Professional Development Workshop

Writing: Strategies and Activities

Major underwriting provided by

the Rotary Club of Tucson

Welcome and Agenda

• Housekeeping and Welcome

• Introductions

• Research about impact of using writing

• Strategies and Activities

– Before, During and After Reading

– Language Experience Story Writing

• Practice – Apply strategies to a book

• Closing and Evaluation

Introductions

• Please introduce yourself with:

Your name

How long you’ve been a Reading Seed

coach

School where you coach

Think/Pair/Share

• Think about how you use writing in any

way during your sessions.

• Pair up with those at your table to discuss

your responses.

• Share out loud a summary of your

responses.

What does writing do?

• Writing enhances students’ ability to read

a text accurately, fluently, and with

comprehension.

• Having students spend more time writing

has a positive impact on reading and

reading comprehension.

• Effective tutors use writing to promote

phoneme (sound) awareness.

Reading and Writing are

Connected Writing and reading are closely connected. Students need to experience this connection.

The Writer:

Begins with ideas transforms ideas into language transforms language into print symbols

The Reader:

Begins with print transforms those symbols into language transforms that language into ideas

• Children need to understand that because they are writing ideas when they compose, they are also reading ideas when they read.

Writing facilitates…

• Reading Comprehension

• Phonological Awareness

• Spelling Knowledge

• Vocabulary Development

• Familiarity with language, structures, and

conventions of academic discourse

• Critical Thinking

Writing Engages Students

In all successful tutorials, active engagement is essential to maintaining interest, motivation, and promoting understanding.

• The best way to intellectually engage a child is through casual conversation with a tutor as they read a story together.

• Writing is also a useful way to interact with the text… Often, tutors write with their students, perhaps writing predictions before they read, taking notes during the reading, and summarizing what was read after the reading.

Different Types of Writing

Activities

• Free Writing - writing, without editing, what comes to mind

• Narrative Writing - drawing on personal experience

• Response Writing - writing thoughts on a specific issue

• Loop Writing - writing on one idea from different perspectives

• Dialogue Writing – writing a conversation with an author or a character

How to Incorporate Writing

into your Coaching Sessions

• Engage students in activities that require

them to think about the story through

discussion and writing.

• Students are more comfortable writing

about a topic after having discussed their

ideas about it first.

• Use strategies BEFORE, DURING, and

AFTER reading that use writing.

Strategies and Activities

In the next several slides, you will learn a

specific strategy that is designed to take a

short amount of time.

After each strategy is taught and modeled,

you will have the opportunity to practice it

and apply it to your coaching sessions.

How to Incorporate Writing

into Coaching Sessions

Before Reading

– Develop background

knowledge

– Make Predictions

– Ask Questions

During Reading

– Model strategies that good

readers use

– Fill in graphic organizers

– Write down clarifying notes or

reactions

After Reading

- Change the story

- The ending

- Point of view

- Follow up with characters

- Reflect on the

characters/events/story

- Summarize learned

information

Before Reading Activity 1

Activating/Building Background Knowledge

• Before beginning a reading, ask your student

to activate their background knowledge on the new

topic during the coaching session. For example, write

the title of the book in the journal and ask your student

to write down whatever he/she already knows about

that topic. Related ideas are fine also.

• Look through the pages with your student to further

activate prior knowledge.

• If you have time, your student can free-write for two

or three minutes on anything that comes to mind about

the topic and then share ideas.

Before Reading Activity 1

Activating/Building Background

Knowledge

With your table partners, take 30 seconds to

come up with a list of everything you know

about the following topic:

Weather

Before Reading Activity 2

Making Predictions: Good Readers make predictions before and during reading.

- Ask student to preview the book before reading it by flipping through pages

- Look at pictures, bolded words, headings, subheadings, etc.

- Model predictions for the student by completing the following sentence: “I predict that this book will be about… because…”

**Be specific about what item in the book is helping you make your prediction**

- Ask the student to write his/her sentence in the journal with specific answers.

Before Reading Activity 3

Developing Questions

• After your student has previewed a reading, ask him/her to write two or three questions he/she would like to find the answers to in while reading.

• For example, if you are about to read a book on "The Milky Way Galaxy," ask your student what he/she is curious about and to come up with some questions about that idea. This allows for a more personal reason for reading.

During Reading Activity 1

Model what good readers do while

reading.

• Model strategies that good readers use.

– Create mental images

– Ask questions

– Monitor comprehension

During Reading – Model

what good readers do!

Create and Record Mental Images

• While reading, share the images that come to your mind out loud with your student. – “This ___ reminds me of ____.”

– “I’m picturing ___.”

– “When I read this word, I imagine…”

• Have the student share his/her own mental images.

• Have a discussion about the mental images you both have and write down any meaningful ones in the journal.

• Use complete sentences.

During Reading Activity 2

Create and Record Mental Images Practice

With your partner, discuss the mental image that comes to mind when reading the sentence in the next slide.

Discuss how your images are similar or different and why you have such images.

Sample Story Page

Aunt Sally took my

brother Ralph and I to the carnival. She gave us each one dollar to play some of the games. I played the dart game and won a small stuffed teddy bear.

Discuss, what do you see, hear, smell, taste or what can you feel? Be specific.

During Reading – Model

what good readers do!

Ask Questions:

- While reading, ask questions about the story out loud. Write down one or two at specific times to model how good readers ask questions.

- Have your student record one or two questions that he/she has about the story.

- At the end of the page, paragraph, chapter or book, check to see if your questions have been answered. If not, discuss the possible answer with your student.

After Reading 1

Change the story:

1. After reading a story of fiction, ask the student how he/she would have preferred the story to end or in what other way the story could have ended. Have him/her write their new ending in the journal.

2. Or, follow up with the characters five years after the story takes place. Have the student write about what has changed, stayed the same, etc.

After Reading 2

Change the point of view

1. Have your student tell the story from the villain’s point of

view explaining why he/she was misunderstood. (Older

students)

2. Tell the story from a minor character’s point of view, or an

unknown relative (ex. SpongeBob's Older Brother). Include

new information that the original narrator did not include.

– Example: Cinderella wasn’t the maid of the house, she

was a messy person that always had to clean up after

herself.

– Example: The Big Bad Wolf didn’t kill the three little pigs,

they were already dead when he found them and ate

them.

After Reading 3

Reflect on the Story

1. Use sentence stems to have the student reflect on his/her opinions about the story. Have a discussion first so that the student may identify which idea he/she wants to write about.

2. Write the sentence stem for the student and have him/her complete it.

Reflect and Respond to the Characters

Write a letter to a character or the author sharing your thoughts about the character’s actions or your thoughts on the story.

Sentence Stems

• This book reminded me of…

• Here is a new ending for this

story…

• The problem in this story is….

• Here is an important point from

this book:

• My favorite character is:

• My favorite word in this story is:

• My favorite part is…

• I like the character

____because…

• Here is a quote that I like:

• This book made me think about...

• The character

Sees:___Does:___Feels:__

• I think the author wrote this book

because....

• Here are some wondrous words from

this book:

• After reading this book, I wonder…

• This is something I learned from this

book:

• If I could be a character in this book I

would be _____ because…

Graphic Organizers

Graphic Organizers are great to use

during all stages of reading.

See Handouts

Language Experience

Story Writing

• Helps engage reluctant and struggling readers in oral storytelling and then connects that story to the reading process by using the students’ own words as reading material.

• This process helps build fluency by using words that are already part of a student’s oral vocabulary, but not yet in his/her reading vocabulary.

• Helps the Reading Seed Coach get to know the student better.

Language Experience

Story Writing Using the Reading Seed Journal:

1. Select a book, picture, object, experience or event for your

student to talk about.

2. Have your student tell a story.

3. Write down what your student dictates in the Reading Seed

journal using his/her exact words.

4. Read the story back to your student.

5. Have your student read his/her story back to you and record any

words that the student is unable to read.

6. Place those words on a card to review again at a later date.

7. Next session – ask your student to read the story again.

8. If there is time, ask the student to illustrate his/her story in the

journal.

Language Experience

Story Writing Practice

Find a partner and determine who is partner 1 and who is partner 2

Partner 2 will answer the respond to the following:

Tell me about someone that you love.

If needed: Why is he/she so special to you?

Partner 1 will write down what the other person says using his/her exact words.

After 3 minutes, switch roles.

Time Saving Coaching Tips

Writing takes time. Save time by

preparing for your session ahead of time.

• Before your session, pick at least two

parts in each book that you can pause

from reading and have the student write.

• Allow the student to focus on his/her

reflections by preparing the strategies

ahead of time.

Time Saving Coaching Tips

Coach Draws/Writes Student Draws/Writes

The layout of a graphic organizer Fills in the information

before/during/after reading

Stem sentences:

“What I really liked about the story

is…”

“One question I still have about the

story is…”

Student completes the sentence

with their personal answer.

The exact words that a student says

during Language Experience Story

Writing

Student may draw a supplemental

picture for the story during the next

session.

Notes about strategies used

before/during/after reading to model

using them for the student

Notes about strategies they used

right after the coach writes down

his/hers

Example of Prepared Story

• I have read the story “Stone Soup” before

hand, so I know which activities would be

great to use before, during and after

reading.

• I have also planned activities

that would save time.

Example Plan

Take a few moments to review the sample coaching plan with a partner.

This plan is not intended to be used for every coaching session or for every student.

The example coach in the plan has taken into consideration the needs of his/her student.

Experiential Learning

For the next 15 minutes, you will act at the

Reading Seed student, and I will be the

coach.

Summary

• When sharing your thoughts out loud, be specific about what item in the story is giving you those thoughts.

– “When I read the word ____, it makes me think of ____ because ____.”

• Prepare each story ahead of time so that you know where your student can pause to write down meaningful thoughts/information.