Need advice going from WWE to Public School "Writer's Workshop" style

[Jenny in GA]

My always-homeschooled son will be starting third grade at public school tomorrow.

 

Today we were able to visit the school and briefly meet his teacher for the first time. I asked her if I could see the books they were using and have her tell me a little about what they were doing in each subject. Rather reluctantly (after I asked her twice), she brought me into the classroom and showed me the math and science books.

 

I told her that I was particularly concerned about writing, as I wasn't sure if he was where the school would expect him to be (my son is currently at the beginning of WWE and struggles with and balks at that). She explained that they had just finished narrative-writing and that she would expect him to show up when he starts (which is tomorrow!) being able to write a good narrative.

 

I thought to myself, "Okay, so that's not too bad ... he can tell me a good narrative from his SOTW lessons, he just never writes the entire thing himself, so that part will be something new for him."

 

Then the teacher continued, "A full three-paragraph narrative with three, good paragraphs is what I would expect from him right now."

 

Well ... she is probably going to faint when she sees the writing samples from WWE 2 that I left her, because I don't think he's ever written three sentences, let alone three paragraphs!

 

She also said something about how they use Lucy Calkins' Writers Workshop.

 

I am sorry to say that I made a visible face when I heard that.

 

I read some of Calkins' stuff when I was working on my M.Ed, and if I remember correctly, it could not be more different than the WWE approach!

I get the impression -- although I could be totally wrong -- that the Writer's Workshop stuff is all about "write about your feelings, write, write, write, it doesn't matter what, it doesn't how, just write lots and lots" and the kids write pages of garbage (or worse, spend a lot of time doodling and goofing off, since they can't or won't write for an hour every day!)

 

(Anyone know more about it than I do?)

 

Anyway ... other than the fact that I probably totally got off on the wrong foot with my son's new teacher ... I'm wondering if anyone has any advice about how to make this transition.

 

How can a kid go from complaining and struggling with copywork and dictation of a sentence or two to suddenly writing three paragraphs off the top of his head??

 

Any ideas what we can do to make this easier for everyone involved? Thanks!

 

 

 

[Farrar]

Short answer:

He can't go from struggling with copywork to writing three paragraph essays without complaint. Sorry.

 

Longer answer:

I think the number one thing to keep telling yourself over and over and over is, "I took a different path. He's not a failure at writing. It's unfair to judge him by these standards." I say this because you're probably about to hear a lot about how "behind" he is and there are probably about to be some struggles around it - either with him or the teacher or both. You need to keep remembering that it's as unfair to think poorly of his writing as it is to think poorly of a child who only speaks Arabic failing a test written in Chinese. It's not his fault. It's not your fault. There's nothing wrong with your approach (or Arabic) and this other approach (or Chinese) can be perfectly fine too, but it's going to take time to change.

 

As for supporting him... my number one thing would be to try to work on his fluency with getting words on the paper. You can't magically make him learn to write the way they want anyway, but if you maybe try some Brave Writer style free writing (no rules, just write, no correcting anything, doesn't have to share unless he wants to, give him a topic, but let him choose his own if he wants, can write, "I don't want to" - or "i hate thes" or whatever if he wants, just keep the pencil moving, set a timer for just 10-15 mins tops). And the focus is just getting more of his own words on paper. Freeing up the mind to pencil connection, so to speak. He's never had to do that before, so it's a first step to try for a little while.

 

Good luck. I hope it works out for you guys. While I think expecting 8 yos to write three organized perfect paragraphs is absurd, I think the writer's workshop approach can work. And since the WWE classical approach sounds like it wasn't going perfectly, maybe having a change of path could even be good for him.

[EmseB]

I'd be curious what she would make of SWB's lecture on teaching writing.  I don't know if it would help at all, just a thought I had reading your post.

 

I think seeing WWE work out of context makes it look like the kids are doing very little actual (physical?) work from a PS perspective.  I think the teacher may need the context of what the philosophy is, even if she may disagree with it and maybe she could work better from there with your DS?

 

 

[Farrar]

I'd be curious what she would make of SWB's lecture on teaching writing.  I don't know if it would help at all, just a thought I had reading your post.

 

I think seeing WWE work out of context makes it look like the kids are doing very little actual (physical?) work from a PS perspective.  I think the teacher may need the context of what the philosophy is, even if she may disagree with it and maybe she could work better from there with your DS?

 

Having taught and gotten an ed degree, my guess is that she would think it was hopelessly old-fashioned and out of step. The whole classical approach is not taught in most education colleges at all. Most teachers aren't familiar with it. It's not part of their vocabulary or discourse.

[EmseB]

Having taught and gotten an ed degree, my guess is that she would think it was hopelessly old-fashioned and out of step. The whole classical approach is not taught in most education colleges at all. Most teachers aren't familiar with it. It's not part of their vocabulary or discourse.

 

Yeah, I get that, but I think SWB makes a compelling case that most kids getting to college can't write well and does a good job (IMO) correlating it to the idea that most kids are doing the "3 paragraphs in 3rd grade" approach and it's not working.  So that's where I think simply seeing the work kids are doing with WWE might make a PS teacher think that a HS kid is behind in writing (and that the approach is old-fashioned and out of step), but actually hearing or reading the rationale might make some logical sense, or at least spur some kind of thinking on the matter. 

 

I'm not saying that it will make her change her classroom approach to writing or overhaul her curriculum, but it seems like it could smooth over some of the friction with making the transition...so that the teacher knows that there was a well-researched approach taken and it wasn't just like mom was letting the kid skate by when she was only having him write two or three sentences at a time.

[sbgrace]

I don't think it would be a good idea, or good use of time, to share the why of your very different approach.

 

I love The Most Wonderful Writing Lessons Ever book for teaching narratives, but it takes time and they are finished with them anyway. 

Essentials in Writing, just the writing part, might be a good thing--though that would take time too--maybe over the summer for the next year.

 

I love the analogy of Chinese and Arabic above. Maybe something like that will help him if he feels frustrated/discouraged. I think it's going to be an adjustment. Maybe it's a good thing they are moving on to expository or whatever else.

 

[kiwik]

I would be surprised if most of the kids at the beginning of third grade are writing 3 GOOD paragraphs. I guess though he is going in half way (forgot other side of the world issues).

 

There is not much you can do right now. Explain to him what is happening and ask him to think about what is hardest. You could look at after schooling using something like Write On or EiW.

 

Oh and if you haven't before show him how to use a graphic organizer. I quite like the 4square method ones but you could print a selection for him to look at.

[GrammarGirl]

Having been a writing teacher for quite a while, I am skeptical that the average ps third grader really does write "good" paragraphs. I suspect the teacher described the ideal not the reality.

 

Encourage your son to do his best, but do not stress over grades or overwork him to "catch up." He may stumble a bit, but he will make progress. If the teacher tells you he's behind, I'd just smile, nod, thank her for the input. . . and then come here to vent!

[AnIslandGirl]

Here is a sample of what Writer's Workshop might look like in some third grade classrooms. http://www.teachersfirst.com/lessons/writers/writer-3.cfm

It all depends on how each individual teacher implements it though.

Best wishes for a smooth transition.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Having been a writing teacher for quite a while, I am skeptical that the average ps third grader really does write "good" paragraphs. I suspect the teacher described the ideal not the reality.

 

Encourage your son to do his best, but do not stress over grades or overwork him to "catch up." He may stumble a bit, but he will make progress. If the teacher tells you he's behind, I'd just smile, nod, thank her for the input. . . and then come here to vent!

 

I agree.  I've seen some of this "good" writing.  I'm fairly confident my 9 year old could produce something that "good" as well.

 

I think the hardest transition will just be the amount of writing and not the concept of writing.  I bet he'll get used to it in no time though. 

[kiwik]

Here is a sample of what Writer's Workshop might look like in some third grade classrooms. http://www.teachersfirst.com/lessons/writers/writer-3.cfm

It all depends on how each individual teacher implements it though.

Best wishes for a smooth transition.

If I had to share what I wrote with my classmates it would really inhibit self expression. Writing was so easy when I was a kid- teacher gave you the topic, you wrote, teacher corrected, you did a good copy.