English
Expository Writing
All fifth and sixth graders throughout the state of Connecticut work on Expository Writing – both in the traditional five paragraph form and in the compare/contrast form (which could be five paragraphs as well.) During the year we take several writing prompts that mimic that timing and conditions that students will have for the writing prompt on the Connecticut Mastery Test. This will be our main writing focus and students will have a lot of opportunity during the year to work on expository.
Writer’s Workshop
Although we will be spending a great deal of time on expository, I also have students do a lot of short creative writing assignments. One of the problems that students can potentially have with expository is that they can lose their creative side and start to fall into the trap of trying to fill the five paragraphs in a very orchestrated, robotic fashion. It is very important that students do not fall into this trap. In fact, good expository writing shows a lot of imagination, creativity and flows with descriptive segments. It is very difficult to score in the top tier (10-12) without maintaining a balance between organization and creativity.
Therefore, in our classroom we will be involved in a Writer’s Workshop. Some students have done a form of Writer’s Workshop before, but just because they recognize the name – Writer’s Workshop – that doesn’t mean they have done it the same way we’ll be doing it. Since I’ve made up this version of Writer’s Workshop (which is a Lynch blending of workshops from a few experts in the writing field such as Ralph Fletcher, Barry Lane, and Lucy Calkins), I can guarantee you they’ve done nothing like it. This will allow students a lot of freedom in their writing choices, it will help them become better writers overall, but most importantly, it will hopefully let them enjoy writing no matter what their attitude about writing is coming in to fifth grade.
I am really enjoying having your children as members of my Writer’s Workshop. We are still in the very early stages, but so many students are beginning to show their author prowess. They seem very eager to learn and excited to share. Those are both signs of a great class.
A quick note on spelling – this is the only consistent homework that students will receive from me. As I’ve told them many times, writing homework (stemming directly from Writer’s Workshop) from me on a daily basis will be light if anything at all. Most nights – none. Philosophically, I have issues with trying to get students excited about writing and then forcing them to write what I want to write outside the workshop itself. Practice is one thing, but torturous writing is exactly that. Torture. I give them the spelling packet on Monday and it is due on Friday. On some four-day weeks I still do spelling, but on anything less than four days (like next week), spelling is off. There is a lot of research on spelling and how we as human beings learn to spell. I am under no delusion that by giving them a weekly spelling test that they will memorize all the words and remember those words for the rest of their lives. Not happening. However, there are skills I teach through these spelling tests. There are tricks. There are rules. There are rules for the rules. (Ain’t the English language fun?) The spelling test is also a tool that can be used to teach about studying. So, just to sum up my spelling spiel, spelling is good.
Each student has a (now personally decorated) Writer’s Notebook that we will be using on a regular basis for random thoughts, short writing activities, and longer pieces. I also gave each student a spiral notebook (which I call their English Notebook) that will be used more for actual writing lessons – on most days we start with a short mini-lesson that leads into the real writing.
We have been reading passages out of a short book called A Writer’s Notebook by Ralph Fletcher that does a great job explaining in kid-friendly terms what the (Writer’s) Notebook is for. In our own discussions, we talked about how many adults already have one of these, but may not know it. A Writer’s Notebook is a place where we write our thoughts so if any of you parents are active on or even occasionally use Facebook or Twitter, write an online blog, update a website for a company or business, or use any other form of social media then you may already have your own Notebook. Even sending texts and e-mails could be considered a Notebook if the messages are ever personal and outside the day-to-day business of your profession. I encouraged students to ask you about your own experiences with writing and my advice to you is to be honest. You may have hated writing your entire life, but now put posts about your everyday life on Facebook a few times a week. You may have thought your experiences with writing would never be utilized in the real world, but now have to respond to dozens of e-mail a day.
The biggest misconception about writing in the entire education system is the belief that we as teachers must focus on one particular essay whether it be a narrative, expository, or persuasive essay. (I just covered six years of a Connecticut child’s writing focus in that last sentence.) The truth is, we have to do what we can to make each student a better writer. This is overly simplistic, but I really believe it – if you are a better writer, then you are a better writer. That means that when we do spend some time on an expository essay, the better writing side will take over. What I ask is to share, share, share with your child what you can about how you use writing in your own lives. Obviously, you know best what to share and what not to share, but take advantage of the opportunity to help your child find writing that excites him or her. You may get a e-mail picture of a funny street sign from your friend in Idaho and if that sign is appropriate then share it. If it’s got words, it’s writing. You may receive an e-mail from Sir Lewis Pungar in London, telling you how you can claim the $3.1 million you inherited by being the long lost cousin of some Saudi prince. All you need to do is send him your social security number, your bank account number, your house keys, and your ATM pin codes and they will wire you the money tomorrow. (I get these all the time.) This is a great piece of writing to share and it comes with a bonus real-life lesson, too.
I also love when students bring in pieces of writing to share – writing they found online, in a newspaper, in a magazine, or somewhere else. It could be something funny, something cool, or something that means a great deal to them for any reason at all. We don’t all have to be polished grammaticians (I’m fairly certain I just made up that word), but if students could get hooked on even one aspect of writing it will make the entire experience that much more enjoyable. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Spelling
Students take a Spelling Test almost every week consisting of 25 words and a bonus word. The first 20 words are from our spelling program, the last five are from past National Spelling Bees (early rounds), and the bonus word is from a variety of different sources and often include some of my favorite words like aardvark or llama. Students are required to complete a variety of assignments each week. Sometimes they are given very specific tasks to complete and other times I include a list of possible tasks (on the back board) and students can choose which ones they want to do.(For example, they might have a list of eight assignments and must choose four.) Assignments could be anything from creating a crossword puzzle with the words to writing each word in cursive three times to writing a funny story with all the words. On Mondays students take a pretest and on Friday they take the real test and that is when the assignment is due as well.
Grammar
We start every school day with Morning Work that includes five math questions and five grammar questions. Sometimes we correct these in class, sometimes we use them for an activity (like a writing activity), and sometimes I grade them. I almost always collect them and use them for data on what students need to work on individually as well as what we need to focus on as a class. I do whole class lessons that involve grammar, but I prefer to weave these lessons into some type of writing activity.
