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Dear Colleague,
I first observed this week's mini-lesson in Cheryl Morse's classroom. Cheryl said that Bobbi Maunsel had passed the idea on to her . . .
I've talked to many teachers who,when teaching focus, are reluctant to ask young writers to cross off text that doesn't appear to belong. I certainly understand this reluctance. Primary students work so hard to come up with all of those letters, all those words!
And yet, time and time again I see six-year-olds empowered when they take ownership over their writing. I invite the first student who eliminates text "that goes off track" to teach the next day's mini-lesson with me. We celebrate this important step in the development of a writer and the complex thinking that supports it.
Primary students who are unable to read their own writing (and are therefore unable to determine what belongs in a piece and what doesn't), still benefit from participating in the mini-lesson below. Our youngest writers often revise while thinking. In other words, a five-year-old will start to write something random, and stop himself because he "doesn't want to go off track."
Jennifer |
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Staying On Track
On Hand: One or more copies of writing in which the writer has added irrelevant details. For example:
Yesterday my friend came over to play. We played with matchbox cars on the sidewalk. My friend had the sport cars and the convertibles, but I didn't mind because I had the camper and it is my favorite car of all. I like it because it has the most doors that open and a tent that pops up. I like my new sneakers.
Mini-Lesson: Remind students that revision doesn't always mean adding details; sometimes we have to remove details that cause our writing to veer off track. Invite your class (or small groups of students, if you prefer) to stand and form a train by placing their hands on the shoulders of the student in front of them. Tell students that they will listen to a piece of writing as they move forward as a train. When the writing goes off track, they, the train, should halt.
When students regroup on the rug, ask them what a writer should do if he or she has added unnecessary details. Help them understand that all writers need to cross off the bits that don't belong.
Extension: Project your own writing in which you have crossed out words, sentences, or even whole paragraphs. Talk to students about the decisions you made.
Adapted from No More "I'm Done." Fostering Independent Writers in the Primary Grades by Jennifer Richard Jacobson |
for primary teachers
