Writing

In my fourth grade placement the students actually do a lot of writing on their own. Recently the students have been working on an informational piece in which they research a topic and present it to the class. In chapter 12 of Tompkins they write about 'writing to demonstrate learning'. The four types of writing to demonstrate learning are reports, essays, poems, and multigenre projects. These reports the students are working on explore topics that interest them and their peers. The students started out using the writing process to do this, which consisted of prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and finally publishing. In the prewriting stage, the students chose information texts from the library about animals, countries, etc. Each day my CT would give them about a half hour to look through their books to start gathering and organizing their ideas. Once the students had gathered enough information throughout the week they used their ideas to create a first draft of their composition. These drafts were usually sloppy and unorganized, but it still proved that they were expressing their ideas. As the students wrote their drafts I was able to walk around and help them. After a week of drafts the students moved into the revising stage, where I was able to help the most. After they reread their drafts they also allowed me to read it so I could give them some extra tips. Unfortunately I didnt see any type of sharing in groups or peer editing/revising which I think the students would have definitely benefited from. Making revisions took the longest amont of time because the students realized that their ideas and information needs to flow. In this stage the students might add or delete words, substitute/add/delete sentences or possibly paragraphs, and moving phrases around. This was hardest for the students because they felt as if they were re-doing their whole paper. After a while spent at this stage they moved into the editing stage which they felt was similar to the revising stage. The CT was telling the students that this would be their last time to make sure their paper was absolutely perfect. The CT didnt provide an editing checklist which I also thought was a mistake. I enjoyed editing checklists as a kid because the checklist made sure that I wouldnt forget anything. Now, the students are at the publishing stage where they have the option of writing or typing it, and also the option of making it into a book. The books cost $2 so only about 5 kids in the entire class bought them. They have yet to present their papers though and I am really excited to hear their final copies. The students feel good about themselves because the entire process is finally over and they put a lot of time and effort into their writing.