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Inside Writing Communities, Grades 3-5

Program 2: Teacher as Writer

This program shows third-grade teacher Latosha Rowley sharing her writing with her students and reflecting on the experience as a writer and as a teacher. It also includes several vignettes featuring other teachers who build community in their classrooms through modeling and sharing their own writing.

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Notebook.

Watch the 30-minute video “Teacher as Writer.” Apply what you have learned in “Building a Community of Writers” as you watch the extended video of other teachers’ classes.

Answer the questions that follow each segment, jotting down your answers in your notebook or using them as discussion starters.

Christine Sanchez’s Class

Christine Sanchez talks about a piece she is writing for her mother and shares a story web she developed as a prewriting exercise. (If you are watching the video in segments, you will find this image at the beginning of the segment, approximately two minutes into the video.)

  • What characteristics of Christine’s writing piece make it a particularly good model for her students?
  • What specific writing skills or strategies does Christine model?

Christine Sanchez: Lesson Background (PDF)

Latosha Rowley’s Class

Latosha Rowley shares a poem she has written about her baby to include in the body of poetry the students are studying as writing models. (If you are watching the video in segments, you will find this image at the beginning of the segment, approximately nine minutes into the video.)

  • What aspects of a “writerly life” does Latosha model for her class?
  • How do Latosha’s students respond to her poem? What do their responses suggest about the effectiveness of teachers sharing their own work?

Latosha Rowley: Lesson Background (PDF)

Silvia Edgerton’s Class

Silvia Edgerton models her thinking as she goes through her writer’s notebook looking for ideas for a nonfiction piece. (If you are watching the video in segments, you will find this image at the beginning of the segment, approximately 20 minutes into the video.)

  • What evidence do you see that Silvia frequently shares her work with her students?
  • What specific thinking processes does Silvia model?
  • What guides Silvia’s topic selection in addition to her notebook entries?