Jennifer Tyrell

September
         The Write On Project will take place for the 2002-2003 school year.  I was somewhat apprehensive about using technology to teach writing but, this sounds like a very exciting way to teach. It has always been one of the hardest subjects for me to teach, and this seems like it will break it down into very simple and manageable steps.  I am hoping that it will show my students how to use sentences in a paragraph that are related in meaning to each other.    One of the biggest problems that I have always had is trying to explain and show how a paragraph should contain one thought or idea.  By using the four square method, I believe that it will be a visual tool for the students.

October

1. Describe your class’ experience with Four Square writing this past month.  My students were excited about using the Four Square writing after I showed them the first time.  They felt this was a very easy way for them to collect their thoughts into a paragraph.  They still had problems with writing a complete sentence, and finding three different sentences on the same subject thought.  Each time we write, they ask if we are using the four square writing.  They feel like they are only writing one rough draft when they transfer their writing to paper.

2. How often did your students attempt to write each week? We wrote between two to three times a week.

3. Did your students attempt a Four Square + 1 paragraph (topic sentence, three detail sentences, one additional sentence for each detail).  If so, what success did they have with it?  If not, why? No, we did not.  My students are still concentrating on writing a complete sentence and tying it in with three other complete sentences.  I hope to try this in the next two weeks.

4. Have you experienced any problems through your participation in this project this past month?  I have had scheduling problems at different times.  We have had picture day, tornado drills, fire drills, and intruder drills all in the past two weeks.  I am working writing into every subject I can, but it is time consuming to write and cover basic skills.

5. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students?  If I could just find an additional 30 minutes a day to teach writing, it would be great!

November
 My class truly enjoyed their writing experience with the Easter Island assignment.  After writing their initial paper, I had them edit each other with a partner of their choosing.  They eagerly looked over each others papers suggesting changes.  We then partnered up again, with different partners and found that there were more changes that most of them could make.  They were so interested in this subject that many of them went looking for more information on their own.  They still struggle with more than two additional sentences per square.

My students write at least once a week for a writing lesson.  However, we are trying to incorporate writing throughout the curriculum.  They are writing in English and Social Studies.  We have been studying Native Americans, and they have had to write several different types of stories and information type papers.  They always ask to use the four square method when they write, and of course I say a resounding yes.  I do my best to get them to write two to three times a week.

My students had to write an origin story for our study of Native Americans.  They asked if they could use Four Square to do this.  The majority did a great job on their stories using Four Square.  They were able to come up with a topic sentence and several detail sentences to go along with it.  When we did an assignment for English however, it was a different story.  They have no problem with the topic sentence, the first detail sentences, and the feeling sentence.  They do struggle when they have to start adding details to their first detail sentence.  They have a problem with staying on one idea.  Some of my students don’t understand the concept of main idea and supporting detail.  We are working with it almost daily.

Have you experienced any problems through your participation in this project this past month?  My only problem is time.  It is difficult sometimes to find the time to write.  It takes several of my students a very long time to do the physical act of writing.  I have several students with very poor motor skills and it just takes them so long to write a paragraph.

January

1. Describe your class’ experience with Four Square writing this past month. We did quite a bit of writing in December using the four square. We wrote stories for the local newspaper, journal activities, and an “interest paper” for our studies of Native Americans. The students know how to do the initial four square quite well, and this is their preferred method of writing.
 

2. Share your experiences with the “Christmas Surprise” activity.
My students had used this type of writing experience before, or at least similar. They really enjoy this type of writing except for having to read each others handwriting. I have also experienced problems with time constraints. I have several students who write very slowly. They have great ideas, just write very slowly. This is sometimes a problem as I will have most students finished with their part, and we have to wait on a few of the others. It is frustrating for some. My class does enjoy this activity for the most part. It is fun!
 
 

3. Did your students attempt a Four Square + 1 paragraph (topic sentence, three detail sentences, one additional sentence for each detail). If so, what success did they have with it? If not, why? My students have little problem with the initial four square project. They begin to run into difficulties when they have to add sentences and not get off topic. We attempted this several different times last month with a variety of success. When we do one together, they have no problems. They all seem to understand, correct each other with being on topic, and are enthusiastic. When it comes time to work on their own, they struggle. The additional sentences often stray from their topic. They tend to throw in ideas that are not exactly related. They enjoy writing this way however and we will continue to work on it.
 

4. Have you experienced any problems through your participation in this project this past month? We have had just the usual time constraints and the month of December is unusually hectic anyway.
 

5. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students? I have no suggestions; so far it has been a great experience for both me and my students. I do feel that they are learning how to write better, and I am learning how to teach writing in a more beneficial way.
 

February
1. Describe your class’ experience with Four Square writing this past month.  We have not been able to get a whole lot of writing done this month because of snow days.  We have been working on a project that we began in January.  The children remain enthusiastic about writing.  Several of the snow days, they wrote on their own without prompting concerning their chosen topic.  

2. Did your students attempt a Four Square + 1 paragraph (topic sentence, three detail sentences, one additional sentence for each detail).  If so, what success did they have with it?  If not, why?  We are writing a paper about their favorite American hero.  They began with researching a topic and then we began putting it onto paper with the four square.  Many of my students had in the past simply copied information out of the encyclopedia and declaring it to be their work.  By using the four square, most of the copying was eliminated.  They had to come up with their own ideas.  They really struggled with it at first.  They still wanted just to copy sentences out of the books onto their four square paper.  They found though that by only writing one or two sentences per line, they didn’t struggle very much.  I then encouraged them to add sentences to expand on their ideas.  This particular project has gone fairly well.
 

3. Have you experienced any problems through your participation in this project this past month?  Just not being in school so that we can write!
 

4. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students?  We are not experiencing any real problems at this particular point in time.  My students love using this method of writing.  They all say that it makes more sense to them.
 

March

1. Describe your class’ experience with Four Square writing this past month.  My class has continued to write an essay about their favorite American Hero using this method.  We started out by writing four simple sentences with the topic sentence and then expanded the sentences from there.  Each student wrote an essay up to 200 words, give or take a few words.

2. How often did your students attempt to write each week? We wrote as a class on this project at least once a week for an hour.  The students wrote on their own during their extra time.

3. Did your students participate in a social studies cross curriculum writing activity?  If so, describe its successes/weaknesses.  We did not participate in this activity through a variety of reasons.  We were concentrating on our essays which did involve social studies, but not the particular one assigned.  The students did have some trouble stating why this particular person was their hero.  They wanted to write strictly about whom their person was and why he was important to the country.  Overall I felt that they did a fairly good job researching their person and then writing about them.

4. Have you experienced any problems through your participation in this project this past month?  No

5. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students? I don’t have any at this time.

April  

1. Describe your class’ experience with Four Square writing this past month.  We didn’t work on writing as much this month because of T-Cap practice and testing.  We were only able to work on the Civil War four square about four thirty minute periods. 

2. Share your students’ experiences with the Civil War or Iraq writing activity.  My students were very excited writing about the Civil War.  It led to several discussions about the war and several of the students researched additional material on their own.  They had trouble though with putting some of this material onto paper.  They wanted to include all sorts of information into their paper. I had to keep emphasizing that they needed to keep a focus to their writing and not to try and include everything in their articles.  They did fairly well all things considered.

3. Have you experienced any problems through your participation in this project this past month? I just had problems with time this month because of testing.

4. What suggestions would you have for making this project more beneficial to you and your students?  It has been a great project for my students this year.  We have learned a great deal about writing. 

May

The Tennessee Master Plan Goals the project addressed was:

State of the art technology will be used to improve curriculum. Tennessee Report Card Performance Indicators Competency (Composition Skills)

1.      How do you feel this project moved toward the goal of improving student composition skills? I felt that I learned how to teach writing in a more organized way.  The students enjoyed writing which made it easier to teach.  They learned to look for ideas that would go together instead of trying to include all their thoughts into one paragraph.  Through the use of the virtual field trips and the wide variety of web sites, my students enjoyed looking at different topics to write about.  I felt that they became better writers through my inclusion in this program.  

2.        How did your participation in this project positively affecting the writing skills of the students in your classroom?  My students really enjoyed using the four square method.  I enjoyed teaching it and I believe this influenced their positive attitudes.  I felt a little more organized when using this method and I believe this carried over to my class. 

3.        How did your participation in this project positively affect your instructional strategies? I felt more confident in teaching writing.  I included more writing activities with each subject area.  I felt my students understood how to write one complete paragraph a little better and therefore I pursued more writing activities. 

4.        Describe any problems you encountered through your participation in this project? I really didn’t have any problems being involved in this project.  I felt the time spent was very positive and beneficial for both my students and myself.

5.        What could be done to improve the Write On project? I really felt positive about the project and really didn’t see any need for improvement.  I felt that it was very beneficial for me.