I love your observations. Fletcher does the same thing as Atwell; I
thought he was just giving the lessons 'cute' names for my
benefit--until I finally realized that these titles help the kids
remember the skill. Some are simple (Opening with a Scene) but
others grab the kids attention with new vocab (Authority List).
They do seem to hold onto them better when named.

I laughed heartily when you wrote, "The more I read about
teaching writing, the more aware I become of the limitations of
my own knowledge base of writing as a craft! So much to
learn . . . so little time . . . . )" This is a big problem for me,
too. More knowledge makes me less sure of my ability. However,
trying it has really improved my writing and, as we teach the kids,
practice--the more I write, the better I get. I notice now that I
occasionally feel the need to write after a minilesson. Of course,
I can't because I'm conferring, but the last week of school I did
the lesson about adding a brand name--and I told the kids I was
canceling conferences for a day so I could write my 'brand name'
story. (It was about the time I was 4 and frustrated because my
mother and grandmother always spelled so I wouldn't understand their
conversations. They were making pickles--which fascinated my
students--and I looked up at the open cupboard, stomped my foot, and
declared, "I know how to spell 'rice!'" They smiled kindly and
asked me to demonstrate. I looked back at that cupboard, saw the
orange box, and, in my best 'so-there' voice, said, "M-J-B.")

Finally, I have to comment one more time on your observation that is
a point of wonder for me: how the 'good' writer's advice fits
together/overlaps/reinforces. Maybe it's been this way all along
and I'm finally learning enough about writing to GET IT. Could it be?

Judy

On 7/04/08, RD wrote:
> I could not help but make connections to Atwell and to Ray as I
> read this chapter. I, too, love what Hale says about teaching
> voice. She talks about the fact that while you can’t teach
> voice directly, you can provide specific techniques that will
> help students develop voice in their writing. She says
> that ‘voice’ may be the result of “several years of independent
> reading and taking in the different rhythms texts can offer”.
> Ray also makes this reading/writing connection when she suggests
> that we ask our students, “What have you read that is like what
> you’re trying to write?” I think it is the more than the
> structure of a piece that Ray is pointing at with this question;
> it is also ‘voice’.
>
> I think Atwell provides this type of specific skill or technique
> in ‘Lessons that Change Writers’. For example, in one of her
> lessons on free verse poetry, she asks students to ‘begin
> inside’ – to be IN the setting and the action of the poem in the
> lead in order to draw the reader into a particular time and
> place. And, in another lesson, she invites students to become
> aware of ‘the power of I’ – give the reader someone to identify
> with, somewhere to be in the poem, something to experience
> vicariously by using the first person perspective. These very
> specific skills are transferable to all kinds of writing, and
> practicing them, playing with them in free verse poetry, allowed
> my students to really see how they could contribute to and
> change the feel of a piece of writing. Judy, this type of
> lesson reminds me so much what Hale is describing when she
> says "show students one particular way to write at a time so
> that each one is small enough to hold in their hands and own."
>
> Dc, I do like the idea of ‘charting’ the craft skills taught –
> like an anchor chart of possibilities. Atwell ingeniously uses
> the titles of her lessons to ‘name’ the skills (e.g., ‘The Power
> of I’) and this works when the concepts are more general,
> like ‘using first person’. I can see that the type of chart
> that would emerge from Hale’s ‘Crafting Writers’ might be more
> detailed (like the tables in the book).
>
> Knowing how much these ‘craft lessons’ helped my students, I am
> very excited about the prospects of learning more in the coming
> chapters. Hale is so right! There are lots of proflit books
> that teach us how to teach ‘genre’ in terms of the overall
> structure of a piece, but there are few that actually get into
> specific craft. Again, this fits so perfectly with what Ray
> says when she points out the difference between ‘mode’
> and ‘genre’ and when she talks about using as many words as
> needed to describe ‘exactly’ the type of writing you are aiming
> at producing. The more ‘specific’ we get in our definition of
> the ‘genre/type’, the more we are really talking about craft, I
> think.
>
> How wonderful it must feel to be able to confer with a student
> and KNOW what specific skill they need to consider! Like Terry
> said, I feel like I’ve been teaching the ‘writing’ rather than
> the ‘writer’, even in my one-to-one conferences. And, even
> though my ‘Atwell’ lessons have been a boon for my students, my
> own repertoire of craft skills is limited.
>
> I love what Hale says about ‘asking questions’ during
> conferences, and how it is not enough to just ‘help the writing’
> by asking questions that lead to more specific details. You
> want, instead, to leave the writer with some specific skills
> that can be used in future writing endeavours. (Of course in
> order to do that you need to have identified the skill and
> understand why and when it is useful. The more I read about
> teaching writing, the more aware I become of the limitations of
> my own knowledge base of writing as a craft! So much to
> learn . . . so little time . . . . )
>
>
>
> On 7/03/08, Terry (again after reread) wrote:
>> Chapter 2....
>> I went back and reread today, taking notes, and reflecting.
>>
>> I again really like the reference to swimming lessons, we
>> can't just show the whole, we need to break it into parts.
>> When I first started at my school, the prof. dev. (if you
>> can call it that) was all about looking at things at a
>> whole. Our state test is scored in that way, so many
>> teachers are geared that way, and we must assess this way.
>> But, we do not need to teach this way! But that is the rut
>> many get in.
>> I love how it was said, we can't have an expectation,
>> without guidance on how to get there.
>> The discussion on voice was interesting, the fact that we
>> need to teach them steps to reach voice. This is true, and
>> it also true that it takes time. The students need to
>> be "exposed, learning and experimenting" and it takes years
>> of this.
>> I have been fooled by the thinking when they do it in the
>> lesson, they must be getting it, so why aren't they applying
>> it? It is because I am still teaching the writing, not the
>> writer, though I have stood by that quote, I still don't
>> think I am there. I am not teaching them the small skills
>> that they can "use tomorrow and the next day". I am teaching
>> in the moment.
>> I am still not quite getting the craft skill, and specific
>> craft and umbrella thing yet. I think I need to read more. I
>> understand the examples, but I am still trying to see what
>> it looks like in instruction. What will be the organization
>> of my instruction of specific craft look like? I love the
>> idea of giving them techniques to choose from...but not sure
>> how to get them to apply it just yet. I do believe my
>> questions will be answered...and I am glad I am hungry for
>> them!
>> I can see where Study Driven will fit in with the noticing
>> and gathering of specific craft...so it is coming on the
>> plane with me RD...I don't think we need to wait. That book
>> is a slower read for me.
>> Okay, I think that covers most of my thoughts,
>> Terry
>> PS Oh yeah, one more question for all of you: What do you do
>> to increase volume in your student writing?

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