You Aren't Going to Collage

Reading Workshop students, I hope you have the opportunity to go to college. If you want an education, it won't happen in a collage.

Yes, Spelling Matters

Know Your Homophones

Homophones--Words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings.

Not Homophones—where/were
Homophones—where/wear

A

ant, aunt

H

here/hear

P

peer, pier

T

there, they're, their

threw, through

to, two, too

W

where,wear

The rules for today's Reading Workshop Homophone Telephone:

1. You can only whisper to the person beside you

2. You can only use www.dictionary.com as a resource

3. You can share with the person on each side

4. If you hear (here) words from anyone other than the person beside you, you (ewe) cannot use those words

5. If homophones start with different letters, you can list them under whichever word you list first.
6. You can't (cant) use proper nouns.

PUGS

Thank you to Chris Pirillo for allowing the editing and use of this video.

You Need More Than Spellcheck

Spell Check is a great tool that helps all writers produce cleaner writing. However, writers still need to proofread their own work. The picture below shows . . .

PUGS--Puncuation, Useage, Grammar, and Spelling

If you want to be taken seriously as a writer, you must write cleanly. Many readers will judge what you say by how you say it. If your writing is filled with mistakes, the message will get lost in the errors. Do your part and edit carefully.

Chris Pirillo discusses the need for PUGS--Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling in this video.

If You're Going to Write, Write Right

As published writers, there is no excuse for mistakes.  Sister Salad points out the reason most of us take writing correctly so seriously.   This video, "Yo Comments Are Wack!" points out the disastrous commenting seen on the web and in a humorous way explains why writing well matters.

Student Blog Score Sheet

Students have spent time in Reading Workshop reading and writing blogs, so their grade should reflect their efforts.  In a previous post, we looked at How to Grade Student Blogs.  However, students need an easy method to evaluate their work, and  understand the grade that it merits.   A Blog Score Sheet is an easy way to accomplish this. 

Students can easily check the areas they have completed successfully.  This also provides the opportunity to look at different blogs, and show examples of excellent writing.

Once students have evaluated their blog, then I will score their blog.  If there is a difference between their evaluation and mine, then I can explain what needs to be done to improve the blog, and help it meet expectations.

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Student Blogs on WordPress

Student blogs this year were created and hosted at WordPress.  In the past, we used Blogger, but due to the recent changes, (like requiring an access code sent to a cell phone) The Reading Workshop student blogs went to a more user-friendly site.  Even though Google owns Blogger, and provides a great service at Google Apps, hosting a blog is not part of the service.

One of the tools provided by WordPress is a spelling and grammar checker.  Use of this tool will "clean up" student writing, while helping to teach basic writing skills.  Just go to My Account -->Edit Profile-->Proofreading and check the boxes.

Check out the sidebar for a link to all of the student blogs.

You Need to Start Acting Like a First Grader

I just happened to be walking down the first grade hallway when I overheard one of the first grade teachers talking to a little boy. Although the teacher said it in a nice way, the implications were clear. It was time to straighten up. This little boy had better correct his actions or bad time were ahead (see the title).

This caused me to start to think about expectations in Reading Workshop. I had to be out one day last week. The students had an assignment to write a comment to a blog post. Although I usually don't assign commenting to a post, I decided this would be a great opportunity for a writing assignment.

When I started to read the comments, they were horrible. There were mistakes everywhere. Words were misspelled. Capitals were missing on proper nouns and to start sentences. The grammar was like something from a language arts horror film.

Needless to say, when I got back the next day, I was irked. Although I am usually a poster child for happiness and joy, I put on the ugly face. I screamed and shouted, grunted and groaned, and made all kind of mean remarks. I showed examples and made examples of poor work.

Amazingly, that day, I got the best work I have had all year. Words were spelled correctly, Sentences had correct punctuation and capitalization. Students' writing made sense and made the reader think and wonder. The overall quality was excellent.

What does this tell me? Students will work to the level of expectations. If I expect the impossible, and won't accept any less, they will raise the quality of their work all the way to the stars. Get ready kiddos--you proved to me that I need to expect the impossible, and you will come through!

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Why Writing Correctly Matters

Texting, IM'ing, and the casual language of students today is a concern to many people in education. When talking to students, by far the majority realize how different types of writing require different styles. Most students know the difference between formal and informal language.

However, grammar, spelling, and punctuation skills still tend to trip up many writers. Part of the challenge is recognizing just how much of an impact mistakes have on the reader. Often times, we teach the how, and not the why. Occasionally, something comes along that really points out the reason most of us take writing correctly so seriously.

With permission from Sister Salad, this edited version of their video, "Yo Comments Are Wack!" points out the disasterous commenting seen on the web and explains why writing matters. I first saw this video on Joanne Jacobs, but it needed a little editing to make it appropriate for use in school.

Thanks to Lizz, Alexandra, and Invisisis for allowing the editing of this video so students everywhere can benefit from their knowledge of wacked out comments!

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I Miss Are Blonde Times

My daughter, Heather got this message from a friend she hadn't seen in a while. She was glad to hear from her, and is going to make plans to see her soon. Heather, and her friend are both brunettes, but capable of blonde moments.

However, as told by Heather:

I might miss our blonde times, but I sure don't miss are blonde times together.

Now hair color has absolutely no bearing on the ability to write a sensible message, and the girl that wrote this is not a blonde, but she sure made her point. Hopefully they can get together soon and there fun times will continue! :)

Spelling Does Matter

I was driving yesterday morning, about a mile from the school and saw this sign. At first it caught my eye, because I have beagles. I am not sure if a beagle is the same thing as a begal, but I think it might be, at least at one house.

Now maybe you aren't the best speller. In fact, maybe you can't spell very well at all. Maybe you count on spell check, and the computer's dictionary for everything you write. Maybe you use Answers.com like a peanut butter sandwich uses jelly.

Here is the problem. What if some day you have a begal puppy for sale? Will you have drivers running in the ditch, laughing and shaking their heads, while they point at your sign? Here are your choices, either learn to spell or just buy this product.

Zero Tolerance for Errors

This is a new type of zero tolerance set up specifically for Reading Workshop. Students are expected to write without mistakes. Each student has tools available, including a computer with word processing and spell check, a dictionary, online sites like Answers.com and Dictionary.com, peer assistance, and spelling buddies. There really is no reason for writing with mistakes, other than a lack of effort.

Students are expected to use correct punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar. When an assignment is turned in with errors, students will redo it until it is correct. Amazingly, in only three days, the writing has improved dramatically. Students have begun to edit with attention to detail. What seemed to be a totally unfair demand, has shown astounding results.
Surely students would not have been trying to slide by with a minimal amount of effort! Once again, students show how they can rise to the level of expectation. With the drastic improvement already, I cannot imagine the quality of writing I can expect in a few weeks. I anxiously await some of the phenomenal pieces of work that will be produced this year in Reading Workshop.

Scary Story

Today we will be writing a scary story. When I told students this last week, they thought I had lost my mind. "It's not Halloween," they said. "Why would we do it in May?" they asked.

Well, funny you should ask that. The things we will cover include:

1. The plot and developing problems;

2. Descriptive writing and adding supporting details;

3. Punctuating dialogue;

4. Character development;

5. Building a narrative to a climax;

6. Cooperation and writing with a partner;

7. Edditing-git that speling write;

8. Writing with an introduction, body, and conclusion.

The assignment is to write a scary/horror story. BUT, shooting or guns, and stabbing or knives, or killing in any way is NOT allowed! All injuries must be incidental or accidental. The focus is on scaring the reading in only the most imaginative ways!

I can't wait to read them.

Teen Writing, r u lol

How has the use of electronic writing affected you? How has it helped? What problems has it caused? With only one month left in the school year, should language arts instruction be changed to reflect this? And if so, how?

Pew Internet & American Life Project researched Writing, Technology and Teens. The study looked at the effect of modern technology on students' writing.

This is a significant issue based on their conclusion that 85% of teens ages 12-17 engage at least occasionally in some form of electronic personal communication, which includes text messaging, sending email or instant messages, or posting comments on social networking sites.

This table summarizes some of the findings of the study.


The complete findings of this study can be viewed here.

Are texting, IM'ing, MySpace, Facebook, blogging and email ruining the next generation of writers, or will they make them the best ever?