Shew!

Well! I have made an attempt to put my research project into full swing! I have managed to send home the permission slips but have yet to get them all turned back into me. I plan to send them home one more time and possibly get it translated for my Spanish speaking students. I wanted to start implementing my interactive writing lessons Tuesday but got delayed! I had an observer in the classroom and I had to continue my previous ways of teaching. I have gathered my first sample writing. I have to admit there were some instances where I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw and others not so much! I don't have much to share just yet, but am excited!

I plan to teach interactive writing lessons for the next two days this week and should have some more information to share this weekend.

Here we go!

Shew!

I have spent this week trying to get organized and ready to start this action research! One thing I have always been working on is organization!! I am still getting my binder ready with dividers, folders, and anything else I will need for this to run smoothly! I am definitely looking forward to conducting this research in my classroom and finding out how it will turn out. I plan to blog at least twice a week to keep you posted on the interactive writing instruction as well as the writing students compose at the end of each week!

Timeline

So far, I have sent the consent forms home with students and intend on waiting the rest of the week to see what I have as far as numbers. I am currently trying to figure out how to get a calendar imported onto my blog!
Until then my timeline is very sketched out. I intend to blog twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays. My schedule permits me to teach writing two to three times a week. I will teach my interactive writing lessons on Tuesday- Thursday. Fridays I will collect a writing sample from each student. Friday, February 1st, I will collect my first sample for data collection. Each week I will interview students. As students are participating in our lessons I will write down my observations to analyze later. I will also observe students as they write on a weekly basis.


****TO BE CONTINUED****

 

Context/Problem

I teach in the Spanish immersion program and have two classes I am responsible for teaching writing to. I decided to send home a permission slip with both classes to be on the safe side. Along with that I made a check list so I can be sure to flag students who will not be able to participate. In both classes I have noticed they have trouble writing independently. When I am teaching whole group students can tell me what is needed for example: punctuation, capital letters, etc. but when it is time for them to write on their own they struggle transferring their knowledge without my guidance. I am hoping interactive writing will help make writing instruction more meaningful.

I chose to concentrate on my homeroom class. The reason behind this is because I have a little extra time in my schedule to squeeze in some interactive writing. My morning class is jammed pack with small group literacy and individualized instruction. In my homeroom class there are 21 students. Of those students there are 8 African American, 6 White, and 7 Hispanic students. Parents are very involved with the students in both of my immersion classrooms.

PROBLEM: I want to motivate my students as they write individually. Once students go to their seats it's like they forget how to write and have no desire to do their best. I want them to take pride in their writing and try their best. I plan to use interactive writing to show students the various things they can write about as well as the conventions of writing. I hope to put it all together in fun lessons that engage students to learn about writing. Once students are invovled on the carpet, I want them to take what they learned and put it into their independent writing.