[MOSAIC] Another mosaic: The reading-writing connection

[Beverlee Paul]

Actually, until we "caught on" how to teach 
taking-the-state-writing-assessment, our kids did horrifically!  And the 
better writers they were, it seemed, the worse they did . . . because of the 
timed element.  Our kids had rarely written to prompts, but they NEVER had 
experienced the paltry time limits.  We have 2 consecutive days of 40-minute 
periods for our fourth graders, and all drafts must be done by then.  We had 
kids who wrote a beautiful first half of something, then the time was up, 
and of course, they couldn't score well.  The games we play. . . .

 > >And we could go a little further, maybe.  For
 > > instance, what happens when the processes fall out of balance, for an
 > > individual?  for a class?  for a profession?
 >
 > You mean like the state writing tests?  I have had major disagreements
 > with
 > some of the teachers at my school about this.  Some believe that you
 > should
 > teach the structure and have the kids basically fill in the blanks.  If
 > you
 > ever look at some of the actual test examples you will see that GOOD
 > writing
 > is NOT a key to a good score, but if you follow the format, you can get a
 > good score.  I disagree with the process and say you can teach the 
format,
 > but you should also teach how to be personally expressive and write, not
 > just for a 20 minute test, but for a lifetime.
 >
 > If that isn't out of balance, I don't know what is......
 >
 > Unless it's the teachers who teach how to READ for the state test and 
show
 > how to find answers, but NOT how to fully comprehend.  There are a few
 > teachers on staff who believe that bilge....
 >
 > Bill
 >
 >
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 >
 > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
 >
 >


--
Kim
-------
Kimberlee Hannan
Department Chair
Sequoia Middle School
resno, California 93702


Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, let go of what you can't
change, kiss slowly, play hard, forgive quickly, take chances, give
everything, have no regrets.. Life's too short to be anything but happy.

kxhanna at fresno.k12.ca.us
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