Writers on a Mission : 2019

Monday, December 16, 2019

Brittney Duplessis - Podcast

Title: The Day Hazards Spoilt My Day.

Age: 7- 8 year olds (Grade 3)

Purpose: to sensitize students about environmental threats to the health and well-being of students, families, schools, and communities (HFLE)

Justification: Many children are unaware of the dangers surrounding them. A good way to sensitize them would be by using a Narrative piece which catches their attention. At their age their attention spans are short so using a piece that they are interested in is a good way to bring the content across. It tells a story based on a real or imagined event. A Narrative is found in all forms of human creativity and art, including speech, writing, songs, that describes a sequence of events.

Gammy Aurelise- Podcast

Audience: Grade 3 students

The purpose of this piece is to persuade decision makers and school administration on the reasons why school break times should be longer.

The persuasive piece can be used as a model by the teacher to illustrate to students the different aspects of a persuasive piece. It also allows the teacher to teach linking words and phrases which will help students connect ideas and add coherence to their pieces. This piece could give students an idea of how they should write to persuade their reader.

Duayne Jn Baptiste Podcast

Puss Puss Podcast

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Writing Philosophy

As student teachers, it is important that we practice reflecting on our teaching practices so that when we get to the classroom it makes it much easier to evaluate our teaching styles and how we cater to our students needs. What is a teaching philosophy? It’s an explanation of your values and beliefs as they relate to teaching. Since the focus on this course is on writing, our teaching philosophy will be focused on writing. At the beginning of this course we were given the task to write a poem, song or limerick on what writing meant to us. Many of us wrote beautifully crafted pieces about writing, some persons use their piece to show how much they did not like writing. Little did we know that this piece would later be used to develop our philosophy?

With the fast approaching of teaching practice, writing this philology had us to reflect on how we perceived writing instruction. Many of us felt that administering writing instruction is such a great task with many challenges attached to it. We lack confidence when it comes to this area, simply because we believe that we are not great authors. However, during the writing of our philosophy we were given the opportunity to reflect and think of how we as teachers will facilitate the process, the role we play in the teaching-learning process and most importantly how are we going to cater to the different learning styles and abilities of our students when it comes to teaching writing. Furthermore, this philosophy gave us the opportunity to reflect on knowledge, skills and attitudes which we expect from our students as it relates to writing. This part is very important with assisting student teachers with preparing mentally, since some students tend to have a negative attitude towards writing and physically, that we will provide the necessary tools to change these attitudes and mindsets. Teachers too need additional support when it comes to writing, especially with self confidence when publishing our own pieces of writings.

Preparing a writing philosophy helps you remain focused on the goals set for your students and yourself as an educator as it relates to teaching writing. You could always go back to these goals to see if they have been achieved. The philosophy should be revisited constantly because the perception of writing will change as you become more exposed to the teaching of writing. Through professional development, new strategies and techniques may arise and so it is wise to add to the philosophy the new techniques learnt. I believe that when we get back to our classrooms we should use the teaching philosophy as a way of reflecting and planning for our student’s success. After all, if we display a negative attitude towards subjects it will definitely impact the way we deliver instruction. As we prepare for teaching practice let us keep in mind our philosophy and when we get back to the classrooms and the task of teaching writing is bestowed up on us let us revisit our philosophy and use it as a guide and motivation in teaching writing to students.

Teaching the Writing Process

I am sure most people have heard of the writing process but many people either do their writing without much premeditation or are unaware of writing processes and the benefits of these practices. This blog post will focus on the importance of the writing process and the benefits it provides to those who use it when writing a piece.

Writing is not a ubiquitous process. It doesn’t follow a certain format for everyone, but often we are taught we have a prompt or assignment and then we must complete the assignment following those guidelines. However, sometimes we struggle with certain assignments because we have no idea where to begin. The question then becomes, “how do I start this assignment and how can this process be improved upon?” The short answer is pre-writing. Pre writing is the first stage in the writing process. This stage is where you as the teacher models the writing style you want the students to follow or you simply introduce them to the genre of writing. As a writer this is where you will be brainstorming and thinking of details to add to your piece. This stage does not focus so much on grammar or punctuation, but serves as a guide to your writing. The second stage of the writing process is drafting. During this stage ideas are put into sentences and paragraphs. Here you concentrate upon explaining and supporting your ideas fully. Here you also begin to connect your ideas. Regardless of how much thinking and planning you do, the process of putting your ideas in words changes them; often the very words you select evoke additional ideas or implications. At this stage, the focus is not placed on spelling. The draft tends to be writer-centered; it is you telling yourself what you know and think about the topic

The third stage of this writing process is revising. Revision is the key to effective pieces. Here you think more deeply about your readers’ needs and expectations. The piece becomes reader-centered. How much support will each idea need to convince your readers? Which terms should be defined for these particular readers? Is your organization effective? At this stage you also refine your prose, making each sentence as concise and accurate as possible. Make connections between ideas explicit and clear After going through the revising stage, as writer refining your piece is the most important part so it conveys the message that you planned to be conveyed, During this stage it is required that you check for such things as grammar, mechanics, and spelling. The last thing you should do before printing your document is to spell check it.

NOTE: Don’t edit your writing until the other steps in the writing process are complete.

To fully equip us, student teachers with the skills needed to teach students the proper way to utilize the writing process, our lecturer decided to have a few of our classmates play the role of students and we were paired up. We were equipped with the task of teaching introducing the different genres of writing and engaging them in the writing process. Each pair received a different stage and focus, however, for each genre the same piece had to be used. This activity definitely gave us a feel of what we will be facing for teaching practice as it relates to teaching students the different writing mechanics and genres. I am sure my pairs and I got many ideas and suggestions which will be taken advantage of during teaching practice and furthermore when we get back to the classroom. This activity was especially useful since most of us expressed at the beginning of the term one of our fears in the classroom geared towards teaching students to write different genres, and the writing process.

Expository Writing

Expository Writing

Exposition is very important in pedagogy as students are frequently exposed to this type of writing as they use their textbooks. Expository writing is used to explain, inform, illuminate or expose factual information as apposed to creative writing which is fiction. This type of writing includes essays, newspapers, magazines, instruction manuals, textbooks and encyclopedia articles. The expository essay is a tool that is often used in schools and most, if not all students will be required to write one.

Expository writing often posses a challenge to the students because they are required to organize their thoughts, follow a plan and in higher grades, conduct research to support their claims. Achieving these goals, in addition to spelling and using grammar correctly requires the students to think on multiple levels. As elementary school teachers, we can introduce the younger students to expository writing by writing journals without adding opinions. We can have the students describe different unfamiliar objects as descriptive writing is an example of expository writing. Moreover, students can compare opposites in writing, describing a sunny day to a rainy day or maybe describing a dog to a cat.

For the students in the higher grades, they can be engaged in the time-honored book report, which is a classic exercise in expository writing. Students will choose a book and craft a thesis about or a position on it. A topic sentence might identify what kind of book it is, who the audience are, and why. Subsequent sentences should back up this assertion. One good way to help older kids in their use of expository writing is to remind them to address the who, what, when, where, and why of the topic they've chosen. However, all five components may not always apply, but remembering to think about each of these aspects can help students write a compelling report.

Poetry

Poetry is an Art, where a poet is able to paint a vivid portrait of what’s on his or her mind. Using words, expressions and phrases, a poet can capture one’s imagination and arouse interest in his or her audience. Plutarch a Greek philosopher once said, “Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks”. We all can be great painters as we write poems to engage our students in the learning process. Furthermore, poems can be used before, during and after instruction as it can take many forms. For example, we can use a limerick to capture students’ attention before the lesson. This limerick can be related to the topic we are about to teach, thus giving the students an idea of what they are about to learn. In addition, we can teach the students how to write poems as they can use it for their studies. Students can create poems on a specific topic to help them remember the content taught during the class. In conclusion, poems are very useful and effective in pedagogy.

Title: Puss Puss

Puss is the name of my cat

Who is always laying on my mat

Oh how she loves it so much

That she growls if you touch

And will stop if only she is pat

Puss loves to chase this old rat

Jumping from the tree she would splat

She is bearing her teeth

And would sneak like a thief

But is too slow because she is fat

Oh how I love Puss Puss my cat !

She is lovely and so very smart

When she wants to be fed

She comes purring on my leg

I’m the reason why she is so fat!

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Descriptive Writing

Descriptive writing

Descriptive writing is painting a picture with words. Descriptive writing allows the reader to envision exactly what the author saw, felt, heard, tasted and smelled. Many teachers struggle with teaching students how to write descriptive pieces. The first thing a teacher should focus on when teaching descriptive writing is sensory details. These are words that create a sensory image or a clear impression on the readers mind. It is described so vividly that the writer feels he/she can reach out and touch whatever is being described. The reader gets a more accurate description of exactly what the writer wants to share. The purpose of the piece should always be evident. After reading it should be clear as to what the writer trying to describe. Redundancy and cliches should be avoided. For example, instead of “the green grass” the writer could say, “the bright green blades of grass stand erect like a soldier on a battlefield.” Personifying the grass painted a more vivid picture of the grass rather than just mentioning its color. Vivid vocabulary is used including colorful adjectives and figurative language to attract the reader’s attention. Good descriptive pieces emphasize overlooked items. The light is shone on the things that aren’t really seen often. For example, rather than focusing on the waves at the beach the writer will spend extra time describing the colorful piece of glass in the sand. Some of the things that can be described or some pictures that are painted when writing descriptive pieces are of a person, place, animal, thing, an event or occasion. Some tools which can be used to enhance a descriptive piece are, metaphors, personification, similes, adverbs, verbs and adjectives. Imagery is also very important when writing descriptive pieces. Imagery helps you picture how something looks, sounds, smells, tastes and feels. Descriptive writing should be taught because It will help students' writing be more interesting and full of details. It encourages students to use new vocabulary words and it can help students clarify their understanding of new subject matter material.

There are many ways to teach descriptive writing, but teachers are to ensure that they develop descriptive writing skills through modeling and the sharing quality literature that is full of descriptive writing. The teacher can facilitate activities such as using a completed passage, erasing sentences one by one and allow students to rewrite them using tools which enhance descriptive pieces to paint a better picture. Students can also read a descriptive piece and draw exactly what was being described. Another activity can be placing students in groups and each group chooses a topic that they are interested in. they then will create a 5 senses cluster to vividly describe what they want to share. The first person in the group writes one first sentence and each member writes one sentence to complete the piece. The teacher will do an example for the class first before this activity begins. When the groups are finished, they get a chance to share their completed pieces with their classmates.

Not all students are at the same writing level and not all students share the same experiences. So the teacher should ensure that he/she, provides experiences that give students something to write about, encourage students to work with pairs or small groups to develop first drafts and Provides a word bank of interesting and descriptive words for students to incorporate into their writing. According to Stephen King, description begins in the writer’s imagination but should end in the reader’s. The purpose is always to live vicariously through the writer. Though it may not have been experienced by the reader, the piece should allow the reader to feel like they experienced that experience too.

Image result for quotes on descriptive writing

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Narrative Writing

You can’t edit a blank page. In order to become good writers, one has to actually begin writing.
Improvements can be made thereafter in the pursuit of becoming the ideal writer.
In today's class we focused on Narrative or Story writing which was very engaging and informative.
Narrative writing can be defined as a type of writing that tells a story.
We were given the opportunity to create a story map together with our lecturer and then we got the
chance to do so in pairs. We used acronyms such as FAST and STEAL to come up with all the elements of the
story. This proved to be very helpful causing us to think in depth of every aspect of the story we wanted
to tell. Upon reflection, it is important for the teacher himself/herself to understand the narrative writing
process in order to effectively and confidently teach the students. This sets the foundation for the
students to become great writers. Narrative writing is a way for students to express their stories in a
creative way.
It allows the students to stimulate their thinking and imagination to foster their artistic expression.
It is also a way to teach students how to write following an organized process and clarifying their
thinking. This is a good way for students to explore many characters and different settings.
Narratives can be fact or fiction and is written to educate, motivate or entertain. The aim is to captivate
your audience and keep them engaged throughout the story.
Moreover, narrative writing allows the students to stimulate their imagination and to foster their artistic
expression. Further it allows students to express their stories creatively. This is also a good way to teach
students to express their thoughts in writing in an organized way. Thus, helping them to clarify their
thinking.