Decker 1 Hannah Decker CEP 804 2 May 2014 Teaching Writing Section I: Information About Students The inquiry

unit lesson was taught to a high risk second grade class. The class is composed of 13 students ages seven-eight; six boys and seven girls. Of the 13 students there is one male student with an IEP. He is qualified for special education under OHI for ADHD. The student receives services in a kindergarten through third grade resource room for reading, writing, and math. During instruction the student may stare into space, move about the room, or refuse to participate. The student often needs reinforcement and scaffolding from teachers to complete assignments. In addition, assignments may be accommodated for him. Although he is the only student in the class who is qualified for special education, other students are below grade level in reading and math. Four students received possible retention notices at the end of the second marking period. Three of these students also receive reading instruction from the building reading specialist in addition to their classroom instruction. Another student within the classroom is a selective mute and is currently being evaluated for special education. The student communicates with peers and teachers using limited sign language. In addition, there are ESL students in the class. When planning the inquiry unit it was important to take into consideration the characteristics of all of the students in the class in order to meet their individual learning needs. Section II: Planning and Organizing Writing Strategies Goals My goal was to teach students about organizing their information before they begin writing. I wanted students to realize that the sticky notes were not helpful for writing until groups organized their information. I wanted students to see that they could organize their information according to main ideas. Furthermore, my goal was for students to utilize a graphic organizer to plan their paragraph main idea and supporting details. Lesson I began the lesson by showing students the chart paper full of sticky notes I had created for dolphins. Then I asked students if I was ready to write my information paragraph about dolphins. When some students responded yes I began to write a paragraph using posted notes that were near each other on the chart paper. As I was writing students stopped me and told me that my paragraph wasnt making any sense. Students discussed why my paragraph didnt make any sense and what I could do to fix my paragraph. The class decided that I needed to organize my sticky notes. After rereading my notes students began to see patterns across notes. I worked

Decker 2 with the class to organize my sticky notes according to the fact on each sticky note. Then I prompted students to think of headings that we could give to each group. I discussed with students that they had organized the sticky notes by main ideas and that they had named each main idea with a heading. Students discussed that the sticky notes were all details about the main ideas. Groups worked together to organize their sticky notes and determine the main ideas. Finally, each student chose a main idea and completed a graphic organizer to help them think about the main idea and supporting details. Reflection and Critique Working in groups allowed students to share ideas and talk about which sticky notes should be grouped together. Throughout the activity peers discussed why a sticky note fit better in one group than in another. Peers had to practice effectively communicating with each other and giving reasons to support their ideas. In addition, working in groups allowed students to help each other think about what each group of sticky notes had in common in order to determine the main idea. Throughout the activity students were engaged and had great discussions about the different notes that had been collected. The activity ensured that each member of the group was aware of the notes other members had collected. In addition, it jump started students thinking about how all of the information collected went together and the topics they could write about. Section III: Drafting and Editing/Revising Strategies Goals My goal was for students to practice using the writing process that was utilized in our classroom. I wanted students to build on their knowledge of the writing process and understand that they should use the writing process no matter what type of writing they are completing. Students were expected to complete each stage of the writing process; pre-writing, rough draft, revising, editing, peer reflection, and final copy. Moreover, I wanted students to recognize that peers could assist each other in revising and editing their information paragraphs. Lesson I began the lesson by showing students a paragraph I had written about dolphins. I asked the class to help complete the writing process stages of revising and editing. First, I read students the paragraph and asked what students noticed. Students began to share what they thought should be added, deleted, or changed. At first students focused on editing elements such as periods and capitalization. Once most of the editing had been completed I reread the paragraph aloud to the class. Then students began to make revising suggestions. I prompted students to discuss why they wanted to add, delete, or change different parts of the paragraph. In addition, students moved sentences around in order to make the paragraph make more sense. When students had finished revising and editing I reread the paragraph to check that everything made sense. Once we were done editing the class discussed the different elements that were in the

Decker 3 information paragraph including a topic sentence, supporting details, and a conclusion. I asked students if I was done with the writing process. The class was able to tell me that I still needed to complete the final copy stage of the process. Then students worked on writing their own information paragraphs. Reflection and Critique The lesson was very successful; students were not only able to make the editing changes but also made many revising changes in order to improve the paragraph. Throughout the discussion students discussed why certain sentences should go before or after others within the paragraph. The class talked about whether or not someone outside of our class would understand the paragraph. They discussed what elements might need to be added in order to ensure that anyone who read the paragraph would understand all of the elements. Students were able to work together to create a paragraph that made sense and in which the information was organized with a topic sentence and conclusion. Then students were able to take their knowledge and apply it to writing their own information paragraph. Section IV: Teaching Principles and Practices Goals My goal was for students to recognize that they could complete a research project by breaking the task down into parts. I wanted students to think about breaking each stage of the process, reading & writing, down even further into manageable tasks for each day. Students can become discouraged when they see what they are expected to produce. By breaking the inquiry unit into daily tasks I hoped to demonstrate to students that thinking about each step in a process can aid you in completing a large project or task. Lesson During each lesson I reminded students what we were working towards. I would talk to students about what they have already completed for their end goal. Then I would share with students what they were going to do today to work toward the end goal. I wanted students to see what parts they had already completed and what tasks they would be expected to complete today. Furthermore, the writing process was displayed in the classroom in a visual that illustrated the individual tasks that together completed the writing process. The visual demonstrated to students that there are six steps to go through in order to finish the writing process. Just like the writing process has tasks within it so did the inquiry unit. Reflection and Critique By breaking the unit into tasks students were able to feel successful every day. Students did not become overwhelmed by the task of writing an information paragraph. Instead students were able to focus on smaller tasks. Smaller tasks ensured that students were focusing on creating

Decker 4 their best work for each step instead of rushing through in order to complete the entire unit. In addition, students were able to see that they could complete a project that they believed was too daunting when it was first introduced. Students confidence was improved not only when they were successful with each daily task but when they were able to complete the entire project. One element that I would like to improve in the future is what students could do if they finished before their peers. As a class we discussed how writing is a process and that different students would complete the process at different rate. It was difficult to create meaningful tasks for students to work on while their peers finished their information paragraph. I tried to balance meaningful work with work that was extra practice. In the future I hope to improve the extra work I create for students who finish tasks early. Section V: Teaching Tools and Practices Goals My goal was to provide students with a real purpose for writing information paragraphs. I wanted students to have a real audience that would read their information writing. I hoped that having an audience would motivate students to go through the writing process to ensure that their writing was complete as possible. In addition, I wanted students to think about whether or not their paragraphs would make sense to their audience while revising and editing. Lesson At the beginning of the unit I told students that they were going to create a presentation about animals that they would share with Miss. Flint and her class. Miss. Flint was the previous intern in the class. By choosing her I gave the students an audience who was familiar to the students and someone they would want to present their best work to. Throughout the writing process I reminded students to reread their writing and think about whether or not Miss. Flint would understand their paragraph. In addition, I encouraged students to think about that question while revising and editing peers information paragraphs. Reflection and Critique Providing a real purpose for students to write for was very successful in motivating students to go through the writing process carefully. Students did not rush through the writing process and turn in a paragraph after one draft. Throughout the process students were able to recognize why they needed to complete each stage of the writing process. They were able to see how going through each stage would benefit their real audience. Thinking about whether or not Miss. Flint would understand their information paragraphs also aided students in writing paragraphs that were organized and meaningful. During peer editing I often heard students talk about certain words or phrases they thought the writer needed to explain further for Miss. Flints benefit. Providing a real purpose for tasks is something I would like to continue in the future.