On February 26th, the PLC that my mentor teacher is a part of met.

For this
workshop, Morgan Dunton, who is the ELA Specialist for Maine DOE, came to Lewiston
High School and showed us multiple techniques that we could use in our classrooms.
The topic of the workshop was how to help our students be successful writers.
We began by acknowledging that writing is something students struggle with and these
techniques are not only helpful for ELL students, but all of our students. The techniques
we practiced in between discussion were: “Sentence, sentence phrase, and a word,”
“write for a minute,” “draw a house,” and “roundtable discussion.”
“Sentence, sentence phrase, and a word.” is a technique for students to use
while reading a text. Before they begin reading, you tell them that as they read they are
to highlight a sentence, a sentence phrase and a word that they feel are the most
important in the text. This gives anxious readers something to keep them focused as
they read, as well as supplying them with something to share during discussions.
“Write for a minute” is for the physical practice of writing by hand. Many students
do not write by hand, and if they are going to take certain tests, there is a writing
section, so this helps prepare them. It’s also a way to have them look back on their
writing and correct the problems they can find.
“Draw a house” activity was more for us as teachers to reflect on our directions.
Morgan told us to draw a house. That was the only direction. She then had us grade our
house based on certain directions. This was to show that if you don’t tell your students
what you will be looking for, how will they be able to write it?
“Roundtable discussion” is a good way to make sure everyone gets a chance to
participate. You fold the paper in a way so that there is a diamond in the center and four
square sections. Each person gets a section and as they speak, the others take notes in
the speaker’s section. The middle portion can be changed up to you, whether they
come up with a summary as a group or another activity. This allows each person to get
a chance to talk because everyone wants to meet the requirement of having all boxes
filled. If there is more writing in one box, it lets the teacher know who was talking the
most during discussion.
I tried the highlighting activity as well as the roundtable discussion activity with
multiple classes. I felt the results were positive and helpful for the students who needed
that kind of support.