Note and Note Again and Again Notice and Note Again and Again

* This is Role 3 in a series on how to employ the signposts from Kylene Beers and Robert Probst'sNotice and Note to inspire pupil writing. Hither are parts one and ii.

In Notice and Note, Beers and Probst make this important observation:

As you think about each of these signposts, y'all'll run into that they announced non only in texts but also in our lives. When your pregnant other mentionsonce again and over againthat the garbage needs to become out, at that place's a subtext to that message—and it has to exercise with rise anger! When the friend who ever checks on yous all of a sudden begins to ignore you lot, then thecontrast with what expect, thecontradictionof an established pattern, makes you wonder what is incorrect. If you're now a parent, you can look dorsum on those long talks with your ain parents not as "another boring lecture" but as your parent'due south attempt to spare you some pain, to impartwords of someone wiser. When a friend asks you what your teen thought of the party that weekend, you suddenly realize—aha—that your teen's sad face over the weekend tells yous she hadn't been invited. (74)

As Beers and Probst signal out, the reason that the signposts are and then ubiquitous in the texts we read is because they are ubiquitous in our lives. After all, art imitates life.

So how do we get students to see this?

As I started thinking about a model for how to apply the signposts as invitations for writing, I went dorsum to what I know is an essential element in the workshop model—quickwrites. Regular, preferably daily, opportunities to explore ideas in their writer's notebooks, quickwrites build fluency and confidence. These "writing territories," as Nancie Atwell calls them, too serve equally an important resource for students, as they after draw upon these initial notes and wondering to write longer pieces.So if I want my students to write personal pieces of writing that explore how the signposts employ to their own lives, I demand to get students thinking and writing about those personal connections in their notebooks. Below are a few of the quickwrite prompts I've come up with for each signpost, any of which could be broken down and expanded upon into multiple quickwrites.

SIGNPOST	QUICKWRITE PROMPT
Words of the Wiser	Brand a listing of all the people in your life you consider wise or knowledgeable. Then cull one and explain how this person is wise. Requite students a listing of "wise words" from literature or other sources (i.e. proverbs) – choose one and reverberate on the extent to which it is true. What "saying" or piece of advice practise you most often become from your parents? Another family member? When I need advice almost ______, I turn to ______, because ______. Have students read these "10 Comforting Words from Dumbledore," choose one or more to write about.
Memory Moment	What was your favorite retentivity from this past summer? From two summers ago? Four summers? Etc. List the most important people in your life. Side by side to each person, write down a specific moment you shared together. When I was ______, I remember feeling / thinking / seeing ______. (Repeat) Read the pic bookRoxaboxenby Alice McLerran, then inquire students to reflect on what moments in their own childhood it makes them think about. Another groovy read loud is the motion picture bookThe Relatives Camepast Cynthia Rylant to go students thinking about family unit memories.
Aha Moment	Brand a list of something you learned when yous were ______ years one-time. Repeat for other ages. Draw a large lightbulb in your notebook. Fill it with of import things you've learned in your life so far. I used to think _____, but now I realize ______. What helped me realize this was ______. Read students
Contrast & Contradiction	Retrieve of a time y'all were watching a motion picture or television set, or reading a book, and describe a moment you lot were shocked by some twist in the plot or decision by a grapheme. What was then surprising? Same every bit above, but instead, think of a fourth dimension when a friend or family member surprised you by their deportment. Depict a full-body self-portrait. Draw a line downwards the heart. Consider how someone or some grouping views y'all versus how you view yourself. On one side, list words that you remember others would apply to describe you. On the other side, list words you lot would apply to describe yourself.
Tough Question	Brainstorm a list of "big questions" about life. For example, how do we deal with grief? How practise we know when we fall in honey? Etc. Draw a time when you wondered virtually 1 of these "big questions." Make a list of difficult decisions yous've had to make in your life.
Over again and Again	List some of the activities yous've done since you were a child (i.e. sports, clubs, music, reading). Choose an activity in your life and describe why it's important to you / why you've stuck with it (repeat). Listing some traditions yous take with family or friends. Describe why a particular tradition is so of import to you lot / worth keeping (repeat).

It'southward easy to see how whatsoever 1 of these quickwrite prompts could be serve as the subject for a writing piece. On the other paw, each of these prompts can also serve simply as a beginning, an entryway, into some larger or more circuitous idea. At this point, I remember I would like to leave the actual focus of the longer piece of writing upwards to each student. It will all depend, on some degree, on what they are able to unearth in the prewriting they exercise in their notebooks, and hopefully, these quickwrite prompts will serve equally an important part of that process.

I typically start each class period either with a quickwrite or a booktalk (in a 43-minute period, it's tough to detect time to do both each day, though sometimes I am aggressive 🙂 ). My thinking is that I will rotate through the quickwrites for each signpost and so that students have "something downwardly" in their notebooks for each. So, when we begin our writing workshop session, they will take some notes on each of the signposts and tin cull from a wider terrain of ideas.

Of course, once students have an idea of what they want to write, they'll demand some additional mentor texts to study. That'due south where I'll head in my next mail… until then, let me know if you have any ideas in the comments beneath.

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Source: https://triciaebarvia.org/2015/08/01/notice-note-then-write-quickwrites/

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