Spring2012_VictoriaDanielle_Handout

Summary

Most teachers struggle with new ways to inspire their students to be better writers. It is important for teachers to use writing in all of the content areas not just English or language arts. The book, __Content-Area Writing__, is geared towards teachers who teach upper elementary grades but a lot of the information can be modified for younger and older students. The first chapter touches on there being a writing crisis in America and that our students today aren’t meeting even the most basic writing standards. That is where this book really comes into play.

The text is organized into two separate parts. The first section is called Writing to Learn. Writing to learn is everyday writing in the average person’s life. Characteristics of writing to learn can be short, spontaneous, informal, personal and ungraded (pg 22). This can be used in content areas as well such as taking short and brief notes while reading a science chapter.

The second part of the book is the Public Writing section. Public writing can be a piece of writing that is structured, planned, audience centered and edited (pg 22). They are typically something that the student can be proud of and has put a lot of work into.

Through both sections of the text there are many mini-lessons that teachers can apply to their curriculum. Some of the techniques in the book are ideas can be anything from common ideas such as KWL’s to a new way of looking at clustering. There are pictures and diagrams to go along with the text for many of the mini-lessons, which can be very helpful to a teacher looking to improve their students’ writing skills.

The mini lessons in the test are organized by commonly asked questions such as:
 * __What is it __- a brief overview of exactly what the mini-lesson is about.
 * __When to use it __- this helps the teacher explain to the students when and why to use this type of writing. Teaching writing isn’t a useful tool unless your students can relate it back to their lives.
 * __Play by Play __- In this section; there is a detailed description of the mini-lesson example. It gives ways to teach it and activities to go along with the information presented to the students.

This book goes into detail about what the difference is between the types of writing. This is something that will prepare students for their future writings. It is important that students are able to understand both concepts so that they can improve their writings.

Mini-Lesson Outline
 * Name **: Victoria Zelmanski & Danielle Ternullo


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Subject **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Science and English


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Grade Level **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">: 5th


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Title **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Thank-You Note Assignment


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Taken and adapted from ****<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Content-Area Writing, pg. 165, By: Harvey Daniels, Steven Zemelman, and Nancy Steineke


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Description: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This activity allows the students to explore a new type of public writing while also being used as an assessment to see how much the students know about a certain body part. The students will write keeping in mind all the characteristics of public writing.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then, we will read them an example thank-you note from the book on page 165. After reading, we will ask the class what they noticed the author did to make the thank-you note interesting to read and made it humorous. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Finally, students will be required to partner up with someone and together write a thank-you note that is at least 4-5 sentences in length. To incorporate science, the students will be thanking a specific body part that is assigned to them. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lastly, each pair will share their thank-you note with the class if they feel comfortable doing so. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Students will be given approximately 5-7 minutes to partner up, discuss ideas, and write at least 4-5 sentences about their assigned topic.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lesson **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">: We will ask the class if they have ever written a thank-you note before. While listening to students answers, we will discuss certain things necessary to include in a thank-you note.