Time Has Come
The students in my 8th grade writing classes have been using the hall outside my classroom as a place to share their work. The hall is fortuitously located between the Gym, Music, and Art rooms—places the students gather before, during, and after school—so they are insured of a large audience. It has come to be referred to as “The Wall.” They create, design, organize, and select the work to be displayed. What I learn watching the students create and read The Wall gives me an understanding of the ways I can bring Genre Practice theory into my writing classroom. A huge cut-out of a red dragon breathing fire that spells out “The Wall” beckons the kids over. They cluster together in threes and fours, absorbed by movie, music, and game reviews, silly ads and comics, lists of fashion dos and don’ts, time-lines, recipes, obituaries, sketches, photographs, brochures (a favorite), resumes, poems, bits of dialogue, vignettes, AIM chats... Passers by stop to read about the endless array of the topics most pertinent to their own lives: relationships, video games, fashion, movies, books, technology, music, celebrities. Without any prompting or direction, they are drawn into the very type of reading conversations we try to create in our reading curriculum. What fuels them at The Wall is the talk, and it is what has made the greatest difference in the changes I see in the progress of my students’ writing work. At The Wall, they read, laugh, point, talk, and argue. They are free to talk, as much as they want, as loudly as they want, until they are beckoned to their next class. They talk.
|
EVENTSAMERICAN EDUCATION RESEARCH ASSOCIATION Unison Reading: Engaging, Effective, Heterogeneous Small-Group Reading Instruction, K-8 INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION Genre Practice: A 'Principled' Pedagogy for Adolescent Literacy Genre Practice: A Pedagogy fo Student Responsibility for Literacy Learning Unison Reading: Engaging, Effective Small-group Reading Instruction, K-8 Genre Practice: A Pedagogy for Literacy that Supports Avoidant and Low Achieving Students Research Poster Session by Cynthia McCallister, Kim Greene & Kerry Decker NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH Supporting English Language Learners with Genre Practice Engaging Reluctant Learners through Genre Practice: Literacy Instruction that Supports Engagement and Achievement Genre Practice: A Model for Accountability for Literacy Learning Radical Freedom and Genre Practice: How Children Still Learn What's Expected When They're in Control of Reading Workshop Feelings, Emotions, and Genre Practice: Restoring Joyfulness into Standards-Based Literacy Education
59th NATIONAL READING CONFERENCE Acquiring English Literacy through "Genre Practice": Accounts of K-8 English Language Learners
RECOMMENDED READING
"The Cambridge Handbook of Literacy, by David R. Olson and Nancy Torrance, is a comprehensive and descriptive survey of literacy across a full range of social and psychological functions. The authors' treatment of the topic of literacy extends far beyond the narrow concerns of learning to reading and write, offering a constellation of insights that hold promise to guide the reconceptualization of literacy instruction." Cynthia McCallister, Ed.D. FRIENDS OF GENRE PRACTICE Jenny Brown, has a great web site devoted to childrens' books. It's called Amy Simone Piller is a poet, teacher and blogger.
|
If These Walls Could Talk
What's interesting is that your wall defies just about every conventional piece of wisdom about bulletin boards. Bulletin boards, we were taught, are to have colorful borders and reflect symmetry and order . They are to display student work, eerily similar products of the same prompt or project. Bulletin boards are supposed to be neat and tidy and contain no spelling errors. Bulletin boards are to be changed before the 1st of every month.
If your wall could talk, it would speak volumes about the daily literary lives of your students. It would talk about the power of the pen and speak to the power of the Genre Practice program.
Every school should have "The
Every school should have "The Wall!" What an incredible way to incorporate all the aspects of literacy into a fun activity that I'm sure does not feel like "work" to the students. They are learning and they don't even realize it. How is The Wall incorporated into your writing classroom, other than the opportunity given to writers to post their work to The Wall? Is there a space in the classroom for discussions to take place that might normally take place unsupervised in the hall? Perhaps a teacher-facilitated discussion could take these conversations to a new level? I'd be interested to see how far this could be taken. It would also be great to see each grade in the school construct walls of their own! The more students can talk about issues that interest them, the better!
The Great Wall
From reading about “The Wall”, I have a descriptive image in my head of this amazing bulletin board with children gathered around it, having in depth conversations about writing. I think this is an amazing idea, and has so many benefits for the students. Without directly stating it, you are providing the students with an audience and a purpose for writing, which is so important. Students are motivated to write and have their work displayed on “The Wall”. Do you monitor or check over work before it is placed on the wall? The only issue I would be concerned about is having students put up work with multiple spelling errors, or inappropriate topics. I agree with Paul when he says that every school should have “The Wall”.
The Wall
I think that the idea of having "The Wall" is a fantastic idea. I am impressed that this space is solely dedicated for students' contribution and writing. This is essential because it gives them a sense of ownership and meaning. In addition, it is important that students have the freedom to bring material that is relevant to their lives, spurring conversation and interaction that is interesting to them. I am curious, if there has been any material that has been deemed as controversial or inappropriate and how it was dealt.
Audience
One thing I appreciate about Genre Practice is the attention to the writer's needs. In traditional classrooms, students rarely have a meaningful audience to present their work to. "The Wall" has not only become an appropriate place to display the student's work, it has also become a source of pride among the students. The students in the 8th grade class seem to see "The Wall" as an important entity within the school. The other students in the school look to "The Wall" for inspiration. I love the idea of "The Wall". Thank you for sharing!
writing for a real purpose
Your story of The Wall is inspiring because it shows the success of the Genre Practice curriculum beyond the walls of a single classroom. In my limited experience with Genre Practice, I have read about how individual classrooms are communities of sharing and learning. Your story really shows how the entire school community connects and motivates students to write for a specific audience and purpose. This idea is so refreshing to me because in my own experience I rarely see students take the time to stop and read the work on bulletin boards. Your students not only stop to read, but then discuss what they have read. What an organic way to have reading discussions! Are other classrooms using The Wall as you are? It seems to be successful and could easily translate to other classrooms. Would it work as well in elementary schools where students are not allowed to mingle in the hallways as freely as they are in middle school?
powerful
I really like the idea of the wall. So many times a student's work is only hung up if it demonstrates some exemplary skills, but the wall gives a chance for all students to share their ideas and work. Because there is such freedom for students to choose their own genre, this works to give students ideas about future writing pieces, etc. If you are only hanging up "published pieces" of one specific genre after the entire class has already finished this unit of study, then it's almost pointless to hang up the piece because students are not responsive to this feedback. I think you should highlight the wall in your presentation for NCTE and explain how it functions and what it does for students. It's a powerful tool!
The Wall Is Genius
I really enjoyed reading about your Wall. I think it is bright idea. Not only do the classes share with their class but it extends to the entire school. I bet this has created quite a community of writers! It allows for community talk as well, the conversations are not just limited to their classroom and age group. These writing works can inspire kids from all over the school in various grade levels. I always display my kids writing in the classroom and they are so proud when they see other kids from various grades stop by and read their work! This is great, thank you!!
Colleen Barnett
the wall
WOW! The wall sounds great. I have never heard of allowing the students to showcase their work in such a free form. Some of the things you mentioned posted on the wall were really interesting and gave me so many ideas about implementing in my future classroom. Is there a place for students from other classes to leave comments? How often is the wall changed around and does the material need to be approved by you? I am really excited about this idea you have generated. Bravo on such a fresh concept!
-Rossana
the wall
This really reminds me of an online forum, or Facebook event; perhaps the form is what makes it so enticing to read in addition to the fact that the writing content itself is meaningful and relevant. I think it is great that In addition to the "author's chair," this gives students another audience - beyond the boundaries of their classroom to touch upon and influence. I think what is most significant is that they have ownership over The Wall itself. If this isn't proof of how essential choice and student agency is, I'm not sure what is.
The Wall
After reading your blog post I began to think back to the multiple classrooms that I have been placed into throughout my undergraduate and graduate courses. Many times bulletin boards are used for teachers to decorate and place student work that they find to be of great importance. Students do not have the power to take over and share what they find to be of value and what they personally want their peers to see. I like the idea of having the wall as a free place for students to come together as a community and share their own work. It gives them an audience to feed off of and learn from. I wonder if this bulletin board can also be turned into a newspaper that students can work together on and publish multiple times throughout the school year. This will also give students a copy of this great learning experience. Thank you for sharing what wonderful things are evolving within your classroom and I look forward to hearing more of your experiences!
I am new to genre practice
I am new to genre practice and I am still in the process of learning all the details involved, but reading your post has given me a great idea to implement with my students. The wall is a great medium for students to express their interests and experiences with other students that can relate to the same wall posts. I have found that often times in schools bulletin boards and other wall displays are showcasing work that the teacher has chosen. The work is often an assignment that has been given by the teacher and the students have completed it because they were told to do so. In this traditional process, I have come to realize that students are not fully invested because many times one of the most important factors is missing, many students are not engaged! The wall shows students engagement in the end result, but you can tell that they enjoyed the process in getting there. Here, social practice has definitely taken place.
A chance to shine
Not only is it great that you give the students an opportunity to write about things that actually mean something to them but it is wonderful that you give them a chance to then display this work for others to read. To this day I hate when I spend the time writing and article or paper that will only ever be seen by the eyes of my professor. It is not very encouraging to do work that will only ever be critiqued and never really appreciated. As a young student it would have meant so much to me to have people stop by “The Wall” to read something that I had spent time on. I love this idea so much and when I finally become a teacher I would love to implement a similar structure. You give your students a chance to shine!
the wall..
Wow!I haven't even seen "the wall" but the mental picture I get from your account is brillant. It is amazing how much pride it has brought not only to your classroom but the entire school! The fact that the students are so engaged and proud of their work really shows how much they are learning from it. These are lessons they will take with them for their entire lives. I am so impressed with the work you have done and how your students seem to have fallen in love with writing. Was this how it was when the year started? I would love to see a picture of this wall!!
It seems as if the wall is
The Wall
Elisa,
I really enjoyed reading about your students' experiences with The Wall. I am curious if this was an organic enterprise of the students or if it began as an assignment and took root from there? I too have found that talking, just plain talking, is one of the best ways for students to deepen their interests and/or engagement in a wide array of subject matter. Your description of The Wall only further validates this belief.
Thanks so much for sharing!!
All the best,
Danielle
Many thanks for the
Many thanks for the positive feedback and questions regarding the Wall. It is difficult to address the question of how the Wall came to be in a short response
but here goes….
The idea for the Wall came from classroom conversations regarding authentic ways
we could share our work. Students felt that traditional bulletin boards, where every student has a piece up, did not receive enough attention. They complained
of rarely seeing anyone reading the bulletin boards. They also felt the neat columns
and rows of identical papers would not highlight the individuality of their current
work.
After collecting a body of writing over time, I handed it all over to the kids and told them to figure something out. That was it. It was that easy. Each class
looked over all the writing and decided it made sense to organize the space by
genre. Each genre would have its own section with borders. They decided that in order to ensure that everyone would have an opportunity to display something,
the work would be changed every two weeks or so.
Has the Wall motivated kids to write better and to write more? I cannot overstate
what a difference it has made in generating enthusiasm for completing and perfecting
their writing. Every student asks me at some point or another if they can put their work up. What I tell them is “find a space – it’s a really long hallway.” And they do. They each find a space.
Hi Elisa How right you are
Hi Elisa
How right you are!!! Students today seek an immediate application to the skills they acquire to cement what they have learned. The "WALL" (though to me it ironically initially illicited Pink Floyd) is an excellent way for students to share thought s and writing skills with other students. Children can see the fun side of writing and make it a part of their daily lives. I wouldnt be surprised to see more students taking part in their high school newspaper as well as picking up magazines and books now because of their interactions with the WALL.
Do you find that you have more students requesting to be part of the literature on the WALL because of its success???
Also, have you ever had to deal with a student that had hurt feelings because of a way a piece was written and maybe a majority of students disagreed???
thank you for your insight and good luck
mitch