Jennifer Richard Jacobson » Blog

Warm Welcome, Writing Principal, and New Contest for Students

jjacobs_web — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:30:32 +0000

I’m recently back from presenting a school inservice and an author day at the Kateri School in the Kahnawake Mohawk Reservation in Quebec. Second graders in Ms Fran’s class created a stunning welcome banner — my first in the Mohawk language. I just have to share:

In other news, in my Monday Mini-Lesson Newsletter (February 22 — see all archived newsletters to the right) I stressed the importance of modeling writing for students. Danielle Hamblin, principal of the Central School in Great Meadows, NJ is keeping a blog documenting her training to prepare for a Grand Canyon hiking trip in support of Leukemia/Lymphoma. She forwards the blog to students in Great Meadows and Allachumy so they can assess her writing! (I know she’s scoring well when it comes to quality details!) Check out Danielle’s progress at:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/nj/gahike10/dhamblin

http://grandcanyonbound2010.blogspot.com/

And finally, author Toni Buzzeo has a new book out:

She’s inviting students in grades PreK -6 to enter a writing contest based on the cover of her book, No T-Rex in the Library. You can read more about the contest (and possibly win a free half-hour Skype session with Toni Buzzeo!) here: www.Tonibuzzeo.com. Hurry, the deadline is Friday, March 12.

Happy Pub Date!

jjacobs_web — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:06:20 +0000

Tomorrow is the publication date of No More "I’m Done!" and I couldn’t be more excited. Thank you to all of who’ve written to express your anticipation.

This book explores the ways in which we teachers, with the very best of intentions, train our young students to become dependent rather than independent writers. Here is a chart I include in the book that pinpoints some of the ways:

Creates Dependence

Fosters Independence

Teacher selects writing prompt.

Teacher is “keeper of supplies” handing out paper and pencils.

Teacher “stretches out” words or provides the spelling of words.

Because writing is assigned, students brainstorm whatever comes to mind in ten minutes and then exclaim, “I’m done.”

Writing lasts as long as a writing period or a journal page (or shorter!).

Students who are often minimally engaged in their work resist revision.

Students select writing topic.

Materials are available in the writing center.

Students know that by “recording the sounds they hear” they are teaching themselves to read and write.

Students often plan what they will write in the future, and consequently organize their thoughts in the space between one writer’s workshop and the next.

Students often work on the same writing piece for many days.

In anticipation of conferences,

author’s chair, the possibility of co-teaching a mini-lesson, students willingly revise.

Any thoughts, concerns, experiences? I’d love to hear them!

Decalogue

jjacobs_web — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:41:32 +0000

I just learned the meaning of this word, decalogue, this week. First I stumbled across the website of NNWP Teacher Consultant, Corbett Harrison who provides wonderful mini-lessons to use with mentor texts. He recommends reading chapter four of Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn Dixie, which contains a wonderful decalogue — a list of ten things the preacher tells Opal about her mother. Corbett writes: "On day one of class, I ask my students to create a list of ‘Ten Things I Know about Myself as a Writer.’ These first-day decalogues are placed safely in their portfolios, and during the last week of class, they make a new list on the same topic. A large percentage of my students’ final grades depends on the conversation we have about the difference between their two lists."

This got me thinking of all the other fabulous decalogues we could ask our students to write. So here is my decalogue of writing decalogues (thanks, Mr. Harrison):

1. Ten things I know about myself as a writer

2. Ten things I’m passionate about (to spark writing ideas)

3. Ten spelling rules I always forget

4. Ten grammar rules I don’t really understand (good feedback for providing appropriate mini-lessons)

5. Ten memories I wish to forget (but know I won’t, so I might as well write about them)

6. Ten things I wish someone would say about my writing

7. Ten sentences I admire (keep an ongoing list in the reading folder)

8. Ten things my classmates don’t know about me (and maybe I’ll write about them)

9. Ten words I love

10.

What is number ten? Write in your ideas, I’d love to share them!

P.S. Monday Mini-Lessons for primary teachers are being archived. Click on the button to the right to see past newsletters.

Spelling

jjacobs_web — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:44:02 +0000

I received an email from a teacher this week who wrote:

I work with a great group of 2nd grade students who love to write. However, their spelling needs improvement. Do you have any suggestions?

Formal programs help students to see spelling patterns and to learn spelling rules and for this reason are invaluable (up to a certain age). But as we all know, the real challenge isn’t getting kids to pass the Friday test, it’s getting them to apply what they are learning about spelling to their writing.

It’s tricky. We have to be careful not to put too much emphasis on correct spelling (especially when students are working on first drafts) or students will limit their word choice to words they know how to spell correctly. Risk taking is essential for fine writing and this means taking risks with spelling too.

It’s also helpful to remember that the very best way to learn to spell is to approximate the spelling and then compare the misspelled word to the correctly spelled word. (There are simply more hooks then for remembering the correct spelling.)

So how do we help? Here is a list of suggestions to consider:

· In addition to word walls, and including a frequently used word list in student folders (or adhered to the outside), keep a classroom computer open to a blank page in Microsoft Word. Students can type in their approximated spelling and then use spell check to choose the correct spelling.

· Instead of circling errors on student work, place a dot at the beginning of the line that contains an error. (More than one error? Use more than one dot.) Students need to consult resources or friends to determine the error and correct it. This helps to place the responsibilty for correct spelling on them. Students will strive to have fewer dots placed on their writing.

· Publish student writing on a regular basis, but please don’t ask young children to copy over their work! This teaches them two things: write short and don’t take risks. Instead, conduct an editing conference before publication: a time when you and the student focus on conventions. Here you can offer differentiated instruction which is far more effective than circling errors. Work with the student on two or three important skills. Then type up (or better yet, have a volunteer type up) the student’s writing with all of the correct spellings.

· Use an editor’s checklist. Are your students constantly confusing their, there and they’re? Ask that they double check the spelling of these words before coming to a writing conference or handing writing in.

· Conduct spelling mini-lessons using graphic organizers. Two resources for lively lessons are Word Work & Spelling: Graphic Organizers and Mini-Lessons by Dottie Raymer (Scholastic,2008), and my own Easy Spelling Lessons for the Overhead (Scholastic, 2003).

I hope these suggestions are useful. I’d love to hear your ideas for helping students to think about spelling. And if you see a spelling error in this blog post, please let me know.

Never underestimate the power . . .

jjacobs_web — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:09:03 +0000

Oh, how we embraced publishing students’ work in the early years of writer’s workshop! Many schools had a “publishing center” where parent volunteers came to type and bind student work. Covers were cardboard, decorated with wallpaper samples, held together with duct tape. Although the school where I taught did not have its own center, I painstakingly bound my students’ books with dental floss so they’d last forever.

Dental floss eventually gave way to spiral binding machines, and all too many of these moved to the back of closets with the onset of NCLB.

And now, in 2010, I experience a mixture of both nostalgia and glee when these wallpaper books are recalled in blogs and interviews. Who is mentioning them? Published authors! Here are a few I’ve come across recently:

Jessica Brody, author of adult and young adult novels, writes that she “knew from a young age that she wanted to be a writer. She started self ‘publishing’ her own books when she was seven years old, binding the pages together with cardboard, wallpaper samples and electrical tape.”

Dorothy Thompson editor-in-chief, CEO and founder of The Writer’s Life Ezine and The Writer’s Life Publications reports that she “began her writing career in the second grade when she made her first handmade book for a class project. From there, her passion for writing blossomed into a full-time career.”

And Chris DeBrie, author of Shakespeare Ashes, writes: “And it all started with my illustrated book from the second grade, with wallpaper for a book cover and a crayon drawing pasted on front. The title was, “Forkhead”, about a boy with fork-shaped ridges in his head. Forkhead and his best friend play some pranks around school. They trade some schoolyard snaps. Then they somehow become astronauts and camp on the moon in sleeping bags, with no space suits. I remember they stayed on the moon for 999 days, and the story ended there, so my guess is, they must have gone insane…

I hope these authors’ second grade teachers realize the influence they’ve had.

New Year’s Resolutions

jjacobs_web — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:01:57 +0000

I have always loved January. I love the calmness after the holidays. I love that there are almost four solid weeks of non-interrupted teaching. I love that the month is all about setting and reaching personal goals.

Perhaps one of your goals this year was to launch (or more fully embrace) writer’s workshop. If so, here’s a checklist to use in evaluating your progress. Celebrate your successes as you identify areas you want to improve.

Your students:

Write every single day
Choose their own topics
Receive differentiated instruction during writing conferences
Examine sample (anchor) writing to develop a vision of success
Learn from mentor texts
Focus on one or two goals at a time
Benefit from the rewards of authentic audience
Revise

Are you pleased with your writer’s workshop this year? I’d love to hear!

I’m back!

jjacobs_web — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:24:55 +0000

It’s been eight months since my last blog post. What happened?

Actually quite a bit. I wrote two books. One was a middle grade novel: Small as an Elephant, about an eleven-year-old boy who is abandoned in Acadia National Park and attempts to travel on his own back to Boston (forthcoming from Candlewick Press, spring 2011).

The other is a professional book titled No More “I’m Done”: Fostering Independent Writers in the Primary Classroom (forthcoming from Stenhouse in February). I am so proud of this book! It’s the compilation of twenty years of teaching writing. In addition to helping primary teachers establish a writer’s workshop where students are motivated and engaged, it provides a full year of mini-lessons. Check out this cover:

Don’t you love it?

The book has inspired me to send out a weekly newsletter: Monday Mini-Lesson. Beginning in January, I will provide writing lessons for teachers in grades K-3. Email if you’d like to be added to the Monday Mini-Lesson mailing list.

In other news, I have a new Andy Shane out: Andy Shane and the Barn Sale Mystery. I am so partial to this book. Andy mistakenly sells Granny Webb’s binoculars and has to track them down. Here is one list he and Dolores comprises:

Can you guess who has them? This story is written in the tradition of O’Henry’s Gift of the Magi.

And finally, Winnie Dancing On Her Own has won an Earphone Award from Audiofile Magazine! Read the whole review here. I listened to this recording on my way to pick up my son from the airport (two kids in college now, impossible!) and couldn’t stop laughing – except when I was crying. It is a wonderfully produced; Laura Hamilton is truly an amazing reader.

Now that we’re both caught up, I promise to blog more regularly. Email me! I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to as well.

Andy Shane is out on audio!

jjacobs_web — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:17:43 +0000

Those who have heard me speak know that I’m a huge proponent of audiobooks for children. So it is with enormous pleasure that I announce that the first two Andy Shane books are now out on audio by Live Oak Media. Check out the Kirkus review.

Why audiobooks? First and foremost, they’re fun. Recorded books are read by professional actors and are produced with lively sound effects. (Wait to hear what Live Oak can do!) But there are many, many educational reasons for giving students plenty of access to audio books. Here are a few:

They:

Provide a read-aloud model
Introduce students to books above their reading level
Model fluency
Teach critical listening
Expose students to new vocabulary (and the pronunciation!)
Allow all students to be full members of a community of readers (and participate in flexible grouping)
Support struggling readers by helping them focus on meaning rather than the decoding of text
Increase students’ writing fluency and voice
Foster a love of literature and reading.

Listening to story has an amazing effect on writing fluency. Most accomplished writers write “by ear.” We know it’s important to write sentences of varying length, to use a variety of sentence beginnings, to choose words that have vitality, because we hear good writing (whether it’ recorded or simply the narrative voices in our heads) . Students who read and who are read to will always write with more fluency.

I recommend purchasing MP3 players for students’ reading pleasure. They need not be iPods. In fact, it is still easier to download books on the less expensive players. (Many public libraries subscribe to a service that allows free downloads.) Listening to an MP3 player is cool and . . .so are books.

Voice: A hard trait to define

jjacobs_web — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:35:43 +0000

“Teaching voice is easier than I thought,” a fourth grade teacher recently said after watching a modeled lesson. I knew exactly what he meant. Voice is the hardest trait to define, but even very young writers recognize it when they see it.

I introduce voice through art, and begin with picture books by Jan Brett. I show students several full-page spreads and ask them what they notice about her art. Here are some of the most common answers:

She incorporates lots of details.

Her work is framed – usually by borders.

She often paints animals and seems drawn to nature.

She provides little “windows” – glimpse of what has happened and what will happen.

I tell students that Jan Brett has a very distinctive artistic voice. That’s what makes her work so instantly recognizable.

I then show them the work of Eric Carle and ask, “What can you tell me about his voice?” Students suggest:

His work is whimsical – more imaginary than realistic.

His shapes are large, bright, bold.

He does not include a realistic background – though sometimes fills the page with colorful shapes.

You can see his brush strokes in some of his work.

Eric Carle has an equally distinctive voice, but one that’s very different from Jan Brett’s. I then test students by holding up artwork by one of these two illustrators and asking, “Whose work is this?” They don’t hesitate to identify the artist.

“These illustrators have their own artistic voices,” I tell students. “You have a distinct writer’s voice. If you are a bubbly person, chances are your writing voice is bubbly too. Or perhaps you’re a fairly serious person in which case your writing voice might be serious. Voices can be humorous, angry, laid back – and there is a place in the writing world for all these voices.”

I invite students to write with attention to voice – showing their unique style.

“Your voice is unique as your thumb print ,” I tell them. "Put your thumbprint on this piece."

Publishing Student Work

jjacobs_web — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:24:50 +0000

Why do we write? To communicate, and communication requires audience. Without audience our desire to write and to improve our writing diminishes.

There are a number of ways we can offer audience in the classroom. We can invite students to participate in author’s chair. We can project or read from their work during minilessons to illustrate craft. But one of the most successful ways of inspiring students to write and revise is to publish their work.

Contrary to what some believe, publishing is not copying one’s work over for the student portfolio. We may imply that others will have access to their folders, will be able to read their work, but this is definitely not the audience students seek.

Nor is it advisable to publish all students simultaneously – not unless you have a truly authentic means of publishing: your class is creating a literary magazine, students are going to present their travel brochures to the state department of tourism, or you’ve invited another school to participate in a third grade poetry slam. Instead, it’s better to publish individuals when they’ve done something truly exceptional. I usually watch for a breakthrough in revision.

Deb Bartlett, fourth grade teacher at Durham Elementary School in Maine, invites her students to create Podcasts. Her method is relatively simple: the students create a cover sheet, choose introductory music and sound effects if appropriate, and read their work into the computer. Deb photographs and uploads the cover. Listen to her students’ work.

No doubt computers are making publishing a far easier and more meaningful endeavor. Student work can be posted on your class website, emailed to administrators or other school professionals for their feedback, presented in PowerPoint presentations. I f you and your students do not have easy access to computers, check out the list below for other ideas. You’ll find that nothing motivates your students to revise and edit more than knowing others will read or listen to their work.

Place in a class anthology (I use a 3-ring binder and page protectors. Students take turns bringing the “Big Book” home to share with their families.)
Include a few samples of student writing each week in the class newsletter
Have students read to younger students.
Post on website
Create podcasts
Record a class radio show
Perform as a skit
Read at an Authors’ Tea
Compile a class book around a single theme (poems, funny stories, holiday stories, etc.)
Include in a class yearbook
Include in the school literary magazine
Submit to a student market or contest
Give as a gift

I’d love to hear ways in which your students have published!