Turning Points

We've grown tremendously as teachers in the last two years; especially as teachers of writers. I considered writing that we've grown as writing teachers - but we don't teach writing; we teach writers. Last year at about this same point in our writing curriculum, our students began to blossom. This year seems to be the same (at least in that respect).

We use Lucy Calkin's Units of Study to teach our fifth grade writers. Right now, we are working in the second unit which is focused on personal narratives. Students are being asked to write about turning points in their lives; first and last times things happened, big changes, and events that include very strong emotions.

It's interesting to see the look on a parent's face when they notice that the writing hanging outside on the wall is about the time (last week) when the police had to visit their home. We've had multiple incidents where parents, other teachers, and community members ask us if we think that just maybe we're doing something inappropriate by publishing this type of writing.

Not only do we publish it - we model it and we praise it. We gush over it with positive comments every time we see it. We, as the teachers write about very difficult topics. Many of them would not even be a possible consideration in many classrooms. Just this week I modeled a writing lesson about my child, unable to breathe in the emergency room. We constantly write about death, or the possibility of death. Should these topics be modeled in front of fifth graders?

Yes. Why? Simple. This is what real writers do. They write about things that are real and important to them. If we want our students to be real writers (we believe that they already are) then we need to praise them for doing the real work of writing. Our students come from almost every possible background. They live more life in one year than I have in 32 years. Their best work is more often than not heartbreaking.

We're writing this post to share some student work. We hope you like the work we share enough to come visit our students' online portfolios. Then, share some comments with the writers. It's easiest to share comments with the writers directly if you have a PBWorks account.

This is an example from last year. I believe that it is one of the best examples I have to demonstrate writing about strong emotions. This particular student had never written anything like this before. We were blown away. The writing could be stronger; the rubric score was not the best. However, it is still the first example I share. I'll be curious to hear what you think.

At the start of each unit, our writers begin many stories. eventually, they will choose one or two for publication as a final printed copy for their portfolio. Some students will have some hard choices to make since their work is all so impressive. In the end, most of them will choose the work that has the most meaning for themselves. This student will have to make some hard decisions about which work to carry forward in the writing process. He's been speaking English for only a few years.

Savannah
David
Joseph


We hope to continue to share our students' work. We truly are excited for you to read and comment back to them. We have come to believe (and know) that an authentic audience makes more of a difference for our students than almost anything else can.