Pressure to do Lucy Calkins

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4 Blocks Chatboard

Pressure to do Lucy Calkins

by Marcella

Mar 30, 2008

/blockquote>

This year my district ordered the writing kits for all of us
to begin to do Lucy Calkins units of writing. I on the
other hand am a 4 blocks die hard :). Is there a way to
combine the two and still make the writing block effective?

Comment

(5)

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JJ /blockquote>

Our school looked at the Lucy Calkins Units of Study. They are very good... but
we decided not to do them because it is a whole class focus on a unit, and then
you move on and do another unit. Narratives, poetry, fiction, informational, etc.
They are very good though. I would think you could use those AS your wr...See More

Mar 30, 2008

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brad /blockquote>

On 3/30/08, Marcella wrote:
> This year my district ordered the writing kits for all of
us
> to begin to do Lucy Calkins units of writing. I on the
> other hand am a 4 blocks die hard :). Is there a way to
> combine the two and still make the writing block effective?

I see nothing in Ca...See More

Apr 5, 2008

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Chris /blockquote>

On 4/05/08, brad wrote:
> On 3/30/08, Marcella wrote:
>> This year my district ordered the writing kits for all of
> us
>> to begin to do Lucy Calkins units of writing. I on the
>> other hand am a 4 blocks die hard :). Is there a way to
>> combine the two and still make the...See More

Apr 29, 2008

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Denise On 4/05/08, brad wrote: > On 3/30/08, Marcella wrote: >> This year my district ordered the writing kits for all of > us >> to begin to do Lucy Calkins units of writing. I on the >> other hand am a 4 blocks die hard :). Is there a way to >> combine the two and still make the writing block effective? > > > I see...See More

Sep 14, 2008

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Jessica I was in charge of our curriculum adoption team last year and opted NOT to jump on the Calkins bandwagon because it felt too prescribed to me. We are staying with 4 Blocks, as the kids have great success with it and can write about their passions and interests!!! We do have one copy of the units for reference, but we also have all of Calkins books ...See MoreI was in charge of our curriculum adoption team last year and opted NOT to jump on the Calkins bandwagon because it felt too prescribed to me. We are staying with 4 Blocks, as the kids have great success with it and can write about their passions and interests!!! We do have one copy of the units for reference, but we also have all of Calkins books in the educator's reference section of the library.

On 9/14/08, Denise wrote: > On 4/05/08, brad wrote: >> On 3/30/08, Marcella wrote: >>> This year my district ordered the writing kits for all of >> us >>> to begin to do Lucy Calkins units of writing. I on the >>> other hand am a 4 blocks die hard :). Is there a way to >>> combine the two and still make the writing block effective? >> >> >> I see nothing in Calkins Units of Study that is >> philosophically opposing the Four Blocks idea of a Writing >> Block. If you look at The Teacher's Guide to the Four >> Blocks, Cunningham and Hall suggest the use of some of this >> block be devoted to focused instruction in a particular >> genre. This type of focused instruction has also been >> lauded by Jim Cunningham in several presentations at Four >> Blocks conferences. >> >> brad > > While Calkins Units of study may not be "philosophically > opposing the Four Blocks idea of a Writing >> Block", Calkins's program is quite 'perscriptive' in its > design. I have been successfully utilizing 4Blocks for about 5 > yrs. now and am very happy with the results in all of the > blocks...We too have been 'mandated' to use Calkins Units of > Study in our Dist....this frustrated me...But, I feel a teacher > can successfully teach with tools that 'fit him/her' like > a 'glove'. I don't feel a professional should ever 'subscribe' > to one specific program. We should be constantly > researching, 'fine tuning' and melting theories along with our > own professional experiences. I've chosen to make use of the > best of both programs (they have many similarities)to help my > students become better communicators this year. In fact > Caulkins sites 4Blocks in her lists of resources and vice > versa...

Sep 14, 2008

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