Description of Implementation
After reflecting, looking at my students writing, and receiving their feedback on their own personal feelings on writing, I sat and thought about how I could make time to meet with my students individually and give them more time to speak with me about their writing. I have found from Phase One that all of my students have different needs and need more differentiation in writing lessons. Although the Writers Workshop model allows for students to write at their own level, I believe that it was still frustrating and difficult for some of the students because they wanted more scaffolding and modeling. I believe that with individual conferences I will be able to target students’ needs and facilitate their writing needs. I decided for Phase Two that my students would have an opportunity to meet with me a few minutes a day. My goal was to see 3 students per day, and to make more time to see struggling students more frequently. I noticed from the last phase that they were working well independently and that I didn't have to re-direct them on task as often. I felt, given this independence, I would have the freedom to call students to my desk and work with them individually.
I decided to let the students know this new schedule and I posted a conference schedule for the next two weeks to meet with all students. I also created a binder in which to take notes. I would keep my guiding questions in the binder, I would write down what feedback I gave the students strengths and weaknesses, and I would write down thoughts and questions the students provided. I believe that giving students the individual time is essential and I thought of it as an opportunity to get to know my students better and to work with them on the aspects where they are struggling with their writing. Additionally, I will be able to follow up with my students work and teach my students how to edit, and proofread their work.
Stage 1
Week 1
I was very excited to share the news about the conferences and the students were excited to see the schedule as well. I asked them if they would enjoy speaking with me about their writing and I received a lot of positive comments. I did, however, have a few students who didn't look too excited about it. With conferences there will be more accountability and that could account for the lack of excitement. One of the reasons I was excited to implement the conferences is for the accountability, not only for the students but for me as well. The whole week was a lot of work, for me and for my students. I explained how the students will need to stay on task during this individual meeting time. I set a timer and explained that it is important for me to work with only one student at a time and that we can't be interrupted unless it is an emergency. I bought a special necklace and told the students when I am wearing this necklace it means "I am busy with another student, and we need to wait our turn."
I was able to meet, work with and help 15 students. I saw where they were getting stuck, and I was able to give them individual attention with their phonics and blending to make words. I also noticed that with my ELL students I was giving them sentence frames. They were struggling just to make a complete sentence, or to come up with even a topic. This first week made me realize how scary it was for my ELL students to come up with writing anything at all. When I worked with my ELL students I noticed that by first discussing a topic, then helping them say it out loud, writing the sentence frame for them, have them copy it and insert a word of choice, they were much happier with their writing and they worked longer independently on their writing and picture. For my students whose phonics are more advanced they spent more time spelling that word choice. During phase one I praised students who were able to give me one word or two words for their writing. They wanted to write full sentences like me and the more advanced students. Leaving them stuck and struggling, finding the writing out of their ZPD. One student during our conference mentioned to me, that she wants to "write beautiful sentences." This was something I would say when I gave my mini-lessons. What she meant by this is she wanted to make a sentence like the more advanced students because that is what she saw as the right thing to do. This was great to see, because she aspires to make her writing better, but this particular student still needed more assistance with her language development and her phonetic knowledge. Knowing that she wants to do better and understanding her needs gave me more of an insight of what I could do to help her and other students like her with their individual goals and needs.
During the individual conferences, students would come up to me wanting me to see their work, some students weren't working on work at all, there were students that were even grabbing multiple writing paper simply to draw multiple pictures. The students who would come to me were from all different academic backgrounds. They weren't trying to be bad, but they simply wanted my praise and attention as they received before, and what they saw the other students getting who were working individually with me. They would often say, "Look at mine," or "I need help too," or "I don't know how to write this word." I even heard the dreadful, "I can't do this." Within a few days I lost the independent writers I had from Stage 1.
I was constantly disciplining the students, and re-focusing their attention to their writing. I noticed that many students all wanted to have that individual time with me and that is why they were coming up to me even though it wasn't their turn. I also noticed that since I wasn't walking around and looking at their work like I did during Phase One there was no one looking at their work or helping them stay focused. This was another reason why I had a lot of students off task. They were getting loud and making it hard for me to work with the three students I wanted to. I worked that first week with the students individually, but noticed that my writer’s workshop block was getting longer and that the students who were working were getting bored and were becoming more distracted. The time got longer because I had to re-focus the students.
Week 2
I tried asking parents who have volunteered in the past if they would come in during their writing time to help the students stay on task. I wasn't able to secure any helpers for that week. So, I went to plan B and decided to meet with only two students to free up more time for me to help the students stay on task and focused on their work. I wanted my students to work independently like they did towards the end of Phase 1 and I was a little lost on what else I could do to keep them on task. It worked much better, but I still noticed that a few of my students would not do anything but talk when I was working with students independently. I would have to discipline them with the loss of their participation points, and what I noticed this was now creating a negative environment during writing time. I wanted this to be a positive environment where all students would feel good about this time. I also wasn't able to find the time to revisit the students that needed more help.
By the end of week 2 I decided to give my students the same questionnaire from Phase 1. I received the exact same results. I also asked the class as a whole every day that week after writer’s workshop how they felt about their writing and if they enjoyed it. I was noticing a decline in happiness and enjoyment. I decided that the way things were going was not going to work for my class any longer and that I had to make a change.
Adaptation
One of my concerns before implementing this action research was the lack of time I had for my ELA block. I only have an hour and fifteen minutes. This isn’t as much time as I would like with all that I would like to do with writing and reading. I have a strong passion for reading and believe that reading every day to my students is important. I also believe that reading helps my students in their writing. I enjoy leaving time to have my students share wonders and questions they have and perhaps using the internet or books to answer their questions as a class. I noticed this was their favorite part of the day, and with the amount we were now spending on writing, we weren't able to spend as much time reading and researching our wonders.
With the decline of enjoyment and independence in the writing with the new implementation of conferences I knew I needed to make a change. I knew that the individual conferences were important and that my students were listening to my feedback, I was able to differentiate the writing assignments for the students, and I didn't want to lose that. What I then decided to do was to put my students in small groups by level.
I made four writing groups with 5 students in each. I spent a lot of time thinking of how I would introduce the groups to the students and although the students might have figured it out it was by level, I did my best to not make it a point. I told them that this would be a way I could talk to everyone and help everyone out. I told them it would be fun because now we would be writing in our special groups and at times reading. The students were excited and I put them in their groups and let them come up with group names. They were very excited to do that.
The plan was once the groups were introduced I would spend ten minutes with each group working on their writing. I would be delivering the mini-lessons to the whole class and after the mini-lesson we will do partner talk to discuss what the students plan to write. The students would then share what they were going to write. They could start drawing their ideas and writing words. I will model this idea and show how we then use a different paper to write our final draft. I will then start calling groups to meet with me. I will have them bring their drafts and depending on their level to assist them and model further as well as give assistance in spelling. When I help my students spell I will do it depending on their level and need, some students I will sound out the word with them and I will write it down and give it to them. With others, I will sound it out with them and have them write it down at the same time. Other groups I will help guide them to making conjunction sentences and perfecting the sentences they have created. There will be five students in each group that will want to write about different topics, so I will have to make sure to help all students as quickly and as much as possible. Additionally, I will start providing my students with more sentence frames and vocabulary picture cards to assist them. During the time I am meeting with my groups I have other students working on their rough draft, their final draft and their phonics books that I made for them according to their level. They can do this work independently, as they have used these books throughout the year and it is already a routine for them.
Even though I only get a total of ten minutes to work with my students in their writing, I still thought it would be more beneficial to all my students regardless of their levels. My kindergartners are all at very different levels in their learning and they should get instruction based on their level throughout the academic year.
Stage 2
Week 1-2
The first week in small groups went very well. I explained to the students what they would be working on during small group time and that, once again, when I was working with small groups they were to be respectful to each of the group’s time and to wait for any questions and comments until after I met with the group. I wasn't sure how in what order to call my small groups. I wasn't sure if I should call the groups by lower level to high or higher level to low, or to even do a mix. I decided to call the higher level first, because I knew that these students work diligently and would most likely finish their work quickly and that they would finish additional work when given.
For my two higher level groups I would do a mini lesson, and I would have them really focus on spacing, periods, capitalization and stretching out the words to make the sound. I was even able to tell this group of students explicitly that they can add more detail to their pictures and to read what they wrote one more time and even to write another sentence if possible. This went very well with this group. Often it took a couple of days to finish one writing piece, so the following meeting I would have them bring what they already wrote and we would work on everyone's writing in that group. It would consist of stretching out sounds together as a group, helping the student add more words or edit words written, and to provide them with positive feedback. It was nice to have the students all worked together, and I was still getting time to work with the students like I did during my conferences.
With my lower leveled groups we did the same thing, except it was modified a little bit. For their writing I provided them with sentence frames that I either had written on the paper for them already, or sentence frame options I put in my pocket chart at the front for them to refer to. They still had the same writing topics; I just gave them more help in getting their sentences started. I also used that time together to really brainstorm ideas of what to write about. I gave them post-it notes with ideas they liked during our meeting, so I wouldn't forget and they wouldn't forget the topic. I did this because I noticed this group of kids not only got frustrated with the writing, but when trying to write on paper the ideas they had come up with, would forget. I thought by doing it this way, it would give them extra support and relieve some of the stress they felt. I also encouraged them to take a few days on each writing topic, so when they came together as a group again we would work on stretching out words as well as discuss the topic again as a refresher.
Findings
Individual Conferences.
I learned a lot from my readings and my research and that helped me design my action research. I learned that I had to take into account my own students abilities, my schedule and my classroom environment. I was able to implement more writing in my curriculum and with that I saw a progression in most of my students. Although the individual conferences did not work out in phase two, I was able to gain much insight about my students and their writing processes. Not only was I able to help each student individually, but I got to hear them talk about their writing and what they struggled with and helped them. With that, I was able to come to the conclusion that although the writers workshop model is suppose to differentiate naturally with all children, my students needed more explicit differentiating instructed from me. With the individual conferences I was able to find out what my students needed, and this gave me the second stage to give them that instruction and support.
Collaborative Writing
During the second stage I was able to find time to work on guided reading. I was able to implement phonics and give small group instruction and support. Additionally, I was able to see my students work on their writing independently as well as see them work independently on other tasks. With that being said, I was also able to create a community with the small groups. Students within the group would help other students with their writing and work collaboratively. Students began wanting to help each other and I found myself guiding them on how to help another student without just giving them the answer. Some students asked if they could work with people outside their group. I did find that sometimes they got distracted, but for the most part, they were helping each other out.
I had one instance where a student from an upper level group came up to me with another student from a lower level group. The upper level student asked, "Can I help (student name) stretch out words?" I told both students that would be fantastic if they don't do the work for each other or copy. I started to see students mix up and find partners they liked working with, and saw many students emerge as helpers and other students take their writing more seriously, expanding their writing.
I learned that for my classroom collaborative, differentiated and individual support worked well. I find more of my students finishing their writing, becoming more proud and they are even editing what they wrote. I started having more and more students share their work, and invited other teachers to come look at their work on the wall. I understand what my students need from me and I am able to find the time now with the small group instruction. I wish that I had a bigger classroom, more resources and more volunteers, but without that I am still finding ways to help my students grow as writers.
Class Feedback
I asked my students how they felt about working in small groups; if they wanted to keep them or go back to whole class instruction. 100% of the students said that they liked the small groups because they got to read and they got to work with me and their friends. Although this model might not be ideal for all classrooms, for mine it is working pretty well. I finally took the pictures from phase one along with the current picture and laid them next to each other. I noticed a lot of progression. The student labeled L1 is a student representing my lower leveled students, L2 represents the norm of the classroom and L3 represents my higher leveled students. I see progression in all of them. I also noticed that my students get upset when we run out of time during out small group instruction and during their independent work time. This is why I made it a clear point that they are to pick up where they left off and for me to know what all my students are working on so I can help them revisit their writing. Continuing to work on a piece over several days can get boring and confusing for my students, so I like them to bring the work to the carpet. There we can make it fun and they get an opportunity to show off their work which motivates them to complete it. I also have made an effort to take pictures of all my students finished projects. This makes them feel important and special about the work they created.
Below is a sample of students work from the start of this action research up until the end of phase two.
After reflecting, looking at my students writing, and receiving their feedback on their own personal feelings on writing, I sat and thought about how I could make time to meet with my students individually and give them more time to speak with me about their writing. I have found from Phase One that all of my students have different needs and need more differentiation in writing lessons. Although the Writers Workshop model allows for students to write at their own level, I believe that it was still frustrating and difficult for some of the students because they wanted more scaffolding and modeling. I believe that with individual conferences I will be able to target students’ needs and facilitate their writing needs. I decided for Phase Two that my students would have an opportunity to meet with me a few minutes a day. My goal was to see 3 students per day, and to make more time to see struggling students more frequently. I noticed from the last phase that they were working well independently and that I didn't have to re-direct them on task as often. I felt, given this independence, I would have the freedom to call students to my desk and work with them individually.
I decided to let the students know this new schedule and I posted a conference schedule for the next two weeks to meet with all students. I also created a binder in which to take notes. I would keep my guiding questions in the binder, I would write down what feedback I gave the students strengths and weaknesses, and I would write down thoughts and questions the students provided. I believe that giving students the individual time is essential and I thought of it as an opportunity to get to know my students better and to work with them on the aspects where they are struggling with their writing. Additionally, I will be able to follow up with my students work and teach my students how to edit, and proofread their work.
Stage 1
Week 1
I was very excited to share the news about the conferences and the students were excited to see the schedule as well. I asked them if they would enjoy speaking with me about their writing and I received a lot of positive comments. I did, however, have a few students who didn't look too excited about it. With conferences there will be more accountability and that could account for the lack of excitement. One of the reasons I was excited to implement the conferences is for the accountability, not only for the students but for me as well. The whole week was a lot of work, for me and for my students. I explained how the students will need to stay on task during this individual meeting time. I set a timer and explained that it is important for me to work with only one student at a time and that we can't be interrupted unless it is an emergency. I bought a special necklace and told the students when I am wearing this necklace it means "I am busy with another student, and we need to wait our turn."
I was able to meet, work with and help 15 students. I saw where they were getting stuck, and I was able to give them individual attention with their phonics and blending to make words. I also noticed that with my ELL students I was giving them sentence frames. They were struggling just to make a complete sentence, or to come up with even a topic. This first week made me realize how scary it was for my ELL students to come up with writing anything at all. When I worked with my ELL students I noticed that by first discussing a topic, then helping them say it out loud, writing the sentence frame for them, have them copy it and insert a word of choice, they were much happier with their writing and they worked longer independently on their writing and picture. For my students whose phonics are more advanced they spent more time spelling that word choice. During phase one I praised students who were able to give me one word or two words for their writing. They wanted to write full sentences like me and the more advanced students. Leaving them stuck and struggling, finding the writing out of their ZPD. One student during our conference mentioned to me, that she wants to "write beautiful sentences." This was something I would say when I gave my mini-lessons. What she meant by this is she wanted to make a sentence like the more advanced students because that is what she saw as the right thing to do. This was great to see, because she aspires to make her writing better, but this particular student still needed more assistance with her language development and her phonetic knowledge. Knowing that she wants to do better and understanding her needs gave me more of an insight of what I could do to help her and other students like her with their individual goals and needs.
During the individual conferences, students would come up to me wanting me to see their work, some students weren't working on work at all, there were students that were even grabbing multiple writing paper simply to draw multiple pictures. The students who would come to me were from all different academic backgrounds. They weren't trying to be bad, but they simply wanted my praise and attention as they received before, and what they saw the other students getting who were working individually with me. They would often say, "Look at mine," or "I need help too," or "I don't know how to write this word." I even heard the dreadful, "I can't do this." Within a few days I lost the independent writers I had from Stage 1.
I was constantly disciplining the students, and re-focusing their attention to their writing. I noticed that many students all wanted to have that individual time with me and that is why they were coming up to me even though it wasn't their turn. I also noticed that since I wasn't walking around and looking at their work like I did during Phase One there was no one looking at their work or helping them stay focused. This was another reason why I had a lot of students off task. They were getting loud and making it hard for me to work with the three students I wanted to. I worked that first week with the students individually, but noticed that my writer’s workshop block was getting longer and that the students who were working were getting bored and were becoming more distracted. The time got longer because I had to re-focus the students.
Week 2
I tried asking parents who have volunteered in the past if they would come in during their writing time to help the students stay on task. I wasn't able to secure any helpers for that week. So, I went to plan B and decided to meet with only two students to free up more time for me to help the students stay on task and focused on their work. I wanted my students to work independently like they did towards the end of Phase 1 and I was a little lost on what else I could do to keep them on task. It worked much better, but I still noticed that a few of my students would not do anything but talk when I was working with students independently. I would have to discipline them with the loss of their participation points, and what I noticed this was now creating a negative environment during writing time. I wanted this to be a positive environment where all students would feel good about this time. I also wasn't able to find the time to revisit the students that needed more help.
By the end of week 2 I decided to give my students the same questionnaire from Phase 1. I received the exact same results. I also asked the class as a whole every day that week after writer’s workshop how they felt about their writing and if they enjoyed it. I was noticing a decline in happiness and enjoyment. I decided that the way things were going was not going to work for my class any longer and that I had to make a change.
Adaptation
One of my concerns before implementing this action research was the lack of time I had for my ELA block. I only have an hour and fifteen minutes. This isn’t as much time as I would like with all that I would like to do with writing and reading. I have a strong passion for reading and believe that reading every day to my students is important. I also believe that reading helps my students in their writing. I enjoy leaving time to have my students share wonders and questions they have and perhaps using the internet or books to answer their questions as a class. I noticed this was their favorite part of the day, and with the amount we were now spending on writing, we weren't able to spend as much time reading and researching our wonders.
With the decline of enjoyment and independence in the writing with the new implementation of conferences I knew I needed to make a change. I knew that the individual conferences were important and that my students were listening to my feedback, I was able to differentiate the writing assignments for the students, and I didn't want to lose that. What I then decided to do was to put my students in small groups by level.
I made four writing groups with 5 students in each. I spent a lot of time thinking of how I would introduce the groups to the students and although the students might have figured it out it was by level, I did my best to not make it a point. I told them that this would be a way I could talk to everyone and help everyone out. I told them it would be fun because now we would be writing in our special groups and at times reading. The students were excited and I put them in their groups and let them come up with group names. They were very excited to do that.
The plan was once the groups were introduced I would spend ten minutes with each group working on their writing. I would be delivering the mini-lessons to the whole class and after the mini-lesson we will do partner talk to discuss what the students plan to write. The students would then share what they were going to write. They could start drawing their ideas and writing words. I will model this idea and show how we then use a different paper to write our final draft. I will then start calling groups to meet with me. I will have them bring their drafts and depending on their level to assist them and model further as well as give assistance in spelling. When I help my students spell I will do it depending on their level and need, some students I will sound out the word with them and I will write it down and give it to them. With others, I will sound it out with them and have them write it down at the same time. Other groups I will help guide them to making conjunction sentences and perfecting the sentences they have created. There will be five students in each group that will want to write about different topics, so I will have to make sure to help all students as quickly and as much as possible. Additionally, I will start providing my students with more sentence frames and vocabulary picture cards to assist them. During the time I am meeting with my groups I have other students working on their rough draft, their final draft and their phonics books that I made for them according to their level. They can do this work independently, as they have used these books throughout the year and it is already a routine for them.
Even though I only get a total of ten minutes to work with my students in their writing, I still thought it would be more beneficial to all my students regardless of their levels. My kindergartners are all at very different levels in their learning and they should get instruction based on their level throughout the academic year.
Stage 2
Week 1-2
The first week in small groups went very well. I explained to the students what they would be working on during small group time and that, once again, when I was working with small groups they were to be respectful to each of the group’s time and to wait for any questions and comments until after I met with the group. I wasn't sure how in what order to call my small groups. I wasn't sure if I should call the groups by lower level to high or higher level to low, or to even do a mix. I decided to call the higher level first, because I knew that these students work diligently and would most likely finish their work quickly and that they would finish additional work when given.
For my two higher level groups I would do a mini lesson, and I would have them really focus on spacing, periods, capitalization and stretching out the words to make the sound. I was even able to tell this group of students explicitly that they can add more detail to their pictures and to read what they wrote one more time and even to write another sentence if possible. This went very well with this group. Often it took a couple of days to finish one writing piece, so the following meeting I would have them bring what they already wrote and we would work on everyone's writing in that group. It would consist of stretching out sounds together as a group, helping the student add more words or edit words written, and to provide them with positive feedback. It was nice to have the students all worked together, and I was still getting time to work with the students like I did during my conferences.
With my lower leveled groups we did the same thing, except it was modified a little bit. For their writing I provided them with sentence frames that I either had written on the paper for them already, or sentence frame options I put in my pocket chart at the front for them to refer to. They still had the same writing topics; I just gave them more help in getting their sentences started. I also used that time together to really brainstorm ideas of what to write about. I gave them post-it notes with ideas they liked during our meeting, so I wouldn't forget and they wouldn't forget the topic. I did this because I noticed this group of kids not only got frustrated with the writing, but when trying to write on paper the ideas they had come up with, would forget. I thought by doing it this way, it would give them extra support and relieve some of the stress they felt. I also encouraged them to take a few days on each writing topic, so when they came together as a group again we would work on stretching out words as well as discuss the topic again as a refresher.
Findings
Individual Conferences.
I learned a lot from my readings and my research and that helped me design my action research. I learned that I had to take into account my own students abilities, my schedule and my classroom environment. I was able to implement more writing in my curriculum and with that I saw a progression in most of my students. Although the individual conferences did not work out in phase two, I was able to gain much insight about my students and their writing processes. Not only was I able to help each student individually, but I got to hear them talk about their writing and what they struggled with and helped them. With that, I was able to come to the conclusion that although the writers workshop model is suppose to differentiate naturally with all children, my students needed more explicit differentiating instructed from me. With the individual conferences I was able to find out what my students needed, and this gave me the second stage to give them that instruction and support.
Collaborative Writing
During the second stage I was able to find time to work on guided reading. I was able to implement phonics and give small group instruction and support. Additionally, I was able to see my students work on their writing independently as well as see them work independently on other tasks. With that being said, I was also able to create a community with the small groups. Students within the group would help other students with their writing and work collaboratively. Students began wanting to help each other and I found myself guiding them on how to help another student without just giving them the answer. Some students asked if they could work with people outside their group. I did find that sometimes they got distracted, but for the most part, they were helping each other out.
I had one instance where a student from an upper level group came up to me with another student from a lower level group. The upper level student asked, "Can I help (student name) stretch out words?" I told both students that would be fantastic if they don't do the work for each other or copy. I started to see students mix up and find partners they liked working with, and saw many students emerge as helpers and other students take their writing more seriously, expanding their writing.
I learned that for my classroom collaborative, differentiated and individual support worked well. I find more of my students finishing their writing, becoming more proud and they are even editing what they wrote. I started having more and more students share their work, and invited other teachers to come look at their work on the wall. I understand what my students need from me and I am able to find the time now with the small group instruction. I wish that I had a bigger classroom, more resources and more volunteers, but without that I am still finding ways to help my students grow as writers.
Class Feedback
I asked my students how they felt about working in small groups; if they wanted to keep them or go back to whole class instruction. 100% of the students said that they liked the small groups because they got to read and they got to work with me and their friends. Although this model might not be ideal for all classrooms, for mine it is working pretty well. I finally took the pictures from phase one along with the current picture and laid them next to each other. I noticed a lot of progression. The student labeled L1 is a student representing my lower leveled students, L2 represents the norm of the classroom and L3 represents my higher leveled students. I see progression in all of them. I also noticed that my students get upset when we run out of time during out small group instruction and during their independent work time. This is why I made it a clear point that they are to pick up where they left off and for me to know what all my students are working on so I can help them revisit their writing. Continuing to work on a piece over several days can get boring and confusing for my students, so I like them to bring the work to the carpet. There we can make it fun and they get an opportunity to show off their work which motivates them to complete it. I also have made an effort to take pictures of all my students finished projects. This makes them feel important and special about the work they created.
Below is a sample of students work from the start of this action research up until the end of phase two.
Possible Next Steps
My original question was a very open ended; I wanted to find out how to help my kindergartners become more independent writers and how to increase their self esteem in writing. Although my action research has started to take a different turn than I expected, I found, with some trial and error, that my writers are much more independent and that their self esteem continues to grow. The small groups are effective and my students are still working well in their groups. I have found time in my schedule for reading, phonics and writing. I have also found a way to give my students more freedom in their writing while still providing more support to students who need the framework to do so.
My next steps include keeping the small groups, but I would like to focus more on facilitating a more collaborative environment. Since, the majority of my students have started to work with each other on their writing and I use collaborative groups in other aspects of my curriculum, I think it would be beneficial to teach my students the proper way to work collaboratively when writing. I want to make sure that they are not copying each other, that the groups they are working in or the partners aren't out of balance and that everyone has a role. I believe that the students who are able to write more words and write more phonetically are able to help the lower level students, but they need a role and something to contribute as well. Even though it is great to see students all helping other students, and they are slowly learning how to help rather than give answers, it is still one sided. I want all students to feel like they can contribute.
I would like to break my students up into groups of three to four, with a range of levels in each group. I would have the students each be responsible for one sentence of their story, and one picture. I would explain to each group that every student has a strength and a special contribution to be made. They could use large chart paper to put their final draft of their story. They would then brainstorm, where each student comes up with one idea. I will model and give a lesson on brainstorming beforehand. Then they will each pre-write their sentence once responsibilities are explicitly explained by me, and then they will, after editing, put the final draft on chart paper and present as a team. This will give students the opportunity to work collaboratively as they write, and to understand that everyone has ideas and something to contribute. I believe from what I saw in Phase Two and how they instinctively went to each other and wanted to help one another, working in groups will be a good next step for them to grow as writers, to continue to differentiate according to each child, and to have them gain confidence in their writing.
My original question was a very open ended; I wanted to find out how to help my kindergartners become more independent writers and how to increase their self esteem in writing. Although my action research has started to take a different turn than I expected, I found, with some trial and error, that my writers are much more independent and that their self esteem continues to grow. The small groups are effective and my students are still working well in their groups. I have found time in my schedule for reading, phonics and writing. I have also found a way to give my students more freedom in their writing while still providing more support to students who need the framework to do so.
My next steps include keeping the small groups, but I would like to focus more on facilitating a more collaborative environment. Since, the majority of my students have started to work with each other on their writing and I use collaborative groups in other aspects of my curriculum, I think it would be beneficial to teach my students the proper way to work collaboratively when writing. I want to make sure that they are not copying each other, that the groups they are working in or the partners aren't out of balance and that everyone has a role. I believe that the students who are able to write more words and write more phonetically are able to help the lower level students, but they need a role and something to contribute as well. Even though it is great to see students all helping other students, and they are slowly learning how to help rather than give answers, it is still one sided. I want all students to feel like they can contribute.
I would like to break my students up into groups of three to four, with a range of levels in each group. I would have the students each be responsible for one sentence of their story, and one picture. I would explain to each group that every student has a strength and a special contribution to be made. They could use large chart paper to put their final draft of their story. They would then brainstorm, where each student comes up with one idea. I will model and give a lesson on brainstorming beforehand. Then they will each pre-write their sentence once responsibilities are explicitly explained by me, and then they will, after editing, put the final draft on chart paper and present as a team. This will give students the opportunity to work collaboratively as they write, and to understand that everyone has ideas and something to contribute. I believe from what I saw in Phase Two and how they instinctively went to each other and wanted to help one another, working in groups will be a good next step for them to grow as writers, to continue to differentiate according to each child, and to have them gain confidence in their writing.