Entry #13: Crossing the Finish Line

I have to say, at the beginning of the semester, I did not think I would ever be a blogger. Although this blog may have been utilized for academic purposes, I could see myself potentially becoming an "educational blogger" down the road. I have read several education blogs myself, and it is neat to witness how talented teachers are sharing their expertise with the rest of the world.

When looking back at the "Student Learning Outcomes" listed in the syllabus, I noticed that this blogging experience hit almost all of the outcomes. The first Learning Outcome states that I will "gain knowledge and competency with regards to the variety of modes, genres, and formats for reading and writing." These blogs provided an opportunity to use "writing to learn" about the different genres we studied in this course. Furthermore, these blogs gave me a chance to be creative in the sense of multimodal writing. I was able to experiment with embedded links, photographs, and fonts. 

I think my favorite of all the Learning Outcomes that I achieved through blogging was the second outcome in which I learned about "the role of purpose and audience in writing and reading and the elements of author's craft used to address the desired purpose(s) and audience(s)." As I explored different articles and mentor texts this semester, my voice was able to shine through in this informal genre of writing as I used writing to learn more about the texts I read. I was able to develop my own thoughts and understanding in the moment without worrying about whether I fully understood the concept. I was able to navigate course content in a low-stakes environment, all the while sharing my thoughts with and learning from my peers. 

Through my extended study of the Tierney and Pearson (1983) article regarding the writing and reading process (Blog Entry #1), I was able to build my knowledge of the "cognitive processes and strategies of reading and writing." I found that because this blog showed my "in the moment thinking," I did not do as much planning and revising as I did for my Genre Pieces Project. However, these blogs allowed me to deepen my understanding of the theoretical framework so I could begin to apply this knowledge as I embarked on the Genre Pieces Project. 

I would also say that these blogs allowed me to deepen my understanding of the readings we completed related to the "iterative nature of the composition and comprehension processes" (Learning Outcome #4) as well as "the role of metacognition in writing proficiency and reading comprehension" (Learning Outcome #5). With most of these blogs, I naturally engaged in reflection, which made me aware of my own thought processes. One metacognitive strategy that Tompkins (2012) outlined was questioning (p. 35). I found that I did quite a bit of questioning while writing my blogs as evidenced particularly in the following blog posts: Entry #4, Entry #7, and Entry #9. If you haven't checked these posts out yet, feel free to click the link and take a look at how I used questioning while developing my blogs! 

One component that was not outlined in the Student Learning Outcomes that I developed through these blogs is learning from my colleagues. Part of the ILA standards includes collaboration with colleagues, and the "Bless, Address, and Press" blogs allowed me to do so. I learned about my peers' thinking which helped me develop my own. Check out my "Bless, Address, and Press" entries to see how I learned from my brilliant colleagues (Entry #8, Entry #10).

Readers: Thank you for journeying with me through these blogs this semester! I may be "crossing the finish line" as a blogger, but I will take away so much from this experience. I am excited to engage in blogging with my future students!

References

Tierney, R. & Pearson, P. D. (1983). Toward a composing model of reading. Language Arts, 60(5), 568-

        580.

Tompkins, G. E. (2012). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product (6th ed.). Merrill.

Entry #12: What I Knew Then, and What I Know Now

"There's an endless variety of text and digital genres, but too often the choices are limited to stories, poems, and reports. Instead, students need to experiment with a wide variety of genres and explore the purposes and formats of each." 

~Tompkins, 2012 (p. 7)

Before this class, I thought I had a decent understanding of each genre, however, I actually had a fairly limited understanding of some genres. Perhaps this is due to the fact that many of my writing pieces in the past have been limited to stories and reports as Tompkins (2012) describes in the quote above. Two genres in particular that I thought I knew well but actually did not were biographical and descriptive writing. Through the Genre Expert Presentations, I was able to deepen my understanding of each of these genres and expand on the background knowledge I brought with me to this class.

When I originally heard the word “biography,” I immediately thought of informational texts about a significant person that are written by someone else. I had this broad definition in my mind, but knew very little about the sub-genres of biography. Naturally, I was aware of “autobiographies,” texts about a person’s life written by that person, but I did not connect personal narratives and memoirs to my biographical writing schema. Through my Genre Expert project research, I learned how to tease apart the differences between the sub-genres of biographies. The puzzle piece visual that I created for our group’s materials for the presentation was the most helpful tool for me. 

Furthermore, I never really thought to question the information presented in biographies because in my mind, they were nonfiction texts that only contained facts. Although it may be true that biographies contain facts, reading Marshall’s (2019) article allowed me to expand my ability to think critically about biographies. Marshall (2019) drew my attention to the idea that biographies typically tell the story of an exceptional individual who overcomes adversity. As I search for mentor texts when teaching biographical writing in the future, I will certainly think about the script of the text. I will aim to find texts that tell both the stories of everyday heroes and tell celebratory stories that do not include an exceptional individual overcoming adversity. Muhammad (2020) would approve of these counter-narratives as they connect to students' joy!

These texts illustrate my shift in thinking regarding biography mentor texts.

Marshall (2019) also offered several examples of mentor texts that offer a counter narrative, one being Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming (which I read as one of my mentor texts). In addition to providing a counter-narrative, this mentor text also illustrated how a memoir could be told powerfully through verse. I never associated poetry and biographies, but now I know that many genres intertwine with biographical writing.

This is the activity from the Descriptive Genre
Expert Presentation. I described a picture from
David Wiesner's Flotsam.

Another genre that intermixes with biographical writing is descriptive writing. Before reading Tompkins’ (2012) chapter and being involved in my peers' Genre Expert presentation, I thought of descriptive writing as simply adding lots of adjectives to my writing. I deepened my appreciation for descriptive writing through this course as now I understand that a writer must be clever and careful when choosing words in the descriptive genre. Too many or too few adjectives may impact the effectiveness of the writing piece. During the Descriptive Genre Expert Project, I had the chance to write a descriptive piece based on a picture in a wordless picture book. Not only did this activity boost my confidence as a descriptive writer, but also allowed me to hone in on word choice by using sensory details AND comparisons (simile and metaphor). This is an activity that I would love to do with students in the future.

The mentor texts that I read for the biography genre
(as described above) and the letter genre were the most powerful for me. Personally, I had thought that the letter genre was quite simple, but reading Dear Mr. Henshaw allowed me to see how I could spice up my letter writing, particularly with clever closings like “Your annoyed pen-pal.” This helped me immensely when writing my first genre piece which combines elements of the narrative genre and letter writing. If the mentor texts were this valuable for me, I can only imagine that they will be helpful for students too!

Overall, my biggest takeaway from examining different genres and reading various mentor texts is that many genres overlap. There may be elements of the narrative genre combined with biographies and combined with descriptive writing. There are no bounds when it comes to creative writing, and this work in 618 allowed me to explore my creative side. As I read texts with students and by myself in the future, I will continue to think of elements of author’s craft that pertain to each genre.

References

Cleary, B. (1983). Dear Mr. Henshaw. Harper Trophy.

Marshall, E. (2019). Life writing and the language arts. Language Arts, 96(3), 167-178.

Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically 

responsive literacy. Scholastic.

Tompkins, G. E.  (2012).  Teaching writing:  Balancing process and product (6th ed.). Pearson.

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. Nancy Paulsen Books.

Entry #11: Why Writers Should Consider Point of View

One element of narrative writing that I wish to revisit and reflect upon is point of view. Before reading this chapter and before the Narrative Genre Expert Group presented, I had only thought of point of view as first-person (I), second-person (you), and third person (he/she/they).  I had heard of an omniscient narrator, but I couldn't exactly explain what an omniscient narrator was. 

After reviewing the descriptions in Tompkins' (2012) and the narrative genre presentation, I now understand that the omniscient viewpoint is when the author is able to see and know everything about each character (p. 187). The limited omniscient viewpoint uses third person point of view to hear the thoughts of one character without knowing everything. Then, objective viewpoint is similar to a movie in that readers only learn from "what can be seen or heard" and do not dive as deeply into characters' thoughts and feelings (p. 187).

Brown Girl Dreaming
(Woodson, 2014)

Reviewing these different points of view led me to wonder: Is there one point of view that is more powerful than another? Perhaps this depends on the purpose and audience for the particular piece. When thinking of the article I gathered for my group's biography presentation, Marshall (2019) emphasized the need for autobiographies when teaching biographical counter-narratives as first-person point of view is more powerful when writing for this purpose.  For example, she mentioned Jacqueline Woodson's (2014) Brown Girl Dreaming which is a memoir in verse of Woodson's childhood. I read this text for one of my biography mentor texts, and personally I believe this text would not have been nearly as powerful if it was written from a point of view other than first-person.

Story told from the
Wolf's Point of View

I appreciate that Tompkins (2012) mentions a mini-lesson/guided practice activity in which students can experiment with how "an author's viewpoint can slant a story" (p. 192). Tompkins (2012) suggest that students could tell the same story (e.g. Little Red Riding Hood) from the perspective of each character in the story. With this experiment, students learn what is important to include for some characters but not others. Although this is a fairly popular example, this changing of viewpoints could be modeled with the original version of The Three Little Pigs versus The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs (Scieszka, 1989). 

When thinking of multiple perspectives/points of view, I can't help but think of Muhammad's (2020) work too. In both her intellectual and criticality pursuits, Muhammad (2020) encourages educators to provide opportunities to view issues from multiple perspectives. She writes, "Examining text and concepts through different perspectives and standpoints is an intellectual task" (p. 121). Not only does examining multiple points of view foster the ability to see multiple sides of a situation, but it also lends itself to rigorous and meaningful learning experiences. Perhaps another example of a text set to consider is multiple perspectives on the story of Christopher Columbus. Then, students can develop their intellect and criticality as they examine and analyze this story from multiple points of view.

As a future teacher of literacy, I will take this developing knowledge of point of view with me and consider this when teaching the narrative genre as well as the other genres that intertwine with narrative writing. Although my question of which point of view is the most powerful is still unanswered, I will continue to explore this question as I read narrative texts in the future.

References

Marshall, E. (2019). Life writing and the language arts. Language Arts, 96(3), 167-178. 

Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy. Scholastic.

Scieszka, J. (1989). The true story of the 3 little pigs! Puffin Books.

Tompkins, G. E.  (2012).  Teaching writing:  Balancing process and product (6th ed.). Pearson.

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. Nancy Paulsen Books. 

Entry #10: Makayla Takes the Spotlight!

"I've always found revision so hard because you have to change what you originally wanted to say. When I revise, I tend to either skip the entire process or just make minor errors or adjustments. It is clear to me now that revising really means 'examining for mismatches between intended meaning and actual meaning' (Philippakos, 2017, p. 13). It's so much more than making those small final adjustments."

                                                                 ~Makayla Pierpont, Blog Entry #7

I have to say, my fellow blogger and dear friend Makayla is not alone with her thoughts on the revision component of the writing process. Like Makayla, I also find revision challenging, particularly when I am revising pieces without having a clear understanding of the evaluation criteria. In the end, I typically just make minor adjustments rather than looking at meaning and the piece holistically. 

Makayla's Blog Entry #7 (click the link and check it out!) inspired me to revisit Philippakos' (2017) article about feedback and revision. I know this is an area of weakness for myself, and I imagine that my future students would need explicit instruction on feedback and revision as well. As Philippakos (2017) suggests, I will first help students understand that revision is a process during which writers evaluate their work, identify areas that need improvement, and make larger changes to improve the meaning of their piece (p. 13). I will help students take on the perspective of their readers, because the readers must be able to make sense of the piece. I think this is my biggest challenge as a writer because when I read my piece - it obviously makes sense to me because I wrote it!

This leads me to the importance of feedback from people other than myself. Peers and teachers can offer a different lens when reading my pieces. I find that when I am at a roadblock, others can give me some really great ideas! As a future teacher, I also know that student must be taught how to give feedback to one another. Philippakos (2017) recommends that teachers work to develop a "community of writers" so students trust one another's feedback and consider making those changes to their pieces (p. 14). 

Philippakos (2017): Sample Rubric for Peer Review

Finally, my biggest takeaway from reviewing this article (thank you again, Makayla!) is that revision is easier when the guidelines and criteria for evaluation are clear (Philippakos, 2017, p. 15). Rubrics are especially useful when attempting to improve a draft of a piece. This led me to revisit the assignment criteria for our Genre Pieces assignment. I am having a really hard time with my pieces as I am just not quite sure where to go next or how to develop my ideas more fully. Looking at the assignment criteria, I was reminded that we will be graded on our purpose, audience, and voice as well as our demonstration of the characteristics of the particular genre. When I read that, I wondered, "Where can I find clear descriptions of essential characteristics of each genre?" My brain went "ding, ding, ding - Tompkins!" As I revise my pieces and even as I continue to draft, I will refer to relevant chapters in Tompkins that match each of my genres for my three pieces.

An Excerpt from the Genre Pieces Project Grading Criteria

As I consider teaching writing in the future, my main takeaways from Philippakos' (2017) article are: (1) explicitly teach what exactly revision is, (2) teach students how to provide valuable feedback to one another, and (3) provide clear grading criteria. Thank you once more to Makayla for encouraging me to revisit Philippakos' (2017) article and also reminding me to revisit Tompkins' (2012) chapters for grading checklists! Don't forget to go check out my amazing colleague Makayla's blog to learn more about reading and writing!

References

Philippakos, Z.A. (2017).  Giving feedback:  Preparing students for peer review and self-evaluation.  The Reading Teacher, 71(1), 13-22.  DOI: 10.1102/trtr.1568 

Tompkins, G. E.  (2012).  Teaching writing:  Balancing process and product (6th ed.). Pearson.

Entry #9: The Importance of Knowing the Author

IS IT IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHO IS WRITING A TEXT?

As I was reading through the Persuasive Writing chapter in Tompkins' (2012) text, I couldn't help but wonder what it would take for me to be persuaded or convinced when reading or hearing an argument. Tompkins (2012) mentions how the three appeals strengthen a persuasive piece by targeting readers' or listeners' logic, emotions, and character. Personally, I find character the most intriguing.

When someone is trying to persuade me to do or believe something, I am skeptical until I know who the persuader may be. Is it a family member who I trust with my life? Is it a professional who I trust? Or is it someone who lacks qualifications related to the topic of persuasion? In my opinion, if someone is trying to persuade me to use a new herbal supplement, I would listen to my family friend who is a certified nutritionist before I would listen to an ad on television. 

Marshall's (2019) Article

While reading the Persuasive Writing chapter, these questions led me to think of the article I chose for my Biography Genre Expert Project. In this article, the author wrote "This understanding of life writing as something constructed, the idea that it is open to critique, frames how language arts teachers approach life writing in the curriculum" (Marshall, 2019, p. 171). Marshall (2019) encourages readers to ask critical questions about who wrote the text and how they wrote it (p. 171). I argue that all writing pieces are constructed, therefore we must question all genres of writing. Similar to what Marshall (2019) described, I think one of the first questions we can ask is "Who is writing this piece and how does that impact what they wrote?" As readers and writers, our identities and backgrounds impact how and what we write. It may lead us to interpret a text in one way but someone with a different experience may interpret it in another way.

"The free encyclopedia anyone can edit"

With the widespread use of the internet, pretty much anyone can blog or write or post online. Anyone can try to persuade a reader to do something. How do we know who to trust on the internet? I believe that we should be teaching our students how to critique and ask questions of all texts so they do not willingly believe everything they hear. We should explicitly teach students how to research an author and determine whether they are a person they can trust.

With that said, maybe you are now questioning whether you should believe me in this blog. If you are, GOOD! I hope that readers question what I write. I am developing my understanding of concepts through my writing in this blog, so I am not yet an expert. I hope that the research I include makes me somewhat more trustworthy. Even though you may not trust me entirely yet, I hope that my my thoughts and ideas are at least considered before being distrusted. 

For my Genre Pieces project, I am writing from the voice of a journalist who is persuading readers to reconsider their perspectives on standardized testing. After exploring the importance of trust in the author in this blog, I am thinking that I may want to include an "About the Author" portion of the piece so readers are more likely to trust the information that I put forward. (hint hint: If you are still wondering if you should trust my thoughts on this blog, check out the About Me section on my homepage.)

As you continue to read and view, continue to question! Know your author and consider whether or not you should trust them. It took me a long time to learn how to think for myself, and I hope this entry encourages you to think for yourself more often.

References

Marshall, E. (2019). Life writing and the language arts. Language Arts, 96(3), 167-178. 

Tompkins, G. E. (2012). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product (6th ed.). Merrill.

Entry #8: Elise Takes Center Stage!

"From Tompkins (2012) and Dymock (2007), I have developed an understanding that explicit instruction of text structure, more specifically, the elements of specific genres, can support students across their reading, writing, and their comprehension. "

~Elise Coon, Blog Entry #7

Let me tell you about my brilliant colleague and friend, Elise! Like me, she also has a blog that she uses as a tool to reflect upon and deepen her understanding of our class readings. Click here to visit her amazing blog! 

I was particularly impressed by her connections in her Blog Entry #7. Elise began by describing how authors Tierney and Pearson (1983) taught her that reading and writing are parallel processes. This opened Elise's mind to the connections between studying mentor texts and teaching writing, particularly related to the structure of narrative mentor texts. She noted that studying the text structures of different genres can improve students' reading, writing, and comprehension because reading and writing are parallel processes (see the quote detailed above). 

Story Graph from Elise's Blog

In her post, Elise discussed how story graphs and story maps could be used as tools to scaffold narrative text structure. This led me to think of MacKay, Ricks, and Young's (2017) article about the use of mentor texts. I agree with Elise, that these organizers can be useful when explicitly instructing students on the narrative text structure. However, I would expand on this and suggest that before dissecting the text, students should listen to the story just for enjoyment. As MacKay, Ricks, and Young (2017) state, “Authors do not create children’s books to be deconstructed and used as writing texts but, rather, to be read over and over again for the pleasure of reading. It is through the reading that students begin to value a book enough to be willing to look to its author as a writing mentor” (p. 177). Once students have listened to the story at least once or twice for pleasure, they can analyze the structure in depth and "read with writers' eyes" (p. 178).

Story Web from Elise's Blog

I have used similar graphic organizers when conducting interactive read alouds involving narrative texts with students at the primary level. What I have not done, though, is use these same graphic organizers as a tool for writing. I have provided graphic organizers for writing, but not like the ones Elise highlighted in her post. As Elise wrote, reading and writing are parallel processes. It would make sense to utilize the same graphic organizer for both analyzing a narrative mentor text and scaffolding the planning of students' own narrative pieces that they will write. 

I can see Elise using the story graph to model how events are put in a specific order in narrative texts to create an engaging story. After modeling this once, students may find it entertaining if Elise purposefully puts the story pieces in the wrong order based on a mentor text they read! I can imagine students giggling at their teacher's silliness. They would say "Miss Coon, that is ALL WRONG! It doesn't make any sense!" and then correct her "mistake." This would further demonstrate how important it is to consider the sequencing of events when writing narrative texts.

While thinking about these two graphic organizers, I also wondered if these could be created into laminated mats for students to use in the prewriting/brainstorming phase of the writing process. Similar to the Card Strategy we used in class, I can envision students writing or drawing the different episodes they plan to include in their narrative on index cards (Kucer & Rhodes, 1986). Then, I see them experimenting with the order of the episodes by moving the cards around the different Xs on the mat/template. I know the Card Strategy helped me brainstorm, and I think adding in the template with the story graph would provide even more scaffolding for students as they try to determine the structure and sequence of their own narrative pieces.

A big shoutout to Elise for helping me reflect further on reading and writing as parallel processes! I do not think I would have made these further connections without checking out your blog. Don't wait another moment - check out Elise's blog for more information about reading and writing!

References

Dymock, S. (2007). Comprehension strategy instruction: Teaching narrative text structure awareness. The Reading Teacher, 61(2), 161–167. DOI: 10.1598/rt.61.2.6

Kucer, S. B. & Rhodes, L. K (1986). Counterpart strategies: Fine tuning language with language. The Reading Teacher, 40(2), 186-193.

MacKay, K. L., Ricks, P. H., & Young, T. A. (2017). Supporting young writers with award-winning books. The Reading Teacher, 71(2), 177-187.

Tierney, R. & Pearson, P. D. (1983). Toward a composing model of reading. Language Arts, 60(5), 568-580.

Entry #7: What Makes a "Good" Mentor Text?

 "One drawback of the current lists of ECCBYA and TSGA winners is the lack of diversity of the main characters....Although diversity is an issue, winners of these two awards can provide rich resources for teachers of young students looking for well-written and well-illustrated mentor texts to foster the development of emergent writers" (MacKay, Ricks, & Young, 2017, p. 178). *Link added

List of Award Winning Books
(MacKay, Ricks, & Young, 2017, p. 179)

In their article Supporting Young Writers with Award-Winning Books, MacKay, Ricks, &
Young (2017) emphasize the importance of reading strong mentor texts so students can use these as models for their own writing. The quote written above leaves me to wonder: Just because a text is an award-winner, does that mean it is the best mentor text for all students? As seen above, MacKay, Ricks, and Young (2017) acknowledge the lack of diversity in many of these award winning texts (and I am glad they did). However, in my opinion the authors briefly mention the lack of diversity and then continue to argue that educators should use these books as mentor texts. Personally, I think educators (myself included) should go beyond an award winning "stamp of approval" and think critically about the texts we choose to use as mentor texts. Shouldn't diversity and representation of people and thought be on the forefront of our minds when we choose mentor texts to use with our students?

Critical Questions
about Life Writing
(Marshall, 2019, p. 175)

While conducting research for my Genre Expert Project, I came across an article that offers a more critical perspective when it comes to choosing mentor texts for genre studies. Rather than focus on whether or not a text has won an award, Marshall (2019) argues that we should shift our focus toward diverse counter-narratives when choosing texts to use for teaching "life writing" (aka biographical writing). Marshall (2019) explains that educators often choose biography texts that highlight exceptional, heroic individuals who led to positive change. The examples that come to my mind are the "big names" we learn about in school during the Civil Rights unit (e.g. Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, etc.). We celebrate the change that these individuals created and the progress that resulted. But should we only use read and write biographies about activists whose efforts resulted in change? What about all of the other activists whose efforts did not lead to change or whose efforts went unrecognized?

What I appreciate most about Marshall's (2019) article is that she encourages educators like myself to ask critical questions when choosing mentor texts, particularly for biographical writing. Yes, MacKay, Ricks, & Young (2017) offered some strong, award-winning mentor texts. In my opinion though, educators must not rely solely on texts that have won awards. We cannot overlook diversity when choosing mentor texts any longer. How many strong mentor texts are not given an award because of the biases held by the people who choose the winning texts? How many biographical texts do not win an award because they do not tie up historical events in a nice neat bow? 

These two texts lead the voice in my head to scream MUHAMMAD (2020)! HRL LEARNING GOALS! CRITICALITY!!! Not only should teachers be critical of mentor texts, particularly biographical texts, but we can also teach STUDENTS to become critical readers and writers. As Marshall (2019) mentioned, educators can talk about the author's stance when students read biography texts and write their own. She notes, "Scripts, cultural conventions, and the writer's own perspective and politics inform the writing of a life story" (Marshall, 2019, p. 171). We can teach students to learn about their own identities and how their identities impact they way in which they read and write biographies (Muhammad, 2020). We can then help students critically read texts and analyze the author's stance, noticing how the author's identity impacted the way the life story was told. Many people think that nonfiction texts are all facts, that they must be true. I strongly believe that we must teach students to be critical consumers of ALL information, even information presented in nonfiction texts. Reading Marshall's (2019) article led me to question MacKay, Ricks, and Young (2017) further. I will certainly be more critical of texts when I choose them in the future, and I plan to teach students to do the same as they read and write.

References

American Library Association. (2021, March 24). Theodor Seuss Geisel Award. ALSC. https://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/geisel

MacKay, K. L., Ricks, P. H., & Young, T. A. (2017). Supporting young writers with award-winning books. The Reading Teacher, 71(2), 177-187.

Marshall, E. (2019). Life writing and the language arts. Language Arts, 96(3), 167-178. 

Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy. Scholastic.