Ann Lindsay

September
1. Describe your approach to composition.  Currently I am using the 4 Square Method. Prior to this I used my own style which was giving the students a prompt, having them to develop their ideas and then writing. This worked pretty well in the past. I like the 4 Square Method better and am looking forward to learning more about it.


2. How often do your students attempt to write each week?  My students are writing at least three days a week. I would like to get writing incorporated every day, but this hasn’t happened as of yet.


3. How have you integrated technology into instruction in the past?  My students have viewed on line writing compositions to understand the concept of rubrics and how the compositions are scored. I have also used pictures to develop prompts and writing ideas.


4. What do you hope to gain from participation in this project?  I would like to gain a better understanding of the 4 Square Method, and how it can be developed in the classroom so students can better have a understanding of the method.

October

1. Describe your class’ positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month.

My students wanted to do more than I expected of them. They loved not being able to repeat the first of a sentence more than once. The ‘what I want to do in the future’ was an eye opener for many because they had never thought about their future and college. They had to seriously think about what they would like to do. This was a very positive experience for them as the discussions were very animated about future jobs.

2. How far did your students get with the Four Square method? (4 Square, 4 Square to paper, 4+1, 4+3) Why?

We started with 4+1, but we could have added more. I didn’t let them because they needed to understand the first concept.

3. Have you experienced any problems through your participation in this project this past month? Describe.

Problems experienced were students not getting the information needed to complete their writing. The students did not know what a margin was on the paper. Some did not know about indenting. Others had problems on developing sentences that didn’t start with the same word. Spelling of proper nouns caused a major problem.

4. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students?

Gather information from parents first, possibly as a list so the students have it on hand. Teach concept of indenting and margins before doing any writing. Teach a lesson on “I” before doing any work. Go over concept of 4+1 for several days before having them to actually do this process. Using the TV was a great for this, but perhaps I should have used more of them to demonstrate the concept. Time is a factor in the classroom and it is very hard to get through a skill lesson, plus getting them into the paper part of the lesson.

November

1. Describe positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month.

My students are not having positive experiences at this time. They just want to get the work finished.

2. How far did your students get with the Four Square method? (4 Square, 4 Square to paper, 4+1, 4+3) Why?

My students are working on 4+3. They were ready for this part

of the writing experience. They seemed to be excited about

this part, but are having trouble with developing the fourth

sentence in each square. They seem to run out of ideas.

3. Discuss the Virtual Field Trip experience.

My students enjoyed the Easter Island Field Trip until I told them we were going to take notes on the field trip. Then they groaned. They thought all the sounds were fantastic, but I felt like they were distracting the students from staying on task. They were more interested in the next sound than in the field trip itself. I finally cut the sound off. We had many problems developing notes from the field trip that they could use.

4. What problems are your students encountering?

The students did not know how to take notes from the slide show. I had to stop and teach them how to do this. They still had problems even after lessons were taught. They couldn’t seem to put their ideas back into sentences that made sense. They simply wanted to copy from the slides. They also couldn’t categorize the details under each square. This assignment was very hard for them. We are still working on it.

5. What problems are you experiencing?

Getting students to write whole sentences, putting the sentences in sequential order, capitalization, and punctuation.

I taught and taught this, but they just don’t remember to do this.

6. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students?

I would take out some of the sounds. I would make it shorter for the fourth graders. Developing lessons for taking notes would be great as students do not understand this at all.

December
 

1. Describe positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month. My students are making better sentences. I’ve told them that they could not repeat words at the beginning of sentences (I trouble became other word troubles, and they remembered.) They didn’t particular care for me using the words “naked” sentences. I’ll work on that one.

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 working on 4 Square + 1 because that is what they are more comfortable with. They have major problems with traveling to the 4+3 concept. I may have to introduce 4+2 then proceed to 4+3. Who knows, they may finally get the concept.

3. Discuss the Sentence Stretcher experience.

They loved the sentence stretcher concept. They want to do one everyday. I’m not sure there are enough on the computer for this. Is there a book of ideas?

4. Were you able to complete a Colonial America writing activity? Discuss the success/problems.

My students really liked the Colonial America experience. You did a great job introducing this to my students.

They commented that this was much easier to do than the Easter Island experience. They started writing quickly and remembered many of the ideas in the field trip. They really like the doll dressing experience. They wrote 4+1. A few students had problems with the writing, but the majority of the students loved the writing. This was something they were more familiar with.

5. Were you able to successfully download a file from the Write On site this month? Tell about any problems you encountered.

No problems were encountered downloading files. Thanks for the tips.

6. What problems are your students encountering with their participation in this project? They are having problems finishing up their writing. They want to prolong getting it finished or not wanting to finish it at all. They are still experiencing problems with capitalization and punctuation of sentences. Their comments, “Oh Yeah.” It’s like they never remember something so common until you remind them of it.

7. What problems are you experiencing?

Conferencing is a problem, but giving them specific days for conferencing seems to help, however, sometimes this is too long of a period for them to wait between conferences. I am still having problems getting this writing in every day. It seems we just get started when it is time to put it away, then I feel like I haven’t accomplished what I needed to do.

8. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students? I’m not sure!!!!!

January
 

1. Describe positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month.

We had no positive experiences this past month, we battle every time we write. The students don’t want to write no matter how exciting I make it for them. All I hear are moans and groans.

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 are very familiar with 4 Square to paper, and are learning 4 Square + 1. They have major problems with anything further along than this. They have problems with developing sentences that go along with the topic sentence.

3. Discuss the Miss Take’s Challenge experience.

The students are very familiar with this type of experience, as we have been doing this for several years. They try to outdo each other on correcting the mistakes. My students also want to improve upon the sentence thinking that they can make the sentence sound better with entirely rewording the sentences.

4. Was Mr. Indent helpful to your students? If so, in what way. If not, why?

Mr. Indent was helpful to some students, but not others. As long as we are reminding them and practicing the skill, the students know what they are doing. When we get ready to actually write, then they quickly forget the skill, and say “Oops, I forgot.”

5. What problems are your students encountering with their participation in this project?

Not remembering the skills until I say remember “ .“ This is very problematic with my students. I’m not sure how to handle this. If we continue to remind the students, then they will never learn the skill. If we don’t remind them of the skill, then they miss it on their paper.

6. What problems are you experiencing?

Getting the students to listen to me. They think they know everything and don’t have to pay attention when I’m teaching. They then can’t understand why they don’t do it correctly.

Time is a factor for all of us working these skills into our daily

schedule. I am repeating, repeating, repeating.

February

1. Describe positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month.

My students are beginning to do a much better job setting up their Four Square organizers before starting. They are also doing a better job composing their sentences watching for common goofs or mistakes. They are not complaining as much when we do the Four 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?

My students are working on 4+3. They are having a few problems getting the fourth detail in the square. They do really well with their three sentences, but the fourth drives them crazy. Some of my students still consider writing something they just have to get finished.

3. Discuss the Goof’s activity.

My students love the Goof’s activity. We have completed through number 6. They are given a certain time limit to do each one, and then they check it with a red pen before going on to the next. My students ask to do this activity daily. We just can’t find the time to do it daily

4. What improvements are you seeing in your students through participation in this project?

My students are making fewer grammatical mistakes, but are still having problems remembering capitalization and punctuation. They have improved in the composition of the sentences and are very aware of “I” problems. They carry this over into other words at beginning of sentences.

5. What is the biggest hurdle you have experienced in composition instruction with your students?

The biggest hurdle is getting the fourth detail in the squares so they can develop a sentence for the paragraphs. They want to stop with three sentences. They also have problems with the final paragraph if it is not a feeling paragraph. Summarizing is not their best concept.

6. What activity through Write On has been most beneficial to your students?

All of the PowerPoint activities have been helpful. The best has been the Goof’s and the Miss Takes.

7. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students?

How do I help my students develop that fourth detail to write the fourth sentence? I have tried different activities.

March
 

1. Describe your class’ experience with Four Square writing this past month.

My students have been writing more with Four Square this month because I have been trying to get more writing accomplished. We have worked on music in Tennessee and our science Four Square. The students enjoyed both of these projects.

2. Did your students participate in a science cross curriculum writing activity? If so, describe its successes/weaknesses.

My students did a writing activity on clouds. They watched the PowerPoint on Types of Clouds. I then put this PowerPoint on all my computers so students could take notes. Some did great on note taking, but others did not. I had to reteach note taking to some of my students. Other students had problems developing four sentences for the paragraphs. Many students had trouble with the last paragraph. However, I would consider this activity a success. There wasn’t as much complaining about writing.

3. Other than time restraints, what is your biggest problem in composition instruction?

My students don’t want to develop the topic sentence into a paragraph. They also have problems summarizing the last paragraph. Since this is a problem in reading, I can see where this creates a problem in their writing.

4. What positive effects can you see in your students through the participation in the Four Square method of composition?

Many of my students have gotten better with correctly composing sentences. They are more aware of the beginning

of the sentence, and how each sentence should start differently. My students are using the dictionary more to check spelling and are using the thesaurus for synonyms.

5. Have you been able to share experiences or activities addressed through this project with any other educators? What was the result?

I try to share with the other teachers, especially about the PowerPoint presentations and other activities. I have also shared with teachers in other counties what we are doing. They think what we are doing is great.

6. What changes will you make in your approach to composition in the upcoming school year?

I will only work on Four Square and not jump so quickly to Four Square + 3. I will also incorporate science and social studies sooner. I will introduce taking notes at the beginning of the school year.

May

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?

Students could see skills that they needed to improve upon and how to ideas for improving that skill. The concept of viewing what was expected was a great help to all students.

List ways your participation in this project has positively affected the writing skills of the students in your classroom.

The games and PowerPoint activities have made writing fun. The students could remediate individually using different games when they needed help.

How did your participation in this project positively affect your instructional strategies?

I used many of the games and activities this year to help teach my students editing and proofreading skills. Modeling a skill in different formats was something that I had never done before and I think this help my students learn what was expected of them.

How has your approach to writing composition changed through your participation in this project from that of previous years?

I have used more technology this year than ever before. I have spent more time on the writing process. I am more aware of techniques to use.

What other curriculum areas would you like to see implemented in a professional development technology integration project?

science, social studies, poetry, writing short stories or specific genre such as tall tales, myths, etc