Crafting Writer Ch 1-3 & 6

Chapter 1:
This chapter was an insightful way of explaining to future educators just what is the writing process and how it pertains to students. I liked that they referred to writing as a "science" and an "art" and while there are so many rules of structure, there is plenty of room for individual choices. Nowadays, schools want teacher to teach "the craft of writing" - the artistic side. How do you instruct students to become more artistic, though? During the time that most teachers attended elementary school, writing artistically was not emphasized, so in a way it is a learning experience for us all.

Chapter 2:
Like most things, in writing practice makes perfect. You cannot simply show children examples of 'good' writing. As a teacher you must have them practice working on writing techniques. However, as an instructor it is best to have students work on 1 or 2 specific techniques at a time. Once that is mastered, then a new techniques should be practiced. As an educator, we know that a classroom will be full of students each at a different skill level. That is why it is important for each student to be aware of their individual writing goals. Some of the things a teacher should show students is how to incorporate their own voice in their writings, adding specific detail, asking questions, and adding variety. One way to do this is to teach "under an umbrella" - teaching several mini lessons over the course of a few class periods that fall under one larger catagory.

Chapter 3:
"Reading like a writer" is how students begin to add experience to their 'craft'. Their are 3 ways students can add to their craft - 1) recognizing small, specific parts of other well-written writings, 2) naming specific parts of the craft such as parts of speech, word variations, and interesting combinations 3) answering questions about the quality and structure of the writing and being able to describe/support your answer.

Chapter 6:
I was suprised to read that most primary elementary school children do not typically write at the age-level they are at. Ways to improve younger students writing craft is to have them practice drawing, writing words, and working on their basic craft. I found it interesting that a students drawing skills are linked to their writing skills. Specificity in drawing is just as important as specificity in writing, and can create visual pictures of what teachers mean by saying "Be more specific!" Likewise, writing words can help a child improve their writing craft. Learning a variety of words can help children add variety to their writings that they create. Another way to help students improve their craft at a younger age is to give them a variety of mediums to write and illustrate on. One example from the book was that lines on a page a can either restrict the student to write less than they possibly could or make them feel pressured to write too much.