Week 5 (February 9)

After reading for this week, I became very interested in "The Curriculum Cycle." I always believed that children would be more involved in their writing if they had open assignments. It was my belief that they would be able to turn the assignment to their interest, allowing them to become extremely involved. However, "The Curriculum Cycle" changed this belief.
It first got me thinking when it said, "It would be foolish to suggest that good writers are unaware of traditional narrative writings; indeed, it is precisely this awareness that allows them to exploit and manipulate their writing in new ways, and to make conscious choices about how they write." This really opened my eyes. I love reading novels, and I love exploring different writers. Although they are all novels, each author provides me with a different experience because they write in different ways. It is interesting and intriguing to me. How will my students be able to change the 'typical' writing styles to make them their own and to make them interesting, just like the authors I love to read, if they never learn the 'typical' writing styles. I also loved how this approach was so inclusive. It wasn't just a small lesson, but a whole unit. I saw how this approach could easily be used to support a social studies or science unit. We could research different colonies, or write and complete science experiments using "The Curriculum Cycle." Finally, I loved how it is helpful to all students. Not only students learning English, but other students who have not been exposed to different genres of literature benefit from "The Curriculum Cycle." Instead of just assuming that they know how to write, teachers can guide their exploration, making the learning meaningful and interesting. When the children gain a mastery of the cycle, they will gain confidence and appreciation for writing. If the children were just told to write like they always do, they will take no value in their writing, because they will have no learning to compare it to.

I also enjoyed reading the mini lessons in the Tompkins book. The mini lessons took what the book was teaching me, and applied them in a real life situation. This made the learning meaningful, as I was able to see how to apply the lessons, and see why they work. I remember learning about phonemic awareness. I hated every minute of it, feeling it was dull and boring. The mini lessons showed how to make segmenting, blending and rhyming words interesting and meaningful to children. Finally, I like how the book criticized spelling tests. I did terrible on spelling tests my entire elementary career. I like that the book gave suggestions on how to make spelling meaningful to the students. Instead of a random list of words, the text suggested choosing a large list of words that the children are exposed to in the literature they are working with, and then allowing the children to pick which words they would like to use. This way the students feel personally responsible for their spelling list, because they see the words in other areas, and they were involved in making their specific list.