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Roulette Writing Author(s): Pamela J. Farris Source: The Reading Teacher, Vol. 42, No. 1, Children's Choices Favorite Books for 1988 (Oct., 1988), p. 91 Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20200022 . Accessed: 28/06/2014 10:26 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Wiley and International Reading Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Reading Teacher. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 92.63.103.61 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:26:12 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Children's Choices Favorite Books for 1988 || Roulette Writing

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Page 1: Children's Choices Favorite Books for 1988 || Roulette Writing

Roulette WritingAuthor(s): Pamela J. FarrisSource: The Reading Teacher, Vol. 42, No. 1, Children's Choices Favorite Books for 1988 (Oct.,1988), p. 91Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20200022 .

Accessed: 28/06/2014 10:26

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Wiley and International Reading Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to The Reading Teacher.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 92.63.103.61 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:26:12 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Children's Choices Favorite Books for 1988 || Roulette Writing

Practical teaching ideas

smudge, dread, terrace, and easel.

Students could complete a worksheet which might look like the second Illus tration.

your Mlodlbmdtlh?r ?l SfwuAje

SflrteHwrui you ireuL a Retract on easel

The emphasis of this tool is not on artistic output but on the student's abil

ity to make a connection between the new and the known.

The picture box worksheet requires students' active involvement and also focuses on the relationship between

words, both characteristics of effective

vocabulary instruction. It also com bines two recommended strategies for

improving comprehension: providing direct instruction in word meanings and the use of imagery. Regular use of this tool should help develop the vo

cabulary and visualization skills so vi tal for improving comprehension.

Ford is with the University of Wisconsin

Oshkosh.

Roulette writing Pamela J. Farris

In the intermediate grades, both good and poor readers and writers benefit from a change of pace in assignments. Roulette writing provides the opportu nity for all students to use both their

reading and writing skills coopera tively.

In roulette writing, students are ran

domly placed in small heterogeneous groups (4 or 5 students). The teacher, who may elect to join a group, pro vides either a title or beginning sen tence of a story so that everyone is

writing to the same topic.

After 1 minute, the teacher an nounces "Finish the sentence you're writing and give the story to the person on your right." Receiving a new sheet, the students read what has been written on it and continue writing the story from that point. The teacher interrupts again after IV2 minutes, repeating the same instructions.

As the stories progress from student to student, the teacher increases the

length of time between exchanges so as to give the students ample time to both read the story and continue the main focus and tone of the piece in their own

portion. This continues until everyone in the

group has contributed to each story, with the last student who gets each sheet responsible for completing the

story.

Children in grades 3 through 6 find this enjoyable, particularly as a once a

week break from more formal reading and writing instruction. Lower ability students encounter success as they contribute to the final products of 4 or 5 different stories. Since the emphasis is on content, the grammar and spell

ing become less of an albatross. Since the groups are heterogeneous, there are good, average, and poor writers in

all of the groups. If a student does not

recognize a word, she merely nudges her neighbor on her left in the group, who tells her the word.

This is also a good activity for prac ticing writing and reading in cursive. Students become more conscious of their handwriting and tend to strive to

make their portion of the stories legi ble for their peers.

Farris teaches at Northern Illinois Univer

sity, DeKalb, Illinois.

2_. 3._ 4._ 5._ 6._ 7.

<o

1._ 2._ 3._ 4._ 5-_ 6-_ 7.

QQOO,

/O

Be A Star

G

5. _ 6._ 7._

Directions Choose an area of interest for each point of the star.

As you read a book in this area of interest, record the title on the numbered fine and Indicate that title by writing that number in the

drei? in the point. From Harry B. Miller, Northeast Louisiana University, Monroe, Louisiana, and

Mary Michael Campbell and Phillip Feldman, University of South Alabama,

Mobile, Alabama.

?N THE CLASSROOM 91

This content downloaded from 92.63.103.61 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:26:12 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions