Sometimes you have to let go of the reigns and allow your students to lead you, right. Well, I’m preparing to do just that tomorrow when I work with my students, during Writing Workshop, to create a new notebook rubric. (I’ve been using one that is slightly adapted from Buckner’s Book since 2006.)
In “Assessing with Heart,” Spandel (2006, 14) asserts we must work with children to develop rubrics and checklists, rather than for the students we teach, since the act of putting it all together with our students is more meaningful.
It’s hard to plan ahead for something you know you’re going to let the students form. However, I placed a notice on Monday and Tuesday’s Morning Meeting Charts. I also put together a guide to what a 4, 3, 2, and a 1 means. Finally, I created a chart that explains what I think makes a good piece of notebook writing.
It should be interesting to see what transpires over the course of the next two days in my class’s Writing Workshop.
Monday's News & Announcements Chart
Tuesday's News & Announcements Chart
Here's what the numerical indicators mean.
More info on the citation above:
Spandel, V. (2006) Assessing with heart: Commentary that is honest and compassionate helps student writers develop. JSD. 27, 14-18.
I am a literacy consultant who focuses on writing workshop. I've been working with K-6 teachers and students since 2009. Prior to that, I was a fourth and fifth-grade teacher in New York City and Rhode Island.
I'm the author of Craft Moves (Stenhouse Publishers, 2016) and the co-author of Jump Into Writing (Zaner-Bloser, 2021), Welcome to Writing Workshop (Stenhouse Publishers, 2019), and Day By Day (Stenhouse, 2010).
I live in Central Pennsylvania with my husband and children. In my free time, I enjoy swimming, doing Pilates, cooking, baking, making ice cream, and reading novels.
View all posts by Stacey Shubitz
Don’t know. I’ve been trying to figure out how it got there for the past 18+ months, but can’t figure it out. Oh well!
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Off topic – what’s up with that smiley face in the border on the right of the page near the blogroll?
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