AGuilford

CRAFT LESSONS: Week Three

            The first portion of this week’s reading dealt with character development when writing.  Young writers struggle with the indepth thoughts and empathy needed to fully develop characters. During adolescence, most students are so focused on themselves and their dramas that analysis of others is difficult. Not to say it is impossible for them to do so but it is a challenging part of teaching this type of writing.

            Setting is another aspect of developing interesting writing.  The choice of setting is integral to the plot of any story.  Setting influences character development and the conflict of a story.

            Other writing aspect discussed is the use of flashbacks, time transitions, irony and symbolism.  These writing tools are used by sophisticated writers and should begin being developed during the middle school years.

            This weeks reading ended with a discussion of the importance of a good title to titillate a reader.

CRAFT Lessons Week Two pages 79-92

Now this book is getting down to the nitty-gritty of writing.  I really like the opening of this chapter which has listed the books with page numbers of the writing samples the author uses as examples.

I also firmly agree that middle school the time when a student’s writing is pushed aside by the demands of content area curriculum.  As a science teacher I don’t have the time needed to teach the writing process.  If I do then I won’t have time to cover the GPS.  Besides, the writing test isn’t graded but I am judged by my student scores on the CRCT.  It is obvious which choice is made: science or writing?

       The appendixes included at the back are good resources to use with whole class instruction and I enjoyed seeing how to teach the different aspects of writing: audience, describing character, imagery, and internal dialogue.  Each of these topics is at least a week long lesson with lots of practice and feedback.

Craft Lessons-Week One:

       My first exposure to this book was through the Introduction which stated the need for educators to rethink the way we teach writing.  The need to understand the developmental abilities of students at each age should be considered when establishing writing sophistication.  The author points out that it is middle of the writing process, the actual crafting of ideas, which receives the least amount of instructional time. The book’s purpose is to help teachers gain a better understanding of  how to facilitate the CRAFTING of writing.

       Setting the Table for Craft:  The author’s propose that young writers need time to write.  Writers also need lots of feedback from teachers while writing and must take full responsibility for their writing tasks.  In addition, it is stated that writers must be readers!