Annotated Bibliography--Group C

Set 1
 * Bomer and Lamon, "Positioning in a Primary Writing Workshop: Joint Action in the Discursive Production of Writing Subjects."
 * Reviewed by:Melissa Richardson

Research in the Teaching of English  Volume 38 #4 May 2004

This article was based on a year long study of a combined first and second grade class. The authors watched the kids while keeping field notes. They also videotaped on several different occasions and interviewed individuals. They drew their conclusions based on the information gathered. They stated that the school was filled with generally working to middle class families. The school had more kids living in poverty than others in the area. The teachers mostly believed in multi-aged classrooms with a two year spread. They felt that the more experienced children could help the less experienced and less time would be spent on expectations and procedures. "Peer relations in literacy classrooms have drawn scrutiny in recent years, with a number of researchers finding interactions among students potentially problematic in that they are often characterized by power struggles." (425) This part of the article is comparable to Rose' essay. The children are in a high poverty area and may or may not have the family support that others have. One of the children observed had some birth defects and was a little slow at times. She felt that the other kids did not listen to her. She was slow in socializing, while another child had moved three times out of the year and felt that everyone ignored her. As Rose infers in his essay kids are greatly affected by their genre. However, the teaching styles greatly differ. The teacher in this classroom was very concerned about the kids and had great teaching techniques. I thought this article was interesting. I found that yet the school was full of poverty the teacher was highly educated in knowing how to work with the children in knowing that each child has his or her own special needs. I loved the idea of mixing the grades this takes so much pressure off of the teachers and the kids.

Nov 2004 pgs. 110-119
 * Bintz and Dillard, "Seeing Writing Instruction Differently: Lessons with Lasting Impressions." Vol.82 No 2
 * Reviewed by Melissa Richardson

This article is about a teacher who had a lot of painful experiences with writing growing up. She tries several different practices to help her students learn writing. She felt that learning writing could assist them with learning reading. She did not want the children to have the same experiences that she had. She wanted them to enjoy writing. Her first idea was to put a picture on the board and have the children think of different words associated with it, she would then write them down and have them write a story. Her second idea was to read a book, ask questions, then have the children write about it. Her third idea was to have a discussion about personal experiences. Tell stories and discuss them, then write about them. The teacher would write too. When the were done they would discuss the writings. The teacher later took one of each writing from each lesson style. She compared them. The papers differed drastically although written by the same student. She found that the different presentations really affected the outcome of the writings. They found that social practices matter in learning to write. She found that when kids write about things that really matter to them the they write with interest and tell a good story.


 * This was a good article. I believe that when children are able to discuss different topics before writing it opens a lot of doors. Different ideas are set out and more interest develops. They don't feel so overwhelmed. Writing is definately a process. I think it is important to give different opportunities in writing styles. Some work better for others. Like the teacher did here. she had three different ways of teaching writing. The last one where the children were able to discuss their own personal experiences was the most successful. Most of the time a good paper is a result of the author writing about a topic that interests them.

no.5 May 2001 Pgs.435-441
 * Blake, "Fruit of the Devil: Writing and English Language Learners." Vol. 78
 * Reviewed by Melissa Richardson


 * In this article the author suggests that educators need to be reminded of the importance of the use of the tools of a process approach to writing. After studying a group of migrant farmworkers children at a summer school program, it was found that several of the children did not like attending school and would have rather worked. They felt that they did not meet the school literacy standards. They acted as if they did not care, but it was later found that they did. In a peer conference group the kids were encouraged to speak about their feelings. After being able to discuss their thoughts they were later encouraged to write their thoughts down. The teacher encouraged process writing. The children took to this very well. They were able to write about the topics that affected their lives the most. When given the opportunities the children were able to use process writing to tranfer their life and thought into writings.This was something that was familiar to them, it made them feel comfortable. This helped the students and the teachers in learning what works for these kids.


 * Every child is different whether from a different culture or different learning level. I agree with the ideas of this article. The children did not like school because they felt distant and like they didn't fit in. That the work was too hard. Once they were encouraged to discuss their feelings and lives, they became more open to the learning new things. The children were able to write about what was familiar to them. By discussing the contents of their writings before completing them they were able to build confidence and ideas. The teachers conformed to the childrens needs by using the process writing approach rather than using the set standard way of teaching.

Expanding Our View of Social Interaction in Writing Workshops."
 * Burns, "Being "Social":
 * Vol 78 No 5 pgs 458-466
 * Reviewed by Melissa Richardson


 * This was also a great article. It was similar to the others. The author agrees with the teacher of a fourth grade class to teach strategies based on learning approaches in which children work independently or together in social contexts. Students were able to experience different strategies based on learning styles in their writings. They were able to choose which style worked best for themselves. The strategies included either working with friends to discuss different ideas or to work alone and brainstorm. The children did very well with the observable talk. They came up with ideas for one another and were able to build their writings from this. At one point the teacher was concerned with the children getting off task, however they would soon be talking about the topics once again. It didn't end up as a problem. The choice of genre or topic was also important to the author. He enphasizes how important it is for the children to be able to have their own choice. If they have their own choice as to what they write about then they will likely produce a more meaningful piece.


 * Like the other articles, I couldn't agree more. When I was in highschool I remember one of my teachers always gave us options as to what we could write our papers on. I enjoyed writing these because I chose something that I was interested in, whereas when I was assigned a mandatory topic it wasn't as appealing and I didn't give as much effort. I also remember getting into groups throughout the writing process. We would help one another with constructive critism and with new ideas for our papers. It made the whole process much easier and a lot more fun. These experiences also gave us the chance to socialize with our peers allowing us to get to know one another better. It built confidence in social skills.

Set 2
 * Dyson,Haas, Anne, "On Reframing Children’s Words: The Perils, Promises, and Pleasures of Writing Children." Volume 34, February 2000. 16 Pages.
 * Reviewed by Jonathan Watts
 * Dyson observes how students connect with their writing and what kinds of writing come out of different life experiences. Students seem to enjoy what they write if it involves outside experiences they can relate to. She mentions how when schools don't involve what goes on outside the classroom inside the classroom, a divider is set up between school and the rest of life in a way. This will disinterest kids in their school work is what she's suggesting. She says that instead you must involve their "media use" like the television shows, games or movies they experience daily in school some way. Having them write a scary story, for instance, will take into account any scary movie or book they've seen and what they know about creating something scary.


 * Dressel,Janice "About Writing: A Letter to Stacie." 5 pages.
 * Reviewed by Jonathan Watts


 * This writing was in the form of a letter written to a grandaughter who can't read it yet but will later read the letter as her grandmother's thoughts on her future education. She talks a lot about the environments influence towards a good writer. The environment, or home, that this child is in is nuturing and supportive. She talks about how this environment is setting the child up to be a great writer and reader. She has confidence in her self and is already exploring books and pencils and paper before she completely understands what they do or how to use them. The grandmother wants her grandaughter's future teachers to teach writing in a useful way and a meaningful way that can connect with her grandaughter. She wants writing to be a meaningful part of her world as she grows up.
 * Relating this to me, I had a similar environment. My parents always had paper, pencils, colored pencils, etc. around for me to toy around with even before I knew what they were. This relates to our reading on sponsors and how the environment influences how and what people learn as well. I had an environment as a child that lends itself to reading and writing later in life, similar to the grandaughter in this story.


 * Graves, "What I’ve Learned from Teachers of Writing."
 * Reviewed by Jonathan Watts
 * Graves is making a connection between reading and writing and emphasizing the importance of this connection. Writing should also be meaningful to the person writing it. He makes a point that without some sort of interest in what is being written, interest might be lost in writing. Especially for younger children when they are first beginning to write they need something that relates to them and something they enjoy. I know from working with kids how hard it is for some of them to find something to write about on the topic assigned. It is hard also, though, to assign something individually for each student to write about so it has meaning to them. This author suggests personal narratives as one solution. Stories that have actually happened in a child's life has meaning to them and can easily be described well by the author. Using other medias of writing can also show the child how writing can be a useful tool. For example, writing a letter to a grandmother or relative about recent events in one's life.
 * Heffernan and Lewison, "Social Narrative Writing: (Re)Constructing Kid Culture in the Writer’s Workshop." Vol. 80 No.6, July 2003
 * Reviewed by Jonathan Watts
 * The idea of a "social narrative" is introduced in which the student writes a story that relates to something that happens in their culture. This author's view of social narratives is looking more at injustices in ones culture although social narratives seem to be able to take on any shared cultural experience. One example given in this article is using social narratives to "explore indentities and obstacles"(p.4)A book which contained some sort of "bi-racial teasing" was read to a class and in turn, with previous instruction about looking for social circumstances, a student recalled a time in which he was teased for being a certain race and therefore found a meaningful topic to write about. Reading lessons, discussions, and a journal were all involved in and around the social narratives in order to bring more meaning to the students lives. As the students found interesting events that happen to them or other people throughout the day they record them down in a journal. This journal is used later when writing their narratives as a way to incorporate real events and themes in their lives to their fictional writings.
 * Through writing these narratives and reading them with the rest of the class, the students gain a more worldly view. They realize different situations children their age experience and benefit from hearing them. The article goes on to say how writing with these social issues allow children to have a context for their dealing with their problems.

Set 3
 * Reviewed by Julie Johnson


 * Genre and the Changing Contexts for English Language Arts, by Gunther Kress


 * English language arts curriculums are not the same in different parts of the world.


 * Kress’ Genre theory says that our social environment determines the kind of language that we use and write


 * He knows little about how we teach language arts in America and in what context.


 * Language arts will always need to change.


 * Response to Article: Mr. Kress uses an infinite amount of sophisticated and pretentious gibberish to tell us something about language arts.  I believe that he is saying (in his own esoteric way) that language arts needs to constantly change with the times. Kress needs to change with the times. After 4 or more readings of this article I was still very unclear about what he was trying to say and I never really got the point.  I’ll take a stab at it though. There is mention of some kind of language arts curriculum design.  Kress wants us to ask ourselves as teachers:  What is it we want the young to be able to do?  What is it we want them to be?  What is it they will need to be able to do? Who will they need to be in order to live productively in their societies? In order to answer these questions we need to consider our place in the world and have a sense of who we think we are.  How do we make and communicate meanings in our social worlds?  There are certain basic forms of genre – structures that are hard to change, but can be useful in order to teach children the basics of writing.  He says that writers are more diverse now and more personal authentic expression is urged.  Genre – different forms of writing – can be affected by sex, age, social context, language form, spoken or written, dialect, etc. Genre is always changing with society and its changes and attitudes.  Social, economic, and political changes affect our stability and social norms.  If we can understand that our world constantly changes and that the English language changes along with it, we should not be afraid to change our approaches to creative writing. Of course, none of this may apply to the American way of teaching writing because he only knows about what goes on in England.

Kress says that “we will use the “wrong vocabulary” if we continue to 	stick with old genres and forms”. Kress uses the “wrong vocabulary” to 	suit my taste. He is most definitely stuck in some kind of lingo genre of his 	own. I can connect with the idea that teaching language arts needs to be a more creative process that changes with the times, however some structure is needed initially.


 * Jasinski-Schneider, "No Blood, Guns, or Gays Allowed!: The Silencing of the Elementary Writer."
 * (sorry - I thought this got posted earlier but I must have done something wrong)


 * Main Ideas:


 * Some teachers limit or direct children’s voices in writing. Questioning students writing may be a form of coercion. This may be a benefit because students may learn to negotiate with their teacher and sustain their opinions when questioned. They may learn to negotiate with people that are more powerful.


 * Teachers have differing opinions on what is inappropriate writing.
 * Writing is sometimes a students’ only outlet so any topic should be encouraged.

Teaching Methods: Journal writing – personal writing and prompted journal topics, writing workshops- mini-lessons on writing strategies

Ideas/Theories: The author took a survey to find out what topics are considered taboo or off-limits. He found that there is a range of topics and taboos depending on who saw the topics as disturbing. Some teachers had moral issues, values, and beliefs that would get in the way and those teachers would question students writing. Some writing subjects like homosexuality would even warrant a referral to a counselor! Suspected abuse, of course, would have to be reported. Other teachers believed they should respect a students’ privacy. Some teachers would also “control” students writing by not sharing the papers with the whole class.

Most teachers in general encouraged students to write on any topic so as not to squelch their creativity.

Research technique: Because of sensitive topics and personal beliefs involved, the author picked some teachers that knew him and would be willing to provide their honest beliefs. He was referred to other teachers that would be willing to do the same. In all, he interviewed 12 teachers, 10 females and 2 males.

Teaching Writing: In order to support student expression, we as teachers need to reflect on our own biases, expectations, and cultural assumptions and what impact these have on their instruction and their interactions with children. Teachers do not have to change their beliefs, but they should heighten their awareness of the impact of their beliefs. Their WILL be occasions when students will write about inappropriate topics. Students may intentionally try to rile the teacher or humiliate a peer. When this happens a teacher must come up with a fair way of handling the situation.

Value of Article:   This was a great article. It makes you think about what you will do as a teacher when students write about possibly inappropriate topics. We will have do think about our own beliefs and respect the beliefs and opinions of our students. I agree with the authors’ general conclusion that, instead of silencing, avoiding or re-directing students’ writing topics, children should be able to write about any topics. These topics may very well be a part of their own lives and experiences. Teachers may be afraid to know what kids are thinking and how to handle their ideas when they find out. We may not have the same morals, values, and beliefs about life as the child and his/her parents do. “Students are ready to lead us in the right direction – their direction.”- Julie Johnson


 * Jester, "Remaining Seated: Lessons Learned by Writing."

'Main Ideas:


 * Writing is hard.


 * We need to model writing to our students just like we model everything else. We need to write and put ourselves in their place frequently so that we can appreciate the difficulties they face.


 * If we continue to write, we will be able to see and appreciate our own growth.

Teaching Method: Teaching strategies are based on personal experience. We may learn new teaching strategies that we can pass on to our students by writing.

Overview and value of article:

This was an inspiring and brief article encouraging us to model writing. You need to read this!! Judith Jester is a teacher that is also a member of a National Writing Project group. She believes that she has become a better teacher because of the lessons she herself has learned as a writer. She believes that teaching strategies should be tried first by writing yourself. She understands the frustrations that go along with writing. She has written many unfinished pieces of work and has published very few. Regarding teachers, she says: “What they fail to understand is that they will produce better writers if they pick up a pen for something more than evaluation. If they do, they will learn far more about teaching writing than any instructors manual can ever tell them”.

Jester also says, “English teachers will often say they are too busy to write. For most, that means they are too busy grading papers”. I have to agree that it can be difficult to find the time to write, but this article inspired me to continue to try to write throughout my career.-Julie Johnson


 * Wood Ray, "Why Cauley Writes Well: A Close Look at What a Difference Good Teaching Can Make."


 * Main Ideas


 * Good methods of teaching writing come from “communities of practice” (teacher reads professionally, interacts with colleagues, and learns from experience).


 * Interest and curiosity breed engagement-children like to write about things they are interested in

Teaching strategies:


 * Let the students write about what they are interested in.


 * On picking a topic to write about, the author discusses how writers get ideas. The class uses quotes for book jackets, author’s notes, dedications, and interviews with writers.


 * Lisa Cleaveland encourages children to talk about their topics with her and with the other children in class. This helps students to generate more ideas.

Value of Article Yet another inspiring article! Lisa Cleaveland is a 1st grade teacher that believes that writing should be seen as an on-going project. Children don’t just write things, they make things with writing. Students may also have more than one writing project going at the same time. Sometimes you need to put a writing piece away and look at it with new eys on another day. Her students also read a lot, talk about, and analyze what they’ve read. In this way, good writing is modeled for them and they may be inspired by ideas of other writers. I really enjoyed Ms. Cleaveland’s use of a genre of writing she calls “wow nonfiction” which is “different from dry nonfiction that simply feeds the reader facts”. With wow nonfiction the writer gives facts but also adds some excitement to engage the reader and to make the topic seem more interesting. This article is chock-full of teaching strategies that are the tools we will need to inspire writing in all of our students! - Julie Johnson

Set 4


 * Larson and Maier, "Co-Authoring Classroom Texts: Shifting Participant Roles in Writing Activity." Volume 34 – May 2000 – 31 pages

Revised By: Jesse Marcus

In the essay, Larson explains that he wanted to shadow Maryrita Maier and take a close look at how she encouraged her students to become authors. I thought it was very interesting how Maier’s students spent many hours reading as well as demonstrating creative writing. It shows that a teacher can model her own authorship processes and have her students mimic these processes in their own writing. Viewing the child as an equally valued member of the classroom writing community is key in understanding how literacy as a social and cultural practice is constructed in interaction. The teacher and students worked together as authors where authorship was means of participation. Maier incorporated lessons of how to write stories based on questions that the audience could ask. The teacher devoted time to teaching Initiation, Response, and Evaluate in order for students become fluent at proofreading their work to eliminate errors or unwanted sentences. Questions/revision instruction was important because it illustrated how authorship served as a fundamental means of participation in the community of writers in the classroom. Lawson’s research was brilliantly illustrated. I felt that his technique of evaluating a classroom provides an inside look at how children develop writing skills. The audio and video techniques were thoughtful because the tapes can be used as a framework for future teachers. The idea of a teacher’s authorship modeled in classroom interaction is astounding because it shows that the students were committed to learning how to read, write, and critique. One example that stood out involved Chuck and his story of his favorite television program. The teacher listened to the information and was puzzled about the time he watched the program, yet didn’t criticize because she feels it is necessary to critique work after it is written. Even though I became a solid writer and editor, I would have loved to be a student in her classroom, and experience everything that Lawson described.


 * Suzanne Linebarger Tension Up Moving from fluency to flair - 2001

Revised by Jesse Marcus

Students need to write daily for a variety of purposes and audiences. Writing should be used as a support for learning. Informal writing increases the students ability to write as well as demonstrates multiple uses for writing. The classroom environment must be designed to support fluency, as in the amount of writing the students must complete. Behavior expectations must be clear, as in students should take risks by making mistakes. Motivation for informal writing remains high when it is paired with informal sharing. Interaction is a key to motivation, and it’s the interaction that keeps everyone writing. Tension is inherited in all learning experiences. Students become enthusiastic about exploring their own struggles to learn and are willing to reflect back on their experiences and see how far they have come. Writing prompts with tension add life and sparkle. The piece will be full of description that is designed to fit the prompt. Personal narrative has a role in all writing programs, but for writers to become fluent and skilled, experiences far beyond the realm of fiction and personal narrative are needed.

Motivation is key for having students become more fluent with writing. The author portrays a key element in writing, tension. He explains that tension must be involved in a piece of writing because it inputs flare and flash. The example he demonstrated to his class involved a rubber band. In his demonstration, he took the rubber band and pointed it into the air. The idea was to show that changing the objects shape and tone can add tension. I think that tension is a good example of how to influence a students writing, and the author uses clear and comprehensive examples to get his point across. From past experiences, I have been given advice to add tension to my writing, and my writing has much improved.


 * ROWE FITCH BASS: “Power, Identity, and Instructional Stance in Writers’ Workshop” Vol. 7 8, No. 5, May 2001

Revised By: Jesse Marcus

In this article, Rowe, Fitch, and Bass explore how issues of power and identity are embedded within the cultures of a first-grade writing classroom. Children’s views of themselves and their opportunities for literacy learning are either directly or indirectly tied to issues of power in the classroom. Classrooms are intercultural sites where multiple communities intersect. The study involving observing a group of students seemed beneficial in understanding classroom literacy. Throughout the study they performed daily field observations as teacher researcher, audiotapes and videotapes of classroom literacy events, interviews with the teacher about her instructional decisions, samples of children’s writing, interviews with each child, and a parent questionnaire. The researchers developed a system that shows the good and bad writers in the class. The better writers seemed to be excellent spellers and able to used complicated words, while the lower quality writers had trouble developing creating ideas. Inviting children from all communities and skill levels into social roles that provide them with positive views of themselves. Challenging them to construct the understandings and strategies to participate fully in a literate classroom is key for future development as societal settings dramatically differ. During the experiment, the researchers considered how to increase the diversity of accepted ways of expressing oneself and participating in the classroom. It was difficult to decide which features of peer practices would support their learning in the classroom.

This article stressed that children need help in entering into the world of literacy. The examples of Will and Nathan are key in understanding how children develop literacy skills in a community-based society. The students in the class defined Will as a “good writer” because he was able to create imaginative ideas while using complicated words. Students often came to Will for advice, and accepted his higher-level of knowledge. Nathan on the other hand was a “non-writer” because he hated every aspect of writing. His strategy involved doing the bare minimum work so that he wouldn’t attract attention. During the experiment, researchers observed Nathan’s transformation from a “non-writer” to a “good writer.” He started attracting attention for his writing, and became a popular icon in the classroom. He became a leader and set the mood during a writing activity. From my experiences in elementary school, I would be matched with Nathan. I additionally hated writing because I was horrific at constructing a piece of work. However, I never became an icon in the classroom because I was unsure of my writing abilities, and didn’t want to attract attention towards my ghastly skills.

Vol. 83 No. 3 January 2006
 * Wood Ray, "Exploring Inquiry as a Teaching Stance in the Writing Workshop"

Revised By: Jesse Marcus

Framing instruction represents an essential stance to teaching and learning. It is an inquiry stance, characterized by repositioning curriculum as the outcome of instruction rather than as the starting point. When teachers immerse students in reading and studying, students learn how to read like writers, noticing as an insider how things are written. Students learn to look at texts the way a mechanic looks at cars or a musician listens to music. Inquiry does not narrow our perspective. Instead it gives us more understandings, questions, and possibilities than when we started. In an inquiry stance, teachers help children explore different alternatives for how to write. Efficacy means the power to produce an effect. An inquiry stance can produce students who are prepared to meet the demands of writing in a world with constantly evolving conventions and expectations, and a greater understanding that writing includes techniques of genre, form, and style.

The purpose of the article is to explain the efficacy of an inquiry stance in the teaching of writing. A way to teach inquiry could be to use real world examples of writing as a way to highlight features they want students to attend to in the texts. This method makes it possible to plan a series of lessons ahead of time. The teacher in the article seemed to be highly skilled at teaching her students how to write efficiently. She used well-designed tactics that helped the students look outside the box to explore the components of writing. I feel that teaching students should develop genre, form and style techniques at a very young age because it is key for future development. In elementary school, I was taught such techniques during the third grade, and it significantly helped better my writing.

After reading the other articles, I noticed that all of our personal reflections were quite similar. For the first article, each group mentioned the authorship concept and the community atmosphere idea. For the second article, every group agreed that teaching the students the ability to write with fluency and tension help create excellent work. For the third article, everyone described their liking of how writing was taught from an inquiry perspective. For the forth article, all of the groups agreed that students first learn how to read like writers which leads to learning how things are written. In addition, through the use of inquiry, students have a more expansive knowledge base to integrate in their writing. Following the reading of the other responces, one of the groups gave an interesting view to article one which involves authoring based classrooms and how they enchance the learning community. One other group gave new insight to the idea of utilizing social interaction while teaching reading and writing.

In one article the main point circulated around a teacher who was highly educated in knowing how to work with children and knowing how to teach to their special needs. In one article the author suggests that educators need to be reminded of the importance of the use of the tools of a process approach to writing, and that every child is different whether from a different culture or different learning level. Students should be taught to work with friends to discuss and brainstorm different ideas. Students should connect with their writing and what kinds of writing come out of different life experiences. The author made a point that students seem to enjoy what they write if it involves outside experiences they can relate to. One author made the point that the environment influences how and what people learn. One author makes a point that without some sort of interest in what is being written, interest might be lost in writing. One author's view of social narratives is looking more at injustices in ones culture although social narratives seem to be able to take on any shared cultural experience. One author’s theory is that our social environment determines the kind of language that we use and write. Teachers have differing opinions on what is inappropriate writing. Writing is sometimes a students’ only outlet so any topic should be encouraged. Good methods of teaching writing come from communities of practice.

The articles stress the importance of reading and writing for children. From past experiences, I agree that learning to write by a knowledgeable instructor is key for future success. Peers add additional support in critiquing and evaluating ideas. The environment is very important for students to learn to write because if they feel comfortable and interested then their skills will be exposed. I learned to write in a positive environment with helpful sources that encouraged everyone to write about things that are familiar and interesting. Furthermore, practicing writing is important because the more that students write the better their ability.