Thursday, November 12, 2015

Reflections from Reading Caulkins.


If any of us coauthor a student’s piece of writing, making it vastly better than anything the student could possibly do on his own, and if we do this by working so far outside the student’s zone of proximal development that the student doesn’t learn to do what we teach on is own, then even if this produces better writing, it is essentially for naught.”

Sunday, November 1, 2015

October 26, 2015 Vinalhaven Writing Committee Meeting #1


The writing committee met on October 26, 2015.  They identified the following areas to focus on based on    
student performance.
Students need to:
  •  be able to describe their thinking process when writing - including the rationale for evidence.
  • be fluent writers able to write for sustained periods of time.
  •  be able to revise their work.
  •  be able to score their own writing on appropriate rubrics.
  • be able to understand and apply grammar.
Teachers need to:
  • develop a common vocabulary around writing across all content areas and grades.
  • develop a common set of annotations for writing across all content areas and grades.
  • develop a common set of proofreading annotations for writing across all content areas and grades.
Next Steps:
The writing committee will:
  • use Calkins' Writing Pathways to collect writing samples and look for trends throughout the year at the Vinalhaven School.
  • Create rubrics for use.
  • Create a writing continuum for Vinalhaven School to
    serve as a framework for the writing program.

Our next meeting will be held in November - on the 12th or 13th (Amanda is taking a poll).  The entire committee will meet that day to look at narrative samples.

Thanks go to:  Helena, Mae, Robb, Missy, Hilary, and Cherie for all of their hard work.