Never Hear “I Don’t Have Anything to

Write About” Again!

Marla RobertsonUniversity of North Texas

Texas Woman’s University

Juanita Ramirez-RobertsonDenton ISD

Texas Woman’s University

Reading is breathing in. . .Writing is breathing out

Ralph Fletcher

Computer Brain

Input vs. Output

Writing requires thinking!

“Meaning is not thought up and then written

down. The act of writing is an act of thought.”

(Murray, 1985, p.3)

Writing is Learning

Donald Murray:

“…meaning is not thought up and then written down. The act of writing is an act of thought” (1985, p.3)

Read Aloud - Journal Writing

Getting Started

Author’s

Chair

Generating

Topics

1. "I don't have anything to write about.

In the classroom generating writing ideas and topics can be one of the most daunting tasks that young writers face.

The teacher’s role is to provide students with strategies for generating and selecting their own topics and ideas, not to feed or give the students topics.

The Bucket

List

Write, write,

write!

Strategies for Generating Topics

BrainstormingFree Writing

LoopingClustering

ListingCross Pollination

Strategies for Generating Topics

• Cubing

• Journalistic questions

• Nut-shelling

• Researching

• Dialogue

What are

Quickwrites?• 1st draft writing

• About ideas not conventions

• Springboard to other Writing with

specific focus

• Writing for reflection or closure

• Write the whole time

Using Quickwrites

What are you thinking?

What do you know?

What did you learn?

When can you do Quickwrites?

Science

Math

Social Studies

English/Language Arts

Let’s Try It!

Science Quickwrite – 5 Senses/Taste

◆ Write for 2 minutes

◆ Share with your table

1 from each table share with the group

Response to Literature

After a read aloud

Let’s try it:

Dichos/Proverb/Aesops Fable

Social Studies

Let’s Try it !

Cultures - Holidays

Social Justice

What do you do when students

only write about one thing over

and over again?

1 Topic = 18 Topics

Choose a topic

Write for 2 minutes

Real-World Writing Purposes

• Express and Reflect

• Inform and Explain

• Evaluate and Judge

• Inquiry and Explore

• Analyze and Interpret

• Take a Stand/Propose a

Solution

Student Example

Teacher Modeling

Insert a picture from Gallagher book

Teacher Modeling

Work on your 1 Topic = 18 Topics

Writing requires a

different level of

engagement

“Use writing as a way of learning, a way of discovering and exploring, of finding what

you may have to say and finding ways in which you may

say it.” (Murray, 1985, p. 6)

Writing

Brainstorm how you can use what

you learned today in your

classroom?

Write for 2 minutes

Wrap-up/Discussion

Ah ha Moments

Thank you!Juanita Ramirez-Robertsonjrobertson@twu.edu

Marla Robertsonmrobertson6@twu.edu

Workshop References

Allington, R. L., & Cunningham, P. M. (2006). Schools That Work: Where All Children Read and Write. New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon, Inc.

Brindley, R., & Schneider, J. J. (2002). Writing Instruction or Destruction? Lessons to be Learned from Fourth Grade Teachers’ Perspectives. Journal of Teacher Education, 53, 328-341.

Cambourne, B. (1988). The Whole Story: Natural Learning and the Acquisition of Literacy in the Classroom. Auckland, New Zealand: Ashton Scholastic.

Capello, M. (2006). Under Construction: Voice and Identity Development in Writing Workshop. Language Arts, 83(6), 482-491.

Corden, R. (2007). Developing Reading-writing Connections: The Impact of Explicit Instruction of Literary Devices on the Quality of Children’s Narrative Writing. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 21(3), 269-89.

Elbow, P. (2000). Everyone can write: Essays Towards a Hopeful Theory of Writing and Teaching Writing. New York: Oxford University Press.

Gallagher, K. (2011). Write like this: Teaching real-world writing through modeling & mentor texts. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Graves, D. H. (2002). Testing is Not Teaching: What Should Count in Education. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Murray, D. M. (1985). A Writer Teaches Writing. Dallas, TX: Houghton Mifflin.

Workshop References Nava, Y. (2000). It's all in the frijoles: 100 famous Latinos share real-life stories, time-tested Dichos, favorite folktales, and inspiring words of wisdom. New York: Simon & Schuster..

National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges. (2003). The Neglected “R”: The Need for a Writing Revolution. New York: College Board.

National Writing Project, & Nagin, C. (2006). Because Writing Matters: Improving Student Writing in our Schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Ray, K. W. (2006). Study Driven: A Framework for Planning Units of Study in the Writing Workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Shelton, N. R., & Fu, D. (2004). Creating Space for Teaching Writing and for Test Preparation. Language Arts, 82(2), 120-128.

Short, K., Harste, J., & Burke, C. (1996). Creating Classrooms for Authors and Inquirers. 2nd ed. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Smith, F. (1988). Joining the Literacy Club. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemman. Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, trans. M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, and E. Souberman. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. New York: Cambridge University Press. Whyte, A., Lazarte, A., Thompson, I., Ellis, N., Muse, A., & Talbot, R. (2007). The National Writing Project, Teachers’ Writing Lives, and Student Achievement in Writing. Action in Teacher Education, 29(2), 5-16. Zinsser, W. K. (1988). Writing to Learn. New York, NY: Harper & Row.