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Private: Teaching Reading: 3-5 Workshop
Writing Reflect on Your Learning | Writing
What Did You Learn?
Assignment
Consider what you have learned about effective writing instruction from Professor Ruiz’s statements and the classroom examples. Write a summary of what you have learned. Use the questions below to guide your thinking. When you have finished, save your written work to submit as an assignment and, if you are taking this workshop for credit, include it in your Literacy Practices Portfolio.
- Which classroom practices from the video on writing instruction and assessment reflected what you currently do?
- Which practices or ideas were new to you?
- What changes do you plan to make?
- What support and/or resources will you need to implement these ideas?
Final Project
If you are taking this workshop for credit, complete the next section of your Literacy Practices Portfolio.
Create a Literacy Practices Portfolio
In this activity, you will continue to build your portfolio of instructional practices. When you have finished, save your work to submit as an assignment. Your portfolio for this session will include the following:
- current practices in place in your classroom
- changes you would like to make
- a description of one change you have implemented
- evidence of student learning
1. Current practices
Include your written response from What Do You Do? Then, describe how you teach writing throughout the day. Consider the following questions:
- How much time do students spend engaged in personal writing? How often do students have opportunities to respond to their reading during the literacy block?
- How do students respond in writing to math, science, and social studies content?
- What specific text types do you teach?
- How do you assess your students’ writing?
- How do you provide feedback to students on their writing?
- How do you document your students’ growth in writing throughout the year?
2. Changes you would like to make
Include your written response from What Did You Learn?
3. One change you have implemented
a. Make a change
Choose one instructional change that you described in What Did You Learn? to implement now. What is your thinking behind making this change? Describe the change in detail and explain how it will be implemented (e.g., an instructional practice, a lesson plan, a plan for modeling a strategy, etc.). What are the expected outcomes for student learning? Design a lesson plan and implement this change.
b. Reflect on the change
Write a brief reflection about what worked when you implemented this change and what you will change the next time you teach this lesson. (If you are taking this workshop during the summer, describe the learning goals and expected outcomes of this change.)
4. Evidence of student learning
In this section of your portfolio, you will submit evidence demonstrating student learning. Include writing samples from three students: a high-performing student, a grade-appropriate student, and a struggling writer. For each student, submit one writing sample completed before your lesson and one completed after your lesson. Explain how students demonstrated improved writing as a result of your instruction. Listed below are suggested pieces of evidence:
- a journal entry
- a written response to reading
- a personal narrative
- expository writing (e.g., summary, research report, explanation of science or math problem, etc.)
- authentic writing (e.g., letters)
