Leisa+Module+6+Response

wallleis@msu.edu

When I am thinking of new ways to add technology to my classroom, I was really excited to read the opening to chapter 12 this week. Using the text language to translate a chapter of the book, __Because of Winn Dixie__. This idea is a great way to use something that our students are so good at and do a lot of in their spare time. Why not incorporate this into our everyday classrooms? A few times in the past two years, I have seen a lot of students using text language in their writing and I have to constantly have to remind them that they need to spell the words out. This activity would show them that there is different uses for different types of writing. I am going to try this with my students this year.

Another thing that I have learned, especially with fifth graders is that modeling is very important when it comes to writing. Last year, I had my own writers notebook and I would create stories like the ones I was asking them to do. This model served to be very important for them to see not only what I was looking for but also so they had a guide in case they didn't know how they wanted to craft their story. I would not always write a full story, I might just focus on my lead or the ending of my story. By providing them with a model, I felt like I was taking out some of the guess work for them. I felt like I was better able to support their writing this way.

I also enjoyed the rubrics that the chapter provided on pages 308-312. I am always looking for new ways to assess my students writing in a kid friendly way. I will most likely use a few of these during tihs school year. I like to give the rubrics to my students so that they can reference them while they are working on their writing. That way, they know up front all of the elements that they need to include in order to create a good, solid writing piece.