Thursday, March 1, 2012

Writing as a Cultural Liason

"The root word of the word authority is author."
Jane Hansen (Director of the Central Virginia Writing Project)
Maggie Morris (Diversity Resource Teacher Crozet)

Planning Writing through the Culturally Responsive Teaching Lens
Ten Questions to Ponder

1. What are my students' strengths? Are they bilingual - That's a strength
2. Did my students have a "choice" in the assignment?
3. What supports do I need to put in place to set my student up for success?
4. Have I provided or shared reading materials that reflect the cultural experience and interests of my students?
5. Do my students need specific checklist to monitor their writing progress?
6. Have a I created a safe community for my students to share their writing?
7. When writing nonfiction pieces of writing, am I allowing the necessary time for students to become "experts" ?
8. What strategies can I use to motivate and stimulate writing?
9. When you examine your students' work, "What does the study show that the writer does not yet know?" (Maggie Morris and Jane Hansen)
10. Can students use their own language as a jump start? (Art, Music, and/ or writing in their native language?

1 comment:

Maggie Morris said...

A suggestion is to spend at least 10 minutes writing about a student of concern to you using only strengths and positive language so that if someone walked in and read what you wrote they would think it was one of your star students.
Then look at what they need to know next and create your plan for your next mini-lesson or conference talk.