Tracy Marra
| September | January |
| October | February |
| November | March |
| December | May |
1. Describe your approach to composition. I use
4-square writing and Power Sentence Writing. I individually help the students
with details by helping them “brainstorm.” Also, I individually help the
students edit their compositions. As the year goes on, they need less help with
their compositions.
2. How often do your students attempt to write each week? We begin writing
on a topic and usually finish the final draft in 3-4 days. We work on it daily.
3. How have you integrated technology into instruction in the past? I use
powerpoint presentations with different areas. Also, we use the internet to find
activities that enhance instruction.
4. What do you hope to gain from participation in this project? I hope to
gain knowledge that will enhance teaching composition in the classroom.
Different techniques that my students will excel in writing will be wonderful.
1. Describe your class’ positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month. I used the autobiography PowerPoint lesson on the TV., and the students really enjoyed it and had some great ideas. They enjoyed writing their sentences on the screen. I also made writing folders and inserted the “dead tired words” in it. They were really excited about seeing the new words they could use. A majority of the students get excited when we begin 4-square which is something I have not experienced before when teaching writing. They usually moan, but now are excited.
2. How far did your students get with the Four Square method? (4 Square, 4 Square to paper, 4+1, 4+3) Why? The students wrote their 4 Square biographies on lined notebook paper. They have a good understanding on transferring it to paper.
3. Have you experienced any problems through your participation in this project this past month? Describe. My problems are not with my students as much as it with my own insecurities on ideas to get them farther. For example, some of my students I believe could achieve 4+1, but I sometimes believe I don’t do a adequate job of explaining it. I’m looking forward to learning more about the 4 square method.
4. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students? I believe that the 4 Square writing is fantastic, because it is organized so the students are not overwhelmed when it comes to knowing what to write. I would love to have an experienced 4 Square writing teacher come to my class and do a writing lesson for my students as well as for me to have a better understanding.
1. Describe positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month. The students are excited when we begin writing each day. They are becoming somewhat more comfortable and are enjoying reading their stories to their peers.
2. How far did your students get with the Four Square method? (4 Square, 4 Square to paper, 4+1, 4+3) Why? I am completing 4 Square to paper. The students need more practice on coming up with their own topic sentence and write 4 good sentences about the topic before continuing to a detail. Most of the students are transferring it to paper very well. I still have a few that are having problems.
3. Discuss the Virtual Field Trip experience. We visited Easter Island and the students enjoyed the field trip. It was a frustrating topic to write a 4 Square activity. It was hard for them to put on paper and have any kind of organization.
4. What problems are your students encountering?
Coming up with an original topic sentence and writing a complete 4 Square to paper seems to still be difficult for the students. They are having trouble editing mistakes of their paper as well as their peer’s paper.
5. What problems are you experiencing?
I am having trouble following through the process at times. Helping the children come up with their own ideas and sentences seems difficult at times. I don’t know if some children should be sticking to writing 4 Square or should I be pushing some to writing details. Also, explaining the editing process and expecting them to find their mistakes is challenging.
6. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students? This writing class is wonderful and it is making me more confident in teaching writing, but I have a tremendous amount to learn. I think that I am not as confident in teaching writing as I am other subjects, but attending classes like this will help me be more confident and hopefully I will in turn help my students be better writers. I think coming into the classroom not only helped me, but my students as well.
1. Describe positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month.
The students are becoming more comfortable with Four Square writing this month. I’m not having to hand feed them as much. They are replacing “dead tired words” with a variety of other words.
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?
They are completing 4+1 for the most part. I still have a few are probably not quite ready and need to stay at 4 Square.
3. Discuss the Sentence Stretcher experience.
They loved the sentence stretcher activity. Most of them did very well. I had to emphasize to a few that it wasn’t the goal to write the silliest sentence they could think to write.
4. Were you able to complete a Colonial America writing activity? Discuss the success/problems.
Yes, we did complete Colonial America activity. I showed the presentation about 3 times and discussed it with the class before we attempted to write on it. They made up their own topic sentence. I did give the clue to begin it with “Colonial America…” The students added a detail. A few had a hard time organizing a good Four square paper, but with individual help they conquered it.
5. Were you able to successfully download a file from the Write On site this month? Tell about any problems you encountered.
Yes.
6. What problems are your students encountering with their participation in this project?
Feeling sentences are still difficult and using some descriptive words so that sentences aren’t four-five words are still challenging to some. I believe they just want to write something down on paper in order to finish instead of putting thought into it and write quality sentences. Editing is still challenging, but has improved slightly.
7. What problems are you experiencing?
I am continuing to feel uncomfortable with the feeling sentences and teaching them to construct original topic sentences.
8. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students?
I think you are doing a wonderful job and writing is something that I am not completely comfortable teaching, but because of this project I feel as I understand the concepts better. Having you come to the classroom was a huge help.
1. Describe positive experience(s) with Four Square writing this past month.
My students are doing better in the quality of their sentences. They are using a variety of words and are beginning sentences with some phrases instead of “I”, “the”, etc.
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? Most students are completing 4+1. Some are struggling with it still, but are improving. I believe a couple might could handle 4+3, but I haven’t tried it yet.
3. Discuss the Goof’s activity. They enjoy the Goof’s activity, and are getting good at it.
4. What improvements are you seeing in your students through participation in this project?
Stretching sentences while using a broader vocabulary has been the largest improvement. Also, being able to construct a paragraph on one topic has been good.
5. What is the biggest hurdle you have experienced in composition instruction with your students?
Being able to write details in each square is tough for them, but the feeling sentence has been the hardest.
6. What activity through Write On has been most beneficial to your students?
I love Miss Take’s Challenge and the sentence stretcher activity the most. They are really “putting their heads together” to find mistakes. The sentence stretcher activities really show them how to create different sentences instead of telling them “just make it longer.”
7. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students?
I still need help explaining the feeling sentence. It is harder for me and therefore harder for them. I wish there was some magic answer for getting them to “think for themselves” on details.
1. Describe your class’ experience with Four Square writing this past month.
We have been continuing writing 4+1. We are in the process of writing 4+3 in a writing across the curriculum in science. This has been challenging. They have progressed in their writing a lot since the beginning of the year when I began this project.
2. Did your students participate in a science cross curriculum writing activity? If so, describe its successes/weaknesses.
We are in the process of writing a 4+3 with the 3 kinds of matter. They have had pretty much success in that the details are in the science material so they don’t have to come up with the details on their own. We have attempted the “wrap up” sentence. This has been a challenge.
3. Other than time restraints, what is your biggest problem in composition instruction?
The “feeling” sentence is continuing to give me problems. This is one of my weaknesses. Also, just coming up with new ways to integrate details is a challenge.
4. What positive effects can you see in your students through the participation in the Four Square method of composition?
Their papers are much more organized. They don’t jump from one topic to another. They are also creating more colorful sentences.
5. Have you been able to share experiences or activities addressed through this project with any other educators? What was the result?
Yes. I have shared the sentence stretchers and Hillsborough Squares with the other 3rd grade teachers. I have also shown them the science powerpoint presentations. They really have enjoyed using the sentence stretchers.
6. What changes will you make in your approach to composition in the upcoming school year?
I feel like that I understand the concept of the 4-square writing more and have a multitude of activities that I can incorporate into my lessons. I will go into the school year more confident of teaching the 4-square approach.
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 feel writing is the hardest area for me to teach, and for students to accomplish. This Write On project has given me the the resources and the insight to teach the students and have them accomplish the goal of writing organized paragraphs. The students no longer "dreaded" writing, because they understood the concept and had fun at the same time completing some of the on-line activities.
List ways your participation in this project has positively affected the writing skills of the students in your classroom.
The online activities in writing taught the students the skills as they were having fun. The sentence stretchers were wonderful, because they were writing longer detailed paragraphs and enjoyed doing it. They couldn't wait to share their sentences with the class. The knowledge learned in this activity carried over into their writing.
How did your participation in this project positively affect your instructional strategies?
I loved the online activities. It seemed that about any category that I had a hard time explaining there was an student activity. The students understood the concepts and enjoyed it at the same time. It saved much instructional planning time, because I would just download a presentation and it there was my lesson for the day. It was then easy for the students to "carry" the concept over into their daily writing.
How has your approach to writing composition changed through your participation in this project from that of previous years?
As I stated previously, I was lost at how to "teach" writing. The students hated it, and therefore it wasn't done much in the classroom. Now, I write at least 3 times a week and implement activities weekly. The students enjoy and are accomplishing writing organized paragraphs. I don't dread teaching writing either, because I understand the concept of 4 Square Writing.
What other curriculum areas would you like to see implemented in a professional development technology integration project?
Science Social Studies