Juli Kendall's Weekly
Writing Workshop Journal
A MiddleWeb Listserv Project
Members of the MiddleWeb Discussion List and other interested teachers
are joining together to explore the Writing Workshop and other ideas about
supporting young adolescent writers and readers. Juli Kendall, a reading-writing
teacher/coach in Long Beach, California, is helping moderate the discussion.
Last year, Juli kept a weekly journal from her Reading Workshop.
This year, Juli is continuing her journals, but this time she's focusing
on her Writing Workshop. Find out more about our project at our Reading/Writing
Workshop homepage. You'll find Juli's background article here.
Links to many of the tools created by Juli and her colleagues are embedded
in these journals. Most often, when you click on them, a PDF file will begin
to download. You'll find a list of the downloads here.
If you'd like to join the daily discussion that parallels Juli's Journals,
find out how here.
Writing Workshop
Week #4:
Two Students, One Goal:
Pass the Benchmark Test
At my editor's suggestion, I have chosen two students from Writing Workshop
to follow for the whole year (we've changed their names). My hope is that
as I outline their progress in my journal entries and examine their student
work, I will be able to see patterns and better choose strategies to help
them improve their writing. Please feel free to make suggestions and ask
questions. Self-reflection only makes us better teachers.
Here's how it works: A variety of people sit down in our classroom.
One is Sophanna, a student born in Long Beach with family from Cambodia,
who loves puppies and video games; another is an eleven year old boy from
Mexico, Manuel, who's lived here five years and prefers riding his bike
and hanging out with his dad; and a third, myself, a teacher from our school
whose taste runs the gamut from jogging to reading. Believe it or not, we're
here together to learn. Sounds simple enough, but it's the trickiest part
of running a classroom.
The key for us as teachers -- what makes us feel as though we've mastered
the content successfully --is that our students will know what to expect
when they come through the door. Here is a peek at two students. I have
tried to choose kids who will not only show growth over time in their learning
but also will satisfy the desire to grow as a teacher by reflecting on our
practice.
Now for the kids
Last year, Sophanna rarely spoke above a whisper in class, but this year
she has a new friend, Amanda, and is much more animated. They both like
helping their teacher level books for Reading Workshop, a very tedious task.
She comes from a large family, and, at eleven years old, she is the middle
child. Her favorite stories are about dogs.
Previously, her parents have been minimally involved in school. They often
don't attend Back to School and Open House events. Parent contacts are primarily
through the Cambodian Community Worker at our school.
Manuel is also eleven years old and has a large family He never gets into
trouble at school and tries hard to do his best. He likes riding his bike
and hanging out with his dad. His favorite author is Dave Pilkey, and he
loves to read the Captain Underpants series. He also enjoys jokes and riddles.
His parents have regularly attended Parent-Teacher Conferences and other
school activities. Most communication has been done through a translator
or the school's Community Worker for Spanish speaking students.
Sophanna and Manuel have been placed in our Reading and Writing Workshop
because they are at risk of not going on to 6th grade next year. Under our
district's promotion standards, they must successfully complete the middle
of 4th grade Reading Benchmark Assessments for fiction and non-fiction text.
These are 20-30 minute reading selections including a running record of
text reading with at least a 90 percent accuracy rate. There are also 10
comprehension questions (four more than last year). Each of them must answer
at least 7 of those questions correctly. Additionally, this year they must
also pass four sets of timed math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication
and division.)
Our focus for Sophanna and Manuel
My personal goals for them are to meet the reading benchmark requirements
and improve their writing.
The work we do in Writing Workshop will focus on helping them become more
fluent in their writing. I want them to use genre elements more effectively.
Their writing should demonstrate a general understanding of its purpose
and a consistent point-of-view and focus. I want them to better understand
how to present a central idea and support it with details by using appropriate
vocabulary.
They'll also work on improving transitions in their writing and developing
appropriate leads and conclusions. As English Language Learners, working
on sentence structure will be a major challenge for them.
Their first published pieces in Writing Workshop were completed during the
first three days of assessment. Each student prepares a first draft, including
revisions and edits, as well as a final draft.
Sophanna's First Draft | Sophanna's
Final Draft || Manuel's
First Draft | Manuel's Final Draft
Based on Part I of the General Writing
Rubric for Writing Workshop, they both scored between a 1 (Non-Proficient)
and a 2 (Partially Proficient). Our first individual conferences will deal
with paragraphing, supporting details, use of vocabulary, and trying to
find other ways to say things.
So, we're ready for Unit 1, "Launching the Writing Workshop."
Download Juli's Curricular Calendar
(map) for her Writing Workshop
Download a comparison of Juli's Reading
and Writing Workshop plans
Read next week's journal
Read last week's journal
Read Juli's backgrounder about her work
Back to Juli's journal index
Back to the Reader Workshop Index Page