Rethinking the Writing Procees Wheel Continued

Well. I had the ipad and the computer open at the same time and ended up deleting this post. Now I really have to rethink it. It started out like this:

My friend L*** texted me through Facebook and asked, "How do I make writing a passion for my students?"

Now to find my notes...

Well. Found my notes. Been meaning to get back to this for several months.

Y'all. It's not a wheel. And there are parts of each component that we may have been ignoring. Noting the distinctions between each and how they move in and out of themselves has important implications that will change our instruction.

But I'm still thinking about that greenhouse idea from the last post. I always think about Frosty the Snowman in the Poinsettia greenhouse. Hothouses are supposed to be wonderful places to nurture plants. Unfortunately, I think our classrooms are places like this deleted scene from when Frosty melts:

Our kids are wilting instead of thriving. (They are melting in horrible ways, too, but not sure that fits my greenhouse analogy.) Now, if we get the started right with the seed ideas and seed drafts, that's a start.

But: you can't leave the plants in the greenhouse forever. They'll outgrow their little peat pots and die.

But: before you transfer delicate plants outside, there's usually a hardening process that helps you get the plants ready for being outside.

And: you do this gradually. That way, the little new plants (ideas, drafts) get used to being out in the direct sunlight (where others can see their thoughts and read their stuff), cool nights (when it's hard and when others critique the products), and less frequent watering (less help from the teacher).  And then there's the wind. Since I live in the windiest city in the world, I'm gonna use that to stand in the analogy as standardized assessment. Yeah.

In the Lead4Ward Academy, Gayla Wiggins taught us about Collaborative Drafts. Using a series of what she calls think-writes, students work in small groups to compose a draft together. She recommends doing 2-3 of these to get started.

Now here's the neat part that blew my mind. Let's say you teach a revision skill like Depth Charge. You model it in your writing. Now kids go try to do the same thing in a collaborative draft with their groups. Bing! Now you can check for understanding and share the results. Next, kids are ready to try the strategy in one of their seed drafts. Bang! Now you can see if they can do it by themselves. Finally, kids go into their current compositions for the unit you are in and apply that skill independently. Boom!