Resources and tips for teaching writing
in this issue of Writing Points
On his blog last fall, Larry
Ferlazzo shared a story about a lesson he taught in a ninth grade
English class. The lesson goal is to help students develop self-control,
but while he's working on that, he is also teaching reading and
writing skills. When you read his account, note particularly how
he
- Models positive
behavior
- Uses informal
writing to prepare students for class discussion.
- Uses informal writing to keep focus on the topic.
- Uses real world reading material (a New Yorker article)
instead of textbook.
- Presents the "academic" content two ways: through
print and video.
- Uses informal writing to stimulate personal application.
- Incorporates collaborative
learning activities within the class.
- Offers a capstone project that is visual
but not highly verbal.
Larry's techniques are easy for you to incorporate into your teaching
to help you reach struggling and learning disabled students.
I've said before that the free web browser Firefox offers many
add-ons that make it far more useful than Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
One of the free add-ons is Click,Speak, an extension that reads
aloud what is on a web page.
Obviously the auditory input is useful for people with visual problems,
but it also has value for students who do not read well and for
students for whom English is a second language.
For a video showing how the program works and how to install it,
click
here. Thanks to Paul Hamilton for providing the information
on his blog Free Resources from the Net for EVERY Learner.
Instead of telling students to use active voice in their writing,
reveal their personal stake in active/passive distinction by showing
them how people use passive voice as a way of manipulating
them.
You will have no difficulty finding examples of manipulative
passive voice in news stories. Look for stories about celebrities
and politicians caught in embarrassing situations. Chances are they
will pull out an apologetic non-apology: "Mistakes were made"
or "I regret that my family was hurt."
This approach gives students a reason for paying attention to a
grammar point they typically shrug off as irrelevant to them.
Writing Points presents: new
posts
Forum pages & writing assessment forum
Writing assessment now has its
own forum. It's the place to raise questions and offer comments
on topics such as rubrics, using informal writing as formative assessment,
grading techniques, and grading tips.
You'll find a few new pages on site written by visitors to the
forums. Please check them out and respond to the posts. Don't
forget you can suggest
additional forum topics to supplement those already started.
The newest addition to the freebies page is Four Writing Skeletons
on English Language Arts Topics. To access the PDF, you'll need
the password from your e-mail notification. Copy that code
and paste it into the box that appears when you click on the Subscribers
only link under Free services in the menu at the left.
Problem downloading? If you click on that link and are directed
immediately back to the home page, the problem probably
is that you are using Microsoft's Internet Explorer as your
web browser.
Microsoft has set the defaults so to keep surfers from accessing
password protected pages. If you cannot access the page, your options
are to change the defaults or use another browser. I don't
use IE, so I cannot help you with the defaults issue.
Thanks to Paul Bogush for using my Twitter post and website
link in the
collaborationnation.wikispaces.com pre-holiday project.
And special thanks to Winslow Eliot for her glowing testimonial
in her blog
post and newsletter. Winslow is a fine writer and editor and
just may be the world's greatest encourager of writers. Winslow
is so enthusiastic, she makes me itch to write fiction; her tips
make me think maybe I could. I recommend her free
newsletter Write Spa: An Oasis for Writers for anyone
with an interest in creative writing.
The next issue of Writing Points should be released
February 15, no providence preventing.
Until then, keep your pencil sharp.
Linda Aragoni
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