I have never thought about revising being close to comprehension.  It is amazing how different aspects of learning are so closely linked.  It is easy to understand why and how they correlate with one anther once they have been pointed out.  Both areas have to do with making sense of what you read. 

I liked the different ideas this chapter gave for the writing plan.  I think it is good to see options because the same thing does not always work for all teacher or all classes.  I think that at some points and for some classes all the ideas sounded very useable and appropriate. 

I like all the integration of reading and writing.  I try to integrate as much as possible in my class.  It is very important for students to see how successful writers set up their stories, words they choose, and ideas they use.  Analyzing published writing and letting children use text to mentor their writing is a great way to get students excited about writing.  The mentor text gives them support and some ideas to build upon.  This may not seem as scary and intimidating as just making them write. 

I defiantly have some work to do in learning how to evaluate and revise but I do think that I am learning.  I started the graduate program with each paper looking like a page from Chainsaw Massacre after having someone proof papers, and now they are much less gory.  I feel that as I learn and become better at it, it will be easer to help my students.

I thought it was great how they were all so very different.  The topics, presentations, and feel of the project really seemed to reflect the individual.  I really enjoyed the personal history of Mary and Kari.  They were really touching and made me think of my own history.  I really do know a great deal about my family history and have a quilt from my great-great grandmother. 

Holly peaked my interest in Lord Byron and now I want to learn more about him.  I loved that she just wanted to prove the stereotype of girls not being good in math are not true to her students. 

Amy did a great job of teaching me something about racing, but also “gearing” her project toward her classroom.  I loved the games she made for her students and also the books that they made and now get to look at in their reading station.  Nicole also wrote her Poe project so that her students could learn from it and increase their interest in the study.   I found him to be an interesting topic and wish I could have read her chapter book.

Sonia and I both chose our projects based on our curriculum so that we may use them in the classroom (Others may have too, but I do not know their curriculum).  I loved Sonia’s fluttering facts about butterflies and heard several that I did not know.  I think that children would love making the expandable caterpillar too. 

Heather’s huge leather back sea turtle really made a great first impression.  Her love for the turtles was very evident and a passion always makes the subject more personal and exciting. 

I learned a lot from my project but I took back some great ideas for my classroom and new general knowledge about other subjects I did not have before. 

I also think that it is great for those struggling in writing.  This way they do not have to start from scratch but build on something concrete.  I know that in second grade my students are very concrete learners and this would just really excite them.  I can’t wait to try a wordless picture book in my classroom to write a story with.  I think it would be great to have several groups writing about the same book and when published compare the books and see how they had different things to say about the same book.  My second graders would love the challenge I think.

Actually doing the muti genre project is helpful in truly understanding what I would be asking my students to do.  I do think that students of all abilities would benefit from the project because they have options on what to write.  In theory the more advanced students would challenge themselves and do more advanced writing.  I think that sometimes my struggling readers and writers try much harder and put more thought and effort into their work.  That is where the strengths and needs assessment part comes into effect.  I really like the example in Writing Without Boundries that stated “She might have listened more closely to her revision conversations and expanded on this writing, as was suggested by other students and the teacher.”  The student is now aware that the teacher knows she did not listen and make her project better.  I do think that multi genre is a great way to get children involved and interested in a subject, especially if they get to choose what they write about. 

Reading the assessment chapter really made me think about assessment, evaluation, and test.  What and how do I really use these in my classroom? Do I use my formative assessments to effectivly decide what I need to teach to help the children understand what they need to know?  I think that these questions go across the curriculum. 

I also thought a great deal about the prompts and how they affect the writing.  I was amazed at the difference the wording made in the prompts that they gave.  I have never stopped to think that simple wording of a prompt makes a huge difference. 

In teaching there is so much to think about and mandated for us to do that it is getting harder and harder to be effective.  (or at least feel effective)  I agree that the assessments that are given by the state are difficult and high pressure for the students.  Neither do I think they are going to get any better in the near future. 

There was also a lot of group collaboration that was integral for the understanding and completion of the assignment.  I like putting the project on the student and then they have a real sense of accomplishment and learn problem solving, cooperation, and general thinking skills as well as about their subject and genres.  This seemed to be such an important part, and I felt that my second graders do well to stay on task without a teacher for about 5-8 minutes.  After that, the conversation tends to not be on task.  I am not saying that it can not be done, but I feel that it would be a definite challenge.  I have completed a multigenre project and was not aware of it until now.  I still remember the project and some of the things we completed for a high school English class.  I do not remember a lot of assignments from school and think that it is interesting that once I started reading about multigenre that this particular project really stood out in my mind and brought back a lot of fond memories.  I remember my classmates and I preparing for the presentation of our project.  I think that I is a gift tot be able to learn for a lifetime and that is what I did with that particular project.

Multigenre projects would have to be memorable to a student just because it is so different from what they are used to doing.  Teacher, including myself, must think about what is going to be the greatest impact for our students.

    Project Idea

I might do my multigenre project on Abraham Lincoln.  I think that he and his life are fascination and ideas for several genre have come to my mind:

Letters from or to him

News article about his death

Calendar or schedule of what he might do

Journal entry of his, his wife, or John Wilkes Booth

List of things he might need to get completed in a day

Poem

Invitation to the play

Election Poster (or whatever form of advertisement they used)

Banner about his election

Story about his loss of the ?congressional election?

Sign to advertise to fight in the Civil War

Eye witness account of assassination

I am sure there are many more

There are a lot of ideas that I have but have not done research and will need to see what will work best with the information that I find.

I also thought about Harriet Tubman.  She is an amazing woman and some of the same genre ideas can work for her too.

Recipe for a multigenre piece 

I did do a mulitgenre project in high school English class.  We worked on a Shakespeare project that included songs that represented a character, acting out a scene, and making props that actors would use in the play.  Everyone enjoyed the project and I still remember doing it.In my opinion, and with very little background in this area, I think that it would make more sense to study about a subject and look at all of the different genres written about the subject.  Using their example about the Grand Canyon, look at all the different non fiction genre you can find about the Grand Canyon and see how the author used that particular genre to tell about the natural wonder.  Then find a multigenre book about the Grand Canyon and let the children see how an author can create a book using different genre.  In Writing Without Boundaries I took it that they did it the opposite.  I just think that students come from finding out all they can and then learn how to combine it into one paper.  

In an “I” poem, authors place themselves in a different position.  They have to think about what this object would experience, think about, and how it would react to certain things.  I really had to think hard as I attempted to write my “I” poem.  They are interesting to read, but I found personal poems a humongous challenge to write.

The Manuscript

The manuscript gave a step by step approach with specific examples of how to teach.  What a great idea.  I love reading things that help me teach.  So many of the articles that I read tell what the teacher should not be doing but does not go on to tell what they should do instead.  I feel that reading this article could improve a teacher’s ability to teach poetry and give them ideas of how they can start in their classroom.  I found the scaffolding process and explicit directions and questions asked to be very helpful and gave me a great picture of exactly what was going on in the classroom.  I would especially love to read the rest of the second grade story as I am a second grade teacher.  Thanks for sharing.

I think that this is very exciting.  I have never heard of an “I” poem before and thought that this was a great idea to really get students to think.  What better way to get students interested in what they are reading or studying than by placing themselves right into the text.  That this is a great way to continue thinking about a story, think about things from a different point of view, and put part of the story in your own words.  This takes a great understanding of what was read and a teacher can gain a wealth of knowledge of what the students are learning.  I also think that students would get really excited because of all the possible ways to approach the poem.  I love learning new things!

I will say that I attemped one of these today and I found it very difficult.

After reading chapter 10 and the article, I feel deflated as a teacher.  I hear a lot about what teachers do not do.  I do try to motivate my students and give them entertaining things to write about.  It is my responsibility to help prepare for a test that I do not agree with nor like the pressure the test puts on the children or on teachers.  Even though I do not like it, I still have to work to get the children ready to take the test.  I also have to do what the state and my county tells me to teach.   Teachers are put in a very stick position especially when you look at writing examples such as these.  I do think that it would be great to just let the children come in and write what they choose to write daily and in response to things in the classroom.  Two mornings a week I give my students time to write in a journal.  They may also choose to write more if they so desire.  Most of the time I do give them an idea or topic to write about.  This just works better for me and I get more writing out of my children.   I have read several things on the Internet recently about journals and many teachers say that if they do not give prompts, the students do not write.  It is hard to prepare for a prompt test with out writing from a prompt and it gives the children ideas that they can build upon.  It would be a great injustice to give the children the third and fourth grade writing test after only having the students write what they want to write about. 

 I struggle with writing not only as a teacher, but also personally.  I try very hard not to show my struggles and frustration in my classroom.  I model for my students and think aloud as I write.  I also must have a preconceived idea of what I am going to say.  I always have a prewritten story before I model a story for my class.  I may not even use a word on the paper but I must have the support of a story already written.  This is one way I have developed to help with my confidence in writing.  I think that as my students see me write and then write themselves they get excited about telling me a story.  We collaborate as a class together and plan our stories.  I have a story I am writing on the board and the students change it to fit their idea or if they need to they can use mine.  I think that if I did collaboration as small groups I would just have arguments.  I also have the students respond to things that we do in class, but usually I do not find that this is a great writing exercise.  I can find out what they know but the writing part is really lacking.

I feel very confused about writing now.  I want to do what is best for my students and want them to love writing and all aspects of learning.  I want to do what is best for them and also want to do what my superiors expect.  I do not know how to get it all in.  I am searching to find a balance.