Entry #5 A Continuous Cycle: Learning, Thinking & Writing

As I reflect upon my own literacy experiences, I truly define writing as a constant cycle of identifying, organizing, shaping, and revising which allows our ideas to come to life on a page. Tompkins (2012) and Flower (1989) see writing as a constructive process where "writers make deliberate choices as they construct meaning" (p. 34). Writers interchangeably use their knowledge gained through ALL aspects of literacy experiences to support them as they begin the construction process. Individuals engage with writing through various strategies (e.g., topic choice, idea collecting, organizing, proofreading, reading, rehearsing, and revising) in order to effectively put their learning into practice. Kucer and Rhodes (1986) Card Strategy Lesson, illustrates the importance of supporting young writers to "focus on chunks of meaning" in order to begin putting the puzzle pieces together (p. 189).  

When engaging with Kucer and Rhodes lesson, I had an AHA! moment as I began to define the inner purpose behind this strategic engaging instructional plan. During student teaching I was able to watch my site-based educator incorporate a mini-lesson on "Watermelon vs. Seed" stories for our third and fourth grade classrooms. This mini lesson focused in on supporting young writers in selecting a small seed story to demonstrate clear and descriptive writing. As writers, sometimes it can be challenging to write with a strong purpose when we have various ideas running through our brains. Therefore, it is common to begin by writing all your ideas down (watermelon stories) rather than selecting one important idea (seed story) to focus our writing on. This was something that was challenging for me as a young writer, because I had so many ideas that I wanted to write about. 

When learning and getting to use Kucer's and Rhodes' lesson on the Card Strategy for my own topic choice, I was able to gain a new perspective on the importance of brainstorming. If I am being completely honest, I have never been a writer who has brainstormed my ideas on paper or in an organized matter. Rather, I have always limitedly brainstormed in my head and began writing whatever came to my mind first. I believe this to be a common approach for writers, because we are often so eager to put all of our ideas into writing. However, I now recognize how beneficial brainstorming and organization is, even as an adult. 

I believe the card strategy truly assisted my own writing process in many ways, but most importantly it has supported me in being able to put my ideas I have stored in my brain in a visual form. By having my ideas in a physical format, I was able to witness through my own actions how we can use these cards to effectively organize our thoughts into categories that correlate with one another. Kucer and Rhodes (1986) explain that once an individual is able organize their cards into a meaningful order, these cards will become a tool to one's writing process (p. 190-191). I do believe I would use this Card Strategy again to assist my own writing process because I now recognize that "Writing is, after all, a medium for learning to think" beyond the big picture (Graves, 2004). It is about identifying writing strategies that supports our thinking and allows us to shape our ideas into written format. 

As I conclude this blog entry, I continue to reflect upon my own student teaching placement and how I wish I was introduced to this writing strategy prior to this experience. I believe this would be a beneficial tool to support ALL writers in developing their ideas at the start of writing workshop. I truly look forward to being able to use this lesson in my future classroom to guide and support my students' in having powerful literacy experiences. 

Reference

Kucer, S. B. & Rhodes, L. K. (1986).  Counterpart strategies:  Fine tuning language with 

            language.  The Reading Teacher, 40(2),186-193.