SOL2015 March 23 - Words I Wish I Had Written



Today I planned for my teaching tomorrow…

The focus of my work will be to show teachers and students how as writers we need to develop a close relationship with those author’s we admire. We need to get close to their words. We need to study closely, aspects of their craft. We need to learn to savour their words. We need to learn to read not just with our eyes, but our also with our ears, our hearts. 

 These writers over time will be our collaborators. My aim is for these young writers to understand how we can immeasurably improve the quality of our writing by learning to read like writers.

When our eyes fall upon words we identify as wondrous, we should copy such extracts into our notebooks as a reminder of powerful and inspirational writing. These words are the words we wish we had written…

The passages I copy into my notebook regularly come from those writers I view as mentors and heroes. Their words inspire me to greater effort as a writer. I write under their influence, I write in their style. Sometimes I include extracts that remind me to write in a certain way.

The words I collect from other authors sit among my own words. That way my words are hanging out with only the best possible examples of writing. I want my words to be thinking wow, I want to be like that.

I know these young writers have not been in the habit of working in their notebooks in this way. This will be new to them. I have asked them to bring in their favourite books so that we can go exploring… Text detectives all. Lots of reading, talking, writing and lots of explaining choices. They shall be reading like writers.

Before we do this important exploratory work I will share some of the influences on my writing.


From The Boat, Helen Ward
‘The rain came with clouds, the colour of bruises.’ *Description
 ‘Trickles tipped caterpillars off their twigs and turned to torrents.’ *Alliteration


From Noah Barleywater Runs Away, John Boyne
‘Noah Barleycorn left home in the early morning, before the sun rose, before the dogs woke, before the dew stopped falling on the fields.’ *Establishes time, using repetition

From my notebook... Fantastic Non Fiction! 
I hope these young writers (and their teachers) begin to appreciate the immense power of other writers to positively impact on the writing they do. There are so many ways we can influence the development of student writing. I can’t wait to share some of this treasure…

Comments

  1. Michelle Haseltine23 March 2015 at 20:23

    "Words I wish I'd Written" I LOVE this!!! Going to add this page to my notebook and weave it into my teaching. Thank you! LOVE this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright24 March 2015 at 17:01

      Have fun with this Michelle and watch how it changes what your students are noticing.

      Delete
  2. Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski23 March 2015 at 20:49

    This is really powerful! I love how you personified words here and have them "wanting to hang out" with only the really good examples! It is so clever to make a section in your notebook like this and I will do this, too. I've done workshops where students pay close attention to Cynthia Rylant's words in her book In November and try to name strategies for her craft moves. Katie Wood Ray writes a lot about this in her book Wondrous Words and I always go back to her brilliant ideas. Thanks so much for adding more to my thoughts on this and giving me an idea to share with my students. By the way, I ordered your book a couple of weeks ago....hoping it arrives soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright24 March 2015 at 17:10

      Kathleen, I learnt so much about reading like writers from Katy Wood Ray when I first worked in NYC in 2001. Good luck with strategy. Hope you find some ideas in my book that affirm what you know about writing.

      Delete
  3. Mary Ann Reilly23 March 2015 at 21:51

    This is such a helpful blog post. It is that close noticing that happens within a text and across works. Both matter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright24 March 2015 at 17:11

      If we can do this 'close noticing. we are better able to share this important action with students. It gives their writing increased power.

      Delete
  4. Mary Ann Reilly23 March 2015 at 21:54

    BTW, I ordered both books.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright24 March 2015 at 17:12

      That news makes my heart sing! Thank you Mary Ann.

      Delete
  5. Sally23 March 2015 at 21:56

    I show my students mentor text and encourage them to try to write like... BUT that extra step you took to add the heading "Words I Wish I Wrote" and then the phrase "My Turn" shows writers HOW to do this work. So simple. So brilliant. Thanks for sharing the visuals, too. It helped me to really get how to work better with mentor texts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright24 March 2015 at 17:15

      Thank you for the feedback Sally. The extra step of trying to write 'under the influence' shows students how to apply new knowledge in a meaningful way.

      Delete
  6. elsie23 March 2015 at 23:49

    When we can discover "words I wish I'd written" we are truly reading like a writer. What a powerful example you have to show the teachers and students! It will be an enlightening day for many, wish I could be there too. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright24 March 2015 at 17:17

      We are are indeed in an enlightened state when we read like writers Elsie. The day went well and the kids and their teachers are now on a new journey. A journey where their reading has a chance to truly inform the writing they are doing.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous24 March 2015 at 03:52

    Thank you for such a good idea, with examples to make it stick.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright24 March 2015 at 17:19

      That's always the challenge- to make new learning stick. Creating opportunities for the learner to practice the strategy numerous times tends to make it 'stickier.'

      Delete
  8. Melanie Meehan24 March 2015 at 10:48

    What a wonderful message to deliver to teachers and students. I love the line: "I want my words to be thinking wow, I want to be like that." I want to remember to say that to students soon. Fabulous post, Alan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright24 March 2015 at 17:22

      Thank you Melanie. Your feedback is always valued. My reading has changed so much over the years from 'reading like a writer.' In turn this has assisted my writing. I have no doubt about its impact.

      Delete
  9. Unknown24 March 2015 at 15:06

    Love this!! I do this too!! Except, I don't try to write like them. I need to start doing that part too! What a fantastic idea. I know this is supposed to be for your kids, but I love to keep my favorite words somewhere where I can find them and be lifted up and inspired. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright24 March 2015 at 17:24

      Glad you like it Morgan. Just take that next step and see where it takes you- and then your student writers. Ah, the possibilities are exciting!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular With Other Visitors

Writing Opposite Poems

Image
 O pp o s ite  P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. Not eve...
Read more

Writing About Reading - Reading Reflection Journals:

Image
UPDATED February 2022 Writing in response to literature can be a great way for students to organize their thoughts, explore what they think, and generate ideas. One of the strengths of writing in journals is that it allows students to capture all of those great ideas that generally float off into the air during the discussion.  Journal writing can also become drudgery if students are asked to write too often, given little choice or inspiration in what to write, or if they simply don't have anything to say. While some students eagerly share their impressions about selections they have read in class discussions, others are less comfortable and keep their thoughts to themselves. In an effort to encourage all students to think more about what they read and confidently share their observations and opinions, some teachers are turning to the reading reflection journal and are gaining insights they never anticipated.  The Value of Reflection Journals   Journals assist teachers...
Read more

Learning How to 'Zoom In' When Writing

Image
It is important for young writers to understand that not all parts of a story are equal. There are parts through which a writer moves quickly, and important parts where the writer slows down and lingers a while. This is where the writer might intensify the action or reveal the character’s reactions in greater detail. Young writers need to know that this is a deliberate strategy on the part of the author. The author consciously zooms in. The writer uses a magnifying glass to view a part of the story more closely; to focus on a moment and to slow down time. When an important part of the story is enlarged upon, it   is a signal to the reader, that this part of the story is important. The strategy of ‘zooming in’ goes by many names: ‘exploding a moment’ ‘magnifying a moment’, ‘hotspot’ ‘snapshot’, ‘adding detail’ or ‘slowing the action.’  What ever the name, the idea is the same. The author writes in a way that expands a significant part of the story with the intentio...
Read more

Slice Of Life Story-The Trials Of A Left Handed Writer

Image
Amazingly I learnt to write using my left hand. An achievement against the prevailing beliefs of the day. My very first teacher saw it as her mission in life to ‘fix’ the poor, wretched little boy suffering from what she clearly diagnosed as left handed disease. She must have thought, 'This child must be re formatted! If he remains left handed he will be forever condemned to writing in a scrawl that no one will be able to read. Ugly hand, ugly hand.' ...They tried to say it couldn't be done, it mustn't be done. They took the pencil out of my left hand and placed it in my right hand. It felt unnatural. It felt weird. It was not right. More to the point it was not left. I was not about to conform. At least they didn't try tying my hand behind my back. Watch me I said. I may be an oddball, left handed scribbler but I am a determined oddball. I mean how boring would the world be if everyone wrote with their right hand? So I dug my toes in –and my hands to...
Read more

Exploring Themes in Poetry With Emerging Writers

Image
There is so much more to poetry than haiku and acrostics. Yet, so many young poets never get to experience the rich breadth of poetry beyond these highly structured forms. Why? Primarily, it’s about their teachers comfort levels with poetry. We often teach to what we know, meaning that being adventurous and taking young poets into new realms is not part of the poetic landscape for many. This sells young poets and poetry itself short. Last week I had the pleasure to again work with a group of young poets from Derrimut Primary School grade 5/6 in Melbourne’s west. We have been exploring patterns and repetition in poetry. We have explored personification as a literary device to develop the writing of poetry. We delved into the idea of writing through a mask to provide inanimate and animate entities with a voice. They told stories in words from their own perspective. On this occasion we again went to the edges and began to explore poetry through themes. We discussed a range ...
Read more