four square writing
DESCRIPTION
this is a test.TRANSCRIPT
1. Adding Sensory Detail
(Yes, I am asking you to write.)
Why?Regie Routman said:
Write in front of your students. Think aloud as you write.
If you have never done this before, close your classroom door and risk it. It will get easier, I promise.
When you write, you see firsthand the struggles, doubts, thoughts, and processes that writers (including your students) go through.
When you write, you share not only your composing process but part of who you are and what matters to you. Your own insights as a writer will make you a more effective teacher of writing.
-Regie RoutmanConversations (2000, p. 232)
2. What is important in writing? Examining a Scoring
Rubric.
Adding Sensory Detail
Content, Organization, and Style
WASL Rubric
Content(According to the rubric)
• Maintain consistent focus on the topic
• Ample Supporting Details
What does that mean?
• Narrow the topic to something specific.
• Use fresh and original ideas.• Write from experience .• Show insight in the writing. • Make the main idea stand out. • Use supporting details and elaborate.• Stay in control of the topic.• Develop the topic in a unique way.
Lessons for Teaching Content
1. For revision, ask the writer questions to encourage elaboration.
2. Show me. Don’t just tell me. (Crack open those telling sentences.)
3. Focus on the little things.
Crack it open!Telling
My grandpa loved music.
Showing
Every time we visited grandpa he put on his RCA seventy-eights. Sometimes he took out his ukulele and strummed along. He knew every word to those old songs. We clapped and cheered when he performed for us. He could have been in Vaudeville.
Organization (According to the rubric)
• Provides transitions or bridge words which clearly serve to connect ideas.
• Has a logical organizational pattern and conveys a sense of completeness.
What does that really mean?
• Internal structure.• The pattern, so long as it fits the central
idea. • Meaningful beginning.• Maintaining anticipation or interest.• Events and ideas proceed logically.• Connections are strong.• A closing with a sense of resolution,
answering important questions while still leaving the reader something to think about.
Style (According to the rubric)
• Uses language effectively by exhibiting word choices that are engaging and appropriate for intended audience and purpose.
• Includes sentences, or phrases of varied length and structure.
• Allows for the reader to sense the person behind the words.
What does that really mean?
Voice, Word Choice, &
Sentence Fluency
Voice• The person behind the message
comes through.• Proves that it was written by a
person, not a machine.• A tone and flavor to the writing
that is the writer’s own.• Something that makes this an
individual’s writing.
Lessons for Teaching Voice
1. Read aloud and discuss voice.2. Compare voices with 2 pieces on the
same topic (encyclopedia and story).3. Listen to student voices (Guess the
author game).4. Write letters.5. Voice out, voice in.6. Jazz up a shopping list.7. Write about personally important topics.
Voice in, Voice out.
The FAA has established standards for persons who sit in rows next to exits. The functions that a passenger may have to perform in an emergency and the criteria for selecting passengers who sit in an exit seat are detailed on this card.
Who is talking?
1. Middle aged female, writer2. 42 year old male, youth worker,
speaker3. 82 year old female, retired librarian4. 15 year old female, student5. 11 year old male, student
How did you know?
Word Choice• Rich, colorful, accurate choices
of words that not only explain, but also entertain.
• Words are used to support the ideas presented.
• The right word at the right time.
Ideas for Teaching Word Choice
1. Find key words and phrases in captivating texts while listening.
2. Use live action verbs.3. Yummy lesson – list different ways
of eating, and then try it out with some food.
4. Keep a list of favorite words. Change them often.
Making Word ChoicesRuin a perfectly good poem.
Making Word Choices:Rewrite this poem with different word
choices
I do not like the sunshine,Rain makes me wet,I think that clouds are ugly,I do not like snowflakes.
The stars are ugly,I do not like the moon,Butterflies annoy me,I do not like balloons.
I do not like the sunshine,I’m dampened by the rain,I think that clouds are ugly,And snowflakes are a pain.
The stars are unattractive,I shudder at the moon,I’m burdened by a butterfly,I blanch at a balloon.
Making Word Choices:Rewrite this poem with different word
choices
I do not like bananas,I do not like cheese,I do not like flowers,I do not like trees.
I do not like tomatoes,I do not like a plum,I do not like a frog,I do not like gorillas.
Bananas are annoying,I fail to stomach cheese,I disapprove of flowers,I tolerate no trees.
Tomatoes are vexatious,I’m pestered by a plum,I find a frog offensive,Gorillas make me glum.
Making Word ChoicesI do not like a chair and
table,I do not like sitting on a
sofa, Windows are silly,I do not like a door.
I do not like a mountain,I do not like the sea,And I don’t care the
slightestif you don’t care for me.
I loathe a chair and table,A sofa makes me sore, A window’s clearly silly,I’m put out by a door.
I countenance no mountain,
I’m sickened by the sea,And I don’t care the
slightestif you don’t care for me.
Sentence Fluency• The Rhythm of language.• Writing that begs to be read
aloud.• Sentences that vary in length
and structure. • A natural flow to the language.
Ideas for Teaching Sentence Fluency
1. Read papers aloud (PVC phonics phone).2. Use occasional fragments to add rhythm.
Make some sentences long and some short (boxing them activity).
3. Try choral reading to see the natural cadence and pauses in writing.
4. Start sentences with different words.
Start Them Differently
Sentences don’t have to start with “I” or “The.” Try these.
• “LY” word• ING start• Adjective first• Preposition first
3. The Importance of Detail and Elaboration
A key to content and style.
Three Levels of Support
1. Explanation
2. Supporting Detail
3. Elaboration
Example
xperience
vidence
Elaboration (the big E)
“The Art of specificity”
“Specificity is generosity.”
Three Levels of Support
1. Explanation
2. Supporting Detail
3. Elaboration
Questions or Comments?Questions or Comments?
5. Four Square for Informational Writing
Sorting and Classifying
Sorting and Classifying
Kindergarten
ESL – Grade One
Sorting and Classifying
with a Summary Sentence
Grade One.