Carolyn Elder
| September | January |
| October | February |
| November | March |
| December | May |
1. Describe your approach to composition. I am not sure I have an approach to composition. I hate having my children write. I make myself have them write paragraphs, but it is like pulling teeth. Many of the students cannot write a sentence, so how do I teach composition? Many of the students still do not start sentences with a capital letter. I just do the best I can. I just know there has to be a better way than I do it right now.
2. How often do your students attempt to write each week? Hopefully, my students write 1 maybe 2 times a week. It is so hard for me to find the time to grade writing when I have other things to grade. Plus, it seems like it takes me forever to grade their writing.
3. How have you integrated technology into instruction in the past? In the past, I have used technology more in math and science. I also have purchased computer programs to use in my classroom for different subject areas. However, most days I cannot seem to fit everything I want or need into my day.
4. What do you hope to gain from participation in this project? I hope to learn how to teach writing effectively. Do I need to focus on spelling, complete sentences, punctuation, etc?? If so, how much emphasis should I put on them, or do I need to focus more on the flow of the writing? Also, I would like to know how I should grade a writing assignment. Do I take points off for misspelling, punctuation, etc? Hopefully, this project will answer some of these questions so I will feel more competent when it comes to teaching writing in my classroom.
1. Describe your class’ positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month. I was surprised that many students remembered this writing method from last year. This made the first one we did easier and not quite as stressful as I had expected. The students seemed to enjoy using the 4 square method for writing. The first one we did together so this also helped relieve the stress of writing.
2. How far did your students get with the Four Square method? (4 Square, 4 Square to paper, 4+1, 4+3) Why? I used the 4 Square + 3 + T. The reason I chose to do this was because most of my students had used the 4 Square writing method in a previous grade.
3. Have you experienced any problems through your participation in this project this past month? Describe. One problem I had was not having enough time in my classroom to fit everything into my day. I felt like the students did not have enough time to spend on their writing plus everything else they were trying to do. When they wrote their autobiography, some of the students had difficulty putting the phrases into sentences. Many of them turned their first draft into me with sentence fragments instead of complete sentences. Also, when we used transition words some of the students just chose a word to use without seeing if it made sense. Topic sentences were also a problem for some of my students. Finally, the hardest part of writing for my students seemed to be a good wrap up sentence. My class needs to work on that.
4. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students? I don’t know what I would do to make this project more beneficial. I know this project has given me a starting point so I can help my students become better writers.
1. Describe positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month. The students seem to stay focused a little more using the Four Square method of writing. My class talked about how they could write a paper using this method in reading with “From Bees to Honey” and in science when we were studying the different types of energy.
2. How far did your students get with the Four Square method this month? (4 Square, 4 Square to paper, 4+1, 4+3) Why? We are on 4 Square + 3. Most of my students can do this; however, I still have to remind them to use transition words. Also, I have to remind them not to use the RIP words.
3. Discuss the Sentence Stretcher experience. We did a couple of sentence stretcher activities this month. They completed the sentences. However, when it comes to writing in any subject they still want to go for short sentences. I am now giving papers back to the students if they are not writing good sentences.
4. Were you able to complete a Colonial America writing activity? Discuss the success/problems. My students did complete a Colonial America activity. Connie came to my class and did this with them. They enjoyed having someone different in the class room. I think my class did well with this activity. The main problem I have is having a student that was absent making up this activity. There just does not seem to be enough time for everything.
5. Were you able to successfully download a file from the Write On site this month? Tell about any problems you encountered.
I have been downloading PowerPoint presentations from the web. Usually, I can download these without any problems.
6. What problems are your students encountering with their participation in this project? Some problems my students are encountering are the first and last paragraphs in the 4 Square. They do well on the 2 – 4 paragraphs, but the first and last paragraphs are tough. My class needs to practice working on those. Also, they forget to use transition words, and they still want to use RIP words. Furthermore, my students do not like having to edit and re-write their work.
7. What problems are you experiencing? My main problem is time. I try to conference with the students as they are writing and editing to help them with their work. However, this takes so much time. I have to remind them to use transition words and not use RIP words. Some of my students just want to be finished. They do not care so much about the finished product.
8. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students? I still do not have any suggestions for improving this project. It has been a tremendous help for me to improve my knowledge about teaching writing. I would like for Connie to come back in my classroom when she has time to do another activity with my class.
1. Describe positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month.
Students seem to be doing better on writing overall. I have some students that are excellent writers. However, some students are still struggling. I guess the positive aspect is that I can tell the ones that are struggling have improved since we first started practicing 4 Square.
2. How far did your students get with the Four Square method this month? (4 Square, 4 Square to paper, 4+1, 4+3) Why?
We are doing 4 Square +3 +T. At first I had to remind my students to use transition words. Now most of them seem to be using them without any prompting from me. They are using the same transition words almost every time. I am trying to get them to vary their usage. However, I guess I should be please that they are using them at all. Hopefully, they will be in the habit of using them for the writing test.
3. Discuss the Miss Take’s Challenge experience.
I did have an opportunity to play Miss Take’s Challenge with my class. I wish I had time to do it more often. My students loved it. I divided the class up into teams. The day I had the chance to do this with my class I had half of another fifth grade class. With approximately 35 students in my class they did a great job. Each team was trying to do better than the others. Afterward, I gave them the worksheet for that game. Most of the students did a good job finding the mistakes in the sentences. Hopefully, I will have time to do this activity more often with my class.
4. Was Mr. Indent or The Hook helpful to your students? If so, in what way. If not, why?
I used Mr. Indent and The Hook in my class this past month. The students can tell me they need to indent, but sometimes they get in a hurry and forget. I think this was a good reminder for them. The Hook was especially helpful for my class. I wanted to have more time to practice different types of hooks. The only one we have really had time to practice is the question. I try to encourage using some of the other hooks, but they tend to always use the question. I guess the good thing is they are using a hook now and trying to get the readers attention.
5. Discuss your students experiences with a practice prompt activity.
My students had opportunities this past month to practice writing. I am now giving them a topic and they had to come up with a topic sentence. I actually had to stop and go back to the basics of writing a topic sentence and writing a good first paragraph. My students were struggling to write a topic sentence. I was giving them a topic, but their topic sentence was usually a fragment on their 4 Square. However, many of them have improved. I’ve tried grading them using the rubric so they can see what a good quality paper looks like at this point.
6. What problems are your students encountering with their participation in this project?
Some problems my students have had this past month are writing a good topic sentence. Also, they have difficulty writing a good first paragraph. They can come to the board and show me what goes in the first paragraph. However, when some of them sit down to write they will only write the hook sentence and the topic sentence. For a few days we did a basic 4 Square and transferred it to the writing paper so they could see what went in their first paragraph.
7. What problems are you experiencing?
Again, my biggest problem is one of time. I am trying to practice for the writing test, do other writing activities like Miss Take’s Challenge, discuss their 4 Square as a whole, teach reading skills and math in a matter of 1: 35 minutes and it just seems like there is not enough time. I would like to be able to talk to me students more in depth regarding their writing. Hopefully, my students will be ready for the writing test.
8. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students?
I believe the project has been extremely beneficial to me teaching writing. I can already see things that I will do differently next year. One of the biggest benefits of this project is having Connie come into my classroom and practice writing with my class. I do not have any suggestions for making the project more beneficial.
1. Describe positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month.
Some of my students seem to be doing well with their writing. I’ve seen a big improvement since the first of the year. Most of them are now in the habit of using transition words without being reminded (which is huge).
2. How far did your students get with the Four Square method this month? (4 Square, 4 Square to paper, 4+1, 4+3) Why?
My students have been doing 4 Square +3 +T. Also, they know
to use a hook in the opening paragraph. However, they all seem to use a question for their hook. I wish they would vary it
just a bit. It seemed like this month I had to go back and focus on the first paragraph. Some of the students were just writing a
2 sentence paragraph – the topic sentence and the hook.
3. Discuss the Goof’s activity.
My class enjoyed the goof activity. I had them correct the sentence on their paper. Hopefully, since this is such a short activity I can do it weekly.
4. What problems are your students encountering with their participation in this project?
None at this time
5. What is the biggest problem you are experiencing in composition instruction with your students?
My biggest problem is that I have so many different writing abilities in my class. Some of my students write excellent papers. Others just do not know how to use the 4 Square. I can have a top student’s graphic organizer and call on my slower students to show me what goes in the first paragraph, second, etc. and they can do this. However, when I’m not standing over them they do not use the organizer correctly. I just don’t understand why they can tell me, and still not write it correctly.
6. What activity through Write On has been most beneficial to your students?
My students have enjoyed most of the activities we have done. However, they seemed to prefer the Goofs and the Miss Takes Challenge.
7. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students?
I wish all teachers would have an opportunity to participate in the project. I don’t know how to accomplish this, but it would be beneficial to everyone.
Grade 5 Teachers Please discuss:
After administering the Writing Assessment test recently to my students I felt … relieved and glad it was over. I think most of my students did a good job. However, I was concerned that some of my top students did not finish. I am not sure how accurate this test is because the day before the test we were practicing our writing using one of the prompts, and one of my top students had only written ¾ of a page. I reminded him that he needed to have at least a page to a page and half for a top score. He had plenty of time left to write (20 minutes). At this point, he informed me that this test did not matter since they were not graded on it. I informed him he would get a grade on his paper. Then he told me that the grade he would get would not be on his grade card so it didn’t matter. Somehow this test needs to count for something besides grading me on how well I have taught writing for the year. The students need to be held accountable for their scores. Again, just glad it’s over!!
1. Describe your class’ experience with Four Square writing this past month.
I can definitely see improvement in the writing skills of my students. Most of them are using complete sentences and not making a paragraph using one long sentence. That in itself is an improvement.
2. Did your students participate in a science cross curriculum writing activity? If so, describe its successes/weaknesses.
My students did participate in a science cross curriculum writing activity. We watched a PowerPoint on electricity. After discussing the PowerPoint, the students had to write a paragraph about the topic. I was impressed with the paragraphs the students handed in to me. Their writing seems to flow better than at the first of the year.
3. Other than time restraints, what is your biggest problem in composition instruction?
Other than time restraints, my biggest problem in composition instruction is the different ability levels of my students. I can go over the process many times with some students and they can tell me what they should write. However when it comes time for them to write on their own, the knowledge I thought they had just seems to disappear. I have them show me what they should write for their topic sentence, hook, main idea, supporting details, etc. When they have to sit down and put them on paper, some of the students still struggle.
4. What positive effects can you see in your students through the participation in the Four Square method of composition?
I can see the flow of their writing is much better. It is not as choppy as the first of the year. The organization of their writing has greatly improved. Also, some of the students are using more descriptive adjectives. Overall, I am pleased with the results.
5. Have you been able to share experiences or activities addressed through this project with any other educators? What was the result?
I have shared activities with my fellow teachers. I inform them of websites they can use to help improve their students writing. Some of the teachers actually try the activities. However, some of them think they do not have enough time to do the activities and still teach everything they need.
6. What changes will you make in your approach to composition in the upcoming school year?
I will spend more time at the first of the year with the basic four square before I start with the supporting details, transitions, etc.
This project address the following Tennessee Master Plan Goal: State of the art technology will be used to improve curriculum. Tennessee Report Card Performance Indicators Competency (Composition Skills) How do you feel this project moved toward the goal of improving student composition skills?
I believe this project gave me the tools to help the students organize their thoughts before putting them down on paper. Before participating in this project I had heard of the 4 square method of writing, but I did not know anything about implementing it in the classroom. Once I learned the how to use it I could take it and use it in my classroom. Using the graphic organizer helped the students get their thoughts in order before putting them down on paper. I believe this caused them to think to see if what they were writing made sense. Many times students will just put anything down to finish.
List ways your participation in this project has positively affected the writing skills of the students in your classroom.
My students seems to be writing more descriptive and complete sentences. The sentence stretcher activity was an excellent tool to use to help them be more creative when writing sentences. The students seem to be more organized when writing. I believe this can be attributed to using the graphic organizer. Overall, using the tools from our website has helped me to help my students.
How did your participation in this project positively affect your instructional strategies?
Since participating in this project, I definitely feel more confident in my ability to teach writing. I believe using technology is an effective way to help students learn how to be more complete writers. Before participating in this project, I would never have given any thought to implementing technology with writing instruction. Our website has excellent tools available to help students with the writing process.
How has your approach to writing composition changed through your participation in this project from that of previous years?
Since participating in this project, I definitely feel more confident in my ability to teach writing. Before I honestly had no idea of a good method to use to teach writing. I would recommend using the 4 square method to teach writing. It is a simple but effective method to use to teach the steps of writing. Before participating in this project, I would dread trying to teach writing. I just knew that I was not reaching my students. However, I enjoy teaching my students the art of writing.
What other curriculum areas would you like to see implemented in a professional development technology integration project?
I would like to see reading implemented into this project.