Punctuation ...! ? : ; ( ) -

This week in class we did a punctuation inquiry.  We looked through books to locate uses of punctuation and then using context clues, determined their purpose in the situation.  Through this lesson, I learned of the benefit of self exploration by the child, as well as determining a working definition in ones own words, which makes it more meaningful and memorable to the person.  I learned the name for "...." an ellipse as well as its uses, and also a dash or hyphen.
We also did a read aloud where we had to participate in the reading.  At first it was awkward, but then we kind of got into the story and participating and it was actually fun. 
This week we had our first writer's notebook conference as well, and I must admit it was strange.  My partner and I had no clue what to talk about or record.  Hopefully we figure it out soon and become comfortable with one another that we are both able to benefit from the conferences.
In my classroom at University this week I got to observe and participate in some interesting work with students.  I was working with a girl who needed help determining an invention to produce for the Invention Convention project for the sixth grade class.  It was interesting to see how we had to give her hints about possible topics, while not picking them for her as well as guiding her away from insufficient projects.

Inquiry Learning

This past week in class we did the inquiry learning activity discussed in our readings in class.  Through the activity I feel that it really helped enforce the usefulness of doing these activities with students.  As we examined each short passage, each individual was able to bring their own knowledge and keen eye into the discussion, pointing out aspects of the writing that I might not have other wise noticed on my own.  As a learner at any age, it is beneficial to see what other people see in a text, especially as we get older because we have been conditioned from years of the same practice to only notice certain aspects of a text.  But working in a group, it allowed each person to bring to the table something that someone else might not notice because of their unique lens.

Week 2

The whole purpose behind the first few chapters of About the Authors is kind of counter intuitive to our normal thinking.  Why in the world would we have students writing books, such an apparently daunting task, before they can even write?  The answer, because writing is both a noun and a verb, and the first definition of the word write in the verb sense is to "form (as characters or symbols) on a surface with an instrument" (49).  In this sense, from a very young age most children are capable of writing when given the opportunity.  But the book also stressed that when we want our students to really become fluent writers they need daily opportunities to practise and engage in the art of writing, the process of it all.  Once we begin allowing them to explore the writing process, they learn to look at things from a writer's perspective, seeing the technique behind pieces of work and how they can apply that to their own writing.  They begin thinking like a writer and are allowed to practice doing so in a safe place free of ridicule, without being told that they are insufficient in the skills necessary, but allowed to develop at their own pace with guided writing instruction incorporated throughout the entire day.

The only issue that I have yet to seen addressed in the book, is how to go about evaluating the process in ways that so many desire, grades.  I do not feel that we should be grading the picturebooks created during writer's workshop if we are truly to allow the students to explore and experiment without the risk of assumed failure.  However, I really like the idea of allowing students to engage in the process of creating something thing, I feel, like the authors stress continually, that presenting the writing as something they make, is what gets children so highly involved in the whole process.  Even if we are not completely comfortable with the setup of this writing workshop, I feel that at least some valuable components can be incorporated in a comfortable way that suits each individual teaching style.

And just as a side thought, I am excited for our placements tomorrow.  Although not excited about having to meet up at 8 in the morning for a group meeting. 

First week of Class.

The first class readings from The House on Mango Street and Never in a Hurry I felt were great ways to start off the first class.  It was a different way of getting students to introduce themselves by discussing the history and meaning behind their names to others around them.  However, I still have to look up the meaning to my name since I could not remember it, although I have looked it up multiple times in the past.  I am so excited about the writer's notebook being an assignment.  In the past I have kept writer's notebooks without consistency and without knowing that that's what I was doing.  In my past journals I have pasted petals and notes, put poems and writing assignments I liked and wanted to remember in there.  Also I have put down my daily happenings and emotions, pasted tickets and kept list of things I wanted to see.  I have always enjoyed rereading my journals and traveling back in time to when I first wrote or put something in.  Remindind me of events that had gotten pushed back into the dark recesses of my memory.  After reading Fletcher book I have some new ideas that seem like they will be advantageous to record, such as conversations and weird or new sayings I hear, as well as things that I would like to remember professionally.