By -

 

The True Power of Writing

By Polly M. Jeremiah

 

I promised to sit back, relax and simply allow the course to alter my school of thought, in relation to the teaching and learning of writing. However, here I was once more. Being humbled by another week of learning. I had long known of many of the elements of a narrative piece, however, my knowledge was superficial. This week took me deeper beneath the surface of narrative writing elements.

My view of students merely learning to express their thoughts and emotions, in correct sequence, through mechanically correct pieces, was drastically changed when I learned what lay deep beneath the surfaces of plot, theme, style and points of view. I learned how a clear working knowledge of these elements is essential before planning a narrative piece. I further learned how these can be manipulated in order to create different desired effects on the reader. Another key take away this week was exposure to the 5W+H questioning method, which is not totally new to me in terms of some aspects of its practice, however, in  its conventionally known term (5w + H), made it an entirely new concept to me.

Then we were exposed to persuasive writing, one of the most powerful genres, where the writer clearly sets out to influence the thinking and actions of the reader. We learned how strategic and purposeful writing can be. I saw how much students had to be taught in order to become better writers.

Once again this has been another week of successful learning in relation to the teaching of writing. The knowledge gained will definitely influence my future classroom practices, where

I will teach students the art of purposeful writing, from the planning stage to publishing.                                                                                                                                    

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reflective Post 1: The Value of Understanding the Stages of Writing

By -
Learning about the different stages of writing really opened my eyes to how students’ skills develop over time. The first three stages are mostly seen in the lower grades (K–3), while stages four to six appear as students move further along in school. For instance, emergent writers often begin with scribbles and drawings, while early writers use letters and invented spelling to form words and simple sentences. One of my classmates pointed out that writing can actually begin as early as Kindergarten. That insight reminded me that writing doesn’t have to be perfect at first; it’s a messy process of trial, error, and revisions before reaching a polished piece. I also realized that even the earliest attempts, like scri bbles or drawings, are meaningful and should be celebrated as the first steps in a child’s journey as a writer. As an educator, this makes me think about the importance of realistic expectations. I can’t expect a Grade 1 child to write like a Grade 6 student, b...
Read more

Reflection 1: Stages of Writing Development

By -
      Last week, we conducted our own research on the  Stages of Writing Development  before the teacher introduced us to those outlined in ROG (2007). In my research, I came across the work of  Teale and Sulzby (1986) , which provided me with some insight into how children transition from scribbling and drawing to more conventional forms of writing. Then, our teacher later showed us the stages of ROG. It was interesting to compare what I had found with that of ROG's.       It was then, during my research, that I realized what I used to think of as “just scribbling” actually has real meaning. Teale and Sulzby describe how those early marks are a critical part of the preliterate stage, and ROG confirmed that children’s random symbols and drawings are not meaningless but are their first attempts at written communication. Before, I might have dismissed these as play, but now I see them as the very foundation of literacy.    ...
Read more