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Data & Results

Anchor 1

Reflection

Anchor 2

Literature Review

Writing is a critical emergent literacy skill that lays the foundation for children’s later literacy and reading achievement. Furthermore, Graham and Perin argue that, “Writing well is not just an option for young people--it is a necessity. Along with reading comprehension, writing skill is a predictor of academic success and a basic requirement for participation in civic life and in the global economy” (as cited in Culham, 2014, p. 10). So, how do teachers ensure that students are prepared to be lifelong writers? Many teachers face the challenge of finding effective writing models and strategies to implement that support varying abilities of learners. With the use of Writer’s Workshop teachers can scaffold and individualize instruction. The Writer’s Workshop model suggests focusing on how and why authors write, rather than editing and revising a finished writing product. When concentrating on the process of writing, teachers guide students in becoming reflective learners, developing independence, and gaining critical thinking skills regarding writing (Snyders, 2014). While there are four elements that create a continuum of support in Writer’s Workshop (mini lesson, independent writing, conferencing, and author’s chair), I will be focusing on the effectiveness of conferencing in order to support students in their writing.

References

Anderson, C. (2009). Strategic writing conferences: smart conversations that

move young writers forward: grades 3-6. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Culham, R. (2014). The writing thief: using mentor texts to teach the craft of

writing. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Gair, M. (2015). Slaying the writing monsters: Scaffolding reluctant writers

through a writing workshop approach. International Journal Of Teaching &

Learning In Higher Education, 27(3), 443-456.

Gerde, H. K., Bingham, G. E., & Wasik, B. A. (2012). Writing in early childhood

classrooms: Guidance for best practices. Early Childhood Education

Journal,40(6), 351-359. doi:10.1007/s10643-012-0531-z

Kempf, A. (2013). Conferring with kindergarten writers: They’re more than just

illustrators. Illinois Reading Council Journal, 41(3), 22-29.

Ray, K. W., & Laminack, L. L. (2001). The writing workshop: working through the

hard parts (and they're all hard parts). Urbana, IL: National Council of

Teachers of English.

Snyders, C. c. (2014). ‘I wish we could make books all day!’ an observational

study of kindergarten children during writing workshop. Early Childhood

Education Journal, 42(6), 405-414. doi: 10.1007/s10643-013-0625-2

"I couldn't read my words before because I didn't use finger spaces and now I do"

"I noticed I didn't put an uppercase letter after my periods. Can that be my next writing goal?"

"I use periods, exclamation marks, and question marks now."

What Did The Road To Get Here Look Like?

Through implementing writing conferences, I was able to watch my students grow as writers right before my eyes. From week to week and month to month I was able to see my students reach their writing goals and push themselves as writers. However, writing conferences did not play out how I had originally pictured them in my mind.

My initial plan was to meet with four to five students every day. I quickly realized that I needed to focus less on the quantity of conferences and more on the quality of each conference. Whenever I met with students who were struggling with writing, I found myself spending almost all of the conference time guiding them in their writing. I knew my students needed this extra support, but I didn’t want to spend all of our conferencing time doing that.

So, I used my CADRE associate to support those students during their independent writing. She came into my classroom as least two or three days a week during writing time and rotated between those students. She supported them in sounding out words, coming up with writing ideas, using punctuation correctly, using a variety of sentences, etc. With her help, I was able to then spend time conferencing with those students about their writing, rather than helping them with their writing.

Another piece that played out differently than I had imagined was our writing goals. My plan was to communicate the writing goal with each student at the end of each conference and have him or her restate the goal back to me. Then, next time we met, I would ask him or her to state what his or her goal was. After cycling through my students, I realized that 10 out of 22 did not remember what his or her writing goal was. I knew I needed to implement something to help my students remember their writing goal. So, I created a visual. I analyzed the writing goals that were occurring most often in our writing conferences. Then, I made six different writing goal posters with I can statements “I can…”, “put spaces between my words”, “use word wall words”, “use my best handwriting”, “add details to my pictures and sentences”, “use correct punctuation”, “different goal.”

Each student got a sticky note with his or her name on it. They placed their sticky note on their writing goal. If a student’s writing goal changed, he or she would go move his or her sticky note to the new goal. After implementing this visual, 19 out of 22 students remembered his or her writing goal.

Now What?

Thinking about next year, I want to implement writing conferences right at the start of the year. It not only helped my students become stronger writers, but it also helped them become reflective learners. Numerous times, I had students create his or her own writing goal or determine what he or she was doing well and what he or she wanted to improve upon. This also showed me that they were beginning to take ownership of their learning.

I believe the writing conferences also helped my students become confident in their writing, specifically in using writing portfolios. Students were able to physically see the growth of their writing from month to month. They were able to celebrate success with their peers as we shared our portfolios with each other. Lastly, through this experience I have learned that conferences are a time for me to either reteach or enrich the whole group mini lessons that I have taught. The progression of Kindergarten writing is truly an individual process.

Writing conferences allowed me to meet those individual needs to ensure student success. I know that this is important and powerful as it aligns with number one of the five core propositions, "Teachers are committed to students and their learning." Likewise, this individualized instruction correlates with the Nebraska Teacher Performance Framework, specifically planning and preparation in which, "the teacher integrates knowledge of content, pedagogy, students, and standards with established curriculum to set high expectations and develop rigorous instruction for each student that supports the growth of student learning, development, and achievement." By meeting with individual students I know that I am meeting each child's needs and helping them be the most successful writer that he or she can be. Additionally, writing conferences allowed my students to develop critical thinking skills, which is an important 21st Century Skill. By analyzing and evaluating their own writing, my students climbed the ladder in order to reach higher order thinking. This is an important skill that will grow and develop as they progress as writers and learners.

Advanced (4):

Stays on topic and writes multiple and complex sentences
Uses purposeful ordering of sentences in a beginning, middle, and end format

Proficient (3):

Writes complete thoughts using three or more simple sentences on the same topic
Uses purposeful ordering of sentences most of the time

Progressing (2):

Writes at least one sentence or thought to convey a message

Advanced (1):

Writing does not convey a message

Three forms of data were collected and analyzed in order to drive my instruction.

The first data collection was writing samples (can be seen in gallery on the right). They were taken from students in January, February, and April. Each piece was scored and recorded using my district's rubric (see below). After scoring each piece, I determined which students needed extra support to advance to at least proficient. I used my CADRE associate to meet with those students during independent writing time. She supported these students based on his or her individual needs. Some students needed support sounding out words, while other students needed guidance planning and organizing his or her writing.

The second was anecdotal notes (can be seen in gallery on the right). Each student had his or her own conferencing paper in a binder in which I kept various notes regarding his or her needs as a writer. I also noted a positive component of each student's writing when we met, as well as a writing goal for each student. I used these notes in order to determine where my class needed the most support as a whole. After I met with each student twice for a writing conference, I determined how many of them remembered his or her writing goal and what that writing goal was. After noticing that 10 out of 22 students did not remember his or her writing goal, I made a visual of the various writing goals I noted. Each student had a sticky note with his or her name on it. He or she would place the sticky note on the goal that had been determined by myself and the student. After implementing the visual, I found that 19 out of 22 students remembered his or her writing goal.

The third was writing portfolios. After being scored, the samples that were taken from each month were placed into a portfolio. This allowed me to look at the data from month to month. I put it into a spread sheet and determined which students were making growth and which students were not. I again used my CADRE associate as a resource. She met with students that did not show grow from January to February. Again, each student had different needs to be met during those times. I also used portfolios to determine common themes from month to month. For example, I noticed a handful of students were consistently spelling sight words incorrect from month to month. So, I incorporated writing into guided reading groups. This allowed us to practice spelling sight words correctly, which was then translated into writer's workshop. Lastly, although it was not planned originally, I decided to have my students reflect on their own growth using their writing portfolios. Each student spent 10 minutes individually looking at his or her writing portfolio. I asked each student to find something positive in his or her work as well as something he or she could get better at. Then, I had students share with a partner. It was powerful to see my students becoming reflective learners.

All of these points of data were carefully meshed together and analyzed. They were used in order to drive my instruction and meet individual students' needs. In the end, I saw outstanding growth from my students. The graph below shows the whole group growth from month to month.