Tammy Miklebost
Overview
Genre
“A form of writing related to a purpose” (Temple, Ogle, Crawford, & Freppon, 2005, p. 321)
Genres Used in Early Education Classrooms
Journals
Stories
Poems
Expository accounts
Persuasive essays
Different genres will challenge students in different ways.
Journals
Students use their journals to write down their personal thoughts about things that have happened to them, what they plan to do, and how they feel.
Writing in journals help students form ideas for other writings.
Different Forms of Journals
Dual entry diary: This is often used when introducing new literature or learning something new in another subject like social studies. The students divide a page down the middle with a vertical line. On the left side, they record phrases that they found important or confusing. On the right side they write comments about passages.
Dialogue Journal: This is a way that student can respond to a learning activity. Students can write about how they feel about what they have just learned or something they have read. The teacher then divides the children into pairs, they share their journals, and then respond to each other in writing.
Classroom Practices
We were writing in our journals every morning, but some of our first graders were having problems coming up with something to write about everyday. So we have changed the way that the students write in their journal. They no longer call it a “journal,” it is now called “The Readers Playground.” The students can write down anything that comes to their head, it doesn’t have to be a complete thought. Later in the week, we will ask the students to look at what they have written and circle what they believe would make a good story.
Stories
It is very helpful to provide students with examples of stories to help them develop the structure of stories. Students can imitate authors to write their own story. They can use a story map; this is like a plan of a story. The teacher provides prompts and the students fill in the blanks.
Dialogue story: Students write these stories in dialogue form. It can also be a story where two students make up an oral story together and they each write their own version of it.
Poems
To teach children about poems, expose them to many different forms of poetry; discuss the structure of a variety of types of poems and what makes them different. Have children work together in pairs or large groups to create poems.
Different forms of Poetry
Acrostic: This is a very simple poem. The students write their name down the left side of the page and insert a word for each letter.
Cinquains: These are evergreen tree shaped poems that encourage students to think about a concept and follow a pattern.
Topic
Two describing words
Three action words ending in “ing”
Feeling word
Synonym for the first line
List poems: This type of poem can be a list describing a person or abstract ideas.
Classroom practices
In my classroom, the students have binders with poems in them. During “center time,” they can choose to read one of their poems and draw a picture about it or make up a poem that might be like it. When the children have read all of the poems in their binder, we always have new poems available.
Expository Writing
This is a form of writing that describes or explains. To help develop ideas for this type of writing, you can use a graphic organizer, some examples include semantic webs, clusters, and Venn diagrams. Cause and effect charts are also helpful; causes are listed in boxes on the left and effects are listed on the right.
Classroom Practices
The students in my classroom are great at writing in this genre. During writing workshop, I read a book to the students where the author describes or explains something without using the actual word, like writing about feeling sad without actually using the word “sad.” I point out the specific words the author is using. I sometimes will ask the students how they feel after I have read the book. I ask them if the author used words that made them feel happy, sad, frustrated, or excited?
Persuasive Essay
This helps students learn to produce arguments and put them into writing.
Family Activities
Name Activity
Share with your child how you named him: Was he named after a relative or was his name chosen from a book? What does the child’s name mean? Then make a poem about your family. Write your last name vertically on the left side of the paper, and then insert a word for each letter.
Story Activity
Give your child a disposable camera and allow her to take pictures of anything she wants. After the pictures are developed, allow the child to either put the pictures in an album or make a book. Then have the child write a story that will go along with the pictures.
Journal Activity
This would be a great activity while on vacation or after a special day. Provide the child with a journal, a piece of paper, or a computer. Ask your child to write about his day. What was your child’s favorite part of the day? What was his least favorite part of the day? With whom did your child spend the day? Was your child with mom and dad, or grandma and grandpa? What was the weather like? How old was the child? Is there anything else he wants to add in the journal?
Resources
Hodson, P., & Jones, D. (2001). Teaching children to write: The process approach to writing for literacy, London: David Fulton.
This book begins by explaining the “process approach.” The book then talks about the different forms of writing like the narrative, poetry, and non-fiction writings.
Moore, J. (2001). How To Write A Story, Grades 1-3, CA: Evan Moor.
We begin by helping the students prepare to write a story. Their stories should have a clear beginning, middle, and an end; and this book focuses on this process. After the students have written their story they are ready to publish and present it.
Morgan, M. (2001). How to teach poetry writing at key stage 2, London: David Fulton.
Each chapter focuses on a poem and has a lesson plan with suggestions about discussions, activities, and independent work. There are also ideas for follow-up activities.
Nagan, C. (2006). Because writing matters: Improving student writing in our schools. CA: John Wiley & Sons.
The book begins with discussing why writing is important and why it matters. There are then strategies available to improve the student’s writing. Writing standards and assessments are also discussed. The book ends by explaining what administrators can do to create effective writing programs.
Overmyer, Mark. (2005). When writing workshop isn’t working: 10 tough questions grades 2-5. ME: Stenhouse.
This is a book that can help you help your students who do not like to write. This book provides information about building your students’ vocabulary and how you can teach students to organize their writing. There is also a section in the book about conferences and how the teacher can improve the way they do them.
Ruurs, M. (2001). The power of poems: Teaching the joy of writing poetry. FL: Maupin House.
This book begins by explaining what poetry is and how we can encourage children to write poetry. The author also provides a list of books that will help you provide a poetry rich environment. There are steps to follow that the children will need before they write their poem. They will need to consider the purpose of their poem and the audience that will be reading it. The author then talks about how easily poetry can be used throughout your daily routine.
http://www.teachers.net
This site offers lists of story or journal starters that can be used when students are having a difficult time trying to think of things to write about. The authors of this site suggest that teachers make copies of these lists and give them to each student. The lists include ideas like writing about yourself, writing about fantasy topics, writing about people, and using your imagination.
http://www.meddybemps.com
This is a website called Chateau Meddybemps. This is a great site for young writers. They offer a fun and silly lists of story starters like, “Moms in the Park.” After you click on that option you come to a page with a colorful, cartoon-like picture with the caption, “It was a beautiful day in the park. The two moms talked about…..” There is even lined paper underneath this picture, so it is ready for the students to begin writing. Parents and teachers can submit stories to this website and the child will receive a free t-shirt. There is information on this website for parents about how they can help their children write stories. There is even a link for a game page.
http://www.poets.org
This is a site where you can find a variety of poems and poets. There are links to poetry books with detailed descriptions. There is a link for articles about poetry, too. There is a link for educators that includes lesson plans that include objectives, questions to ask the students, and writing projects. Tips for teaching poetry and a teacher resource center can also be found at this website. Some of the poems also have a choice of audio with them, and I think that they are read by the author whenever possible.
http://teacher.scholastic.com
This is a great site for students and teachers; it allows students to write with the writers. This site provides instructions to improve student writing skills. There are lesson plans for the specific grade level, with information about books and other materials you may need. This site also provides assessments and standards that the lesson plans may cover.
References
Temple, C., Ogle, D., Crawford, A., & Freppon, P., (2005). All children read: Teaching for literacy in today’s diverse classrooms, MA: Pearson Education.