Week Four

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This week was very different from any other week. It was colorful! Not physically, but at least we saw the colors mentally. They were not just colors as we know them but rather, colors that described images of all kinds! We shifted from narrative writing and particularly focused on this genre of writing which is "descriptive". We did provide some information about what we already know as it relates to descriptive writing and we were also able to examine a poorly written text in order to improve its description. We were introduced to the five (5) sense cluster in helping compose a vivid description of anything. Hence, the use of all the senses are instrumental in providing a description of superb quality. It was brought to our attention that the way in which a person is described differs from a place or object. When describing a person it is useful to focus on the personality and the physical characteristics. However, a place may just be the physical appearance with many characteristics that can be described in great detail. For example, the setting and the elements/objects found there. We see this class as one which is very beneficial to us as a student and as a teacher of writing as we are further aware of some of the different strategies in teaching descriptive writing. Additionally, we are getting the opportunity to grow as a writer in different text genres. One point that resonated with us the most during class was the unique way in which descriptive writing illustrates transitional words. They are not the typical “moreover”, “therefore” or “additionally” that were are used to. In descriptive writing transitional words will appear as a preposition! For example, through, on, over and surrounding are typical transitional words for narrative writing. It would be a great idea to have us draw and color a place or person to begin with and then use this picture to write a description of the person or place. Perhaps, the drawing and coloring will help us generate a fundamental description of what is to be described. The video below sums up nicely descriptive writing elements. Can’t wait to keep you posted on next week’s activities!

Week Three

In today’s session our class had the privilege to visit the computer lab at the University of the West Indies. Each student teacher was able to sit at a computer and began working after the instructions were given by our lecturer. She cautioned us that we should remain focused and complete the process to ensure that we understood the concept of how to blog because most of my colleagues did not understand the task for the assignment . Our first task was to create a limerick of our own.  A limerick is a humorous poem consisting of five lines. The first, second and fifth lines must have seven to ten syllabus while rhyming and having the same verbal rhythm.The third and fourth lines should only have five to seven syllables, they too must rhyme with each other and have the same rhythm. In addition, we were given an opportunity to change the font and the style of the words of the limerick.Our second task was to google and select an appropriate an image associated with our limerick and copy and paste it in our blog. Additionally, each group added our other colleagues to their blog and each student teacher was able to view and comment on each others  blogs individually or as a group. This session was very informative and I learnt a lot during this short period of time. This concept of blogging was relatively new to me as I have never been exposed to blogging but only heard about it. This new experience has enlightened to understand what blogging entails and as an educator will apply what I have learned in the classroom setting. I propose that the lecturer has other sessions like this with the class to better equipped us with the necessary skills required so when we go back to our classroom we will be able to apply what we learnt efficiently.

Example of a  Limerick

There was an old man named Ted

Who always lay down on his bed

He saw a big mouse

And ran out of the house

Laid flat on the ground like a bread

Week 2 The Drafting Process

This week, we focused on one of the stages of the writing process which is drafting. To begin the lesson, the lecturer handed each of us a piece from her newly written and ready to be published book. The course instructor asked us to read the piece in its entirety and encouraged us to read actively by highlight anything which stood out. This activity was fitting not only because we were being taught how to teach students how to write but also learning how to be effective writers. Drafting is the second stage of the writing process. After this was done, she expounded on the key terms which were recognized. It was important that she did so because it expounded on my knowledge of the drafting stage. Writers add and develop ideas to form sentences, however, spelling, punctuation and paragraphs are not taken into consideration. In addition, according to the lecture’s piece of writing, it is advised that teachers point out to students that they are likely to make errors during the first draft, these mistakes may be recognized immediately while others may require a deeper analysis. We recognized the course instructor’s spelling and punctuation errors during her process of creating the first draft. She emphasized that this is one of the features of the drafting process and that we should encourage our students to make mistakes while they draft. After this was discussed, the lecturer began to create a draft of a story which we helped her plan during the previous lesson. As the course instructor wrote her first draft on the board, we were able to recognize her spelling errors immediately. With the help of the students, she was able to tie our ideas together. This activity was very helpful as it increased my understanding of the drafting process. We were then asked to model the drafting process which was a plus because it was a way of applying our knowledge. The drafting process is the second step of the writing process, during this time the writer organizes and puts ideas into complete thoughts. To culminate this lesson, we were given an opportunity to share our drafts. I suggest that the lecturer continue taking us through the writing process by keeping us actively engaged as we learn to become better writers and produce effective future writers.

Week 1 Narrative Writing

This week’s session was particularly focused on the narrative genre of writing. Some classmates voiced their poor efficacy in teaching narrative as opposed to being a superb and proficient narrative writer. This was a fair point made because we are expected to not only be good at writing stories but also to be  phenomenal in using different strategies in getting students to compose a good narrative piece eventually. We revisited the main elements of a story such as setting, plot, point of view, theme, problem, climax and resolution; all of which were refreshed through a brainstorming activity during the introduction of the concept. One resonating factor which was new to my group was the development of the characters. We learnt that a character can be developed and expressed in four main domains namely feelings, actions, speech and thoughts. Hence, the acronym FAST. Another acronym “STEAL” was introduced to us. “STEAL” represents speech, thoughts, emotions, action and looks. We have never really thought of characters being different in those domains rather because we focused primarily on the physical differences and personality differences between characters. Perhaps further sessions on analyzing the various characters of narrative texts would assist us in getting a deeper and broader understanding of how characters are varied in many domains and possibly representing this information using a graphic organizer of choice. Figure 1.0 below illustrates the analysis of characterization through internal and external categories. Outside would comprise physical traits, i.e. what we see. Inside would comprise thoughts, actions and feelings.

WELCOME :)

A warm and hearty welcome to our blog! Blogging is an interactive way to incorporate technology in education. It is not restricted to language classes or just for communication purposes. However, it is encouraged to be used in all disciplines in order to facilitate learning through the digital platform. This blog is used for the course “LIT102” or “Promoting Writing in Primary Grades”. LIT 102 is a mandatory course in Primary Education Associate Degree Program. The intentions of this blog are to reflect on the classes by talking about interesting or impactful concepts and practices modelled by the course lecturer and to provide suggestions for further sessions. We hope to create interactive blogs which not only provide direct information but also further resources in order to expand the reader’s knowledge of the concept of writing being discussed. Additionally, any form of constructive feedback provided in response to our blogs will be greatly acknowledged and appreciated as we understand that constructive feedback is critical to students’ success. Once more, a heartfelt welcome to you from the LITBloggers, Ryan, Kashey and Beverly!