The Reality of Writing in the Middle Grades - Part 2 - A Strong Foundation

Below is a draft of a sample chapter from a book I'm writing on Vertical Peer Editing and Conferencing.  

The Reality of Writing in the Middle Grades

Part 2 - A Strong Foundation

Common Core Standards Addressed in this Chapter:
W.6-8.4 and W.6-8.5 The Writing Process
W.6-8.10 Writing Folders and Portfolios

The Writing Process

Nothing constructive can happen until your students are fully immersed in the writing process. This includes one in-class prewriting, an in-class rough draft, an in-class peer edit, an at home working draft, an in-class one-on-one teacher conference, and an at home final draft. Each step needs to be taught the first time it is assigned, so the first major writing piece should take about a month to finish. Subsequent assignments take less time, but only after students master this process.

In order to move forward, you need to know how I teach each step in this process. A critical thing to remember is the paper trail of accountability. Everything is kept as the newest addition is added to the top of the document stack.

Prewriting

Prewriting is personal. No two people think exactly the same way. There are, however, certain styles of prewriting that appeal to different thinkers. Over the years, I developed a system of labeling students' various prewriting styles.

Ordered prewriting is the process of categorizing and sorting. Two examples of this style are questioning and outlining. Through questioning, students organize their thoughts by writing answers to Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How questions regarding the topic. An outline is a formal list with headings and subheadings and can serve as the frame for a much longer piece of writing. The table of contents in most book is an example of an outline.

Graphic prewriting is a system of drawing the ideas behind the topic. There are countless examples, but each one visually represents the concept in some way. When students use a web, or mind-map as it is sometimes called, they write the topic in the center of a sheet of paper and draw a line linking related ideas to it. They continue linking ideas until the web is complete. T-Charts and Venn Diagrams are also examples of graphic prewriting techniques since both separate and contrast ideas through spacial reasoning.

Liberated prewriting allows thoughts to flow naturally as they occur. Through free writing, writer writes every thought that comes to mind relevant to the topic. When students choose to list, they will write words or short phrases in quick succession as thoughts occur. This “stream of consciousness” allows for the uninterrupted flow of creative ideas, but can get messy and confusing if the ideas are not later reviewed for continuity of thought.

The goal is to teach each style of prewriting with trial prompts so that students have a chance to test which prewriting technique is most comfortable for them.


The Rough Draft

Once students have a sense of what they want to write and how they want to write it, it is time to draft. Drafting is the essential writing that has to happen for a piece to be completed and this first draft is critical. Often, many teachers discard the first draft as a throw away and miss the many teachable opportunities it brings to writers.

Chief among these opportunities is the importance of time and stress management. Working in line with my core value of keeping instruction authentic, it is my belief that all first drafts should be timed, in-class assignments. This is more than a method for preparing my students for the state standardized test. A large portion of a student's career from middle school through graduate school relies on a series of timed assessments that ask for an in-class rough draft. A student who is better prepared to prewrite and draft under timed conditions will have an easier time in higher education.

The second opportunity is for students to review their thought process. After the rough draft is completed, students will have two documents (the draft and the prewrite) to review what they truly know about the topic. Students engage in a process of self-discovery about their mastery of content and organization. If a student finds that they know far more about the subject than what is written, then they'll have the chance to self-assess and amend their writing. If a student's draft is highly disorganized, they can review their evidence of thought in the prewriting stage. The teachable opportunity is for a student to recognize the value of self-correction.

When finished, the rough draft document is added on top of the prewriting.


Peer Editing

The process of peer editing taps into the often unused resource in every classroom. Students have a range of abilities and should be encouraged to use their prior knowledge to benefit the group. Some are more knowledgeable about a range of topics. Others are organized. Still more are great with grammar and usage. Not every student is at the same level, but every student has something to offer.

Early in the year, I begin training students how to peer edit and conference. It begins by reviewing short writing samples as a class. These samples are written below the class's grade level and highlight specific grammar errors that I want to teach that day. Together, we discover problems and recognize what the writer did well. This builds confidence and reinforces technique.

When it comes time to construct a response to the author, students are taught a three-step process: compliments, suggestions, and corrections. Written compliments and suggestions should be between two to three sentences each and need to be sincere. The compliment is critical, so as not to drown the author in criticism. Suggestions should take the form of broader comments regarding content or organization. The corrections are done on the writer's draft and use traditional marks for editing a piece of writing such as circling misspelled words and adding punctuation.

Students pair off and trade rough drafts. They go through the editing process and conference with one another. In the Resources section, there is a sample peer editing document.

When finished, the author keeps the editor's written comments and attaches them on top of their rough draft.


The Working Draft

This stage of the writing process is often the most familiar. Students take their assignments home and prepare a draft for submission to the teacher at a later date. The difference is that, since the student has gone through several steps of analysis on their writing, the piece that the teacher receives is going to be superior in several ways.

The two main differences are brought about through the process. Since the working draft is attached on top of the editor's comments, the rough draft, and the prewriting, there no doubt that the student's work is their own writing. Not only that, but the development of thought should be evident in the work that the teacher reads. Even after the working draft is graded, a teacher may review the journey that the writer took to get to where they are in the most recent draft.

This paper is given a traditional grade and is set aside until the next step can be done.


Teacher Conference

The one-on-one teacher/student conference serves as the model for professional interaction. While the class is working independently or in a quiet group, the teacher schedules time to meet with each student regarding their working draft. This is where the the teacher models the most effective methods for conferencing, including the steps taught to students earlier.

The teacher offers compliments and suggestions on the working draft and reviews the corrections made on the document. This is more than an explanation of the grade the paper earned. This is a 5-7 minute discussion of how this particular writing piece can be improved and which skills the student needs to review in order to perform a successful revision. The topics discussed get recorded on a chart that goes into the student's individual writing folder. (More on this below.) There is a copy of this chart in the Resources section of this book.

When the conference is finished, the student takes their writing back and prepares a final draft.


The Final Draft

Unless there is need for further revision, this is the end of the process. This publishable piece is the last word that the student has on the assignment. It is the teacher's judgment how harshly this draft should be graded. Typically, I use restraint and look for whether the student made constructive use of the suggestions and corrections I made on the working draft. I try not to mark this document up too much because I use it for later assignments, such as the student portfolio or Vertical Peer Editing and Conferencing.

The final draft is attached on top of the working draft, editor's comments, rough draft, and prewriting and placed into the student's writing folder.


The Writing Folder and Student Portfolio (No, they are not the same thing.)

The writing folder is a formative collection of your students' best work at that moment in their learning. In line with my core value of writing as evidence of thought, consider your student writing folder as their long-term memory. In it, each writing piece, along with the various revisions and teacher commentary, waits to be recalled later.

The basic components of your student writing folder should have: essay draft collections (as described above), the teacher/student conference chart (see Resources), and any relevant rubrics. The writing folder is not a receptacle for homework sheets, anticipatory set activities, or any other nonsense. There should be no clutter.

The student portfolio is a summative activity that happens at the end of a school year. Although it can take many forms, within the portfolio, students review and revise pieces found in their writing folder. Students are tasked with performing an involved self-assessment, which includes a cover letter, a written commentary on each selected piece, and a spotlighted piece for revision. By the end of a school year, each student should be able to articulate how far they have grown through the analysis of quality of their past writing. Directions for assigning a portfolio can be found in the Resources section of this book.


Any discussion of Vertical Peer Editing and Conferencing can only happen through a thorough understanding of this process. In the next chapter, we'll explore the definition of Vertical Peer Editing and Conferencing as well as overview the planning stages of Teacher Team-Building and assessing Student Strengths.

The Reality of Writing in the Middle Grades - Part 1 - My Philosophy on Writing

The Reality of Writing in the Middle Grades

Part 1 - My Philosophy on Writing. 

Writing is evidence of thought.

If you can't write it simply, then you don't understand the topic. This applies across all content areas and careers. Not everybody needs to write thesis papers, but this is why most certifications have a written test component. Unlike a live verbal discussion, writing takes time to plan and process. You can blank in a conversation out of nervousness. You can only blank in your writing through a lack of understanding.


Writing is your first impression.

People develop an opinion about you through your writing before they have a chance to meet you. Increasingly, as technology stunts our interpersonal growth and drives us further apart while ironically tethering each of us to one another, people will meet you first through social media. Do you not use Facebook or Twitter? The wording in your text, email, resume, or cover letter reveals more about you than you may realize. The Letter of Introduction may be lost to history, but your status update is telling and permanent.


Writing has to mean something.

Authenticity shifts the burden of accountability onto the student. It doesn't matter what the writing assignment is or from which content area it is assigned. Kids like challenges and even a short writing piece takes on more emotional investment when it is tied to the outside world. If a strong connection is made, students will take their work more seriously and own the task.

There are several practices that I use with my middle school students that are in line with the philosophy above. I developed these practices with many of my peers over the last few years and wish they were explained this simply when I started teaching.  

Further posts in this series will follow the process below.

1. Define and explain each practice. 
2. Link the technique to the Common Core. 
3. Articulate practical applications. 
4. Identify avoidable problems. 
5. Provide tools, samples, and solutions.

This process will break each practice down into its component parts and help me describe the little details that make it sing or make it sink.

Engaging Your Audience – Part Five – Keeping and Growing Your Audience

Engaging Your Audience – Part Five – Keeping and Growing Your Audience

Conflict #4: How do I keep them coming back?

The answers are brief, but the practice is essential.

1. Identify your Audience 
2. Stay Productive (Substance) 
3. Keep Relevant (Style) 

Identify your Audience.

Who are you working for? If you don't know, stop what you're doing and figure it out. There should be a clear image in your mind of the type of person you need to reach. They're out there, whoever they are, but you need to know before you waste days (years?) of energy and hundreds (thousands?) of dollars reaching them. Teachers have an easier time with this, since their audience is generated for them each year. Writers should do a quick internet search of your genre. Find threads and forums and figure out what needs are not being currently met.


Stay Productive.

Audiences are insatiable. They crave entertainment and information and if you are not continually producing, then they will move on to a new source. Don't take this personally. The audience certainly doesn't.

Imagine yourself an educator who attempts to teach the same lesson day after day or a writer who posts the same blog verbatim. Your audience would (and should) drop you in an instant.

Teachers are repeatedly tested professionals, who are forced to produce something new each day under threat of student riots and the supervision of curricular demands. By design, this focuses instructional development and improves the delivery of content.

Writers aren't so rigidly structured. As a rule, writers should blog between books. Not only does this keep you working until a new book idea develops, it helps maintain good writing habits.


Keep Relevant.

Social media is critical. Marketing yourself poorly is almost as bad as not having anything to promote.

This is the second-most important skill-set of any self-published writer. Authors need a website and a smattering of accounts on Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, Pinterest, or Linkedin. Without these steps, your work may never get discovered.

Unfortunately, teachers are insulated in a system that doesn't require them to be relevant. That doesn't mean that many pioneers haven't taken it up on themselves to do so anyway. www.Edmodo.com is the classroom's Facebook. This username and password protected site allows for discussion and assignment posting as well as a quiz generator, gradebook, and class calendar. It is the current primary and secondary school answer to the university-level site, Blackboard.


Final Thoughts.

Audiences are the air in our lungs and the blood in our veins. Since we breathe and pump blood on reflex, we often forget how critical these systems are to our survival until they are threatened. Consider your audience carefully or risk throttling your efforts before they have a chance to thrive.

Engaging your Audience – Part Four – The Closing

Engaging your Audience – Part Four – The Closing

Conflict #3: How do I close strong?

The ending is the most important part of any story. The audience will forgive a sagging middle and a less-than-amazing start as long as the end leaves them breathless.

Strong endings don’t NEED surprise plot twists.
Strong endings don’t NEED huge explosions.
Strong endings don’t NEED an amazing reveal.
Strong endings don’t NEED to claim the life of your favorite character.

In fact, if any of these things happen without good reason, then they’d be meaningless by definition and possibly confusing to your audience.

Strong endings need to be strong. Loose ends need to be tied up neatly. Characters need to reach the end of their change. Activities need to be apparently relevant to the objective. The story needs to end logically and completely. Series episodes need to be resolved.

This theory works similarly to the way human memory functions. When remembering a series of happenings, people will generally remember the last event most clearly, the first event not as clearly, and the middle event(s) least clearly. This is called Serial Position Effect.

If your audience read or sat through your entire work, it is only right that they leave with the satisfaction that it was for something meaningful. If not, you’ll find it harder to hook them the next time.

Writers and teachers should plan solely with their end objective in mind and target every ounce of effort to that end without distraction.

Continued in Engaging Your Audience – Part Five – Keeping and Growing Your Audience

For writers: Nancy Kress wrote “How to Write Successful Endings” for the Writers’ Digest website.

For teachers: Claudia Pesce wrote a post, titled “7 Best Ways to End a Lesson,” in which she reviews a few short methods. “Strategies for Effective Lesson Planning” on the University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching site is another great resource. Brenda Power wrote “Make Kids' Writing Shine: Using Beginnings and Endings to Teach Craft,” a great way to help students write stronger endings.

Engaging your Audience – Part Three – The Middle

Engaging your Audience – Part Three – The Middle

Conflict #2: How do I keep this audience engaged?

The part that often drags the most is the middle of any lesson or piece of writing. It is where all the technical information has to be conveyed to the audience. This is where, even if you have a solid opening, you risk losing people.

When delivering content, it is important to: keep it short, make it clear, and get the audience involved.

Keep it short.

Students and readers lose interest quickly. The difference is when a reader loses interest, they can move on. Students aren’t afforded that freedom, so you are left with a possible disruption. Keeping instruction and exposition short is important, but not nearly as much as clarity and audience involvement.

Make it clear.

Few things disengage an audience faster than being confused. It halts the flow of the narrative and forces the teacher or writer to spend more time explaining. This doesn’t mean that a mystery writer has to give away all of the information up front. Nor does it mean that a teacher can’t place unexpected surprises in her lesson along the way. Clarity only refers to the audience’s ease of understanding the given situation at the time. Without it, even the most ingenious twists and turns won’t make any sense.


Get the audience involved.

This is your ticket to get away with not making it short. As long as the audience is physically or emotionally active, they will tolerate a much larger dose of explanation. When writing, have your characters involved in something physical while talking. When teaching, keep instruction-to-engagement ratios low. Use techniques such as call-backs and break-out sessions.


In Practice.

My favorite example of the use of all three of these techniques in film is in the original Terminator movie, in which the entire back-story is given during a car chase. The characters and audience are emotionally tense. It takes the writers about five minutes to explain nearly forty years of history before resuming the intense action. (Explicit Language/Gun Violence)  

Structure and planning are the solution to any problems a teacher or writer may have with the middle of their product. It is always best to have your objective or your ending in mind before you begin. This way, you can be sure that all of your efforts are aimed to that end.


Continued in Engaging Your Audience – Part Four – The Closing


Further Resources

For teachers: Yen Yen Woo posted “How Experienced Teachers Incorporate Kinesthetic Learning into Academic Lessons” on the NYTeachers Blog.

For writers: Glen C. Strathy wrote a great post title, "Sagging Middle Syndrome: How to Rescue Your Novel from Its Fatal Effect."  The Script Lab posted "Writing Exposition: 5 Helpful Techniques." 

Engaging your Audience – Part Two – The Opening

Engaging your Audience – Part Two – The Opening

Conflict #1: How do I attract an audience?

Teachers and writers face the same problem when they have something to say: they need to attract and interest their audience.

When they fail, the consequences are obvious. Writers lose sales and teachers are faced with a disengaged mob of adolescents who are unable to leave. It’s not pretty.

In order to resolve this problem, we’ll look at some common wisdom and review some field tests from the front lines.

Remember: We’re examining these methods in the context of a writer’s drafting of a single piece and a teacher’s delivery of a single lesson or unit.

The irrefutable truth is that the opening statement or action must attract and hold the audience’s attention.

There are several methods and they all hinge on the immediacy of the first few moments.

1. Surprise/Shock – Teachers are limited in the amount of shock they can use in the classroom. They can’t have explosions or gunshots at the start of a lesson. Writers aren’t so tightly bound. Try to give your audience something that they wouldn’t expect. 
2. Quotations – Using a quote that is relevant to your lesson is a great way to introduce the content without being obvious or boring. This term takes on a different meaning for writers, since the quote can come from one of the characters you are introducing. Quotes bring life, voice, and perspective. 
3. Poetic – These lines take time to create. Think of them as less of a poetic structure and more of the intent of poetry, which is to evoke strong feelings. The powerful images set tone quickly and save you precious time when introducing ideas. 
4. Humor – The best advice I ever got was: “If you are not funny, don’t try to be.” Writing humor, just like comedic acting, is far more difficult than drama. Humor is topical, personal, and requires timing that not everyone has. If you feel comfortable starting with a joke or a witty observation, keep it short and relevant. 
5. Question – Rhetorical questions are common literary techniques because they lead the audience into a sense of urgency. This is different than the standard “Do Now” that teachers often write on the board and have students answer quietly at their seats while attendance is taken. These questions can’t be answered quickly and should challenge the audience’s natural state of apathy. 

There are other methods in the resources I have linked below, but these are the five that I use in my teaching and writing.

Using one of these approaches will help you attract your audience and hold their attention… for at least the first five minutes. Keeping their focus is a completely different story.

Continued in Engaging your Audience – Part Three – The Middle

Resources:

For Writers: Christopher Jackson wrote a great post, titled "The Most Important Sentence: How to Write a Killer Opening," in which he bullets four musts in opening lines.

For Teachers: Education Week Teacher posted “The ‘Do Now’ or ‘Do Never’?” as a commentary on standard approach. Iowa State University posted a “101 Ideas for a Great Start.” (Basics)

Engaging your Audience – Part One – The Conflict

Engaging your Audience – Part One – The Conflict

Audiences are fickle. Students and readers have infinite opportunities for entertaining and meaningless distraction. The question for a teacher or a writer becomes: How do I get them to pay attention to my material?

Teachers have a slight advantage. Even though the audience is divided into smaller chunks, students are placed in your care and told to listen to you. That doesn’t mean they have to like it, but the audience is there nonetheless. Teachers have an authority and an opportunity that writers don’t have when they are starting out.

When it comes to finding and engaging an audience, writers have a challenge similar to street performers in New York City. Thousands of people could stop and watch you at any given moment, but they are all busily hurrying along with their own plans. Writers need to make themselves an authority or at least someone worth watching for a few minutes.

Although there are differences, the problems are the same.

1. How do I attract an audience? 
2. How do I keep this audience engaged? 
3. How do I close strong? 
4. How do I keep them coming back? 

We’ll approach problems 1-3 as a direct correlation between the writer’s actions of writing a piece and the teacher’s actions of teaching a lesson. Question four has more to do with your approach outside of the classroom and beyond the keyboard.

Over the next few posts, I’ll go over each of these ideas in more detail.

Part Two - The Opening
Part Three - The Middle
Part Four - The Closing
Part Five - Growing your audience.