Writing for Understanding Testimonials
I cannot think of a single moment, but many moments of students expressing relief that they had such confident feelings about writing now that they have a structure to write within. The whole atmosphere around writing has changed in my class, and it is a positive feeling filled with many glorious successes! ... My students are using the language and have such a positive “Can do” attitude about writing. I see a positive effect on their comprehension as well. — Barb Annetts, Morrisville Elementary, Grade 4 |
I realized how engaged my kindergarten students were in writing. We have about a 30-40 minute time slot when we were working on a journal write with a specific focus. I suddenly became aware that all my students were totally engaged, and I could hear them making this humming noise as they sounded out what they wanted to write.
— Kristen King, Mater Christie School, Grade 1
An administrator who was a participant [in this same district graduate course initiative] commented, “Student writing has improved at all grade levels. There is a richness to the writing that wasn’t there before.” — Richard Smiles, Principal Stowe Elementary |
The direct instruction of Writing for Understanding helped them [students] to see that they really could become ‘writers.’ I think that some children were in awe of the students to whom writing came naturally, thinking that they could never write like that. It has been truly empowering, especially to my boys to learn strategies for writing a piece that others consider a ‘good’ piece of writing. A number of the boys have become ‘unstuck’ as writers just in the past month or so.
[Writing for Understanding] really helped me understand that writing is not an isolated subject — one more thing to add into my day — but rather, it is a part of everything the students and I already do — a natural extension of learning other content. …I would definitely recommend building a depth of knowledge (i.e. vocabulary development, readings, visuals, pictures, etc.) before having students attempt at writing to a focus. We assume kids know a lot of things, but that is not always the case. Every child can be a writer if they have the knowledge about a subject to write about. It’s so essential we provide opportunities to develop that knowledge with them to use in their writing. — Rosemarie West, Morrisville Elementary School, Grade 4 |
Testimonials from Courses and Workshops
I can't say enough about the Writing for Understanding! The workshop itself was designed beautifully. The teaching techniques and sequences were skillfully modeled, and the resources we carried away were plentiful and infinitely useful. I have made Writing for Understanding techniques the cornerstone of my classes this fall, and I have been impressed by the positive results from my top honor students to my newest English Language Learner. Thank you! — Julie Morton, Winooski High School, Winooski, Vermont |
As a Writing Network Leader for the last 13 years, I felt that the Writing for Understanding course really pulled together all that I have believed in and knew to be best practice. The instructors are real live teachers who are in the classroom and practice what they preach. It was one of the best, if not the best course I have taken!
— Jennifer Barone, Curriculum Coordinator, Caledonia North Supervisory Union, Lyndonville, VT
This whole school year is a testimonial to the powerful changes that can happen with students thinking and writing as a result of one teacher taking the Writing For Understanding summer course. Never before in my 25 years as an educator, have I sat in a course with a kindergarten teacher on one side of me and an AP English High School teacher on the other side and all three of us felt we were gleaning powerful learning techniques for our students. I started out the second week with the unit I designed in the course and have been building on that foundation ever since. I am using Read Alouds and class field trips as the basis of our writing constructed responses, since they are a common experience and lend themselves naturally to building deep shared content understanding before we write. I keep hearing your words Joey: we want all students when they sit down to write to be able to say, “I get this. I know what to do. I have some ideas. Here I go.” Well it is truly happening in Room 213 at Edmunds Elementary with ELL students, title 1 students and students on IEP’s as well as with high achieving children. This course is really about building students critical thinking skills as much as it is about writing. Already we have written 4 constructed responses in addition to all our writing workshop pieces. I modeled the response for Rikki-tikki-Tavi, carefully laying the foundation for the kind of thinking and language that writers use, then moved on to using the Iron Giant read aloud, giving them the focus statement and having them choose two pieces of evidence from the public notes we collected, to the field trip to Belter Dairy Farm where we came up with the focus statement together and they chose from.....well, you get the idea of the progression (gradual release of responsibility). I am having so much fun with this and it is making me look at Read Alouds and Field Trips as experiences rich for “mining” for writing. I have collected lots of student work as evidence of their growing competence as writers and will share them with parents (and colleagues). I am a firm believer in the “Learning Opportunities” section of the Vt Framework and plan to provide countless, appropriate writing opportunities for students to engage in. Using Read Alouds and Field Trips has ensured student engagement and investment in the process. Thanks Joey, Jane, Eloise, Karen and Diana! — Janet Bellavance, Grade Two Teacher, |