Week 10 Assignment

Ayanna Brown

EDLI 636

Professor Hsu

Assignment: Week 10

Due: April 9, 2013

Assignment #1:

• The components of an effective writing program are personal connections, writing conventions and inventions. They are important because they are what make the writing interest and unique. Using the personal connections, the student put life to the words that she writes. The writing conventions is a great way to make sure that the writing is complete, and to monitor where they fall short.
• I would reschedule the morning activities, then I would have the students copy the morning message. By copying the message they will learn new vocabulary while getting the objective of the day. In general that exercise daily will create a stronger writing experience for the students. Some mornings, I would allow 15 minutes extra to have the students write in the missing words from the message. Usually it would be words from their vocabulary lessons. For particular writing assignments weekly, I would make some of the recreation time be assigned to Student Creation Time. This time would be about twice a week for 30 minutes a day, where the students would be able to write about their weekends, vacations or the favorite parts of their day. The writing time would allow them to focus on topics that they are closely related to. They will love to write about their favorite things to do.
• The students can make personal connections in the different subject areas by allowing them to select a topic and relate it to that subject area. For example, the students can write about their weekend and add mathematical references in them. Like they went shopping with their parents and bought oranges at $.25 each. They can relate the experience to the shopping to the lesson of mathematical topic.
• By reading the writings of the students, I can determine some areas of writing conventions need to be addressed with the students. We can review the conventions as we go along, all the students will be able to work on the conventions in this manner.
• During the independent reading time, I can then add on an additional 15 minutes to have the students work on their writings. They can use inventions or experiment with the different formats that we learned independently or in a group setting if they prefer.

Assignment #2:

• The factors that help student growth in writing are oral language, connecting reading and writing, and feedback. The students need to be able to connect their reading with their writing. Once they read their books, they will begin to adapt the method of writing from the stories. They will gain new vocabulary and the structure of correct writing. Feedback from the teachers should be help the student feel more attached to the writing.
• Personalized responses are very supportive to the writer, it encourages them to feel the work that they produce. The writer feels the importance of their work and recognizes that the feedback is to strengthen their production. I am not in the classroom as yet, so at this point I think that the comments that Ms. Ruiz made with the classroom examples are good.
• I could increase student discussion opportunities during the independent reading time, it could be that all the students are reading the same books. That way they can get the idea and feel of discussing the parts of lessons. I could also create more discussion time in the lesson periods that we have. During math time, we could use our words more to explain how we solve the problems. During science, we could discuss the lesson that is being practiced, such as the processes of the experiment or parts of bodies.
• I could provide the students with samples of writings previously done, something that was written by other students. The writings will reflect the familiar tones of students of their same grade levels. If I write something they may not feel like I understand some of the issues that they face, so their peers' writings will be better to use.
• I can allow the students to read some of the things that they have written. Also they can read to each other during a circle time in groups, they can use this time to reflect on their story ideas. Feeding off of each other, they can create a strong understanding of their peers' opinions and take notes from the audience.

Assignment #3:

• The benefits of the writing strategies that were proposed are that the student is really involved in the process. The portfolio allows reflection from both the student and the teacher. They work together to find goals that would benefit the student. The monthly writing assessment is great because it helps the student become familiarized with the writing formats and genres; not only for the test but also for future writing.
• The benefits are that the portfolio helps the student monitor their own progression. They can see the progress and work on the goals that would improve their weaker areas. The challenges are that the student may not recognize on their own where they are lacking and need support. They are to be encouraged to be in control of their goals, but it might deter them from wanting assistance in their problem areas.