Málfríður - 15.03.2011, Qupperneq 13

great for composing definitions. Venn diagrams are
great for composing comparison-contrast essays.
Silent conversations. This technique involves having
students write briefly about a question or discussion
topic. They then exchange these responses with a part-
ner who “uptakes” or adds to their response, or asks a
new question. These can be passed around a group or
back and forth. After several exchanges, students are
very eager to talk and have a lot to say (See Wilhelm,
2007).
Think alouds/process analyses. Students can com-
pose “think alouds” detailing what they are thinking,
feeling, noticing and doing as they read or compose a
particular text. These can be written more formally as
process-analyses of how to complete a particular kind
of task (see Wilhelm, 2001).
In-role monologues, dialogues or scripts. Students
have great fun composing “in role” as a literary charac-
ter, native English speaker, expert, historical figure and
the like. These compositions can be monologues, dia-
ries, speeches, or dialogues, exchanges or scripts. These
can be spontaneous oral compositions or more planned.
Students have great fun performing such work.
Ongoing projects for dialogue and synthesis
Journals and learning logs. These techniques simply ask
students to explore or process course content in vari-
ous ways. Students can respond to specific prompts,
practice explaining problem-solving processes, sum-
marize what they understand and ask questions about
what they don’t, or simply write whatever they want.
Double entry journals. In this kind of journal, stu-
dents record insights or important quotes from a class
or reading on the left side of a page, and then go back
to process those insights on the right side by explain-
ing significance, making connections to the world or
inquiry question or their own life, etc. Likewise, jour-
nals can be exchanged and a peer can be asked to proc-
ess the data recorded by their classmate.
Wikis or scrapbooks. BSWP fellow Rachel Bear
makes great use of wikis in her classroom. This becomes
a kind of classroom scrapbook of insights. Rachel
requires that students post certain contributions, and
then respond to others’ contributions. In a recent unit
on the essential question: “What work does humor
do?” students were asked to post a YouTube video,
cartoon, joke or something else they found funny (the
only rule was that it wouldn’t offend the principal or
parents). Students were then asked to respond to three
other contributions and rate the funniness of each and
what “work” each kind of funny might achieve. This
led to a class activity that ranked the top funniest con-
tributions and that lead to the theorizing of different
kinds of funny (satire, slapstick, pastiche, misdirection,
etc.) and the uses of each. This kind of wiki constitutes
a kind of class scrapbook. For teachers without access
Frontloading.
Frontloading is the activation of what students already
know and care about so that these resources can be
used to bridge to new learning. Frontloading also
allows the teacher to know what students already
know and therefore pitch instructional activity at the
proper level.
Brainstorming and webbing. We often start units by
simply asking students to brainstorm what they know
about a topic. This kind of listing is a simple form of
composing. Likewise, students can create webs that
show the relationships between these brainstormed
ideas.
Autobiographical writing. BSWP fellow Sarah Veigel
has students write autobiographically about the topic
to be studied. For example, before reading Romeo and
Juliet, students are asked to respond to the prompt:
Write about a relationship you know about that seems
very happy and healthy. Write about what you think
contributes to the happiness and healthiness of this
relationship.
Surveys and anecdote writing. Sarah also has stu-
dents complete surveys about relationships with state-
ments such as: Teenagers cannot experience true love;
The hottest fires burn out fastest; You can’t change a
person’s habits by loving them, etc. She then has them
choose the statements they disagree and agree with the
strongest and write about why, thus introducing the
students to simple arguments.
Formative assessments
Formative assessments are simply a way to make stu-
dent thinking visible so that we as teachers can learn
from this how to teach students better.
Entrance and exit tickets. BSWP fellow Peggy Jo
Wilhelm uses entrance tickets at the beginning of class
for students to write briefly about what they learned
earlier in the unit that they want to remember, bring
to bear on a current problem or activity, or use in a
formal writing assignment. Likewise, at the end of a
lesson, she asks them to write out what is most impor-
tant to remember from that class, or any questions or
wonderings they might have. These tickets are easy to
flip through right after class and gives her an immedi-
ate sense of what students understand and need help
with.
Muddy/Marvy. Peggy likewise has students use
post-it notes write a “muddy” comment – something
that is unclear to them- and a marvy comment – an
insight from class that excites them – and has students
post these on charts as they leave the classroom.
Graphic organizers. Graphic organizers are a great
way to generate content for writing as well as a way
to organize or form that content. Frayer charts with
sections for examples, non-examples and test cases are
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