Comments for Illinois Writing Project Blog

Comment on What’s Your Story? by wrightj

wrightj — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 22:36:07 +0000

This year the new Common Core Standards are rolling out in a big way. Many of us teachers are just becoming familiar with them, and working out the kinks to better understand the new trends. However, I do not get the impression that fiction is a no-no. I do think the standards help bring informational text out into the limelight more, and that is good. I have several students who are drawn to read only informational books, and I think the old way of thinking might have deprived those kids of really enjoying reading (the old way being a shortage of informational text available for independent reading). I do not believe we need to cut back on our stories, though.

Just about everyone loves a good story, and I was just talking with a colleague about that. As a teacher, I get more value out of using fiction and nonfiction together, and I love to do this in the content areas. The informational texts can give fascinating facts, while a related fiction text can breath life into the facts by telling a story about people.

As a recent participant in the IWP Leadership Institute, I was inspired to begin writing stories again. Now I almost always have a story in my head. I am also almost always reading one too. Adults (and sadly, some children) who have grown up with the old grammar focused writing may need to be revitalized in order to get back to the stories they stopped attending to when they were young and inspired by life.

Comment on Inspired by the Illinois Writing Project Retreat in Geneva, Illinois by glass spigot

glass spigot — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 03:35:30 +0000

glass spigot…

This is my first time I have visited this site. I found a lot of interesting information in your blog. From the volume of comments on your posts, I guess I am not the only one! keep up the impressive work….

Comment on Aspiring Teachers Engage Learners by Pat

Pat — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:47:54 +0000

Amen and well said.

Comment on Stepping Forward by Suzy Ruder by Pat

Pat — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:44:17 +0000

It took an “outsider” who had time and experience to figure out the immense possibility! Sounds like some “insiders” knew something had to be done, but didn’t have the time and experience to do so. Yea to Suzy!

Comment on Text Complexity, Oh My! by Mindi Rench

Mindi Rench — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 02:24:11 +0000

Jen,
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking myself about text complexity as I dig deeper into the Common Core, specifically around the idea of lexiles. I worry that more and more districts will restrict student reading to an assigned lexile level, which would really be a disservice to kids everywhere.

Comment on My Confessions on Teaching Writing by Mindi Rench

Mindi Rench — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 02:21:26 +0000

Jen, so much of what you’ve written here rings true for me, too. The journey to discovering the writing workshop takes some teachers longer than others, but it through our passion and our commitment to the students in our classes that we can be models to our colleagues. Keep up the good fight!

Comment on Text Complexity, Oh My! by Suzy Ruder

Suzy Ruder — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 02:00:12 +0000

Jen,
Reader motivation and interest are keys to building stronger readers. As I earned my Reading Specialist certificate, I was amazed at how many wrestling magazines helped my struggling readers. Now as a grandmother I see the magic of reading from the wee ones who hold the book upside down to the eldest who finished the Harry Potter series as a first grader. That one had no interest in adult readers who had never read the entire series!
Looking forward to your next post!
Suzy

Comment on P. David Pearson and the Common Core State Standards by Ilyse Brainin by szemelman

szemelman — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 03:03:17 +0000

Lots of deep thinking, Ilyse! I find myself especially focused on the “making connections” issue that Pearson — and you — are concerned about. My own take is that we can stress to teachers that in fact the CCSS NEVER forbids the making of connections. Yes, Standard #2 emphasizes that the student needs to be able to provide an objective summary of a text “distinct from personal opinions or judgments.” But as soon as we move to Standard #3, that calls for analyzing texts, or Standard #8 that’s about point of view in literature or evaluating arguments in informational text, the ONLY way a reader/student can do these things is by drawing on prior knowledge of similar situations. David Coleman may be ignorant about this, but WE can help teachers understand it. So at our leaders meeting, I’ll be pushing for this approach!

Comment on What’s Your Story? by szemelman

szemelman — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 22:29:30 +0000

This is a great testimony to the power of stories. I just wish that the Common Core Standards showed more recognition of this, along side the informational & argument writing that they emphasize. I hope you’ll help the teachers you’re working with not only to tell stories and talk about their reading, but also to reflect on what stories DO for them — preserve family values, gain distance on difficult experiences (usually fun to tell about, even when they were painful to experience), and provide EVIDENCE for the claims we make in our more formal argument writing.
Also, I hope you’ll steer them to my new website, http://www.teachersspeakup.com and encourage them to tell the stories of the valuable things they are doing with kids in their classrooms. The community needs to hear these, in order to undo the negativity now directed at teachers.
–Steve Z

Comment on What’s Your Story? by Suzy Ruder

Suzy Ruder — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 16:25:19 +0000

Stacey,
I know of one school that promotes “What are you reading?” on email signatures. Listed below the signature where some folks put a quote they put “Currently I’m reading….”
I LOVE to discover quick ways to find books for my own personal reading. Gone Girl is on my neighborhood book club list so I’ll be reading that soon.
Who doesn’t love to hear a good story? But then, I’m Irish! With a wee bit of blarney thrown in a small story becomes a memorable one.