Revising!

Well, it's been awhile but I've been quite busy doing plenty of reading. Some of the reading that I have been involved in has come from http://www.learner.org/. This fabulous website has online "workshops" that you can watch. There are discussion questions and articles that go along with each workshop. The website has all subjects listed and you can click on your subject and grade level to find ways to support your instruction.

One of the many articles that I read and LOVED was an article by Laura Harper. She discussed the dreaded topic of revision. Ms. Harper had everything you would need for writing: paper, markers, stationary, reference books, writing logs, brainstorming lists- and despite all of this, the kids just didn’t know how to revise. They needed a revision toolbox.

She discusses 5 main strategies that she has used with success in her classroom. Below is a summary of the strategies:
1. Asking Questions
-The teacher started class off by telling the kids that her boyfriend asked her to marry him and that she was now engaged. The students, of course, had tons of questions and began to ask them. But before she answered any of the kids’ questions, she wrote the questions they asked on the board.
-She then told the kids to pair up and write down questions they had in regards to each others’ writing (no yes/no questions). The kids had to pick the most appealing questions to address in their writing.
-They devised a shorthand notation for this strategy and the technique was to draw a question with a circle around it.

2. Snapshots
-This tool helps kids to show, not tell.
-Kids either write a description of what they saw in someone’s writing or a picture.
-The teacher uses a passage from Laura Ingles Wilder to demonstrate this.
-The shorthand is a drawing of a camera.

3. Thoughtshots
-This revision technique helps readers/writers see what the characters are thinking and feeling.
-The teacher uses novels to show how authors show how characters feel by using books that show: flashbacks, flashforwards, brain argument/internal conflict.
-The shorthand is a thought bubble.

4. Exploding a Moment
-This technique makers writers the master of time because too often things happen so quickly in a child’s writing.
-The teacher reads The Chosen and they time the story. The kids realized the action in real time took less than 2 minutes but was longer in story time. (They timed the segment in the reading.)
-The shorthand is a stick of dynamite.

5. Making a Scene
-There must be these 4 features in narrative writing: action, dialogue, description, and internal reflection
-The kids pick a color to represent the 4 features listed above and highlight them in their partner’s paper to see what is present and what is missing.
-The shorthand is a cut sign.

I really enjoyed these strategies because so often, my kids will read someone else's paper and say something like, 'Nice story. You need to add details.' There is often no specifics in their feedback. Like Ms. Harper, I realized the students needed help! I believe that what Ms. Harper does addresses my issue with the students giving feedback. I know that these strategies will help your students (and mine) succeed in the area of revision.

Here is the article: http://www.learner.org/workshops/writing35/pdf/s7_writers_toolbox.pdf