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Teaching Writing from the Inside

Insight from Tom Romano & Kelly Gallagher

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Writers Show Us

I never know where a poem is heading as Ibegin it.

Real writers plunge into their writing with faithand fearlessness.

Sometimes real writers plan everything out indetail; sometimes they plan a little; sometimesthey plan nothing at all.

Language is our canoe up the wilderness river,

our bush plane, our space capsule, our magic.

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The Real World Shows Us

An apprentice repairman must pass a class andexam and then spend six weeks shadowing anexperienced repairman before going out on hisown.

A new waitress must spend a week shadowingan experienced waitress before being given herown tables to handle.

New mechanics are not awarded service bays

until they spend extended time working with amaster mechanic. This best prepares them forworking on their own.

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Teacher as Writer

Those who teach a craft ought to do a craft.(Romano, 172)

By participating in authentic writing activities,teachers gain inside knowledge on the act ofwriting.

They have a voice of authority by being a writerthemselves.

A teacher who writes can pull back the curtain

to reveal ways that writing is made. (Romano,173)

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Whos afraid of the big, bad 1st draft?

Many students believe that writing is easy forsome, yet difficult for others. They come to thisfor one of two reasons:

They have teachers who do not actively write.

They have teachers who write but hide the hard workfrom their students.

Many students struggle with 1st draft writingbecause they think that theyre writing will belousy.

It is up to the teacher to show them the nitty gritty,instead of the Grecian urn.

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What can teachers do?

Write alongside students. Demonstrate themessiness of first-draft writing. Think aloud andask students to chart the decisions you make.DONT just show them a polished pieceits

intimidating. Be a coachnot a critic. Give students credit,

but not grades, for first (and maybe evensecond and third) drafts.

Have students talk out papers. Students can

talk to other students who take notes or into atape recorder. Theyll get past that originalblock.

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Shaping Writing, Crafting Voice

Students should create their own identities onthe page.

Students should learn to shape their languageand refine their meanings through their workwith words.

Hearken to emotions, images, ideas, and stories thatare strong within them

Teach them structures of genres

Teach them how to give and receive responses ondrafts of writing

Teach them habits of revision

Teach them about the muscle of active verbs

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The best writing is rewriting

A Five Day Mini-Lesson From Kelly Gallagher

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Day One

Tell students that you want them to observeyour behavior carefully from the word Go untilthe word Stop.

After you say Stop, they will write onesentence describing what they have justwitnessed.

Pause in the classroom doorway, say Go andstride across the classroom and sit down in

your chair. Once seated, say Stop and ask students to

write their one-sentence observations.

Have students share their sentences aloud tosee the differences in artistry in just one draft.

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Day Two

Students should take out their sentences fromday one.

Start with a mini-lesson on the importance ofstrong verbs.

Share your own sentence: The teacher walkedacross the room and sat in the chair.

Revise your own sentence while they watch:The teacher strode across the room and

plopped in his chair. Have students work with their own verbs and

then put their sentences away until the nextday.

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Days Three, Four, and Five

Conduct a new mini-lesson each day onsentence structure or word choice.

One students work:

The teacher walked across the room and sat into thechair.

The teacher sauntered across the room and sat intothe chair.

The teacher sauntered across the room and collapsedinto the chair.

The teacher, Mr. Gallagher, sauntered across theroom and collapsed into the chair.

Tired and cranky, Mr. Gallagher sauntered across theroom and collapsed into the chair.

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If you are going to walk the walk

If you write alongside your students, you canserve as a model by using the language ofwriters.

Children grow into the intellectual life aroundthem.

If we want our students to grow into writers,then we must speak the language of writers tothem.

We must lead by example.