Katie, both of our theorists work in the research field of reading and writing workshop. I researched Lucy Calkins who was part of the original “architects” of the workshop model. I agree with Atwell in that I strongly believe in personal choice, too. I am familiar with Atwell’s name because through research with literacy, I have seen her name in many of my journal articles or textbooks so it in nice to know her beliefs and contributions. When students are able to show ownership, I think they also do their personal best and usually “go above and beyond”. I love Atwell’s idea of “curling up and getting comfortable to read, read, read” because I allow my students to do the same during reading workshop. My students sprawl across the rugs, beanbags, and all over the room in their own little “book nook” area. Calkins also mentioned the ever-growing leveled library in her workshop model classrooms. She also believed that the independent reading time is vital so she could conduct conferences and small group work. I think you said it the best when you wrote “a teacher’s primary goal is to alleviate reading frustration for students and help students become better readers.” Both Calkins and Atwell believe in a set schedule for writers and not force any writing upon the students. I love how Atwell is a big believer in student choice and instilling a passion for both reading and writing in children’s lives. I think Atwell and Calkins have similar beliefs and contributions to the field of literacy. I now want to read more about her center for Technology and Learning. Great job!
Katie, I enjoyed reading your paper about Nancy Atwell. It seems that she has very similar beliefs as my theorist, Ken Goodman. Both advocated student choice and independence in reading and writing instruction. Goodman also indicated that students benefit from an exposure to many forms of texts and writings. I see a lot of similarities in these two theorists. I currently implement a form of Writer's Workshop in my classroom. It has been successful, and I believe that my students enjoy the choices that they are afforded through the use of this model. I do not have much experience with Reading Workshop, but am currently researching it since it is the topic of my Comprehensive Literacy Program Project for this class. During my research I came across Atwell's book, In the Middle. I am enjoying reading her work and learning more about Reading Workshop. Thank you for the information that you provided about Atwell!
Katie, I agree with Ms. Atwell that choice plays a big part in student motivation and enjoyment. It will foster independence in learning and motivation. I enjoyed her idea of reader’s workshop of being dynamic where the teacher is available to check progress and monitor strategies. I also like the idea of keeping mini lessons in writing short since writing is learned by doing and not by listening to instruction. It also aggravates me when students are given a writing assignment on a topic that is pre-determined. It is so important to allow them the choice of topic, especially when they are involved in a task that is so daunting for a lot of students.
I love that your researcher is so big on reader and writer's workshop! I used both of them throughout my student teaching experience and they were very effective with my students. My collaborating teacher and I followed Atwell's suggestions almost exactly and it worked well. One thing you mentioned that I have not tried in writer's workshop was, "not force writing upon students, but allow them to write what they know, jot notes about interested topics, record every piece of writing on the Writing Log." Many of my students struggled with topics and often times I would give them topics to write about, but I like the idea of having them write what they know and drawing from their own experiences. Conferencing is also really important like you mentioned in you paper and a great opportunity to work on a student's specific needs. Great job!
Katie, I was instantly intrigued when reading your abstract because your theorist goes along very well with everything we have been learning so far in this course. I love that your theorist puts so much emphasis on student choice for books to read so that they flourish as readers. It's so important to remember that students want to be able to read and write about what they are interested in and not what we tell them to. I would love to read some of her works to find out more ideas she suggests for how to run writer's workshop. I feel as though this is my biggest area of improvement and would be interested to see what she has learned through her work. Thanks for sharing!
Katie, both of our theorists work in the research field of reading and writing workshop. I researched Lucy Calkins who was part of the original “architects” of the workshop model. I agree with Atwell in that I strongly believe in personal choice, too. I am familiar with Atwell’s name because through research with literacy, I have seen her name in many of my journal articles or textbooks so it in nice to know her beliefs and contributions. When students are able to show ownership, I think they also do their personal best and usually “go above and beyond”. I love Atwell’s idea of “curling up and getting comfortable to read, read, read” because I allow my students to do the same during reading workshop. My students sprawl across the rugs, beanbags, and all over the room in their own little “book nook” area. Calkins also mentioned the ever-growing leveled library in her workshop model classrooms. She also believed that the independent reading time is vital so she could conduct conferences and small group work. I think you said it the best when you wrote “a teacher’s primary goal is to alleviate reading frustration for students and help students become better readers.” Both Calkins and Atwell believe in a set schedule for writers and not force any writing upon the students. I love how Atwell is a big believer in student choice and instilling a passion for both reading and writing in children’s lives. I think Atwell and Calkins have similar beliefs and contributions to the field of literacy. I now want to read more about her center for Technology and Learning. Great job!
ReplyDeleteKatie,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your paper about Nancy Atwell. It seems that she has very similar beliefs as my theorist, Ken Goodman. Both advocated student choice and independence in reading and writing instruction. Goodman also indicated that students benefit from an exposure to many forms of texts and writings. I see a lot of similarities in these two theorists.
I currently implement a form of Writer's Workshop in my classroom. It has been successful, and I believe that my students enjoy the choices that they are afforded through the use of this model.
I do not have much experience with Reading Workshop, but am currently researching it since it is the topic of my Comprehensive Literacy Program Project for this class. During my research I came across Atwell's book, In the Middle. I am enjoying reading her work and learning more about Reading Workshop.
Thank you for the information that you provided about Atwell!
Katie,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ms. Atwell that choice plays a big part in student motivation and enjoyment. It will foster independence in learning and motivation. I enjoyed her idea of reader’s workshop of being dynamic where the teacher is available to check progress and monitor strategies.
I also like the idea of keeping mini lessons in writing short since writing is learned by doing and not by listening to instruction. It also aggravates me when students are given a writing assignment on a topic that is pre-determined. It is so important to allow them the choice of topic, especially when they are involved in a task that is so daunting for a lot of students.
Katie,
ReplyDeleteI love that your researcher is so big on reader and writer's workshop! I used both of them throughout my student teaching experience and they were very effective with my students. My collaborating teacher and I followed Atwell's suggestions almost exactly and it worked well. One thing you mentioned that I have not tried in writer's workshop was, "not force writing upon students, but allow them to write what they know, jot notes about interested topics, record every piece of writing on the Writing Log." Many of my students struggled with topics and often times I would give them topics to write about, but I like the idea of having them write what they know and drawing from their own experiences. Conferencing is also really important like you mentioned in you paper and a great opportunity to work on a student's specific needs. Great job!
Katie,
ReplyDeleteI was instantly intrigued when reading your abstract because your theorist goes along very well with everything we have been learning so far in this course. I love that your theorist puts so much emphasis on student choice for books to read so that they flourish as readers. It's so important to remember that students want to be able to read and write about what they are interested in and not what we tell them to. I would love to read some of her works to find out more ideas she suggests for how to run writer's workshop. I feel as though this is my biggest area of improvement and would be interested to see what she has learned through her work. Thanks for sharing!