Blog 8: Bless, Address, or Press: Marissa & Her Work :)

For this entry, I am diving into Marissa's Entry #7 Using Writing to Think About the Letter Genre. I would like to bless Marissa on how she brings to light how journal and letter writing, both genres, can become very confusing for students! A lack of proper instruction and differentiation/practice noticing the differences between the two can certainly be a factor. I myself even found looking for mentor texts at times to be a little tricky, confusing where a diary entry would be in the mix of both (as it leans towards/is journaling). I would like to also press a personal question I have, in regards to if most of the mentor journal texts you found were in regards to diary writing versus journal writing? I feel that diary writing was emphasized, which is interesting because typically the term diary takes on a feminine meaning (when thinking of books/media/who diaries are often marketed towards). Yet, writing in a journal to me is a term that is both masculine and feminine. I am curious why I found more mentor texts with the word diary in the title, than the word journal? It is interesting how we view terms and how that influences are understanding of what they mean. Now focusing back on Marissa's solid entry, she builds off of Tompkins statement in regards to how grammar for journal entry's "contains more errors... than other types of writing because writers are more focused on [their] ideas" (Tompkins, 2012, p. 108). She acknowledges that not putting an emphasis on grammar in childrens' journals allows their ideas to foster, which is the most important aspect of journal writing. I agree full heartedly with Marissa's message that as children are learning to navigate their ideas, they need to be met with helping hands and not given further instruction or content that could become more confusing. It is not so much a polished product as it is the ideas flowing freely and the journey along the way that is most important! 

I would like to address Marissa's own personal assertion that "where the confusion could come from if it's not explicitly taught correctly, would be that they're both a type of personal writing". Why do you think it important for students to know that both forms/styles are that of personal writing? Could it tie into how Lauren and Amanda during their Genre Expert Presentation shared how "Authentic writing for authentic audiences is motivating... they need to know that their writing has meaning and is valued" (Pole, 2015, p. 120).  Perhaps providing students insight that journal writing is for themselves, to validate their own thoughts, and that letter writing is for the purpose of talking with others, can clear up their confusion about both types of personal writing when the (authentic) audience is kept in mind. Even incorporating personal writing into the classroom environment, in the morning as students are settling in or for specific occasions (for projects or events) may build on WHY we choose to write in that manner. Shining light on the purpose, in a real world context. 

Once again I would like to bless Marissa on how she is finding not only value in using mentor texts in her future classroom, but how it appears that she sees how she can compare two styles of writing for students to understand that both forms are personal writing. It is important for teachers to provide opportunities  with these mentor texts for students to "develop 'the eyes of a writer' by pointing out ways authors use various writing techniques to achieve their purposes" (MacKay et at., 2017, p. 177). By contrasting two different styles and comparing the similarities/differences, Marissa will teach in a very powerful manner that will build upon her students background knowledge and add new learning to their schemata. I am confident that if/when presented the opportunity, she would teach a very strong lesson on journal and letter writing. Thank you for your thoughts, Marissa!  

References

MacKay, K.L., Ricks, P.H., & Young, T.A. (2017). Supporting young writers with award- winning books. The Reading Teacher, 71(2), 177-187.

Pole, K. (2015). "Why downt you riyt back to me?" Reading Teacher, 69(1), 119-128.

Entry 7: Let's Make Our Students Writing Come Alive (Through Descriptive Writing)!

For this open entry, I am combining my future students (who in this case we will say are First Graders) and my Teaching Genre Presentation topic. I have come to feel extremely passionate about the descriptive writing genre! It seems self-explanatory in some senses, how this genre "involves using words to paint a memorable picture and evoke a distinctive mood" (Tompkins, 2012, p. 136). That descriptive writing is all about well... being descriptive. Which is very true! Yet, what is meant when we say to be descriptive with our writing? Why exactly is it important for educators, for myself, to teach my future students this genre? First of all, when we write in a way that has to engage the reader since the writer is not providing all the answers up front, this creates a sense of satisfaction. If our writing happens "To let go of that auditory image, to miss the repetition of that sound, is to miss some of the drama of the scene and, symbolically, to miss the... [writing] need" (Bomer, 2006, p. 527). Think of the last time you read a piece of work, especially a story. Each character had a distinctive voice and tone. Based on this auditory image as Bomer describes, we are able to gain information and build upon our understanding of a text. That is why we love certain characters so much, because we feel the weight and status of their place within the page! This ties into how Tompkins is a strong advocate of "Writers us[ing] description to create vivid, multisensory word pictures... [being] attentive" to their word choices (Tompkins, 2012, p. 136). I foresee telling my students to be attentive to their word choice to not go over very well. Not only because they are (in this case) first graders, but rather I have to make a point about what exactly I mean. In fact, I feel that the power of understanding why descriptive writing is important for readers AND writers, is to tell students how much clearer (and concise) ideas become. This can be demonstrated in reading aloud different passages or sentences that share the same idea, and to highlight to students how the more descriptive sentence pins point the exact time, location, and emotions. Creating for students "visualizations of the story world" (Parsons, 2006, p. 493). I find the reason we are often so drawn to books, is because they relate our experiences and our hopes. They confirm what we know and fill in what we wished we had the ability to do and drive us to go after those wishes when we feel the desire hit us. Hence, why tell students they should read or write because it is good for them? We should be telling them not only these true facts, but the reasons behind why we read rich sentences and why readers write in such thought provoking manners. 

 References

Bomer, R. 2006. Reading with the mind’s ear: Listening to text as mental action. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 48(6), 524-535.

Parsons, Linda T. 2006. Visualizing worlds from words on a page. Language Arts; Urbana, 83(6), 492-500.