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

Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway June 12, 2017

Would you like to win a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card?  Every week we give away one to a lucky reader!  Will it be you this week?

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)

Co-hosts:   An Apple for the Teacher, LIVIN' IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER, and Trending Technology in Tennessee.

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter. Giveaway ends 6/19/17 and is open worldwide.

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Monthly $75 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway - June 2017

It is time for our monthly giveaway!  You have a chance to win a $75 Teachers pay Teachers gift card to help you get ready for next school year!

Once you have entered, be sure to click on my Giveaway tab to enter all of the other giveaways this month!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Prize: $75 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card

Giveaway organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)

Co-hosts: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher),  A Plus Kids, Reading and Writing Redhead, PreK Kristin, Jackie Crews, Mickey's Place, The Chocolate Teacher, Heart 2 Heart Teaching, Leah Popinski, MM Bilingual, Teaching Ideas for Those Who Love Teaching, Trending Technology in Tennessee, A Library and Garden, Planet Happy Smiles, Teacher Gameroom, Cara's Creative Playground, Traci Bender - The Bender Bunch, Paula's Preschool and Kindergarten, Kindergarten Is Crazy, Teaching Where You're Called, Mrs Hansens Helpfuls, Debora Marines TeachMagically, Teacher Jeanell, Southern Drawl, and KB3Teach.

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter form to enter.  Giveaway ends 6/13/17 and is open worldwide.

Are you a blogger who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your blog?  Click here to find out how you can join a totally awesome group of bloggers!



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Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway June 5, 2017

Many of you are out of school for the summer!  But, even if you're in full summer relaxation mode, I'm sure you'd love a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card!  Even if you're not in planning mode, you can save it until Back to School!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)

Co-hosts:   An Apple for the Teacher, LIVIN' IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER, The Watermelon Teacher - Susan Krevat, Ms. K, Carrie Comincioli, Third Grade Giggles, Leah Popinski, 180 Days of Reading, and Oceanview Resources.

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter.  Giveaway ends 6/12/17 and is open worldwide.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers! 

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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

Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway May 29, 2017

It is time for our weekly giveaway!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)

Co-hosts:   An Apple for the Teacher, The Best Days, Jackie Crews, LIVIN' IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER, Cathy's Cool Creations, and Mrs Wyatts Wise Owl Teacher Creations.

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter. Giveaway ends 6/5/17 and is open worldwide.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway