Walk
the Walk: How to look at and learn from student writing work
Sarah Picard
After spending a few months learning a new curriculum and classroom
management techniques, many teachers in collaborative relationships
start using their collaboration time to look at samples of student
work. Gathering writing samples to look at is not difficult, but
sometimes it is hard to focus a conversation with a partner. This
how-to is meant to be used as a frame for your conversations. It
will keep you focused on the work on the table and how the information
you find will inform your teaching.
As an elementary school teacher, I find it helpful
to look at my notes from writing conferences and the students' samples
of writing.
Looking at samples of student writing work can be
helpful in many ways. First, I use them as an assessment tool of
the child's performance. I look at a child's writing samples with
my collaborative partner and we ask one another the following questions:
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What is this child doing well?
-
What reading strategies can this child use independently?
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Why is the student writing this piece of writing?
Who is it for?
-
Does the student understand the structure of the
genre s/he is writing in?
-
What process does the student use to create this
piece?
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How is the student using punctuation?
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What kind of details is the student using, and
do those details enhance understanding?
-
What does the student think about this piece of
writing? Did s/he self-reflect about this piece of writing?
After looking at the writing, I explain my conference
notes to my partner and we ask each other some of the following
questions:
-
Could the child tell me about who this piece of
writing was for?
-
Could the child tell me why s/he was writing this
piece?
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How does the child talk about the steps in the
writing process during conferences?
Once my partner and I have taken some notes about
the student's level of understanding, we take a look at the student's
work and it's relationship to our planning. We ask ourselves some
of the following questions:
-
How is the student using some of the new strategies
I have taught this week?
-
What mini-lessons have I taught this week that
the student used in his/her writing?
-
What have I taught in a conference this week that
the student used in his/her writing?
-
What mini-lessons and conferences could I plan
this week to help this child and perhaps other children in my
classroom?
Hopefully these questions will guide your conversation.
Try not to think of them as a checklist of questions to ask your
partners, but rather as a guide for your communication.
Good luck, and enjoy your conversation!
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