Moving From Speaking to Writing
PLO Learnings:
Throughout the ongoing series of workshops, participants learned a number of ways to increase and leverage academic discussion as a scaffold for writing through numerous strategies. Due to the demands of CCSS, academic discourse is necessary to build background knowledge and allow for students to grasp the content. By utilizing a number of successfully proven strategies, teachers can improve instruction by empowering students to take ownership of their learning and work. We learned a number of school wide protocols and strategies to help students build both conversational and academic language and knowledge, which provide a foundation to build upon for developing writing that leverages conversations, academic language and knowledge.
Impact:
Engaging in the academic discussion strategies was a process that allowed for my students to make linkages among the language, the content and the expectations of the rubric. Additionally, as they continued to discuss with their peers, they were able to grasp the content and make evidence-based selections to support the development of their essays. In order to build background knowledge, we engaged in a variety of discussion-based strategies. Students used these discussions to take notes to write their essays. Therefore, the graphic organizers became an outline for their writing. We leveraged the conversations to extend their written work. The discussion process allowed for students to add more enriched vocabulary and detail into their writing, as well as to develop their characters. Throughout this process, students were also more engaged in lessons, eager to participate and took pride and ownership of their work. As their language developed, students also became more encouraging of one another, supportive of their peers, and expressive with their personalities. Working in a small group and engaging in academic conversations helped students that were new to this country to forge friendships with one another.
Next Steps:
- To incorporate these strategies at the beginning of the year with all students in both co-teaching and small group settings.
- To plan for the “rolling out” of these strategies to facilitate productive group work into all lessons.
- To share strategies with staff to make a school-wide shift in instruction.
- To become more comfortable with relinquishing control to students to do the “heavy cognitive lifting”.
