Writers Workshop
A thread was requested for Writers Workshop and here it is.
Tuesday Open Thread
The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested. It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio. (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Comments
Apparently Writers Workshop is the official LA curriculum for middle school.
We didn't have a great experience with WW when our son's school used it in 6th grade, but perhaps it was just his school, or just his teachers implementation/interpretation? I'd love to hear from other parents whose kids have completed WW in middle school or have at least gone through a year or two? How has it been? And how are kids who have gone through the WW curriculum doing in high school?
Thanks!
BTW the issues we had with WW were
*tons of self and peer evaluation, not much teacher evaluation.
*tons of creative writing but not much structured writing. No book reports, and they only touched on essay writing.
*Little use of critical and analytical thinking.
*Very little emphasis on grammar and punctuation, conventions, fluency.
The idea might be that if you show a student some success just WRITING, telling stories and reading each other's stories, do some development, perhaps, but not so much focus on the the nuts and bolts until the student has come to believe that she/he CAN tell a story...THEN the nuts and bolts can be helpful to making the story better.
Sure, we wish all students could use properly grammar punctuation and speling but for those who don't know how, a little creative writing might be just the ticket to opening the gates of written expression.
Of course, if a student DOES know how to write, does know some grammar et al, and the program isn't differentiated, then how does one move on the the fine tuning: writing for a purpose, organization, audience...
whoooops! No gold star?
I realize that this was just my experience with my son, with one teacher in one school, and others may have had a very different experience.
My younger son goes to MS this year and I am curious to know what other parents think. Has WW been successful for your child?
What I like about WW is that kids experience the power and joy of writing before the restrictions. It's like kicking around a ball before learning to halt at each "tweet" from one's internal editor/referee.
However, when asked how they like WW, both our kids knocked it for limiting subject matter (e.g., no nonfiction, which they love to write at home) and for forcing them to get "too personal." They don't like sharing "private stuff," and apparently there is competition for the most unusual experiences (which explains our son's focus on physical trauma, and our daughter's travel wishes).
I'd love to see the WW curriculum to see what to expect in higher grades. As with reform math, supplementation may be needed.
My youngest is in a school that does NOT have WW and I am thrilled with the writing they doing and the grammar they are learning. When a teacher is not tethered to WW, they have the flexibility to assign writing projects related to other subject matter, versus using the writing prompts that WW is based on. (THE WASL is also based on writing prompts, which is why they get great results; teaching to the test.)
My oldest left middle school having nothing but WW and cannot write an outline, struggles with research writing, and large cross-cirriculum writing projects. But can write great essays about our pets.
So I would rather see WW in our schools as part of a balanced LA program where teachers have some flexibiltiy in writing assignments - especially at the middle level, where they really need to begin learning how to do large research based projects.
Slightly off topic, but recently, a parent on a Lowell tour asked "how do you teach kids not to plagiarize?" Good question; not sure if he got an answer. Our son tells me his first grade teacher at Lowell taught them not to do it and why (thank you, Erica Dorje!). How is authorial integrity taught at your school?