Writing Strategies Goal 10: Collaborating With Writing Partners and Clubs

Welcome to our book study of The Writing Strategies Book:  Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers by Jennifer Serravallo! I am joining forces with some other fabulous teacher bloggers to discuss the writing strategies we come across in this AMAZING professional text!    

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  

Because this book isn't your typical professional development book filled with individual "chapters" of narrative, each teacher blogger will be giving you a glimpse into the 10 goals that are represented in the text.  Each goal area is filled with many valuable strategies that will help you to support and guide your students as they become better writers.  Keep in mind, we are only highlighting a FEW strategies in each section.  There are over 300 strategies in the whole book!

You can find my posts for previous sections below:

Goal 1: Composing With Pictures

Goal 2: Engagement

Goal 3: Generating and Collecting Ideas

Goal 4: Focus/Meaning 
Goal 5: Organization and Structure  
Goal 6: Elaboration  
Goal 7: Word Choice  
Goal 8: Conventions: Spelling and Letter Formation   
Goal 9: Conventions: Grammar and Punctuation 

 Serravallo says that writing can fell very lonely.  You work by yourself: thinking, getting the words down on the page, problem solving, checking, and rechecking.

But... she says it doesn't have to be that way.

Writing partners and clubs can offer students: motivation and accountability, feedback, chances to get "unstuck", additional ideas, and an expert to compensate for their weak spots.

Serravallo says that she hopes that teachers offer all students opportunities to meet together in partnerships of small groups at various points throughout the writing process.

Group work can be challenging for many students, so luckily this chapter provides strategies to support them.

Focus Strategy 1: Talk Around the Idea, Then Write

This strategy can be used during the brainstorming or planning phase. Writers tell their partners ideas they have for a writing project.  Students should spend some time having a conversation about the idea.  Some sample prompts could be:

* I'm thinking I might want to write a [genre] because...

* The details I plan to include are...

* One question I have is... Do you have questions?

* I was thinking it could go like this...

I made these sentence strips to help my students.

To keep the sentence strips handy for when I am teaching this strategy, I wrote the title of the strategy on the back, and then hooked them together on a command hook.

Focus Strategy 2: Partner Inquisition (To Get Your Thinking Going)

One partner reads their piece aloud to the other (or the partners can read them silently).  Partners can ask each other questions to push their writing.

There is an example of an anchor chart you can share with your students to help them generate questions.

Focus Strategy 3: Help Wanted/Help Offered

In this strategy, students think about their strengths as a writer.  They can post an offer to help others under a "help offered" section of a board.  Likewise, students who need help can write a "help wanted" sign.

If you would like to purchase the book mentioned above, you can find it here.

If you would like to link up your own blog posts about this book, feel free to do so in the linky below!  Don't forget to check out the other bloggers' posts as well as they write them for even more ideas!

An InLinkz Link-up

Writing Strategies Goal 9: Conventions Grammar and Punctuation

Welcome to our book study of The Writing Strategies Book:  Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers by Jennifer Serravallo! I am joining forces with some other fabulous teacher bloggers to discuss the writing strategies we come across in this AMAZING professional text!    

Because this book isn't your typical professional development book filled with individual "chapters" of narrative, each teacher blogger will be giving you a glimpse into the 10 goals that are represented in the text.  Each goal area is filled with many valuable strategies that will help you to support and guide your students as they become better writers.  Keep in mind, we are only highlighting a FEW strategies in each section.  There are over 300 strategies in the whole book!

You can find my posts for previous sections below:

Goal 1: Composing With Pictures

Goal 2: Engagement

Goal 3: Generating and Collecting Ideas

Goal 4: Focus/Meaning 
Goal 5: Organization and Structure  
Goal 6: Elaboration  
Goal 7: Word Choice  
Goal 8: Conventions: Spelling and Letter Formation 

Serravallo says that choosing to teach the strategies in this chapter means that you're choosing to teach how authors make decisions around grammar and punctuation, not just assigning students to do it correctly.

According to Serravallo, all students will benefit from paying some attention to their grammar and punctuation choices.

When choosing this as a goal for your students to work on, you may want to consider students who:

* can use support making their writing more readable.

* are ready to challenge conventions and play with language.

Focus Strategy 1: Repeated Reading to Check a Checklist

In this strategy, you ask the student to read the first item on their editing checklist.  They then read through their draft making any changes they notice having to do with that first item.  When they finish, they repeat these steps going through each item in the checklist.

Serravallo suggests that the best checklists are reminders of things that the students have already been taught and have learned how to do.

I agree with this, and I think it is even more powerful when the students generate their own checklists.

Focus Strategy 2: To And or Not to And?

I have to first say, I LOVE the name of this strategy.  Now with that our of the way, this strategy is for kids who LOVE to use the word "and".  Can we say run-on sentences?   

You might see sentences from your writers that look like this:

I went to the water park and went on the water slides and ate ice-cream and then I went in the wave pool and the lazy river.

This strategy asks the child to find a place in their writing where they've used the word "and" several times in one sentence.  They should re-read the sentence and think, "Which of these ideas/details need to stay connected"?  They should keep the "and" where the ideas and details are related and delete it where they aren't.

Focus Strategy 3: Don't Over-do It

Sometimes when students learn new skills or strategies they get so excited that they go into over-use mode.  

This strategy helps the student to remember the purpose behind the technique and to exercise restraint.

You have the student scan their draft to find a place where they've used the same technique over and over.  They should consider the purpose and decide what to keep and what to change. 

As you can see from the student sample above, this student is excited about using dialogue and exclamation points.  She would be a great candidate for this strategy!

If you would like to purchase the book mentioned above, you can find it here.

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  

Make sure to visit Sarah over at Kovescense of the Mind She is our official hostess for this week, and she has some more strategies and great ideas for you!

If you would like to link up your own blog posts about this book, feel free to do so in the linky below!  Don't forget to check out the other bloggers' posts as well as they write them for even more ideas!

An InLinkz Link-up

Writing Strategies Goal 8: Conventions - Spelling & Letter Formation

Welcome to our book study of The Writing Strategies Book:  Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers by Jennifer Serravallo! I am joining forces with some other fabulous teacher bloggers to discuss the writing strategies we come across in this AMAZING professional text!    

Because this book isn't your typical professional development book filled with individual "chapters" of narrative, each teacher blogger will be giving you a glimpse into the 10 goals that are represented in the text.  Each goal area is filled with many valuable strategies that will help you to support and guide your students as they become better writers.  Keep in mind, we are only highlighting a FEW strategies in each section.  There are over 300 strategies in the whole book!

You can find my posts for previous sections below:

Goal 1: Composing With Pictures

Goal 2: Engagement

Goal 3: Generating and Collecting Ideas

Goal 4: Focus/Meaning 
Goal 5: Organization and Structure  
Goal 6: Elaboration  
Goal 7: Word Choice

It  is important for students to learn how words are spelled so that others can comprehend what has been written.

Serravallo cautions that we shouldn't assume that spelling errors mean that students are being careless, but that they are writing the way they know how.  She suggested using a spelling assessment, such as the spelling inventory from Words Their Way, in order to learn more about your students' spelling understandings.

When choosing this as a goal for your students to work on, you may want to consider students who:

* show they are ready for this strategy based on spelling inventory.

* have writing samples with a high frequency of certain types of spelling errors.

Focus Strategy 1: Vowel Charts for the Middle of Words

This strategy teaches the child to say a word they are having trouble spelling slowly.  They should first record the beginning sound.  Then they say it again listening for the middle of the word.  They check a vowel chart to see which letter or letter combinations might make the sound.

Here is an example of a vowel chart from The Clever Classroom.

Focus Strategy 2: Use Your Resources to Spell

When a student tries to spell a word (or attempts to correct the spelling of a word), they should ask themselves, "Have I seen this word written somewhere else before?"

They should check resources such as books, word walls, personal dictionaries, etc.

Focus Strategy 3: Use Words You Know to Spell Unknown Words

This strategy asks students to think about words they know how to spell that might sound like a word they know.  For example, if they were trying to spell the word "exit" they might think about the word "it" to help them spell it.

This page features prompts students can use to help them spell including these strategies and several others.  You might want to print it out for your students to refer to.

If you would like to purchase the book mentioned above, you can find it here.

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  

Make sure to visit Katie over at Running for Literacy. She is our official hostess for this week, and she has some more strategies and great ideas for you!

If you would like to link up your own blog posts about this book, feel free to do so in the linky below!  Don't forget to check out the other bloggers' posts as well as they write them for even more ideas!

An InLinkz Link-up

Writing Strategies Goal 7: Word Choice

Welcome to our book study of The Writing Strategies Book:  Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers by Jennifer Serravallo! I am joining forces with some other fabulous teacher bloggers to discuss the writing strategies we come across in this AMAZING professional text!    

Because this book isn't your typical professional development book filled with individual "chapters" of narrative, each teacher blogger will be giving you a glimpse into the 10 goals that are represented in the text.  Each goal area is filled with many valuable strategies that will help you to support and guide your students as they become better writers.  Keep in mind, we are only highlighting a FEW strategies in each section.  There are over 300 strategies in the whole book!

You can find my posts for previous sections below:

Writing Strategies Book Study Kick Off

Goal 1: Composing With Pictures

Goal 2: Engagement

Goal 3: Generating and Collecting Ideas

Goal 4: Focus/Meaning 
Goal 5: Organization and Structure  
Goal 6: Elaboration

This goal is all about Word Choice.  Serravallo says that the words we choose as writers "have the power to communicate tone, clarify an intended meaning (or not), and give writing voice".  If students don't carefully consider their choice of words, they can end up with writing that is vague or flat.

She also says that some writers don't need to give deliberate attention to word choice.  These students write with voice and clarity already.  For others, strategies in this section will help elevate their writing and style.

When choosing this as a goal for your students to work on, you may want to consider students who:

* write pieces that are organized and detailed, but could use work communicating their meaning by being more specific or precise.

* could use help varying the words they use in their writing.

Focus Strategy 1: Onomatopoeia: Sound Effects

My students LOVE this strategy - quite possible because the word onomatopoeia sounds so funny, but, I will take any reason for engagement and excitement about writing!  

You ask the student to imagine themselves inside their story.  What do they hear? How would they write that word?

You could introduce this strategy with the video below:

You might also want to provide students with an anchor chart like the one below as well.

Focus Strategy 2: Write With Authority: Domain Specific Vocabulary

This strategy asks students to keep a list if words authors use about the topics they are researching.  They could then use the list to help them use domain specific vocabulary in their writing.  

You might start the lesson with an anchor chart like this one from the book.

Focus Strategy 3: Precise Nouns

In this strategy, students return to their drafts, underlining all of the nouns.  They should look back at these nouns and ask themselves, "Can I get any more specific?"  Instead of just saying the boy, could they mention them by name?

I might introduce this strategy with one of our current read alouds, such as Wonder.

I would have the students see if they can find the different nouns in a page, and see where the author was REALLY specific.  In this page they might notice that the costumes were specifically Egyptian costumes and Indiana Jones-type archaeologists. I would ask them, " How do these specific nouns help the readers make a better picture in their mind?"

If you would like to purchase the book mentioned above, you can find it here.

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  

If you would like to link up your own blog posts about this book, feel free to do so in the linky below!  Don't forget to check out the other bloggers' posts as well as they write them for even more ideas!

An InLinkz Link-up

Writing Strategies Goal 6: Elaboration

Welcome to our book study of The Writing Strategies Book:  Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers by Jennifer Serravallo! I am joining forces with some other fabulous teacher bloggers to discuss the writing strategies we come across in this AMAZING professional text!    

Because this book isn't your typical professional development book filled with individual "chapters" of narrative, each teacher blogger will be giving you a glimpse into the 10 goals that are represented in the text.  Each goal area is filled with many valuable strategies that will help you to support and guide your students as they become better writers.  Keep in mind, we are only highlighting a FEW strategies in each section.  There are over 300 strategies in the whole book!

You can find my posts for previous sections below:

Goal 1: Composing With Pictures

Goal 2: Engagement

Goal 3: Generating and Collecting Ideas

Goal 4: Focus/Meaning 
Goal 5: Organization and Structure

Serravallo defines elaboration as "the specific information a writer uses to develop her writing".  She says it can include things such as details, facts, dialogue, descriptions and more.  She says it is the purposeful detail that brings a piece of writing to life and conveys the author's purpose.

When choosing this as a goal for your students to work on, you may want to consider students who:

* write with very few details.

* need help varying details.

* need support in deciding what details should be included.

Focus Strategy 1: Nudge Paper

I love this strategy!  It is for those students who aren't quite sure about making a change.  You have them take out a strip of scratch paper (or Post-It Note) that they can use to try out the change.  They can later decide if they want to keep that change.

Focus Strategy 2: See the World Like a Poet (Metaphor and Simile)

I love this idea for adding more interesting details to writing. Students think of the features they might want to compare, what else has similar features?  

I love to use the mentor text Crazy Like a Fox A Simile Story to help students understand similes.

Focus Strategy 3: Prove It

This strategy asks students to think of their idea, claim, or thesis, and ask themselves, what reasons they have for thinking that way.  What details prove what they want to say? These reasons become extra details to help convince their reader.

If you would like to purchase the book mentioned above, you can find it here.

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  

Make sure to visit Kathleen over at  Courage Doesn't Always Roar. She is our official hostess for this week, and she has some more strategies and great ideas for you!

If you would like to link up your own blog posts about this book, feel free to do so in the linky below!  Don't forget to check out the other bloggers' posts as well as they write them for even more ideas!

An InLinkz Link-up