Ch. 14: Taking Care of Business

In this chapter, Nancie Atwell introduced nonfiction writing such as protest letters, letters of complaint, petitions, profiles, resumes, etc. This is a neat writing activity for students! I recall doing this only very few times since I’ve been in school, including college. That is very unfortunate because students are so consumed in completing literature tasks when writing for a purpose beyond the classroom produces greater results (develop “street smarts,” knowledge about real-world issues). While learning about Shakespeare is beautiful haha, students need to be more exposed to real-world writing since the majority of students are not going to college to become teachers of Shakespeare. J I absolutely love how Nancie Atwell encourages this activity, and it took me by surprise when she said that “Writing about ideas may well be the hardest genre to sponsor in school.” Now I understand why I find the Linguistics paper I’m going to write is very hard to begin in spite of my huge excitement about it. My paper is somewhat a campaign letter which I intend to address to the state eventually. I am advocating for the Deaf students who continually suffer in grade school, being retained yearly because they are unable to pass the LEAP. Their so-called inability to pass those standards is because English is not their native language; therefore they don’t speak or write it “good enough.” So…this chapter and my campaign letter = perfect timing!
As I’ve already said, I admire how Atwell encourages student involvement in writing activities that builds students’ knowledge and credibility in the real world. There is one thing that I’m confused about; Atwell says, “We never find five paragraphs- the essay form still taught in many schools –and we seldom find topic sentences, thesis statements…” So I wonder, WHY do we teach the five paragraph essay form so often, and not others? Better yet, WHY do we keep encouraging writing tasks that only require the five paragraph essay form? It gets BORING! Our students deserve more than that.

Chapter 14:Write What's Real

Atwell discusses nonfiction writing. They began by addressing the presidential election. One boy suggested that the student’s write letters. No one responded to the letters that the students wrote. How can this be encouraging to the students? However, Atwell says, “the experience of crafting an argument out of incoherent anger- of doing something about it- gave them perspective, a voice to raise, a sense of purposefulness, and the satisfaction of closure.” I too question how a student can write their own ideas. Is it really farfetched that Atwell believes that students are given things to write about instead of ideas to write about that affect their lives? However, how do we plant these seeds… when a student stops being a victim or allowing others to be victimized and writes as an agent, someone who uses written language to act (Page 457).” There seem to be many ways that students can get a sense of what they believe into their writing, through essays, petitions, resumes, etc. Yet, why don’t we exploit many of these writing forms with students? I wasn’t told to write this way and I wonder how these elements would become incorporated in the classroom. It’s a great idea for students to speak out on what they believe, because though school tends to mill everyone into one mold of a student, there are ways that students can stand out like Rachel who responded on Matt’s clear cutting essay. Her editorial gave students a voice in the school newspaper. This not only gave Rachel a stand with an audience she could get an ear from but this also made other students write out about what they believe in. “every year I clip timely editorials and columns from the NY Times, Boston Globe, and the Portland paper (page 468),” Atwell states. I could see how this would help students. They will know what is going on in the world around them and will be able to share their own opinions. Often school seems to only be concerned with the facts that have already been discovered, however let’s uncover our own truths. We can write about real life and how we feel. Do you think something like this could help students stay aware of the world around them as well as give them their own independent thought? I think kids would be pleased to say how they feel for once instead of how they are supposed to feel. Atwell writes, “Problems make good teaching (page 484)….” I agree that if students have a problem then they will show more interest in what they are writing or reading. Bringing real life into the classroom gives students an opinion. Is it our duty to teach students how to prepare for the real world? I guess the answer depends on the teacher but I know students will remember these morsels of truth. Maybe one day they will get a job and remember your efforts. English can involve teaching real life topics but we must find a way to incorporate these things do that they are connected with our classroom teachings.

Inquiry #6 Real and Relevant Writing!! Ch. 14

Chapter 14 is all about nonfiction writing. But, in Atwell’s class it’s not all boring essays. She introduces her students to writing letters, interviews (profiles), petitions, resumes, book reviews, etc. I love how she says that students can use “written language to act” (457). I think that must be such an empowering idea for young students – to know that they can make things happen with their words. Additionally, I think it gives a real purpose to the writing.

Another thing I love about Atwell’s methods is that she used real-life, contemporary examples for everything. While introducing profiles and book reviews, she and her students actually read current newspapers and articles to find good ways of writing in these styles. And, of course, all of her students' writing is written with an intended purpose and audience in mind. Everything they write is potentially going to be sent to someone or published.

Other things I love include, but are not limited to, the following: On page 468, when discussing her and her students reading collected essays, she says, “We never find five paragraphs…” I love it! That five-paragraph essay is so routine and thus, boring. I recognize that it’s a simple way to get students to organize their essay; but, really, I don’t want to read 120 or so five-paragraph essays when I’m a teacher. I want to read something interesting and out-of-the-box. I don’t want my students to have to fit their words into a certain format. I also love that Atwell disapproves of the traditional book report. What is the point of those? I definitely agree that book reviews are more sophisticated and interesting ways of discussing a particular book. And, they go beyond just summarizing the plot.

All in all, I enjoyed this chapter. As usual, Atwell presents the material to her students in such a real and engaging way that I can’t help but be inspired by her. She makes writing seem so relevant and powerful….and it is! Can I go be her student teacher next fall?

Chapter 13

As I was reading the poetry section of Atwell's book I was reminded of teaching my own poetry minilesson. Poetry is quite hard to teach but always seems fun . We must practice what we are going to present in class. Atwell suggests that we read our selection aloud so that students will be able to grasp the concept.

She also says that it is hard to know if students grasp the concept. Th+is is why she suggests that as teachers we break the poem down line by line. The ones who should practice and love the poems we teach should first be students and should next be the students. Pointing out our favorite lines seem to be a good idea because students may be likely to like many of these lines as well.

Atwell says that students will become good writers of poetry as they become good readers of poetry. So it is understandable that as students find genres that are good at expressing the points they are trying to get across. Students will be able to express their feelings and dreams within the realm of poetry. Poetry will help to reveal things about the kids that a teacher may never find out. For example, Jonathan's poetry reflects his love for going out to catch lobsters, which may have never been revealed through everyday conversations in class.

Poems can inspire dreamers and can show feelings of love. Atwell covers works of students who display all of these qualities. Students were able to capture memories that they weren't able to fully remember without the use of poetry. It seems that poetry can be a great tool to get to know your students.

Torvani Pt. 3

The strategies in the appendix sections are very helpful in how and which strategy I’ll decide to put to use. It’s difficult for me to choose what strategy I’d use more often than others because I believe that each strategy works best under certain circumstances; therefore, I’d base my decision on the learning activity my students are engaged in. However, I will provide ideas of how I’d some of these strategies:

-Double-Entry Diaries: Looking at the model, I feel like it’d be a dread to teach my students this type of strategy. However, under circumstances when we’ll read difficult texts such as Dante’s Inferno, I’d take the time to expose my students to this strategy because it’ll definitely help boost their confidence while reading such a difficult text. I see this strategy as a confidence booster because students tend to get frustrated throughout a difficult text, causing themselves to overlook what they can easily understand. Instead of being overwhelmed by their thoughts of “I can’t understand this!” and the negative impact such thoughts have while reading further, they can maintain confidence by paying close attention to what they can understand if asked to record their understandings. I’m referring specifically to the double-entry diary in which the right column begins with “This reminds me of…”

-Comprehension Constructors: While this would not be a “favorite” strategy of mine, it’s one I’m most likely to use more often than others because it’s very flexible and it’s not so tedious. I feel it is less tedious because the questions ask for answers that encourage free-thinking, rather than requiring students to think one way such as “This reminds me of…” line by line by line. An example of the comprehension constructor is “What’s your thinking?” In class, when I model this strategy to students, I’m “thinking aloud.” This strategy, “Think Aloud,” is mentioned in Nancie Atwell’s book in which she specifically model poetry writing by writing a poem of her and her mother (or her daughter, I can’t remember). In my opinion, comprehension constructors are most flexible because I can’t think of one activity that I feel this strategy will be applicable. However, as I stated earlier, different strategies work best in different activities so a comprehension constructor would not always be the best strategy to use in certain activities. J

My question is not as Tovani puts it, "Why teach strategies?"I wonder why not teach strategies?

These strategies are very helpful. I think that the double entry diaries may work well in the classroom.Students would be able to compare the text to their own thought.Is a student really reaching their full potential as a reader if they don't question the text. See, i feel that the point is to make it so that students question the text that they are reading. Maybe this strategy would work best with a tough read in a classroom and hopefully students would be able to question the reading as they should.I don't know could this be a strategy that is worked up to.For example, if we start by doing this with an article maybe we could work our students up to books. I think that my favorite strategy was the comprehension constructor. Does it remind you girls of those old reading worksheets from grade school, with the questions at the end of the story? If reading can be drawn from the reader wouldnt things work well, because students can form their own opinion much like with the double entry diaries. II think these tools would work great for building comprehension. However, are these thing too tedious?Would students rebel?

Inquiry #5 The Strategies

After looking over all the strategies in Tovani’s book, and having done one myself, I have decided that using the strategies in the classroom can be beneficial. I could definitely see myself using strategies such as the double- entry diary or the highlighting exercise when introducing the class to a difficult text (i. e. something not in modern English). Because they are so involved, I definitely wouldn’t do it too frequently; however, I think that once the students have read a text once or twice using one of these methods, they will become more aware as they read. Therefore, they’ll probably begin to mentally pick out the same things they would have written while using the strategy. I also like the comprehension constructor for a poem. I think that could be useful when students are exposed to difficult poetry. I think a lot of students struggle with poetry, and overall, don’t “get” it. I don’t know why, but I’m thinking of Emily Dickinson’s poems, which a lot of people don’t understand. Perhaps using a strategy such as this one would help a student understand it a bit more. I think the best thing about the strategies Tovani offers us is that they give the students the opportunity to try to comprehend for themselves. They attempt to read it first, without the teacher feeding them the right answers. I think that helps build independent readers. J

I did skim through Atwell’s book (at least the chapters we’ve read) and I really couldn’t find any mention of her using any particular strategies. I know that in her reading workshop everyone is reading something different, and students can choose to abandon books they don’t like. I also know that she really encourages the social aspect of learning. Maybe her students address their confusion or issues with a text directly with her during one of her conferences. Perhaps they write about it in their journals, and Atwell or a friend can respond with some clarification. I know Atwell is always nudging her students to go deeper in their reading, but does she actually teach her students any strategies?