Question: How do we, as teachers, most effectively teach descriptive writing to ensure student success in their writing processes?
Group Rationale - Why is descriptive writing important?:
Ashley
Individual Rationale:
My goal for education is to help students
build a foundation that will last them throughout the duration of their academic
careers. I feel that through English, more specifically through reading and writing,
students can develop tools to explore ideas, engage in thought, and be critical
of texts. They can also formulate their own ideas, having their individual voice
heard through their writing. The surge of media outlets in which students can be
heard is imperative for students to be able to articulate their
ideas effectively for the readers. Moving from a telling process of writing
towards a process of writing that allows the reader to see what one is
explaining creates a more engaging reading piece. I hope to develop
descriptive writing tools within my students by providing them with the skills to help
them gain confidence in writing more vividly.
Scholarly Rationale:
According to Holliway, descriptive writing encourages students to develop
their critical thinking and perspective-taking skills (2004). Students will be
encouraged to write for audiences by considering a multitude of perspectives by
putting them in someone else’s "shoes." Holliway notes that the descriptive
writing process, “...includes thinking about another person’s thoughts, emotions,
and perceptions, combined with the ability to use metacognitive processes to
reflect on one’s own thoughts, emotions, and perceptions" (p. 336). These skills
will foster those foundational tools I wrote about above, such as exploring others'
ideas, being critical of various modes of text, and reflecting on one’s own
thoughts and experiences. Descriptive writing, therefore, can be used as a vehicle to enhance these
skills, which will elevate both the reading and writing skills of the learner.
David, H. (2004). Through the Eyes of My Reader: A Strategy for Improving Audience Perspective in Children's Descriptive Writing. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 18(4), 334-339. doi: 10.1080/02568540409595045
Individual Rationale:
My goal for education is to help students
build a foundation that will last them throughout the duration of their academic
careers. I feel that through English, more specifically through reading and writing,
students can develop tools to explore ideas, engage in thought, and be critical
of texts. They can also formulate their own ideas, having their individual voice
heard through their writing. The surge of media outlets in which students can be
heard is imperative for students to be able to articulate their
ideas effectively for the readers. Moving from a telling process of writing
towards a process of writing that allows the reader to see what one is
explaining creates a more engaging reading piece. I hope to develop
descriptive writing tools within my students by providing them with the skills to help
them gain confidence in writing more vividly.
Scholarly Rationale:
According to Holliway, descriptive writing encourages students to develop
their critical thinking and perspective-taking skills (2004). Students will be
encouraged to write for audiences by considering a multitude of perspectives by
putting them in someone else’s "shoes." Holliway notes that the descriptive
writing process, “...includes thinking about another person’s thoughts, emotions,
and perceptions, combined with the ability to use metacognitive processes to
reflect on one’s own thoughts, emotions, and perceptions" (p. 336). These skills
will foster those foundational tools I wrote about above, such as exploring others'
ideas, being critical of various modes of text, and reflecting on one’s own
thoughts and experiences. Descriptive writing, therefore, can be used as a vehicle to enhance these
skills, which will elevate both the reading and writing skills of the learner.
David, H. (2004). Through the Eyes of My Reader: A Strategy for Improving Audience Perspective in Children's Descriptive Writing. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 18(4), 334-339. doi: 10.1080/02568540409595045
Jamey
Rationale:
I think descriptive writing is important for students to learn because it has the potential to utilize many techniques that are essential in the writing process. In order for students to write descriptively, they must identify and be able to communicate their emotions, feelings, and perceptions in succinct ways, which will be a valuable tool as they continue to learn both formally and informally throughout their lives.
Culham (2005, 2003) identified several common characteristics that occur in superior writing. These characteristics of writing are commonly referred to as the 6 + 1 writing traits and consist of: ideas, organization, word choice, voice, sentence fluency, and conventions (Culham, 2005). The + 1 denotes the publication or presentation of the writing piece (Culham, 2005). It is possible to apply these techniques during descriptive writing to evoke an enhanced level of writing from students, which is what we, as teachers, should strive for.
For example, word choice, especially within descriptive writing, is extremely important because effective word choice helps create vivid descriptions. Word choice assists readers in visualizing colourful pictures of what is being described. In the Grade 1 lesson plan on “Creating Colour,” (located in the ‘Interdisciplinary’ tab) students are asked to use “Juicy” words, also known as adjectives, to describe their shadows, which helps them enhance their word choice to make their descriptive writing more interesting.
Overall, my goal is to make all genres of writing, including descriptive writing, enjoyable and relatable for all students.
Culham, R. (2005). 6 + 1 traits of writing: The complete guide for the primary grades. Jefferson City, MO: Scholastic.
Rationale:
I think descriptive writing is important for students to learn because it has the potential to utilize many techniques that are essential in the writing process. In order for students to write descriptively, they must identify and be able to communicate their emotions, feelings, and perceptions in succinct ways, which will be a valuable tool as they continue to learn both formally and informally throughout their lives.
Culham (2005, 2003) identified several common characteristics that occur in superior writing. These characteristics of writing are commonly referred to as the 6 + 1 writing traits and consist of: ideas, organization, word choice, voice, sentence fluency, and conventions (Culham, 2005). The + 1 denotes the publication or presentation of the writing piece (Culham, 2005). It is possible to apply these techniques during descriptive writing to evoke an enhanced level of writing from students, which is what we, as teachers, should strive for.
For example, word choice, especially within descriptive writing, is extremely important because effective word choice helps create vivid descriptions. Word choice assists readers in visualizing colourful pictures of what is being described. In the Grade 1 lesson plan on “Creating Colour,” (located in the ‘Interdisciplinary’ tab) students are asked to use “Juicy” words, also known as adjectives, to describe their shadows, which helps them enhance their word choice to make their descriptive writing more interesting.
Overall, my goal is to make all genres of writing, including descriptive writing, enjoyable and relatable for all students.
Culham, R. (2005). 6 + 1 traits of writing: The complete guide for the primary grades. Jefferson City, MO: Scholastic.
Joanna- Personal/Practical Rationale
In the beginning, our group struggled in narrowing down a topic for discovery. We felt that teaching writing can be a daunting task, not only for teachers, but for students as well. Descriptive writing is a foundational skill for students, as it will help improve their literacy skills and further their abilities to be successful writers in and out of the classroom. We noticed throughout our practicum, especially with the early writers, they were able to complete simple sentences. For example, the sentence, I saw a cat. We also noticed students would complete these sentences and would say, "I'm done, I'm done!". How do we as pre-service teachers push these students to add detail to their sentences? How do we encourage students to write about something that is meaningful and that they are passionate about? These are questions that we wondered about. Personally, I have struggled as a writer, and in my elementary years, I did not know how to make my writing more powerful. I did not enjoy writing and I never knew where to begin. The skills of descriptive writing will not only help students in Language Arts with their writing processes, but also in other cross-curricular activities. It will also help students express themselves so they become stronger both articulately and artistically.
In the beginning, our group struggled in narrowing down a topic for discovery. We felt that teaching writing can be a daunting task, not only for teachers, but for students as well. Descriptive writing is a foundational skill for students, as it will help improve their literacy skills and further their abilities to be successful writers in and out of the classroom. We noticed throughout our practicum, especially with the early writers, they were able to complete simple sentences. For example, the sentence, I saw a cat. We also noticed students would complete these sentences and would say, "I'm done, I'm done!". How do we as pre-service teachers push these students to add detail to their sentences? How do we encourage students to write about something that is meaningful and that they are passionate about? These are questions that we wondered about. Personally, I have struggled as a writer, and in my elementary years, I did not know how to make my writing more powerful. I did not enjoy writing and I never knew where to begin. The skills of descriptive writing will not only help students in Language Arts with their writing processes, but also in other cross-curricular activities. It will also help students express themselves so they become stronger both articulately and artistically.
From our sources and rationales, we now want to further explore key components to achieve our inquiry question, which is how we, as teachers, most effectively teach descriptive writing to ensure student success in descriptive writing processes...