I was instructed in a Learning/Traditional writing environment. My writing education came in the style of a formulaic, 5-step process for all writing. I was taught to plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish. This was always the process, for every child in the class. Writing was not a collaborative or interactive subject. Instead, I remember sitting and writing silently at my desk in elementary school. Rarely was I asked to "turn and talk" to a classmate about my writing ideas. There was a focus on the finished, published product rather than the process of writing. Most of the time we were assigned the topic of our writing, or a least given a narrow selection from which to choose. According to Freeman (2004), being assigned a topic for writing and focusing on the published work are aspects of writing aligned with a traditional approach. However, the Acquisition/Process approach provides students with choice in their topics and instructs on mechanics and conventions through mini-lessons. I was not instructed through mini-lessons addressed to my specific needs or next steps as I worked to produce my written piece. Throughout elementary school, I also had spelling words to memorize and be tested on each week. This is another piece identified in the traditional classroom. Whereas the process approach teacher will instead help students "discover the patterns in the spellings of English words. Conventional writing is a goal of a process classroom, but teachers emphasize that the content of the message is more important than the form" (Freeman, 2004, p. 31).
While both approaches to writing may have their benefits and teach many of the same skills, they are instructing in a different manner. I believe a process approach is more successful in keeping students engaged and excited about writing.
Carrie, I agree with your ideas about having a different writing experience growing up than the one we teach in our own classroom today.
ReplyDeleteI also remember having to memorize spelling words, simply for the sake of knowing them and memorizing them for the tests each week. I wasn't taught the spelling patterns for each list, I just knew that I had to memorize the words. As you mention above, this is very characteristic of a traditional classroom, since we were learning the spelling words themselves instead of learning about the rules behind these words.
You end by saying that you believe a process approach is more successful in the classroom to get students excited and engaged in writing. I absolutely agree. I think that by teaching the students how to write well and also teaching them the writing process throughout this journey, they not only will become better writers, but they will love the act of writing even more.
Carrie,
ReplyDeleteYour comment about how you rarely heard, "Turn and talk" in your classroom growing up is SO true. I have never thought about how rarely we discussed and shared our work in elementary school. Instruction was very "by the book" for me as well. I believe that, back then, teachers felt that a quiet classroom was a sign that learning was taking place, therefore collaborative group lessons were rarely seen or heard.
Even though, we both learned the basic skills and conventions to the writing process, it is a shame that we did not get to learn more about ourselves and our peers through authentic writing.
My students LOVE to "shoulder share" during writing time. It gives them the opportunity to discuss their work and ideas with their fellow peers, and it also assists those students who might be struggling with getting something on their paper. They can learn so much from each other!
-Shannon