How do we encourage our students to take the same steps in organizing their writing? What tips do you have for teaching the trait of organization? How does it look at your level or grade?
This week, add to the conversation on organization and share some insight into this trait. Kim's Korner, a helpful 6 + 1 trait resource, shares some tried and true lesson ideas.
Many thanks to Beth, who managed to fix this while I was still checking to see if I had made another mistake somewhere. I appeciate her help.
ReplyDeleteOne of the first things I do is connect organization to the way students talk with each other. Descriptive speech reflects the same structure as text, with a beginning, middle, and end. Steven Pinker points this out in his books. Speaking also includes body language and gesture, which means the concluding "sentence" in speech is sometimes seen, not heard.
ReplyDeleteOnce that connection is made, students can "hear" the structure in their words while writing paragraphs. The next step is teaching students to understand that the reader needs a declarative statement so the reader knows that the story is completed.
I personally like the methods from Andrew Pudewa in regards to organization. His analogy is that learning organization in writing is a lot like learning music. We learn music by copying the structure from established musicians and learning scales, and once the structure is automatic, then we can move on to creative playing. The same is true with writing. We learn the organization first by copying great writing and learning structure, then we can move on to creative writing. It's been successful with my students, especially the ones who come in during their freshmen year from villages with struggling schools.
For many years teaching students how to create an outline and following parts of a paragraph/essay were my "tips of organization." Using the 6 Traits +1 writing has opened up more in terms of organization. We are working on creating a lead in 4th grade and will next week in 5th/6th grades. Earlier today, students were engaged in discussing which type of lead would they use for their mythicial creature piece. Students were EXCITED about writing (you don't get that often). So, my teaching tip deals with a lead. How can a writer make a great, not good, impression so the reader will contine to read? Will I use a one word sentence, I wonder, surpising fact, metaphor, or ... ?Exposing students to a variety of ways to begin their piece allows them to create a beginning feeling of accomplishment. I saw that today. Students were expressively happy about what they were writing. One more tip for organization deal with the prewrite. Many times I encourage students to use a mind map. Today, 3rd graders created a bubble map for writing about celebrating Thanksgiving. Having each bubble out their ideas and thoughts allows each to organize their thoughts on paper. I observed more focused writing when students prewrite and use mind maps. I can't wait to find more ideas to help students with their writing.
ReplyDeleteOur current unit in Alaska Studies focuses on Russian contact and activities, with an emphasis on how differing worldviews can lead to certain effects. The students writing project will be a short essay responding to a prompt requiring them to exhibit an understanding of the logical sequence of events/activities, as well as demonstrating how Russia's worldview impacted their decisions and ultimately the worldview of traditional native Alaskan cultures. Techniques utilized include timelines and content/topic posters, in order to support an outline and ultimately their writing.
ReplyDeletePosting for Debbie
ReplyDeleteI’ve tried repeatedly this week and the blog is blocked. I thought that it would be cleared for all in a day or so. I have sent in a “Webhelpdesk” request.
I guess I will follow Paul’s lead and post this way.
I use various graphic organizers to encourage my students to do some thinking prior to writing. I try to match the organizer to the project. They sometimes come up with a favorite one and I really affirm that.
I was taught by a genius writing teacher long ago that if you can support opening statement with 3 good reasons, then you have a good argument. If you can’t, you don’t. So whenever, we’re writing to defend a point of view, we try to find 3 good supporting statements. It’s almost like coaching a debate team. What constitutes a valid supporting statement? Where are you getting your facts? What would the other side say in defense?? And so on.
Another thought that I have on organization is the importance of your opener. If you can hook your reader or audience to begin with, they will forgive you much. So we collect examples of wonderful opening sentences and paragraphs. I like to share examples from my own reading and from a website that has a lot of classic ones: openingsentences.com . Some of these are a little too racy for my age students, but so wonderful.
Posting for PAUL
ReplyDeleteHi Sondra and everyone else,
I tried again this morning to post something to the blog. I could get to the blog and tried to post something to the “organization” part, but the blog would not accept my comment. It appears as if our side is preventing me from doing so. However, in the spirit of keeping up, here’s what I wrote:
One of the first things I do is connect organization to the way students talk with each other. Descriptive speech reflects the same structure as text, with a beginning, middle, and end. Steven Pinker points this out in his books. Speaking also includes body language and gesture, which means the concluding "sentence" in speech is sometimes seen, not heard.
Once that connection is made, students can "hear" the structure in their words while writing paragraphs. The next step is teaching students to understand that the reader needs a declarative statement so the reader knows that the story is completed.
I personally like the methods from Andrew Pudewa in regards to organization. His analogy is that learning organization in writing is a lot like learning music. We learn music by copying the structure from established musicians and learning scales, and once the structure is automatic, then we can move on to creative playing. The same is true with writing. We learn the organization first by copying great writing and learning structure, then we can move on to creative writing. It's been a successful method with my students, especially the ones who come in during their freshmen year from villages with struggling schools.
So there you go… sorry about the problems out here.
Paul
In my classroom based classes (Health, Intro to Health Care Careers, and Anatomy & Physiology), I try to strengthen students organizational skills by explaining what is expected on an assignment/project and including organization on some of the grading rubrics for the assignments and projects.
ReplyDeleteFor example, last week in Intro to Health Careers, I had my students do an assignment that involved watching a movie and then submitting a written description of the ethical dilemma that was at the heart of the movie. They also had to respond to how they would have handled the situation if they were a character in that story. The students write-ups were expected to include an introduction, several supporting statements, and a conclusion. Before allowing the students to begin on the assignment, I demonstrated what I was expecting, as far as organization was concerned.
I have always included writing assignments in my classes, as a way to strengthen student skills. I am not an English teacher, but I am trying to take the steps to encourage my students to become stronger writers. This class is already helping me become more aware of the six traits and I am incorporating them into my rubrics more.
The way I've been approaching organization is by helping show students how to organize in the planning process instead of after they write. A lot of times students I work with have difficulty seeing their dis-organization once its in paragraph or multiple paragraph form, and/or they get discouraged at having to move sentences here and there. If they have it organized in their outline or their mind-map they have a better chance of avoiding some steps later in their writing.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I'm going to try to do more of is having students use graphic organizers first, then an basic outline, then do the writing piece. This way students that think better using a graphic organizer than an outline can get their thoughts out on paper, and then get them into an order that makes sense.