Friday Reflections

Most of us would agree that writing is complex. Katie Wood Ray, a writing educator, unravels some of the complexity by breaking writing in two ways -   common structures and way with words. Most of us understand the basics of way with words, but maybe not structure as much.   First, what is a structure?   Structure is what gives the passage a sense of wholeness; in other words, its structure that helps the passage hang together. Authors use different structures to build a passage.   One very common text structure is what Wood Ray calls sea saw – she says it this way “it’s a very predictable balance of information that moves back and forth, back and forth – when you get one side of the relationship, you come to expect the other side will follow directly”. I decided to give this sea saw structure a try.   I’m a new homeowner and recently had to call on one of the gifted tradesmen we easily take for granted; most recently I hired a plumb...

Maybe I’m late to the party, but Wondrous Words by Katie Woodray provided me with a huge piece of the writing puzzle   - that is, all writers use common structures and employ certain words, repetition of phrases, punctuation marks. We have geniuses that are beyond our intellectual reach –yep, no doubt, really smart – but a genius doesn’t always make a good teacher.    And, then there are the teachers who are geniuses in the sense that they can unveil complex concepts in a simple, straightforward and understandable way – Woodray is one of the latter.    If you are using mentor texts with students in your writing workshops and/or if you are working with teaching kids how to “read as writers”, read this book – or one of her books. Woodray clearly emphasizes the “ how” of writing and offers sound ways to teach kids “ noticings” about how a passage/book is written. Woodray suggests we divide instruction into two categories: Structure and Way with Words; she...

Carpe diem!  Happy Valentine’s Day!   Kids – and boyfriends and girlfriends– and adults who have special relationships with kids - that would be grandparents, for sure, want to show some expression of their love.   We send our cards with hearts and Xs and Os – and many of us spend a few minutes reading the sentiment inside the card – the thought needs to be a good fit.  Why not take the time to compose our own message to our Valentine?   I have been reading a fair amount about using mentor texts to teach the craft of writing.  Lucy Calkins and Katie Woodray (Wondrous Words) continually advise us to really get to know several good books – like inside and out.  What are the “tricks” of their writing?   What are the craft elements the author weaves into the writing? Writing gurus are reminding us to stop when we are reading a well written passage - “Hey look at that.  Look at how she wrote that!”  Try to fig...

What’s another t ool -craft element- in our writing tool boxes? Ralph Fletcher introduces the element of “Narrowing the Focus “and suggests Grades 3 and 4 are ready to learn this element, but possibly many students in lower grades may also be helped in their writing by using a graphic like the one he suggests. Kids like to write about topics they know –don’t we all?   But they are apt to bite off such gigantic topics as “My Life” “School” or “My Family” – again, passionate topics for them.   But they may not have a window into how to put “meat on the bones” of a topic like “Cousin Land”.   Fletcher suggests drawing an extra-large pizza and, for example, name the pizza “My Family”.   And pushing the pizza analogy, ask if they could eat an entire pizza – or one slice of pizza at a time.   Further questions like “Who is the one person who is really special to you?”   If it’s Grandma – write about her. You might even draw another large pizza and ...