Crafting Writers Chapters 10-12 Response

I have always been curious about assessment and how it should be done in a classroom, so I was glad to see that Chapter 12 was all about assessment. When I first saw the chapter was going to discuss rubrics I was a little discouraged. I remembered my teachers giving me rubrics in elementary school and I had no idea what they were or how to read them. My teacher never really discussed them further than explaining that it was how they were going to give us grades. However after reading the chapter I was a little relieved to see how Hale wanted to use rubrics was different than how my teachers had use them.

If you use a rubric with young students it is imporant to make it with them. Explain what each of the sections means and what each box is for. That may sound silly, but as a young student a rubric just looks like a lot of boxes with words in them. Also its important to use language and words that the students can understand. If you use too big of words they will not know what you expect of them. I loved the idea of making the rubrics with your class so they know what exactly they mean, and what it takes to write a good paper, or whatever the assignment is.

I still have some reservations about rubrics, but I can also see how they can be helpful. If rubrics are used correctly I think they could be a great tool in the classroom because then the students know exactly what the teacher expects of them and exactly what they need to do to get a good grade.

Crafting Writers Chapters 7-9 Response

I really loved chapter seven "Teaching Craft Lessons." I think the minilessons section is so important. I had so many teachers give me writing assignments, or any assignments, back with red ink circles and corrections all over them. None of my teachers ever talked to me about them, or why I had gotten something wrong. As a student I did not go back over my papers, I saw all the red and the grade and then that was that, I was done looking at it. The teacher had wasted their time correcting all of my mistakes, because I never looked at them again, or tried to figure out why I had gotten them wrong.

I love the idea that instead of marking all over students' papers, teachers focus on one or two things that need to be improved and then do "mini-lessons" and "try-its." Giving students individual attention and helping them through a specific problem in their writing could be very encouraging and very helpful for the student. By doing mini-lessons with individual or small groups of students you do not have to teach the whole class something some of them have already mastered, yet the students who need help get it.

My only reservation is that teachers can have so many students in class and if they all need individual mini-lessons how do you have time in the day and get anything else done?

Crafting Writers Chapters 4-5 Response

In Chapter 4 Hale talks about teaching students specific crafts for writing. I loved the idea of teaching kids to write with their senses, especially stories. By asking the students to incorporate what they saw, heard, tasted, smelled, and felt it will add a lot of detail to their writing, and giving them a deeper connection to the writing.

When I was young I was not a good writer, but I think if someone had asked me to write a story and simply describe what I heard, smelled, tasted, felt, or saw it would be a lot easier. It seems to me it would be a lot easier for students to write something based on their own experiences and senses.

I liked the different specific crafts for writing because I think it breaks down how students should be writing and makes it easier to understand, especially if you only go over one craft at a time. After awhile the students should be able to put all of the craft lessons together and write a very well done story.