Initial Thoughts
The first chapter in Crafting Writers scared me a bit. I don't journal, and now I'm supposed to write on my own in order to improve my writing instruction? I'm supposed to keep a writer's notebook? Yikes! The most writing I ever do these days is e-mail and grocery lists. Clearly, I have a lot to learn.
The Important Things
The most important thing I got out of the first six chapters is that we need to teach children to craft while they are writing instead of editing after the fact. I know that most of what I learned about writing had to do with editing, so it's completely out of my comfort zone. But I felt Hale had many concrete ideas to offer me in support.
The idea of specific craft was a tad foreign to me, I must admit. But once I learned that my students and I could name these bits of writing anything we wanted (assuming some smarty-pants hadn't beaten us to it and put it on standardized tests), I felt some relief. I have no clue why I felt this way, since I like things well-defined and I'm a rule-follower. Perhaps the idea of hunting down runaway crafts and naming them to make them ours made it sound more fun than memorizing a bunch of rules for how to make writing better.
What also calmed me down a bit was the notion that it's not about using all the "right" bits of craft but about playing with them to get the affect that you want. Variety seems to be key, rather than there being a perfect method, at least with young writers who are still learning the basics. What a relief!
Personally, I really appreciated the chapter on primary writers. As someone with experience working with young children, it's nice to see them given some props. They are so proud of their work and so fearless in their attempts it's good to know that we're supposed to encourage all those visual explorations. I wish there had been a short discussion on play. There have been several studies that show that the more imaginative a child's play when using the simplest of props the better writer that child will be as they get older. Supporting that inner narrative would seem to be an important step toward developing skill in writing. Has anyone named "Once Upon a Time" as a specific craft yet? I'd like first dibs.
Unanswered Questions
Despite feeling a little better about this whole writing thing, I still have questions. These may seem stupid to some of you, but I'm a details person and these things still seem nebulous to me.
What exactly is a writer's notebook? Is it just stuff I've written? Do I put whatever I want in there, like collections of things? I sort of think yes, but I'm really not sure. What am I supposed to write?
Is writer's workshop a predefined sort of program? A philosophy? Or is it just a collection of activities we call "writer's workshop?" Are there mandatory parts? Do they go in a certain order? If I walked into a classroom, would I be able to tell after a day or so if they did writer's workshop if they didn't use that name?
Patti, I don't think your questions are at all stupid. I think you are on the right track with your writers notebook. I was thinking about Mrs Seabrooke and all her journals when I read that particular question of yours. She had EVERYTHING in those, remember? Pictures of her dream bedroom, cut and pasted pictures of flowers she wanted in her garden, personal entries about what she was grateful for, sketches to design her garden and so forth. I think the writer's notebook is very specific to the writer. Some people may be traditional, doing daily guided or stream of consciousness entries. Some other may fill their books with drawings, collage, lists, notes, tiny scraps of their life and observations that will all assist them in writing and in life. Make it what you want!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I really think that you became more comfortable with the idea of specific craft because of ability to name it yourself. Naming allows ownership in a way that increases your comfort with a concept and your ability to recognize and use craft. At least that's what I got out of it!!
Thanks, Jen. I'm not very good at messing around with stuff unless it's a physical object, so the idea of playing with my own writing is quite foreign.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I'll ever be a journal user. I've tried several times over the years and I've been assigned journals on several occasions. For some reason I just find it painful. And when I read the stupid stuff I've written I cringe.
I really enjoyed your post. As always, you address important points in the readings. I too felt that a main idea was the use of variety and for each student/writer to use the methods/craft strategies that he/she connects with and can make the most sense of. A tool box of strategies if you will, with not every writer using the same tool for the same job. I love it!! I wonder myself what writer's workshop really "looks like" in practice. I think this too will vary from classroom to classroom but each will have certain elements that are the same. Just a thought anyway.
ReplyDeleteWhen you referred to kids being proud of their work, it makes me think back to the book that we read in Mrs. Seabrook's class, "The Dot". When you ask a kid to sign their name to something, whether it be artwork or a story, and display it, it gives them a sincere feeling of accomplishment! This thought just reminds me of the importance to keep encouraging kids to "push through" the hard times!
ReplyDeleteAgree (not surprisingly) on the notion of play -- I think it warrants more than a short discussion! In my own children and many others I've worked with, play is a fundamental step in the craft of story-writing in particular. The important story concepts of cause/effect, complication, and resolution (just to name a few) are easy in imaginative play and provide excellent source material for a child when s/he reaches writing age. Great point, Patti.
ReplyDeleteCourtney, I liked your reference to "The Dot." In naming, children can take ownership of their work and be proud. Although it's a bit different, I see the importance of naming craft to be along the same lines. When a craft is named, children can see it more concretely, and in turn, use it more in their writing. They can go back, look at their writing, and point to specific instances where they used specific crafts. This can help them locate both strengths and weaknesses within their writing, and just like "The Dot," be proud of their work.
ReplyDelete