Organizing the Chaos: Designing a Genre StudyPresented by:Cerise Josephs, Fort Pitt ALAJulie Mares, Northview ALADanila Woolley, Murray ALA

Let’s Get StartedPlease read the article for the next

10-15 minutes.Underline any salient points to

discuss in your group.Then, participants should share

discussion points.

HOW DO I START PLANNING?Cold-writeProfile sheetMini-lesson log

WHAT IS A COLD WRITE?The cold write is an assessment given

before beginning a genre study.Students are assigned a writing

prompt before any lessons have been taught.

The results of the cold write will give the teacher the data necessary to develop whole group mini-lessons, small-group conferences, and individual conferences.

HOW DO I USE THE PROFILE SHEET?After the cold write is administered,

the results are analyzed to plan lessons.

The class profile sheet is designed using the description of a ‘3’ or a ‘4’ from the Macmillan rubric.

This means that in order to give a child a plus on the class profile sheet, they must be at a ‘4’ level.

A CLASS PROFILE SHEETPERSUASIVE Ideas & Content

Presents a clear opinion that is convincingly supported;

interesting facts and examples

included

OrganizationOpens with a clearly articulated opinion; presents reasons in a logical order; uses effective transitions

VoiceDemonstrates a strong sense of audience and

purpose; conveys an interest in the

issue

Word ChoiceUses opinion words

to advance the argument;

vocabulary clarifies the message

Sentence Fluency

Crafts sentences that flow

naturally; original use of repetition may strengthen the persuasive

position

ConventionsIs skilled in most

writing conventions;

editing is largely unnecessary

PresentationText is easy to read; whether handwritten or

word-processed; formatting

enhances the message

STUDENTS+ - + - + - + - + - + - + -

1 Steph- + - + - + +

2 Max + + - + + + +

3 Kate- - - - - - +

4 Hope- + - + - + +

5 Nick- + - + - + +

6 Steve- - - - - - +

7 Dan- + - + - + +

8 Chelsea+ + - + - + +

9 Tony- - - - - - +

10 Anna- + - - - + +

TOTAL 2 8 7 3 0 10 6 4 1 9 7 3 10 0

KEEPING TRACK—MINI-LESSON LOG

CREATING THE IDEAL MINI-LESSON(LUCY CALKINS SERIES, KATHY COLLINS—GROWING READERS)

TYPES OF MINI-LESSONS

Procedural—focus at the beginning of the year

Craft—focus of the genre; what makes a great piece

Skill—mechanics of writing

FOCUS—Craft lessons When is a good time to hit skill lessons?

BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE MINI-LESSON

Metaphor Put a concrete picture in their mind

Link To yesterday’s topic, general idea, final product

State teaching point Pick one brief phrase and repeat several times

through the mini-lesson Active Engagement

Apply the teaching point to your work Link to ongoing work

Apply the teaching point to their work

METAPHOR

Profile sheet—audience Start mini-lesson with a metaphor

DJ for middle school dance—what type of music did he play? Jazz? Classic rock? Country? Classical music? R&B? Radio hits?

Before he comes to school he finds out who his audience is and what they care about.

LINK

“In conferencing, I have seen that you guys are carefully choosing topics that you care about. You have also chosen the right people that can help you solve those problems. I have noticed that you guys have given some reasons why the problem should be fixed.”

TEACHING POINT

“Today, we are going to focus on who we are writing to, and what they care about. Just like the DJ would only play music that his audience likes, we are only going to give reasons that our audience would care about.”

Repeat this teaching point after the active engagement and again when you link the work to their independent work for the day.

ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT “I’ve been writing my letter to the director of

transportation. I am asking him to move the bus pick-up to the other side of the building.”

Reasons I don’t like walking all the way to the bus. We miss learning time to get ready to walk to the busses. Cars drive fast on Mountain Street and could hurt a child. You could get sued if a child gets injured. It’s miserable when it rains.

Which reasons will he care about? “Remember, we want to include reasons that our

audience will care about. If they don’t care about the reason, then we probably shouldn’t include it.”

LINK TO ON-GOING WORK

“Today when you are writing your letters or meeting with your response partners, I want you to really think about who you are writing to. Think about what that person cares about. Include reasons in your letter that your audience will care about. Ask your partner for ideas, if you need any help.”

“We are going to add this strategy to our poster: Strategies for Writing a Persuasive Letter.”

Write– Know my audience and what they care about.

TIPS FOR GREAT MINI-LESSONS

Keep it short—10 minutes Limit student talking Keep connections brief Use texts that are familiar Repeat the teaching point several times Demonstrate the teaching point in your work

or in touchstone text

MAPPING BACKWARDS: LOOKING AT HOW TO VISUALIZE THE PUBLISHED

PIECE

Student work samplesTouchstone textStudent artifacts

GREAT RESOURCES FOR WRITER’S WORKSHOP

6+1 Traits of Writing, Primary and Intermediate Culham

Writing Workshop Fletcher Guiding Readers and Writers Fountas & Pinnell Writing Like Writers Johnson & Westkott The Writing Workshop Katie Wood Ray About the Authors Katie Wood Ray What You Know by Heart Katie Wood Ray Writing to the Prompt Angelillo Craft Lessons K-8, Fiction and Nonfiction Fletcher &

Portalupi Lucy Calkins Growing Readers Kathy Collins

Directions for Analyzing the Sample Class Profile Sheet This is a sample fourth grade class profile

sheet for the personal narrative genre. On the template provided, determine the

areas of the rubric that need to be addressed whole-group.

Next, identify the areas that need to be addressed in small-group conferences.

Last, identify individual students who need help in a specific area.

If time permits, consider trying to create a mini-lesson using the suggested framework. Consider how you would develop your artifact.