Kittens

Rhyme Schemes

 To really use rhymes in an effective manner rhyme schemes are important for the teacher to be aware of. Rhyme schemes most often represented using the letters “A” and “B.” Rhyme schemes show you the pattern of the rhyme.

Examples of rhyme schemes:
AABB – hat, cat, top, mop
ABAB – hat, top, cat, mop
ABBA – hat, top, mop, cat
AABA – hat, cat, top, sat

Rhymes 

Word families are a great place to start with rhymes.

 –ack, -ail, ake, -all, -ame, -ank, -ar, -ash, -ate, -ay, -eep, -ell, -ick, -ide, -ight, -ile, -ing, -ink, -it, -oat, -ock, -oil, -oke, -ook, -oom, -ood, -ool, -ore, -ought, -ouse, -ow, -ump, -unk!!

Nursery rhymes are riddled with these word families.

Fun Idea – Choose a nursery rhyme and try substituting different word families.

Example:
Hickery, dickery doc, the mouse ran up the clock.
Becomes::::
Hockery, dockery, ick, the mouse became quite sick.  

Acrostic Poems

Keys to the Acrostic Poem:
• The letters in the title of your poem become the first letter in each line of your poem.
• If the title of your poem is “HAT” your poem will be three lines and if your title is “ELEPHANT” your poem will be eight lines.

Example: HAT
Held on the tip-top of your head,
A thing of warmth or beauty,
To be worn, warm, and admired!

Quatrains

Keys to the Quatrain:
• Four lines
• There are many different rhyming patterns that can be considered correct. (Alternating, Enveloping…)
• Many follow these rhyme schemes (AABB, ABAB, ABBA, ABCB, AABA)
• It is great (but not absolutely necessary) if you can make the rhyming lines have the same number of syllables!

Example:
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
              By William Blake

Cinquains

Keys to the Cinquain:
• Five lines
• Unrhymed
• Contains either a word count or syllable count. Modern versions use the word count.

Outline:
• Line 1: One noun that is both the subject and title.
• Line 2: Two adjectives describing the Line 1 noun.
• Line 3: Three verbs with –ing that tell an action related to the Line 1 noun.
• Line 4: Four words in a complete sentence that describe a feeling about the Line 1 noun.
• Line 5: One word that means the same thing as the Line 1 noun.

Example: Beach
Beach
Sandy, salty
Swimming, playing, sunning
I love the beach.
Seashore

Haiku

Keys to the Haiku:
• Three lines
• No rhyme. 
• Nature based
• Count the syllables!

Outline:
• Line 1 – 5 Syllables
• Line 2- 7 Syllables
• Line 3 – 5 Syllables

Example:
Cold arctic winds blow
Around majestic glaciers
Now melting, soon lost

Limerick

Keys to the Limerick:
• Contains five lines
• It’s a joke, a rhyme, a funny poem all wrapped up in one!
• Contains one couplet and one triplet. (Line 1, 2 and 5 rhyme. Lines 3, 4 rhyme.)
• Often contains exaggeration, play on words, and just plain silliness.

Example:
There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, ‘It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!’
          By Edward Lear

Clerihew 

Keys to the Clerihew:
• Four lines
• Lines 1 and 2 rhyme and lines 3 and 4 rhyme. (AABB)
• Line 1 contains the name of a character.
• Light, funny, and even silly.

Example:
Robert Wise
The horse he road was a big surprise.
It is tall and big, and I don’t know how
But it seems the horse he rides is really a cow.

Couplets, Triplets and Quadruplets

Keys to Couplets, Triplets and Quadruplets:
• Can be an entire poem in itself or just one part of a larger poem.
• Rules and complexity seem to vary on couplets, triplets and quadruplets based on how simple or complex the teacher wants to make it for their students.
• Each line rhymes, most of the time.
• Each line contains the same or a similar meter.
• Ideally each line will have the same number of syllables.
• Couplet – Two lines that rhyme and have the same or similar meter.
• Triplet – Two lines that rhyme and have the same or similar meter.
• Quadruplet – Two lines that rhyme and have the same or similar meter.

Tanka

Keys to the Tanka:
• Five lines.
• Each line has a specific syllable count.  (5-7-5-7-7)
• Does not rhyme
• Traditional themes are nature, seasons, friendship, and love 

Outline:
Line 1: 5 Syllables
Line 2: 7 Syllables
Line 3: 5 Syllables
Line 4: 7 Syllables
Line 5: 7 Syllables

Example:
Happy days are here
Good weather and my good friends 
Spending time well spent
Days are long and time runs fast.
Grateful in life, day and night.

Free Verse

Keys to Free Verse:
• No set pattern or structure.
• Doesn’t rhyme or have a specific rhythm. However, it is acceptable if there is some rhyme or some rhythm.
• Often used to express “deep thoughts” or “deep emotions.” 

Example:
The wily winds blew down barren landscapes.
Free yet contained by natures forces.
Caught in the middle,
A pioneer,
Heading west, west, west…

Simile

Keys to Similes:
• Compares things that are unalike.
• Uses the words “like, as”
• Have some fun and use “as if” and “as though”

Example:
The little boy rode his tricycle proudly, as if he were the ruler of both land and time. 

Metaphor

Keys to Metaphors:
• Makes a comparison of two things by saying that one is the other.
• If the question is “To be, or not to be?” with metaphors the answer is “It is!”

Examples:
• It is raining cats and dogs…
• All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.
William Shakespeare: As You Like It

Alliteration

Keys to Alliteration:
• Words in a sequence which begin with the same stressed consonant sound.
• Alliteration makes things easy to remember and easy on the ears.
• Why use alliteration? Just ask a kid!  “Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Daffy Duck, Fred Flintstone, Woody Woodpecker, Wonder Woman, Road Runner, Porky Pig, Roger Rabbit, Richie Rich, Mighty Mouse, George of the Jungle, Huckleberry Hound, Peter Pan, Captain Crunch…”
• Why use alliteration? Just ask, “Coca Cola.” It has worked well for them!

Why Teach Children Poetry?

Are you a true lover of poetry? Are you an avid and exceptional teacher of poetry in the classroom? If so… then this article is not for you.

This article is for the rest of us teachers who know that poetry has value… but with limited time and so much to cover… poetry needs to prove its case.

Poetry for Teachers Who Prefer Math and Science

Some have felt they were missing the point… or the value of teaching children to write poetry. It just wasn’t their style… and they thought they sounded kind of funny when they tried to explain the profoundness of poetry in being able to uniquely express the human condition.

These teachers understood that poetry could be fun, interesting, artistic, and beautiful. Great! But they wanted more than fun, interesting, artistic, and beautiful. There had to be some kind of “academic” reason for teaching poetry that students would understand and apply… beyond poetry.

Like many teachers, I myself suspected that poetry had the power to communicate to children what ordinary essay and report writing could not. I suspected poetry could be harnessed for academic gains and not just artistic revelry.

The goal for me with poetry was not to simply transform children into “poets” but also to transform them into “skilled and observant communicators.” I believed and dreamed… that poetry had the potential to help transform students writing… across the curriculum!

Here is what I discovered along the way…

Six Traits, Poetry, Patterns, and Communication

I’ve long felt that being a skilled communicator is among the most valuable assets that a person can possess. Even if a person ends up in a science or math oriented profession, being able to effectively communicate one’s ideas will likely have a larger impact on a career than the ideas themselves. A truly skilled communicator has complete mastery over the words they use and the meaning those words convey.

The “Six Traits of Writing” along with “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” has transformed my teaching of poetry in the classroom. When teaching poetry I now achieve many goals that transfer over to all of the writing that my students do… across the curriculum.

Out of the six traits found in the “Six Traits of Writing” model it seems that there are three traits that are inherently intertwined with the teaching of poetry writing to children. They stand out for me because I find that I am able to communicate their concepts very effectively when teaching poetry… and the concepts learned transfer over into all the writing my students do. This makes teaching poetry fun… and a good use of time!

Three Traits of Poetry Writing Which Improve Student Writing… Across the Curriculum

1. Organization and structure - The most popular forms of poetry that children are taught all seem to have a very definite pattern and structure. They are powerful and compact patterns that create powerful rhythm and meaning. By putting focus on the structure and the pattern in these rather simple poems you can help children to see the organization and structure in much of what they will both read and write… across the curriculum. (If you have used “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” with your students, you will find that these poems and the patterns found within them are almost a natural extension of the Pattern Based Writing program. Be sure to go to the “PatternBasedWriting.com” home page and see what I mean…)

2. Word choice and usage – The major poetry patterns have descriptive use of language built right into the pattern. Each word in student created poetry is carefully chosen and each word has a specific intent within the poem. Students often consider many choices for that one valuable word in that one specific position. When you have only 17 syllables for an entire poem… you have to be very picky and consider many different word choices… until you find the one that is just right! I’ve found it’s pretty easy to transfer this skill over to students’ essay and report writing.

3. Voice – Often a complete and unique voice is both started and completed in as little as 17 syllables! The most popular poems children are taught to write are powerfully condensed units of expression. It is easy to compare these short poems and clearly hear a unique voice in each one of them. When you compare a Limerick to a Haiku the shift in voice is… an easy teaching moment.

Getting the Most Out of Poetry

Poetry has a lot to offer in helping students to become artistic poets as well as successful students. Using a combination of “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” and the “Six Traits of Writing” model will transform your teaching of poetry writing into both an artistic and academic endeavor!

Be sure to read “Popular Forms of Poetry to Teach Children” and discover over 15 different types and aspects of poetry that children just love!

Research based report writing deals extensively with the organization of information and ideas. That’s a VERY, VERY important part of what “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” teaches! After using “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” your students will easily be ready for these “Fifteen Steps to Fantastic Research Reports!” (I’ve outlined the “Quick and Easy Essay” writing program for you on the homepage. It connects to what you will read here…)

Deciding on and Giving the Assignment

Step 1: Spend time on the computer clearly outlining the assignment. You may want to include a rubric detailing how the report will be graded and detailing what is expected. Give detailed directions on how you expect students’ sources to be cited and exactly how you will determine what you consider to be plagiarism. Be sure to discuss exactly what the report must cover along with the formal style that you may expect. Give each student a printed copy of this.

Researching Main Ideas and Sub-Topics

Step 2: Have students find sources of information for their subject. (Library, internet, encyclopedias, textbooks)

Step 3: Students now quickly skim and scan their resources getting a quick overview of their entire subject. Students need to learn the information as they research the material. Writing the report in their own words is hard to do if they don’t understand the material. (Teach students how to avoid plagiarism while they are young. Learning the material as students research helps students write their report in their own words.)

Step 4: Have students use a separate sheet of paper for each of their sources. At the top of each sheet of paper have students write the bibliography information for one source that they will be using.

Step 5: Students now skim and scan each source writing important big picture main ideas and main sub-topics which they feel they could build a report around. They should put a strong focus on headings, chapter titles, and table of contents. Have them write these ideas down in their own words by paraphrasing.

Outlining and Organizing

Step 6: Have students look over their sheets of paper that have all their big picture main ideas and sub-topics. Have them decide which main ideas and sub-topics they will want to build their report around. (Continue to urge students to learn the material.)

Step 7: Now students build a perfect puzzle of main ideas and sub-topics which will outline their report. In other words, they create an outline of what they want to focus on in their report. (It’s okay if they decide they need to change some of their main ideas and sub-topics as they continue to research their subject.) 

Researching for Facts

Step 8: Now students research and take notes. They can continue to use the same sheets of paper that they have their main ideas on, OR they can use an index card for each main idea or sub-topic. If you use an index card with the main ideas you need to be sure to mark which source you got your information from. Students do not write their notes in complete sentences. Have students write their notes in “Frankenstein Writing.” (Nile River – 4185 miles long – longest river in world) Sounds like Frankenstein, doesn’t it? Frankenstein writing is fast, and it makes sure students will later write their report in their own words.

Writing the Report

Step 9: Students follow their outline and use their notes to write their report. Students can research more if needed, but no using books when writing the report. Make sure students understand how to give credit to their sources of information. Students should also understand how to write a proper introduction, body, and conclusion for their report.

Step 10: Students create a bibliography page giving credit to all of their sources of information.

Proofreading and Editing

Step 11: For proofreading and editing, it’s best to give a short cooling off period so students will be able to look at all of their hard work objectively. If students hold off for 1-3 days, they will do a much better job.

Step 12: Students proofread and edit their report.

Step 13: Recopy for a fabulous report! (This may not always be a great use of time. However, sometimes it’s good for students to see a fantastic final copy on nice white paper.)

Sharing and Displaying

Step 14: Share! Students read their entire report to at least one other person. Also have an “Author’s Chair” where students can read a part of their report to the entire class. 

Step 15: Display! There are lots of ways to display reports. You can put them up on the bulletin board. You may want to put them in a binder to create a class book or have students create a cover for their own report and you have a classroom library! You may want to show them off when it’s time for back to school night, parent conferences, or open house. Consider all this before you send them home.  

Fantastic report! Great job!

Do’s and Don’ts of Language in Report Writing: How to Use Formal Language

• Do Use Passive Voice - You the author stay hidden. Focus on the facts and issues of the subject you are writing about. What do you think about those facts and issues? Not important. However, the facts and issues are important. The cause and effect of those facts and issues are important. You show others what you think is important by the facts and issues you include, as well as the topics you choose to write about. However, in your report writing… try to keep yourself hidden.

• Don’t Use Personal Pronouns – Rarely if ever, use “I, we, my, mine, our, ours, you, yours.”

• Do Use Third Person – He, she, his, hers, it, its, them, their

• Do Use Correct Academic and Technical Language – When you take notes and when you paraphrase, keep the correct technical words. You may want to define these technical words for your reader, but don’t substitute a lot of simple words for the correct academic and technical language. 

• Don’t Use Casual Language – Casual language includes both the words you use and the way you talk to your reader. Above in “Passive Voice” it says, “What do you think about those facts and issues? Not important.” That is casual. Casual can be fun and can be used to create and maintain interest, however use it very sparingly in report writing.

• Avoid Emotional Power Verbs. Be objective. Be Neutral.
Famous Quote: The Facts, just the facts, ma’am. (Dragnet)

Example:
Objective: The government acted quickly in order to remedy the situation.
Emotional Power Verbs: The government sprang into action in order to save-the-day.

Students need to be taught how to use formal language in report writing. You can add a little bit of variety and a little bit of fun to report writing if you treat it more like “formal voice.” After all, there are degrees of formality…

The term “voice” is used in the “Six Traits of Effective Writing” model. We want students to know that they are learning to write with voice and not that we are taking away their voice. Students who love to write sometimes feel they are losing their voice when they learn that they must use formal language in report writing.

Some Get It… Some Don’t Want To! 

Many students naturally understand the correct voice, tone, and style for report writing. They have read a lot of this kind of writing and they understand the style. They more easily see the difference between styles of writing and can easily imitate them. For some, it is the writing voice they naturally hear in their head when they write.

Other students hear a different voice in their head when they write. It’s a more colloquial voice and they don’t want to change it.  They don’t want to write in “that boring style.” Some of these students don’t really understand “formal voice” and some seem to rebel against “formal voice.”

Direct Instruction in Formal Voice for Report Writing: Three is the Magic Number for Comparison

Teaching report writing voice with a comparison of two is a mistake. There is not just:

There is a range to formality and three is the magic number for comparison. We can take a lesson from storytelling (and character development) that when you want to show comparison, three is the magic number.

Notice in these three fairy tales, comparison is a prominent theme:

• Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• The Three Little Pigs
• Three Billy Goats Gruff

The list goes on and on…

Ideas for Teaching Formal Voice through Comparison and Using the Rule of Three

It’s becoming easier and easier to find three different samples on a particular subject designed for three different audiences and which contain three different voices. It is a little bit of work, but well worth it when teaching “voice” in writing. (Many of the ideas below are kid created and you don’t have to do a thing.)

• Have students write about an experience or describe something from three different age perspectives. This works even if they just write a sentence or a paragraph from these three different age perspectives. It doesn’t have to be a long piece of writing for students to engage in using different voices.

• Read about a historical figure or event from three different sources designed for three different audiences. (Ex. Encyclopedia, text book, student generated from the internet.)

• Show three different news sources reporting the same news story. These days there are quite a few news sources to choose from and they range from stoic to downright wacky at times.

• Use three different video learning sources with different styles and/or designed for different audiences. Examples: 
          1. A documentary.
          2. A kid’s educational video series (Standard Deviants etc.)
          3. A cartoon type or one of those nutty science guys. (Beckman’s World etc.)

More Ideas for Teaching Formal Voice in Report Writing

Have students:

• Find a model (or models) for a voice they want to communicate in their report writing. (A television news anchorperson etc.) Have them write a paragraph describing what they observe in the voice, tone, and style of that person. Have them read their paragraph in their newfound voice.

• Role play in small groups reading samples of writing using a voice they want to have in their report writing.

• Have an imaginary panel of advisors hanging over their shoulder advising them as they write and edit. This panel of advisors will all have British accents and encourage writing in the utmost formal manner.

• Teachers, can you do a proper British accent? If so, kids identify with this as being formal and fun!

A Paragraph Beautifully Defined

A paragraph is a collection of sentences with unity of purpose. A paragraph handles and exhausts a distinct topic.
                                                                   Alexander Bain – 1871
 
This description of a paragraph is about as good as it gets! Alexander Bain is also credited as having been the first person to have formally laid down the rules of paragraph construction.  (Bain’s original rules for paragraphs are outlined below.)

A Modern Look at Paragraph Rules

There is a beauty and logic to all of Bain’s rules for paragraphs, however modern paragraph theory is a little more generalized and seems to center on these three principles. All-in-all they do contain most of Bain’s ideas, however, they also allow a little more freedom for creativity in paragraph construction.

1. Unity – Single minded focus of ideas. All the sentences must have unity of purpose AND there must be no information in the paragraph which does not serve that purpose.

2. Coherence – Ideas flow in a manner which makes them easily understandable.

3. Development – Ideas support and develop a topic sentence or main idea.

Alexander Bain’s Six Paragraph Rules Paraphrased for Easy Reading and Easy Understanding

1. The direction and purpose of each sentence should connect to what came prior. This must be explicit and unmistakable.

2. When several consecutive sentences repeat or illustrate the same idea, they should, as much possible be formed alike. (Parallel construction) The main subject and predicate should maintain their positions throughout.

3. The opening sentence (topic sentence) is expected to indicate the subject of the paragraph.

4. Each sentence in a paragraph should be found in its most suitable location within the paragraph. Every paragraph has a plan dictated by the nature of the composition. As such, sentences should be laid out in accordance of this plan. An out of place sentence brings confusion.

5. A paragraph should possess unity and contain a definite purpose. There should be no sentences or information contained in that paragraph which does not support that purpose. 

6. The big sentences within the paragraph should be the important ideas. The smaller sentences should be the less important ideas. Everything should have bulk and prominence according to its importance.

Interesting concepts! Proportion, symmetry, parallelism, balance…

Paragraph Writing is an Art, but Don’t Forget the Rules!

It wasn’t until the 1600’s when the growing importance of the printing press would put the paragraph on the road to its current prominence in the written English language. (In fact, some still consider the paragraphs most important attribute to be the visual aspect that helps the reader to clearly survey the printed page.)

It’s a little surprising to think that before 1871 the rules of paragraphs had not been clearly laid down. When you think about it… 1871 is not that long ago! 

Though the rules of paragraphs have become more universally understood and taught, there remains much art in what writers actually do. Most confident writers rarely think of the rules of paragraphs as they write. Confident writers just know when to start a new paragraph without even thinking about it. (Most then make changes to their paragraphs as they reread and edit.)

Supporting the argument that there is an art to paragraph writing… beyond rules, is that studies have shown that when paragraph formatting is removed from a piece of writing, few people will re-paragraph it the same way it was before. In fact, the same person may not re-paragraph it the same way two times in a row.

Teaching Kids Paragraphs

Early in my teaching career I remember spending lots of time trying to get students to master paragraphs. I thought, “If I can just get them to master these paragraphs… it’s going to change everything!” 

What I learned was that students don’t develop paragraph mastery until they develop an understanding of how paragraphs fit together within an essay, and understand the relationship between paragraphs and the introduction and conclusion.

A paragraph in multi-paragraph writing reveals the truer purpose and the truer need for the paragraph. Paragraphs make sense to students when they discover how to create a unique “unity of purpose” for each distinct paragraph in their multi-paragraph writing.

It’s a great feeling when you see your students stop thinking about the rules, but still maintain wonderful paragraph structure and paragraph form! That’s what I call a “confident writer!”

Find out how to make this happen at the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” homepage!

Teaching Sentences as Grammar VS. Teaching Sentences as Writing

Do you teach “grammar” when you teach children about sentences… or do you teach “writing” when you teach children about sentences? Let’s take a quiz. Read this sentence:

Do you still eat pizza every day?

Which of these four kinds of sentences is this?

• Declarative Sentence – Makes a statement.
• Interrogative Sentence – Asks a question.
• Exclamatory Sentence – Expresses strong feeling.
• Imperative Sentence – Gives a command.

The answer depends on if you are teaching “grammar” or if you are teaching students “writing.”

If you are teaching grammar… the answer is simple. It is an “Interrogative Sentence” because it does ask a question.

However, in a sense it is really two sentences. Let’s take a closer look at it.

Do you still eat pizza every day?

Notice the word “still.” “Still” adds to the question in a way that it makes it a presupposition (pre-suppose.) Now the sentence really has two parts.

1. A statement: You use to eat pizza every day.
2. A question: Do you still?

Have you ever heard of the “Secret A, B, C Sentence?”

It’s one of the patterns in “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay.” It’s a powerful sentence pattern that brings mastery to topic sentences and essay introductions without the teacher explaining a thing.

Without “explaining”… it teaches children that while it is true that a sentence communicates an idea, it also implies many other ideas. Isn’t this really what a topic sentence does? Doesn’t a creative introduction really imply what the rest of the essay will be about… without giving all the details away?

We often think of a sentence as just one idea but there are really many hidden ideas within that sentence. Wait though… don’t try and “explain” this to kids. When you teach them to WRITE using “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” they will just… get it!

Be sure to go homepage (or click over on the right) and get your FREE Guide to Writing EBook!

Ten Top Reading Comprehension Strategies for Elementary and Middle School Students:

1. Main Idea – Can you figure out what is most important about this paragraph, chapter, or story? Can you see the big picture of what all the little details are adding up to?

2. Predicting – What do you think is going to happen and what makes you think that? Were there clues along the way that back up your prediction? Can you point out those clues?

3. Inferencing – Hey… you are a smart cookie! The author didn’t say that specifically… but yet you still figured it out! I guess you made a guess and you guessed correctly. Karen said her best friend was coming over and when Rhonda showed up, you figure out that Rhonda was Karen’s best friend. It’s only logical!

4. Visualizing – Can you imagine that? Can you picture it? Okay… well what would it look like if you could picture it?

5. Asking Questions – As you read… are there things you are wondering about? Are there things that you are reading that don’t make sense to you or you don’t think are logical? There should be things that you don’t understand or don’t seem logical to you… at first. Ask a question… Hmm…

6. Cause and Effect – As you read… for each thing that happens… what made it happen? What were the things that led up to it… that caused it? In science they say that for every action there in an opposite and equal reaction. In reading that lets us know that for every cause there will be an effect and for every effect… there was a cause.

7. Clarifying – Okay, admit it… you’re lost! What confuses you? How can you clarify what doesn’t make sense to you? You can back it up, slow down, and reread so that you can make sense of what you don’t understand.

8. Summarizing – If you understand what you have read, you want to be able to tell someone about it… but you don’t have all day to tell them. They are in a rush just like you! So make it quick and tell them just the most important ideas and what all those important ideas add up to. They will enjoy your summary and… this shows that you understand what you are reading!

9. Making Connections with Your Own Life – You have a lot in common with the people you are reading about! Yes… even the wizards and the talking toads! You all sleep, eat, do activities, and interact with living creatures. Can you think of a similar situation you were in? Maybe you weren’t eating delicious flies like the talking toad… but he probably feels the same way about those flies that you do about a delicious pizza!

10. Compare and Contrast – What’s the same and what different within the story? What’s the same and what’s different between this and other stories? What’s the same and what’s different between what you are reading and how you see the world? What’s the same and what’s different…

Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay Writing for Kids!

State Standards, Standardized Tests, and… Writer’s Workshop?

In the real world of state standards and standardized tests, it can be a little difficult for a teacher to get their head around what Writer’s Workshop is. As long as I have been teaching there has been a continuing push towards making teachers more and more accountable for student achievement.

With Writer’s Workshop teachers are accountable… but they are also asked to take a leap of faith into the world of flexibility. The teachers are asked to believe that Writer’s Workshop is the best way to get the results that EVERYONE wants for the students they teach.

In this multipart series on Writer’s Workshop you will:
• Learn what Writer’s Workshop is
• Discover how you may already be using certain aspects of Writer’s Workshop
• Learn some tips for implementing Writer’s Workshop
• Learn how to avoid some of the stress and traps of implementing Writer’s Workshop

I am a teacher… and the realities of REAL teaching in actual classrooms will always be a part of everything you will read in this series.

What is Writer’s Workshop?

Here are “the parts” of Writer’s Workshop. We will examine each of the following parts and will explore the pros, the cons, the problem areas, and the areas of benefit for each stage of Writer’s Workshop.

1. Mini-lesson – Direct instruction lasting between 5-15 minutes.
2. Status of the Class – As students begin work on their individual writing project, the teacher quickly monitors the status of each student. Where are the students in their writing and how will they be spending their writing period? (2-3 minutes)
3. Writing and Conferencing – Students write and teachers either write or conference. The teachers can conference with individual students or small groups. Teachers are encourage to spend at least some workshop time actually writing themselves in order to model what authors do. (25- 40 minutes)
4. Sharing – There are a variety of ways to share. Author’s chair, peer editing, and reading to at least one other student are popular methods. (5-10 minutes)

Using the Writing Process in Writer’s Workshop

It is important to note that the entire Writer’s Workshop process incorporates the entire Writing Process. Here is a simple version of the writing process outlined for you:

1. Prewriting
2. Drafting
3. Revising
4. Proofreading
5. Publishing

The actual writing process is not a straight line and there are other models of the writing process which more accurately reflect the TRUE writing process. This five step model is “the classic version” and one which is easy for students to grasp. Essentially, this is what students will be implementing during Writer’s Workshop. 

Using the Six Traits of Effective Writing in Writer’s Workshop

Also worth mentioning is that a natural part or integration of Writer’s Workshop is the Six Traits of Effective Writing model.

The Six Traits of Effective Writing are:
1. Ideas
2. Organization
3. Voice
4. Word Choice
5. Sentence Fluency
6. Conventions

Let’s Use More and More and More Workshops!

 How important is Writer’s Workshop to creating fantastic writers? Proponents propose that it is indispensible to creating students who can truly write. But before we go hog-wild on Writer’s Workshop here are some more workshops where the proponents propose the dire necessity of the workshop.

• Reader’s Workshop – Your students will develop independence in reading and become lifelong readers outside of the classroom. Your students will conference with peers and teachers yet the focus is always on becoming independent learners. Reader’s Workshop often becomes the favorite part of a student’s day!

• Independent Work Time (IWT) – Students must have a time each day where they work productively in groups while the teacher meets the needs of individual children. Teachers also need a time where they can challenge advanced students and give support to struggling students… and the Independent Work Time Workshop is the method you should use!

• Math Workshop – Meet the needs of your children! Boring textbooks leave behind the students who can’t keep up while too much hands-on math ensures that all your students will fall behind. We have the perfect solution. It’s “Math Workshop!” We have uniquely found the right balance!

I think you will be able to find a “workshop theory” for every single subject and every single concept that a teacher might teach.

The Truth about Writer’s Workshop

The truth about Writer’s Workshop is that teachers have used workshop strategies for years and years without a lot of the rhetoric associated with “Writer’s Workshop.”

Many workshop strategies are used across the curriculum in order to:
• differentiate instruction
• scaffold instruction
• meet student’s needs

Sometimes people get carried away with “philosophies.” Can anyone say “out of touch administrators” or “professional development guru?” It seems a lot of decision makers have not been running a classroom for a long, long time…

Personally I use many aspects of Writer’s Workshop… and… I also know I have to use my time wisely!

There is not enough time in the day for workshop after workshop and still teach the curriculum and meet state standards and prepare for the upcoming standardized test.

But… it’s great to know about all these theories and strategies so we can continue to grow as teachers!

Be sure to:
1. Check back for Part 2 of this series
2. Read “The Controversy over Writer’s Workshop in Elementary and Middle School”
3. Go to the homepage and discover “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay.”

Grammar, Vocabulary, Worksheets… NOT!

Grammar, phonics… whatever my students need is what I want to teach. I can get as excited about the sound of a single letter as I can about an entire essay.

Discovering the full beauty and interconnectedness of a particular subject is always fascinating to me.

This beauty exists in even the most minute details of a language. However, in order for ESL students to master English you will find that grammar, vocabulary and worksheets are not the ultimate and final solution. They are important… but as my story will illustrate, they are not “the ultimate solution.”

Discovering the Full Power of Authentic Written Communication for ESL Students

Step 1 – Learning Words

I began my teaching career in Los Angeles as a substitute teacher. At the time, with bilingual education, many students in the majority of classrooms knew very little English.

Imagine teaching a kindergarten class when they speak no English… and you speak no Spanish. Funny… but not fun. In fact, it could get a little nutty. I had to learn a lot of Spanish words fast so that I could get the kids both working and behaving. 

Step 2 – Worksheet Torture… Until I Discovered “THE TRICK”

Living in Los Angeles and loving to surf, once I was teaching full-time I would take surf trips to Central America on my vacation. I would find a Spanish school right on the beach and I would get college credit through an extension course in the United States. I would return from my vacation with a great tan and 9 units of college credit.

My first Spanish school that I attended was right on the beach in Costa Rica. They took their job a little too seriously. In fact… there were tests and homework!

Upon arriving at the school everyone thought I would be the star student. I knew a lot of words and I was not afraid to speak them regardless of how silly I sounded! Everyone else in the class had taken classes. Many had taken years of Spanish classes. Soon I was struggling to keep up with the course work. I knew a lot of words but I knew nothing about the structure of the Spanish language.

One day as I was starting on my second hour of homework, another student who had finished his homework in just 10 minutes said, “Listen… you just need to find what the TRICK is… and then fill in all the blanks using that trick.”

I wanted to learn the language… but once I knew that I could simply use the trick and then go have fun… it was hard not to take advantage of this newfound knowledge. I almost felt embarrassed that for several weeks I had spent hours completing my homework.

Use the trick, pass the test, have fun now, and learn Spanish later! This is the problem with both worksheets and grammar! After all, who is so strong willed as to resist this strategy when sitting just steps from the beach in Costa Rica?  

Step 3 – Oral Fluency is Just Barely Competent

As I went on more surf trips and attended more and more Spanish schools, I developed quite a network of Spanish speaking friends. Most of my days were spent practicing grammar in the classroom or speaking Spanish with friends. There were times when my head was spinning so fast with Spanish verbs that it would feel as if I were about to head out into orbit.

You would think that this is what it takes to master a language! However, there was something missing and I was about to discover what it was quite by accident.

Step 4 – The Hidden and Neglected Key for Breaking through to Fluency

With bilingual education on the outs, I rarely spoke Spanish while back home in Los Angeles. However, I had quite a few friends in Central America with whom I would email regularly. I am not a perfectionist but I do try to do things correctly. As such, I poured my heart and soul into most of my emails.

I was expressing “deep thoughts in Spanish!”

I returned to my favorite Spanish school right on the beach the following year and it turns out I had become FLUENT in Spanish since I last attended. EVERYONE would ask, “Where… how… when… did you learn all this Spanish?!”

Authentic Written Communication is the Key with Elementary and Middle School ESL Students

The above learning experience GREATLY increased my use of authentic written communication in the classroom. One key to my success in Spanish was that I took pride in my writing and I wanted it to be correct. I was self-monitoring in my writing. 

In order for ESL students to develop this same self-monitoring pride in their writing they must be communicating what they perceive as an important “big picture message.” In other words, there must be structure to their overall message even if it is written with grammar errors and simple vocabulary. 

When students take pride in their “authentic written communication” many grammar errors simply will not sit well with them. They will want their masterpiece to be perfect!

Day-by-day your “ESL students” will simply become successful students. Focus too much on grammar, vocabulary, and worksheets and your ESL students will stay ESL students!

Ideas to Walk Away With

1. Vocabulary – A large vocabulary is great. However, when it is time to work in an academic capacity the limitations of just a large vocabulary are quickly exposed.
2. Grammar and Worksheets – These work great for learning “the trick.” It’s true that learning the trick is a part of learning the language. However, the truth is that worksheets are often not done with the true intent of learning at all. Students don’t have an unlimited amount of time to complete their work. As such, students’ main objective often becomes to get their work done as correctly and as quickly as they can using whatever tricks they can.
3. Speaking Fluently – You don’t need to know how a car works in order to drive one… but if you want to become a professional race car driver… you do. We want our students to have a “professional level” of competence in their new language. Students need more than just oral fluency.
4. Authentic Writing – This is the most neglected and among the most valuable tools for teaching ESL in elementary and middle school.  Teachers often think “but my students don’t have the vocabulary to write a lot” or “my students need to improve their grammar before they can write a lot.”  The truth is that this thinking is backwards! Students need a REASON to master their vocabulary and grammar! Authentic writing is this reason!
5. “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” is a writing program developed by a teacher who has extensive experience teaching ESL students AND by a teacher who has actually learned a second language. “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” will quickly TRANSFORM your ESL students into shining examples of grade level success stories!

Authentic written communication even with limited vocabulary, and even with lots of grammar errors skyrockets student motivation! Students need a BIG reason to focus on the SMALL details!