There is a very fine thread going through this bigger thread about writing and connected in particular to the thread about Sentence Frames. It’s a subtle point we need to not let go by in our general discussion about writing. The topic is how to process the writing.
I spied this only because of what Robert wrote in response to some comments about how he processes writing with his kids yesterday and also because Diana Noonan gave me a hard time when she visited my cloassroom one day last month and observed me breaking down – in a French 2 class – some of the kids’ writing in too much detail.
I admit this – the dude inside me who got away with teaching AP French grammar for 24 years had snuck back into my classroom in very Gollum like fashion on that day. In the way Gollum wanted the ring, and became a great tracker of it, so also my Grammar inside dude still wants to track down and teach grammar to people who don’t want to learn it.
So it was of great interest to me what Robert said yesterday about how he processes the kids’ writing on the document camera with his kids after they write:
In my 4/AP class we did a lot of discussion of the grammar. All of the students were engaged and several of them said, “Except for the embarrassment factor, I really like putting things together so I can see how it works.” In other words, they were ready to get the filing system because they have a lot of language. After we had gone over a paper, I handed it back and said, “Correct whatever you think is important to correct.” I will eventually re-collect all the papers.
In my level 3 class we did less discussion of the grammar and more discussion of what people wrote (content), comparing that with what others did. I corrected only what truly interfered with comprehension.
We didn’t get to this in level 2, since we had to postpone the writing because of the alarm and evacuation yesterday. Tomorrow we will start looking at the papers with even less grammar and more discussion of content.
In level 1 I simply told them that as I read I would change any mistakes into correct German, so what they heard might be different from what they saw. Then we talked about the content and compared what was written with what others had done. After we had finished I went to each student whose paper I had shown on the document camera to thank them and tell them that they had done a good job.
Simplified – in levels:
4/AP he discussed structure/grammar but only had them correct what they felt was important. I like that level of “grammar hospital” response for the advanced kids.
3 – grammar correction was made only when the writing interfered with comprehension.Lots of discussion of the conteent text in L2.
2 – “…even less grammar and more discussion of content…”. (than level 3)
1 – no grammar correction whatsoever at this level. As he read, Robert changed mistakes into correct German. Discussion of content only. Lots of praise. This is significant.