CCI # 4: Reading-Writing Connection

Layer 1

Like any good therapy, I feel that I need to admit my mistakes here before I can move on. Direct, explicit vocabulary instruction (how to do it anyway) is utterly and totally new to me. I have zero training in this. I admit: I failed my students. Not with biased grades or incomprehensibly difficult assignments, but with traditional vocabulary instruction. My classroom was an oasis of progressive pedagogy, filled with student choice and autonomy, learning was  a collaborative and constructive process and then there was: vocabulary logs. “Find five words. Look them up. Define them. Copy them. Label the part of speech. Write a sentence. Turn in on Friday,” I rattled off, annihilating all hope of actually reaching the students. No wonder they looked at me with eyes that could pierce medieval armor. Sometimes I felt more like a dentist than a teacher, poised with my vocabulary pliers, ready to remove any remaining vestiges of the teeth they might actually use to sink their teeth into real literature. But I felt fairly blissful with my ignorance, happily repeating an all too common problem in the process of teaching: if it “worked” when I was a student and it’s the way it’s “always” been done, I guess I’ll do it too. Actually, I think it goes even a step further, it’s not even resignation to implement prior strategies but a total lack of imagination in creating new possibilities.

Quite naturally, conceptual knowledge is constructed through activating and building upon prior conceptual knowledge. It is relational and interactive. After reading chapter eight, I am well-aware that my vocabulary/conceptual instruction needs some work. One of the more useful strategies was a Concept of Definition Word Map (VV&M 256-7). Its balanced and thorough approach of visually demarcating the conceptual components of a word seems in-depth enough for me, without out being trivial or artificial—a balance that I struggle with as a teacher of upperclassmen—they still need structure and guidance, but the teacher’s authority needs to be transparent and the assignments must be meaningful.  The way that CD Word Map strategy subdivides the word into categories, properties, comparisons, and illustrations is useful to truly understand the multi-faceted nature of a single concept and makes the most intuitive sense to me as a teacher and a learner. This strategy relates it to what they already know, how the word functions, and allows them to apply it to their long-term memory.

I also benefited from the in-depth evaluation of how to use “context clues” to define words—or for our purposes here, how to relate concepts/words to other words or concepts we already know. I think this process of teaching students how to use context clues would be very beneficial and something I wish I had received.

The focus of the chapter was on developing strategies to deal with “low utility” words that are found in textbooks, but I think there was a gap in dealing with how to develop strategies for “general utility” words using trade books. There is no boldface vocabulary, no technical concepts, just difficult vocabulary words that are useful for them to be cultured, educated readers and speakers.  Sure, I could use some of the concept maps or diagram the words, but it seems so artificial, so contrived.  Any suggestions?

Layer 2

It seems I’ve only tapped into the potential of one of the two-sided powerhouse of reading and writing—leaving writing far behind to fend for itself. Sure, I assigned the state mandated minimum six essays and a “choose a project of interest” research paper, but after reading the four differing viewpoints in the assigned readings I am noticing my own deficiencies and areas to improve upon. Chapter nine in VV&M really reminded me of the power of writing as a learning process. Joan Didion’s short quote spoke volumes to the power of writing to learn: “"I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means, what I want and what I fear.”

The easiest way to do this is to incorporate the strategies found in Spires and Donley about building from the inside out through autobiographical worlds of words. Their writing prompts, the contrast between significant moments and insignificant moments was particularly striking and powerful. This process of writing on a critical and evaluative level does not come naturally and the article did an excellent job at detailing how students are slowly scaffolded (externally and internally) to achieve great writing heights.

If the strategies they propose are not sufficient or if you need to work with younger or struggling students, the various “writing frames” Fray and Lewis provide are extremely helpful. These frames provide organizational structure for the students without eliminating the input that teachers want: their personal responses. It’s truly a win-win situation, because teachers will receive the organized and thorough responses they desire, while students are not bogged down in the arduous task of formulating the “bones” of the essay, they can simply put the “meat” on it. I think this strategy would be most beneficial as a prewriting exercise, to activate knowledge and organize thoughts and concepts for later in-depth writing.

Chapter ten provided some strategies on how to use studying text in conjunction with writing to learn that I believe will be very useful. Many of the strategies that are offered in chapter ten overlap with many of the structural frames that we’ve covered before, including graphic organizers, writing summaries, and how to take effective notes. I also believe that writing can be extended to be an excellent resource for meaningful homework assignments. Because I struggle with taking meaningful time away from families when the students are sent home, I try to use autobiographical or creative nonfiction writing assignments that build a coherent narrative with the students’ families. For example, when we read Beowulf—the ancient English heroic epic that captures the ideals of an ancient society that is passed down orally and then written down—I asked students to interview the oldest living member of their family and talk to them about how life was like growing up, what kind of heroes they had, and how society has changed. You might predict that they would be the rambling rants of a bitter generation at the reckless mistakes of the younger generation, but I found this writing exercise to be deeply moving, provocative, and genuine.

It is this type of assignment that I believe all of the secondary resources we read are pointing us to. There was clearly writing to learn through self-analysis (ch. 9), writing frames through questions I asked them to answer (Fray and Lewis), autobiographical writing (Spires and Donley) and an emphasis on creating meaningful habits outside of class (chapter 10).

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this blog.