Role #4: Writer. This is also a worker role. My hope is that you write more this year than you have in all your other years combined. I believe this is perhaps one of the most important skills you can develop for life now and later. I need you to be a writer. I want you to believe you are a writer. We are writers.

I ask my kids to play six roles during their yearlong experience with me. One of those roles is “writer.” But of late–well, for some time now, if I am honest–I’ve begun to question what that really means.

Do I mean author? Essay writer? Pass-the-state-test writer? Communicator? Blogger? Journalist? Tweeter? Poet? Literate citizen? Functional student?

Yes. No. Maybe.

I think if I had to choose one. I would settle with communicator, meaning someone who can effectively deliver information to an audience. And it’s not that I think the others aren’t worthy of consideration; they just don’t cover the spread. So, I guess in that sense, I find myself a generalist when it comes to supporting writers.

Some might suggest that my specific charge falls under the essay-writer/pass-the-test heading, but–though I felt differently about it at one point–I’m no longer convinced this creates enduring understanding/application experiences for kids. So, I’ve begun approaching writing a little differently. Oh, I still consider many of the same things that one might expect in the “traditional sense,” but I want my kids to carry these considerations into all writing situations. To that end, I ask them consider these questions each time they set to writing.

What is my purpose/focus for this piece?

How will I organize this piece?

How will I support and develop this piece?

Of course, there are a bajillion other considerations to make, but this gives them a general guide, one I hope they continue to use as they encounter writing situations long after they’ve left me.

And then, I strive to give them various writing experiences where they plan on the front end and reflect on the back end. The in-between is filled with doing, getting, feedback, and revising–the process ultimately overshadowing the product. But if we consider the “product” the writer, then maybe it is the product that matters in the end, for the process builds the product, and I am just trying to build writers, communicators. So, I focus heavily on the process of the feedback loop.

At present, the kids have to write six pieces for their “This Is Me” project. They had to choose from eight modes: narration, description, exposition, argumentation, persuasion, definition, cause/effect, and compare/contrast. They have to “stick to the mode,” but their writing may take various forms ranging from advertisements to comics to poems to–yes–even essays. They choose which form they believe will best help them achieve their purpose.

This project creates the writer experiences I seek for my kids. It produces work for process. They plan, they write, they seek feedback, they revise, they edit, they reflect, they polish, they publish. And they repeat any steps necessary. And it is my earnest hope that these experiences stick and stay as they develop and grow as writers.

I also try to help them build craft capacity with practice opportunities using things like “Tricks of the Trade.” I don’t teach these, I provide and guide experiences with these. Yesterday, the kids had to create a “white board post,” on a post-it note, using one of the tricks of the trade. They had to write something about our classroom community and then “publish it” on the white board under the “trick” heading.

Today, we will start a pass-the-paper story. I will give the starting sentences.

She didn’t want to enter the house. She had to enter the house.

From there, each kid will begin their story. They will have three minutes to use one of the tricks (except the full-circle ending) as they continue the story. They will then pass to their neighbors who will have three minutes to do the same. We will pass once each day for a week. Next Tuesday, the original owner will get the story back, and they will produce the full-circle ending. We will then share the stories in small groups.

Will this activity magically transform my kids into effective writers? Nope. But it will give them an experience that will help them make their way down the path. That, I’ve come to understand, is all I can do.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…growing as writers.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Tuesday, all. Sorry for the long post. Wasn’t the plan.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.