When I read this chapter, I felt a lot of relief. :) I think for awhile, we felt we had to teach each of the six writing traits (identify them with the students), have students rate some writing pieces, and concentrate on the writing terminology instead of just the fun and satisfaction of writing. I do feel there are some skills that can be taught in isolation but most can be taught and learned during the writing process. I think it would be a good idea to continue showing students examples of good word choice and voice. They would easily recognize the difference between the good writing pieces and poor writing pieces.
This chapter reinforced even more the importance of shared writing... In my opinion, a teacher can use shared writing to model great writing by reading, rereading, editing and improving the writing piece as a group. (And having fun in the process...:)
Mindy helped me set up my Wall Dictionary when I first started teaching third grade and my classes have always used this to help us spell during our writing. It is continually added to all year long so we end up with quite a collection of words at the end of the year.
I do not agree with Regie Routman on the use of the thesaurus. Kids love using those books and to me, it really helps expand their vocabulary. Some of the words they choose do not always work, but we talk about why another or a simpler word might be a better choice.
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Thanks for saying that your kids love using a thesaurus. My students also love using it, and when I read Routman's comments about it, I questioned whether or not we should continue to use it. I've found that it helps improve word choice, expanding vocabulary "options". I don't allow my students to fill their writing with words they obviously don't know/understand, but often a student needs suggestions for different words to convey meaning - - and the thesaurus is the place we turn for assistance with word choice.
I do think our Word Wall works well and really helps our students become better spellers. I was surprised too by Regie's feelings about students using the thesaurus. They are an excellent source of synonyms for those over worked words students use. My students think it is fun to use them in their writing.
I too was glad to see examples of shared writing. I think this will help students at all grade levels.
I agree on the use of the thesaurus. My kids love getting on Kan-Ed and using the Visual Thesaurus. I have also seen them get the thesaurus off of the shelf without any prompting. I think it is important for them to use resources to help them with their word choice.
I also believe that there are so many benefits to shared writing and the kids LOVE it!
The word wall is something I would love to try in my classroom .
This has completely changed the way I look at the six traits. Before I think I was trying to use the six traits as the writing program and now I realize it's simply a small part of the writing process
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