Notes+from+Session+4

Susan, Nan, Brian, Sue, Ruthie, Judy, Jan, Mary, Dotty, Anita


 * Discussion of the chapters: **

Ruthie: breaking up the chapters into word patterns and structures is helpful.

Brian: is writing that formulaic? When you start to look at the structures it makes you wonder.

Sue: looking at writing structure in this way is like the way you look at artwork. What was the person t hinking? You might be able to figure it out. Some of it is invisible. The way writing is their art form. I don’t think they really think about it but it is more the background of their knowledge coming through. As the reader you are bringing your experience to it also. Did he know he was doing that? The reader makes a connection to the work and perhaps process.

Ruthie: I think that having kids look at different structures helps them when they sit down to write. Thinking differently than beginning, middle end…if they haven’t talked about it and identified a pattern, they might not be able to do that.

Dotty, Times constant and settings change Envisioning new texts p 142…more than knowing structuring possibilities, but how to use the possibilities.

Between Susan: very organized with an interesting way to look at books. Doesn’t want a structural device to take away the magic from the books that she loves.

Dotty: the key is to love the books first, and then ask, “How did the author do this?”

Susan: a parent came to the classroom and talked about elements of hero’s tale. How does this format work with other well-known stories? Susan still likes to read for the emotional content and doesn’t want that experience to be lost for her students.

Jan: kids did free write. Pick three out of 5 nights to free write. Many ended up doing a straightforward journal. It would be exciting to pick a great book and use what you wrote from a journal perspective, to see if you can rewrite using an identified strategy.

Dotty: suggested House on Mango Street…series of vignettes that are like journal entries.

Write captions for the books that you brought. Not necessarily for each book but as a way to let us know a way you have used the book. After you write descriptors we will put them with the books. Then we will give/get ideas from each other.

Mary S brought non-fiction and Sue brought __Remembered__ by Toni. Both liked the idea of writing from photographs…new ideas for writing about non-fiction.
 * Give on, Get one **

Susan: kids choose 3 photos from segregation photography and wrote what they thought was happening.

Dotty: photograph is good for journaling

// Fireflies: // small bug in a poetic powerful story. Mary S student can pick one word to elaborate

Judy: liked Brian’s book because it takes place in one location and the reader sees changes over time.

Jan: Th__e Pain and the Great One__//perspective writing. Take perspectives of inanimate objects in the room… a cat observes children…block observes children, etc.

Mary S liked the riffs on published poets that Dotty brought.

Dotty> Brian brought __The Stories Julian Tells__ could be good book to use with older children, six graders, to start with problem and build tension…starting with a book that the kids already know and love.

Nan: Everybody needs a rock…collect rocks to make villages and families with rocks and write down in notes details of the family…names and other ideas… kids bring the language and adults write for pre-writers.

Brian: __The Red Book__. or __Zoom__ are good for looking at a picture and it keeps zooming in. Something inconsequential in the background might become important.

Dotty: Jan brought What I know First Jan said it is Laid out like a poem

Anita: Ruthie brought Love that Dog can be used as a way to access a child-writer’s office.


 * Time to reflect back on what we have done: **
 * What we enjoy, What we might change, Goals **

Ruthie: Organized inquiry…Read __Poppy__ as readers and again as writers. Did writing from it using alliteration. Took the perspective of a character and got inside the character’s head and wrote.

Jan: technique of finding a line that they liked and putting it together in a different way. Something not thought of before

Sue: second and third grade students noticed a lot about what an author does in their writing

Judy: we can put this work into practice.

Judy: Nice to see a performance poem from Susan

Dotty: seeing student work

Ruthie: good to see the student work that Dotty and Anita brought

Ruthie today’s library was fun

Nan: fun to talk about words in a different context it brings it to life, and we can experiment. It was inspiring to watch colleagues try new ideas.

Mary: reading a book together is fun

Judy looks at books in a different way

Anita writing together

Ruthie liked writing and remembers the Turkey story

Susan likes getting ideas and seeing what people want to share instead of going to a workshop where people want to sell you something.

Ruthie likes the idea of revisiting this work next year and meeting perhaps every 3 weeks.

Jan thinks that meeting informally won’t work because it will get replaced by other responsibilities.