Great fun at the Mid-South Reading and Writing Conference in
Hoover, AL today! Thanks for having me!
I presented information about Quick Bursts of Writing and pledged to post the
following about how the techniques connect to the Common Core State Standards.
If you're new to Quick Bursts, look under the "Labels" heading to the
left on this blog page, scroll down the list, and click on ‘Quick Bursts of
Writing.’ As always, I welcome your
feedback and friendship!
The following is information from one of my power point
slides with some additional notations:
How Quick Bursts of
Writing Connect to the Common Core State Standards (Just a few ideas...)
• Writing
is present in all the standards (If you’ve studied the standards, you know
this well. Hooray! Writing should be part of everything we are
doing and studying across the curriculum.
Putting writing in its proper place at the head of the table right
alongside reading will help us better meet Common Core expectations. Quick Bursts help us efficiently infuse
writing into much more of what we do.)
• CCSS
assessment is writing-performance based
(Testing ‘phases’ emphasize writing process and collaborative procedures. Students will be asked to read, study, note
and discuss using multiple varied sources, then write more fully about their thinking
and learning. In addition to Writing Workshop
then, ongoing, informal opportunities to write and collaborate must be part of
their daily experience.)
• Quick
Bursts align with CC processes while building confidence, fluency, stamina and
a valuing of writing as a mode of thinking and learning (Through Quick Bursts, students have no
problem continually facing the ‘blank page’ and sharing their writing to build
knowledge with peers. This is highly
motivating and engaging—every student has the opportunity to respond to what’s
happening in the classroom. Taking a few
minutes to jot, note, or think through writing, then talk with friends is simply
routine.)
• Standard
10: Range of Writing (I was thrilled when I saw they included this
standard! Yes! Students should be given abundant
opportunities to write/jot for short periods of time, in informal ways, without
working through the entire writing process, just as they enjoy a range of
reading opportunities (sometimes reading short blurbs, sometimes reading with
peers, sometimes reading for short bursts of time, etc. without the expectation
that everything they read will be taken to some formal level (i.e. a ‘readers’
theater’ or other). If we checked
everything they read and/or produced some type of formal product with all that
was read, how much actual reading would be accomplished? The same is true for writing, yet, we tend to
do much more formal process writing than informal writing. A more balanced approach will move our
students ahead as writers and help them reap the benefits of writing to learn.
P.S. More extensive information
about Quick Bursts of Writing is available in my Scholastic book: Quick Start to Writing Workshop Success. Happy writing J
I really enjoyed your presentation today and can't wait to incorporate the quick bursts of writing into our journals next year! Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHello Deanna! Thanks so much! So glad you enjoyed the workshop and can make good use of the techniques! I am looking forward to tomorrow. Come up and say 'hello' if you are there! :) -j
ReplyDelete