Collins Writing Notes

Here are Holly's notes from the Collins Writing workshop. The only thing I took out or edited was the chart at the bottom because it didn't copy and paste. For those not present, we discussed the need to have Collins Writing be a focus as we develop our units this year (particularly for our five days in August). It seems much better situated for integration than Craft Plus. But - like anything else - we have to do it intentionally and follow through. I think we are much better equipped to do that this year than last.

Let's get some discussion going below about what we are thinking! :)

NOTES:

Five Types of Writing
1. Brainstorming, writing that has a time limit and quota, no write or wrong answers (PG 45)
2. Writing that is graded only on content, a quiz (PG 45)
3. Writing that has FCA's and is read out loud in a soft voice (PG 46)
- Kept in the folder
4. Writing that gets reviewed by a peer after the author has reviewed it (PG 46)
- Kept in the folder
5. Writing that is publishable (error free), read to be seen by anyone. (PG 46)

3 Step Editing
1. Teacher leads class through evaluating the first paper (Student volunteer)
2. Ask for a 2nd volunteer and have the students grade it in groups
3. Ask for a 3rd volunteer and have individual students grade the paper.
*in order to encourage students to volunteer their paper, assure them that they will get a higher grade, because they can fix the mistakes and resubmit it.

FCA's
- The content category is the what of the writing
(facts, reasons with support, specific details, quotes from text, comparisons)
- The organization category is the order of the writing
- The convention category has to do with the appearance of the writing
(spelling, mechanics,
- The style category is the personality of the writing
- There can be given FCA's (ex. starting with a capital letter and ending punctuation)
*Use your own judgement when combing Rules for FCA's


To Buy
- Seven Sentence Building Activities to Develop Advanced Writers by Jerry Morris (6)
- Writing Folders (150)
- Essential Conventions Poster B 1
- Essential Conventions Quick Reference Guide B (150)
- Five Types of Writing Poster

Ideas about How to Incorporate Collins
- HRJ's
- Reading Mini Lessons should incorporate writing skills
- Only 2 Type Five's a year
- Test the Vocabulary Cards throughout the year
- The last (1-5) questions on each assessment are chosen randomly by a student (drawing from a box)
- Bloom's Posters on the wall
- Wheel of "Fortune" for quizzes (Type 2)

Essential Writing Assignments
10% Summary
- Summarize a piece of writing in 10% of the words (this way students know how long their paper should be)
- Select 5-10 vocabulary words from the article and record them on the Vocabulary Focus Sheet
- Have students read and mark up the article
- Have students do the 10% Summary Focus Sheet
- Have students write the 10% Summary to be evaluated based on the following FCAs
- SATT topic sentence
- 2-4 main ideas in order
- To be determined by teacher

Vocabulary Cards
- Side One:
- Word
- Illustration
- Side Two:
- Definition (Teacher Provided)
- Sentence (Must convey the meaning, so that the word can be guessed)

Short Persuasive Essay
- Taking a stand on an issue

Similar but Different
- Comparing and contrasting when differences are subtle
- Comparing and Contrasting Matrix
- Used as a Type 1 or Type 2
- Can be the graphic organizer to a multi-paragraph essay