Written Conversation Strategies Workshop NHS October 2014 by Buffy Hamilton and Jennifer Lund

Welcome to Written Conversation Strategies! 1. Please sign in on the

course roster!

2. Grab a Sharpie.

3. Find a seat at any

table with or without

paper (blue chairs

or green chairs).

4. Get ready to have

fun and learn!

Original photograph by Buffy Hamilton

Presented by

Buffy J. Hamilton and Jennifer Lund,

Media Specialists, NHS

Today’s

Learning Target:

I will be able to implement

written conversation

strategies to improve student

writing and reading skills.

Original photograph by Buffy Hamilton

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

A strategy in which “Small groups of

kids write and exchange notes about a

curricular topic for several rounds—

maybe 5 to 15 minutes of sustained

writing–and then they burst into out-

loud talk that’s rooted in their extended

written rehearsals” (Daniels 155).

“what happens when you have several

kids annotate the same copy of a text at

the same time, jotting down their

responses in the margins. Quite naturally,

students start reading other people’s

comments and want to give their

classmates a written high five, ask a

clarifying question, or throw down a

tough challenge” (Daniels 184).

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

When I annotate an article, what do I write?

Record a REACTION

Ask a QUESTION

Give an OPINION

Make a CONNECTION

Respond to how I relate to the situation or information I’m reading

Study the diagrams and data: what is significant, surprising,

expected?

Record the what, the who, the why, the when, the where,

the how

Record thinking that is new or surprising

Highlight or circle vocabulary words or terms you can

use for additional searches

Adapted from Cris Tovani

See, think, wonder: big ideas, insights,

questions

CC image via https://www.flickr.com/photos/inkybob/122476158/sizes/o/

Scaffold with mini-memos, short student letters that teachers use to introduce, extend, and assess class work.

Progress to dialogue journals, where pairs dive deeply into academic subjects.

Build to groups of three or four students join in extended written discussions called write-arounds.

Move to online discussion spaces online, where they enjoy digital discussions with peers and other learners around the world.

Original photo by Buffy Hamilton Source: http://www.corwin.com/books/Book239764#tabview=title

Daniels Recommends…

Student Selected

Text/Passages

Teacher Selected

Text/Passages

Questions Images/

Graphics

Multimedia

Introduce guidelines

for participation

Writing/ Thinking

Time

Small/Large Group

Discussion and

Assessment

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

Benefits

• Can be used across all content areas and age groups

• Can use multiple kinds of “texts”

• Fantastic springboard for inquiry and helping students develop questions

Benefits

• Can be used to introduce DBQ

• Excellent medium for developing appropriate conversation skills with peers”

• Formative assessment

Original photograph by Buffy Hamilton

Emily Russell

10th Language Arts

http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/2014/01/20/writing-around-text-on-text-effort-2-unplugged-conversations-for-inquiry-participation-and-social-construction-of-

meanings/

Original photo by Buffy Hamilton

Original photo by Buffy Hamilton

Original photo by Buffy Hamilton

Original photo by Buffy Hamilton

Original photo by Buffy Hamilton

• Because of prior scaffolding (silent literature circles with notecards) by Emily, they felt more comfortable engaging in written conversation

• Made up their own rules---moved beyond their original table

• Could manage soft conversation while staying focused

• Long sustained chunks of writing (20 or so minutes)

• More specific responses to text and to each other

we should be

more

10th grade student

• Students liked the freedom in being able to move about and respond at their own pace during the write-around.

Mobility

• Students were focused on ideas, not grammar or spelling.

Big Ideas

• Everyone had opportunities to contribute to the discussion.

Participation

They enjoyed and appreciated hearing many student

voices, something that sometimes gets silenced in

traditional class discussions.

They liked being able to see different perspectives on their book;

several remarked how the written conversations helped them see

something they had not noticed about the book. Others commented

their perspective on a character or issue in the text had changed after

reading the opinions and responses of their peers.

They were beginning to understand learning is social

and how meaning can be constructed together.

critical thinking

http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/twitter-chat-socratic-circles/

http://www.ellenfilgo.net/hashtag-librarian/

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

https://storify.com/buffyjhamilton/2nd-period-glass-castle-socratic-circle-twitter-ch?utm_source=embed_header

“Grows” “Glows”

Once again, I left school with a

teacher high. Giving the outer circle

an opportunity to Tweet while the inner

circle was discussing gave everyone a

voice in the conversation. Every single

student was completely engaged the entire period. What an amazing day!

Emily Russell

CC graphics via http://thenounproject.com/term/quotation-marks/19279/

I cannot say enough good things about

our media specialists. They have been instrumental in supporting our teachers

this year, and they have pushed me to try

strategies that may be outside of my comfort zone.

Emily Russell

CC graphics via http://thenounproject.com/term/quotation-marks/19279/

Original photograph by Buffy Hamilton

Logan Malm

9th Accelerated Biology/ Chemistry

http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/2014/02/06/informational-text-write-around-text-on-text-with-biologychemistry-classes/

Original photo by Buffy Hamilton Original photograph by Buffy Hamilton

Original photo by Buffy Hamilton

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

Original photography by Buffy Hamilton

Each class wrote approximately 30-33 minutes; some could

have continued writing had we not called time!

Take Away

Most of the written conversations were rich and nuanced just as the literary

conversations had been. Although the content was more academic and

subject specific in nature, the written discussions still felt very

conversational. We also noticed students using more

visuals/graphics/drawings as part of these conversations.

Take Away

The trajectory of energy and momentum to the conversations

paralleled those of Emily’s classes—it is akin to a crescendo in music where the sound builds

in loudness and intensity. We saw the written conversations

building in those same way

Take Away

Like Emily’s classes, students enjoyed using hashtags as part of their written conversations. I

think #maggot was one of the more popular hashtags

of the day

Take Away

CC graphics via http://thenounproject.com/term/quotation-marks/19279/

Impressions – LOVED this activity. It was really special

watching the students write about scientific topics and

develop questions based on their thoughts and the

thoughts of other students. I enjoyed seeing them

question the validity of certain claims, argue in favor

of/against scientific ideas using their prior knowledge

and create questions that they had after reading each

article. This activity gave me a chance to see my students

in a way that I have yet to observe. They had an

opportunity to act like true scientists, and didn’t even

know it! Overall, this was a wonderful activity that I will be

doing again!

Logan Malm

Tips and Strategies • Scaffold with a guiding question at each

table

• Pre-read passages if using longer text for

nonfiction or informational text

• “Someone stole my idea”

• Can be an entry point to

inquiry/research

• Work with us! We love co-facilitating!

CC image via https://www.flickr.com/photos/f-oxymoron/9647972522/sizes/l

CC image via http://www.flickr.com/photos/zhou_mengjie/6523964087/sizes/l/