English Language Arts is my jam! Not just because I have a Bachelors of Arts in English, but also because I have always had an unwavering love for reading and writing. However, in my last practicum I was challenged because my Coaching Teacher told me that the students needed for practice with their non-fiction reading and writing. Non-fiction is the one shadowy corner of reading and writing that I myself have always avoided because I usually much prefer imagination and creativity and had a difficult time figuring out a way to combine the two.
In this course I was introduced and encouraged to check out Adrienne Gear, and much to my pleasure I saw that she had not one, but TWO texts on non-fiction reading and writing, so away I went! I scoured her texts from front to back, looking for ways to get the students practicing their non-fiction reading and writing skills while also working towards some sort of a project, and I came across her biography section. In this section there was a lesson on writing classmate biographies, where they would use the biography planner provided in the text, interview a classmate, and then turn it into a good copy.
These good copies are by far my most proud achievement of my teacher career because I showed expert scaffolding skills by dissecting fiction versus non-fiction, looking at biographies, describing vital elements of non-fiction writing, interviewing, feedback, rough outlines, and finally good copies. Their final copies proved to me that the students learned so much about each other and I was finally able to learn more about each and every one of them. The time and dedication that each student put into this project also welcomed many of the students who tended to be disengaged because they still had creative freedom but with just enough structure to keep them on pace, so, even the students I was worried about produced an amazing good copy that they were proud of.
This literacy element of EDUC 400 provided me the resources I needed to launch me and my students into this project, a project that ended up being lengthy, intensive, collaborative, and rewarding.