Descending the Page in Second Grade--Observation

In a recent US department meeting, the conversation turned to “How do we teach students to write?” Trey Colvin remarked, “We certainly teach the students to gather ideas, draft, and edit.” My initial response was Of course, we do. And then came the doubt and questions: Do we? If so, how? When? And most importantly, does this make a good writer?

So on Tuesday, September 02, 2008, I visited Yun Tansil’s second grade class. She was in the middle of reviewing the steps of the writing process: prewriting, writing, revision, editing, and publishing. The previous Friday each student had put these steps on a chart along with a class-generated explanation of what the steps meant to a second grader. As Yun pulled up the chart on the SMART board, I heard comments from students such as, “You start over when you get stuck,” “Just put it into words,” “Sometimes my story doesn’t go anywhere,” and “What does revision mean again?”

Under Yun’s skillful guidance, the conversation that followed was a blend of something like we are all writers, writers write, we make mistakes, we can begin again, we revise, and in the end, we publish. Be comfortable with false starts, taking risks, and going back and changing things. This discussion went a long way in removing the fears we have all seen paralyze students when they face a writing assignment. On the other hand, this class was not going to be a place where a student could plead “writing is a process” to keep starting over and over to avoid the final steps. Yun had set expectations and established rules. By the end, the students and I all knew this was going to be a challenge, but there were strategies for dealing with the tough stuff. While Yun did not do away with the prickling apprehension that “What shall I write?” creates in all of us (because isn't this where adrenaline and creativity launch us into our stories), she did begin to create an environment that was safe for an eight-year-old to tackle it.

To close the class, Yun had the students do “invisible writing”--writing on carbon paper and they can’t see what they have written until they pull up the carbon. I wasn’t there to hear the students’ responses to the activity, so Yun sent me this follow up e-mail.

“I don’t know if everyone got the point of the exercise, but when the teachable moments arise, I will refer back to this activity- diving into writing or getting the ideas down without spending too much time erasing/correcting.

“The kids had fun with the activity. Most said that they felt excited when they were writing. One said, ‘The point of the activity was to express your feelings and not always turning out the way you want it to.’ I like this reflection because writing is about taking chances, making mistakes, and having the opportunity to make ‘adjustment’ as June [a student] noted.”

So back to “Does knowing (and applying) the steps of the writing process create good writers?” I strongly believe so. These are necessary skills to have, but as shown in Yun’s class it is also about the attitude a student has toward writing. Perhaps it is a little like mountian climbing. One must have the skills and the equipment but also the courage to begin the climb or descend the page.

How does one nurture such courage?