Speed Group Observation

Writing- Students will write in their daily journals, complete writing activities for homework, and complete a final project based on the text.

Scenario 1: You are preparing fifth grade students for the Alabama Writing Assessment. So far, students are struggling. Students are just not interested in writing. How can you peak their interest and improve their writing scores? Will you incorporate Writer's workshop? Two to three paragraphs.

Beginning my career at Western Carolina University, I had no idea the impact writing has on future educators. It is extremely important to have an effective writing strategy in all aspects of teaching. You will be required to write lesson plans, referrals, and letters home to the parents. Each of these have different strategies, and all of these are used simultaneously throughout the school year. Throughout the essay I will explain how to do each of these writings, and also give step by step instructions on an effective way to make sure it is done correctly.

Writing can be a daunting task for students in any grade. Teachers have to implement new basic components for those struggling to write. Finding new methods and being able to execute them requires teachers to design lesson plans that help

Writing is an essential tool and has been noted as a precursor for great speaking by teachers at all grade levels. However, with writing being an important aspect throughout one’s academic career and beyond, it is one of the most tedious tasks to teach. It sounds like a cliché, but in order to get better at something, one has to keep completing the task and each time, accomplish something different while maintaining prior knowledge. There are various ways that enhance a student’s writing abilities and the focus of these research strategies will prove that encouraging students to write enhances writing.

This entails working on the Seven Steps to Writing Success will be taught twice a week and writing tasks will also be included during literacy groups. Sizzling Starts and recounts will be the focus text in term one. Narrative and creative writing will be taught too and in both cases the emphasis will be on creating strong sentences with good structure. The lesson format for sizzling starts and narrative/creative writing will be explicit teaching to the whole class. My role as a teacher will be to identify the student’s level and provide appropriate feedback to support to move students toward the next level.

I would structure writing groups so as this student is grouped with others of the same ability. Duchesne (2013) provides information on evidence that suggests this would be successful as when students compare themselves to someone of the same or lower ability, this secures their self-concept. I would also reflect on how I can continue to create a supportive classroom environment. Am I providing enough opportunities for students to use a combination of printed, spoken, visual and digital processes? Providing such opportunities contributes to their eagerness to write, as it places emphasise on writing versus the focus on neatness and accuracy of spelling (Annandale, 2005). If it is a free choice task, the student may be struggling to make a start due to not knowing what to write about. A print walk around the room to revisit charts they have made for writing prompts and word walls that support writing, will reiterate the supportive classroom environment (Annandale, 2005). I would be flexible in my planning and allow for creative thinking to occur through allowing the students to discuss their writing topic. Collaboration involves asking questions, exploring ideas and generating ideas to spark imagination and creativity (Lyons, Ford, & Slee,

Learners returned to class without the document and so we completed a group activity where they made notes individually on a form and then we used the Smart board to note down what everyone had met. I chose the most common experience and we used that to base our first statement on. We discussed the unit that it related to and the group were able to ask questions. I circulated, checking their first sentence and then the paragraph for spelling and grammar issues which were identified and I used an activity to note down key words which developed into a sentence – asking what should go at the beginning and at the end, use of commas, etc. Once the opening sentence was perfect, the learners used the same skills to write the rest of the paragraph and I was able to give individual support to suit their needs on a 1:1 basis.

Students will read and identify the beginning, middle, and end of a mini story provided for them.

Students will work in collaborative groups to sort which information is needed, what can be acted out and what is not needed. (Which information do you think you can take out? Why? Is there anything you may be able to add to your part of the story? If so, why would you add it?)

Students are instructed on how to develop and organize their writing by developing a plan or out line to follow. Teachers should discuss with their students how to effectively plan out their writing strategy. Students need to be taught to question themselves about the purpose of their writing. Questions like; “Who am I writing for?” or “How will I organize my thoughts?” are two general examples. Gersten mentions the importance and purpose of the first draft and how it provides a concrete reminder for where the writing is going. The plan and its draft provide a common language for teacher and students to share making communication easier. He also speaks of the strengths of the revision process. Gersten illustrates how peer-editing can be a useful tool to employ during writing.

Mrs. Nappier had me work with one student in her reading SIT group. He was having a hard time following along with the rest of the group. I had him practice writing his word family words. I told him an ending and he put different onsets onto the beginning to make new words. He did a good job working with me. I think having the one on one time helped him focus on the task given to him.

Groups talk about goals in different ways, using different words. Some groups have major and minor goals or meta- and micro-goals; others divide goals into mission, purpose or goal, and objectives, while other groups talk about aims and expectations. A group is strengthened to the extent it has clear goals and all members know what their roles are in helping to achieve them (Dimock and Kass, 2008, p.62-63). My placement is currently in the Mental Health field and as mental health workers we have groups that are organized to promote to mental health of all and to support the resilience and recovery of people experiencing mental illness.

Learning objectives promoted in the college level class on teaching writing that this text was handed out in, strongly emphasize the importance of group work, as revealed in the writing theory handout and the scholarly overview handout (see attached).

4. Let students write their predictions on sentence strips or prediction card and place each prediction on the wall. Revisit the predictions once the action has been revealed in the story.