Sunday, October 6, 2013
Brianna's Initial Post
I read the procedural writing lesson plan where students created a brochure about "Morning Procedures for a Sub" because it seems like something a kindergarten class could do and it could help reinforce in students the procedures they should be following. At the end of the lesson they all checked the brochure and "published" it, they they were available in the office where substitutes can take on when they come in. I liked all of the lessons in the plan but I am wondering if students would pay attention the entire time during things like whole-class conferences that are 30 minutes long, it might be tough for them to be doing the same thing for so long. I think that you might have to break the lessons up even smaller and take more than one week to finish the brochure and each students's procedure papers.
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I agree that thirty minutes is a long time. This is a lesson that would need classroom norms in place before it is done, but I too think the conferences could be slimmed down in time. However, if classroom conferences are the norm this may not be hard for children. I like how this lesson is so authentic and it has students writing for a purpose. I think writing in this way motivates students! As Routman states, "They revised in the process of writing because they cared about the writing and valued the audience and purpose" (p. 319, 2005). Again, this goes to show how much students feed off a purposeful audience.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that thirty minutes is a long time for Kindergarteners to sit and do a whole-class share. However, this lesson was for second grade students near the end of the school year. My guess is their attention span is much longer than a Kindergarten student's attention span. While second graders may also get antsy, there are things the teacher could try to keep the students' attention. For instance, in our classroom, we frequently use a brain break we like to call "walk, talk, drink, think, stretch (but not play)." We set a timer for 1-2 minutes, and the students know when the timer rings, it's time to come back to the circle carpet. Additionally, I agree with Maria that this writing was so meaningful to the students because it had an authentic purpose and a real audience. This is so empowering and motivating for students because they feel like purposeful writers. Finally, I like how the teacher taught the students concepts without the students knowing they were being taught. For example, when the teacher worked with Andrew on adding transitions to his writing, she did not say, "We are going to learn about transitions." Instead, she asked him how to connect his two thoughts together (Routman, 2005, p. 320). This is much more meaningful for the students because they have a context to learn these concepts in, versus learning these concepts in isolation and applying them to a piece of writing. Overall, I would LOVE to try something like this with my Kindergarteners!
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