LIT102 BLOG

 It is said that in a differentiated classroom, the climate is conducive to writing. This simple means that writers are comfortable, and excited to do such because the environment caters to their needs. The activities incorporated motivates and challenges students to become authors. In the differentiated classroom writers feel secure in taking risks with their ideas and skills during writing exercises. This makes students feel comfortable to share their pieces without being ridiculed. They use this forum to build their skills, correct their mistakes and better themselves. Create an environment that motivates the writer Instill self-efficacy - this is creating an "I can do it, I believe myself" attitude. Students believe in themselves and their ability to produce well written pieces. This is influenced by the chosen activities, motivation and ambition of the students' achievement. Students are able to become better writers with adequate and appropriate feedback to improve ...

The last week of class an article was posted for us to read about c reating a climate for writing. My take from the article was the climate for writing should be comfortable, secured, and exciting for all student authors. It should be well suited for students' needs when writing, the materials and resources must be provided, within the physical and psychological environment. The environment is also important for students, it should motivate the writer and encourage them to write. One ways to create a motivational climate; as mentioned by the article is, self-efficacy, and this should be instilled. Self-efficacy is all about individuals' beliefs to produce specific performance attainments. It impacts the individuals' decision about the activities they choose. Writing all depends on the writer's beliefs. Along with self-efficacy, comes self-regulated students, which monitor and controls their thought processes in order to learn. Self-regulated learners control their own l...

 During this class, we were asked to read up on Creating a Climate for Writing.  This article shines a light on the fact that a differentiated classroom provides a  climate which is favourable to writing. It is a comfortable, exciting place for any student author. Students are comfortable in this classroom because they have developed the mindset of seeing mistakes as opportunities to improve and grow with the help of constructive feedback from the teacher. The establishment of the physical and psychological environment caters to students’ individual needs. Motivational activities and lesson activities are provided with the intent to challenge student authors in a way that will help them to develop into competent and skilled writers.   The article outlined self-efficacy which is cultivated and instilled when positive comments provide recommendations for improvement. Writing experience develops the student’s self-efficacy or belief that he is a successful author. ...

 For the last week of class an article was given to us to read and from what read I learned about: Creating a climate for writing The climate should be comfortable, secured, and exciting for all student authors. It should be well suited for students' needs when writing, the materials and resources must be provided, within the physical and psychological environment. The environment is important for students, it should motivate the writer and encourage them to write. Ways to create a motivational climate: The article mentioned self-efficacy, and this should be instilled. Self-efficacy is all about individuals' beliefs to produce specific performance attainments. It impacts the individuals' decision about the activities they choose. Writing all depends on the writer's beliefs. Along with self-efficacy, comes self-regulated students, which monitor and controls their thought processes in order to learn. Self-regulated learners control their own learning environment and regul...

During this week, the topics reading and writing were explained and discussed. We were instructed to read and examine two different articles. The class identified how to combine both reading and writing and also how to take advantage of the relationship between the two. The article outlined that using an integrated approach when teaching reading and writing is best, rather than teaching one or the other separately. Both draw upon the same body of knowledge and skills which helps to improve student achievement. By integrating the two, students will be able to become proficient writers and also skilled readers. As mentioned before, reading and writing draw upon the same body of knowledge and skills, therefore, it would be beneficial for both the teacher and the students to take advantage of that shared relationship. Teachers must provide meaningful activities that will help to improve reading and writing skills plus knowledge. The relationship between the two will help to make teaching a...

 On the 25th of November, 2020. Our lecturer sent us two articles from Reading Rockets to read to better understand the advantages of combining both reading and writing and also understand how teach them together effectively. The articles outlined the effectiveness of using an integrated approach when teaching reading and writing, rather than teaching them separately. The integration helps improve students academic achievement, helping them to become proficient readers and writers.  Teachers should provide meaningful integrated activities that will help help improve students writing,reader skills and also their comprehension skills.  On the 26th of November, 2020. My group and I met as a group to discuss our digital story .

 In this session our class introduced to pen portrait, where you create a profile speaking briefly about your skills, competencies and attributes. It also gives you the opportunity to share a bit more personal information, like your number or even address. We were given to task create one of our own so we did, mine will be presented below.

On Wednesday 18th November we had an informative discussion on effective writing instruction. We began by researching effective writing instruction. After which my colleagues and Ms.Williams engaged in a discussion. So we know that effective writing involves students writing for authentic audiences and purposes and it also involves students in focussed and scaffolded writing experiences using principled approaches to the teaching of writing such as the teaching and learning cycle or the writing workshop. Hence, more effective writing instruction was highlighted in our discussion. We watch an interactive YouTube video on Pen Portrait, basically what is it all about and how to create one. Ms.Williams asked us to create one for ourselves as teachers of writing.  The photo below is my Pen Portrait.  On Thursday, 19th November, we went into our respective groups as we began the writing process to create a narrative piece. We began to discuss ideas as a group by selecting a topic, t...

 During this lesson, my classmates and I was introduced to Pen portrait by watching a video. The purpose of a pen portrait is to have an informal description of a person or group of people, this may include skills, competencies, and attributes. Here is my first try on a pen portrait about myself.                                                        Corrie Lawrence began her journey in teaching at the Nevis Academy Primary School and taught for six months at grade one. Ms Lawrence enjoyed working with children and decided to take it a step further by becoming enrolled at the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College in the primary education program.     Ms Lawrence has gained writing skills,  experience, and became an effective communicator and listener. She is now able to get a message across in a clear and succi...

 Two videos was shown by the lecture in relation to the stages of writing and the incorporation of spelling in language. We learn the importance of spelling. Spelling is important and is a critical component to communication, spelling and reading skills are closely related and help develop overall literacy. I knew it was important for students to know how to spell, however, these video's shows how much it can help children during communication and how it make connections between words and their phonetic characteristics.  Knowing how to approach spelling, other than sending them home with a list of spelling words to memorise, I will now think of different activities than can be done that will be appropriate for the different stages and abilities in the classroom.  

On Wednesday, 18th November, 2020 the class began with a quick research on effective writing instruction. After, researching the information students were engaged in a meaningful discussion which highlighted the points that effective writing instruction: involves students writing for authentic audiences and purposes involves students in focussed and scaffolded writing experiences using principled approaches to the teaching of writing such as the teaching and learning cycle or the writing workshop develops a grammatical metalanguage through discussion of examples and patterns of language choices in texts through teaching practices such as modelling or deconstruction, guided practice or joint construction, and writing conferences encompasses a range of teaching practices such as modelled writing, shared writing, interactive writing and independent writing where varying levels of support can be provided at different points of need opens up ‘a repertoire of possibilities’ for students (Myh...

During this session, my classmates and I were introduced to pen portraits. The purpose of a pen portrait is to present a clear picture of the person it is about, such as their skills, competencies and attributes. The image below consists of a pen portrait about myself.

In this session we examined two videos which spoke to the stages of writing and the incorporation of spelling in the language. It was highlighted that spelling should not be taught as a single entity but apart of the body of the language body. This ensures that students are able to make connections with the spelling of words as they read them to foster better comprehending skills. As I examined the first video https://www.readingrockets.org/article/invented-spelling-and-spelling-development, this was my take on it.  After reading the article I am most intrigued by the stages of spelling development as I can see why some students may have been successful spellers while others struggle. Spelling is important as it is an integral part of development as it fosters students writing skills in compositions. However, it is treated as a separate entity thus, resulting in students inability to make connections between spelling and the other Language Arts. Incorporating such helps studen...

On this day we were given an article to read and from the reading, I learned: Spelling is important because children are able to understand and recognize words and identify letters and sounds of words. What can I take away from this article- children learn more than just memorizing words, they develop an understanding of English spelling. I can also take away the five stages of spelling development where children develop their spelling as they go; from them using symbols to understanding the basic rules of spelling. What the article suggests about teaching spelling- teachers shouldn't always look forward to the correctness of students writing, teachers should see this as a means of them developing their writing and become more ìndependent in their learning

 On Thursday, 12th November,  2020. I visited the Irish Town Primary school with three of my colleagues. Where I observed a grade two Language Art block lesson taught by Ms.Hazel. The lesson was very interesting and interactive. Hence, I observed all six of the Language Arts; visual representation, listening, viewing, reading, speaking, and writing. As well as the different components such as; independent reading and independent writing, and shared reading. The focus areas were Composition (Picture Discussion), Spelling, Phonics, and Oral Reading all being incorporated into one lesson.

 During this week the topics spelling development and the stages of writing. We learned that spelling is important to writing because it helps students to correctly assemble their words based on their phonetic characteristics which is an essential part of successful writing. Spelling ties in with writing skills, too, and it also serves to effectively convey ideas. This lesson helped to enhance my knowledge of spelling development. I learned that spelling is critical to writing because it helps students to communicate effectively and make connections between words and their phonetic characteristics. As a teacher, I will try my best to integrate spelling into other lessons and content areas. I will also try to incorporate spelling in various lessons and try to make sure that I do not simply resort to sending children home with a 'spelling list'. I will try to plan my lessons and activities in a way that helps students to apply their spelling skills and help them to improve as ind...

This week presentation was based on poetry- the genres of writing. Poetry was defined as a form of literature conveying thought, emotions, or description of a scene or thing to portray a story in a concise lyrical manner. The presenters looked at different poetic forms such as  colour poems  proposition poems wish poems acrostic poems bilingual poems concrete poems  haikus and chinquapins poems syllables and word count poems  free verse poems and list poems Poetry can be integrated into other subjects so that students realise that poetry can be about anything. The following day, the lecturer spoke about the writing process. The writing process is a way of looking at what writers think and do as they write. the stages include:  Prewriting  Drafting  Revising  Editing and Publishing The lecturer then went on to explain the 12 key strategies that writers can use in their writing pieces. These are:  elaborating evaluating  Formatting  G...

 During this week session in lit102, the class was assigned into groups, each group was given a topic that have to be presented as a powerpoint presentation on the five different genres of writing. The genres were narrative writing, persuasive writing, descriptive writing, expository writing and poetry writing. The first presentation was done on Narrative writing. I learned that narrative writing can be non-fiction and imaginary. They explained the different elements of story writing which include the plot, setting, the theme, the point of view and the character. The presenters also outlined that Narrative writing is a way of presenting connected events in order to tell a good story. common types of narrative normally contain a beginning, middle and end. They spoke about the different conflicts that can be found in narrative pieces such as conflict between a character and nature, conflict within a character, conflict between a character and society, conflict between characters and ...

 On Wednesday 4th November, 2020 the class took the form of yet another PowerPoint presentation on the genre of writing...poetry. One the presenters began by saying poetry is one of the least taught genres of writing but, one of the most funniest and creative genre. It was highlighted that the presenter love this genre and incorporated much it in instruction whether as an introduction to a lesson or a composition minilesson on poetry. As the presenter continued it was encouraged that teachers line the forms and types of poems to get students interested in this very under utilized genre. Some of poetic devices mentioned were: 1. Alliteration- the repetition of an initial consonant sound in consecutive words or nearby words. E.g. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. 2. Repetition- the repeating of a word or phrase which adds both structure and enjoyment. For example, the refrain in the gingerbread boy...you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread boy.  3. Rhyme- the use of r...

  This week’s class November 4th and 5th During this week we learned about different poems and the writing process. November 4th A presentation was done by my colleagues, and this presentation spoke on poems. Poems are writing pieces that are structured to take the nature of both speech and song that is nearly always rhythmical and usually metaphorical. Some examples of poems given are Free verse- does not rhyme consistently I am poems- poems, where I am, is used most in the poem. Ode- poems that are usually praising something Colour poems- is about a single color by using analogies, similes, or list nouns about that color. Haiku poems- Japanese poem consisting of three short lines that do not rhyme These poems are new to my knowledge, except for Free verse, I am aware of this poem and have done some examples of this in secondary school. I appreciate the knowledge of these different poems because they will be beneficial to me in the future. November 5th We learned about the stages ...