I wanted to spend a few minutes writing about writing! I have observed some interesting things during my years teaching with AIM and want to share!
When I teach writing in FSL, using AIM resources and methodology, I:
1. Remind the students were they are in terms of writing. They write at a much lower level in L2 than in L1 and this is normal. Students and parents should be reminded about this. I have had students feel stupid and feel like they cannot do French because they cannot write an essay in French. Well, they are not supposed to be able to write an essay in French, in Grade 8 for example. they can do this in English and if they could do it in French, I would send them down the road to the Francophone school! Grade 8s are writing at a grade 4 French level.
2. Remind myself of where they are and I start there. I do not start where I am, which is at a University level French.
3. Teach them to get their ideas and thoughts down on paper. If they can say it, they can write it! I want them to speak aloud and write what they are saying. This creates a flow of thoughts. I do not want them to inhibit their creative expression by having to focus on grammar and rules as they write. We can deal with the spelling, grammar and language conventions later in the editing process.
4. Do not provide endless papers and resources to help with writing. I do not provide sheets and sheets of examples for them to have to look through to be able to get thoughts on paper. What they want to write will already be in their heads, especially after pleasant repetition of oral texts and after repeated writing in language manipulation activities. the process is Say it-> Write it-> Read it-> Say it again.If it sounds correct when it is read aloud, it will have been written correctly! As soon as a student reads a sentence he has written aloud, he will know if he has made an error or not!
5. Teach editing. The teacher does not do the editing. Teach the students to do this! It is such an important part of the writing process. Many years ago, I used to take it all home, mark and edit, assign a grade and hand it back. The problem with this is that the students look at the grade and not at the errors so there is no learning occurring. Students must look at their errors and correct them.
Group/Partner Writing and Editing of Language Manipulation Activities
When students are assigned a cahier activity, it is not done independently. Students do not sit quietly, heads down, racing through the activity to see who can get done first. It is not a race! Rather, I teach this process:
1. All group member read the sentence/question in unison. Lisez!
2. All members discuss the answer. Choisissez!
3. All members write the answer. Ecrivez!
4. All members read what they have written. Lisez!
It is never quiet. Every word that is written is read aloud. very sentence that is written is read aloud. Students have learned what sounds right and correct. and apply this to their proofreading! As soon as a student reads a sentence that contains an error, the student knows that an error has been made and self corrects. It happens every time! No students is left behind.
Whole class Writing and Editing Process.
As students/groups work through cahier material, we edit and correct as an entire class. No student is left behind! I use the following process:
1. The entire class reads the question/sentence, chorally, aloud.
2. I pick a student who has volunteered, to provide the answer. that student gets a coupon.
3. I write the answer on the board, even if it contains an error.
4. We all read it chorally and decide if it is correct.
5. Students make the necessary corrections to their own answer!
6. If a student has missed an answer, he simply writes it in!
Group/Partner Writing and Editing during Creative Writing Activities.
When students begin independent creative writing activities, I teach the following process:
1. Student share ideas orally first, before writing.
2. Students begin to write ideas down, 1 sentence at a time. Say it, write it, say it, write it.
3. Say the sentence aloud. Does it sound right? If not, make the correction!
4. If the student is unsure about whether it sounds right or not, as a friend to read it.
5. Apply this process to the entire story extension or retell.
6. Give students a print copy of play and their cahiers to make the necessary writing corrections. Every word they have written will be found in their cahiers.
Journal Writing.
All of this type of writing and editing needs to be done before students can attempt any other kind of independent writing, such as journal writing. You should not assign random topics that change with each journal entry. Rather, it should be repetitive and building. Because student have been doing so much writing of Pared Down Language, they have a solid base, that has not been built via grammar rules etc. When a student approaches me and asks, "Comment est-ce qu'on écrit.........? all students write it in the back of the journal where they can find it. It will generally be a word or phrase they will all need at some point. They do not need a duotang of resource sheets to navigate through to help with writing. This stifles writing. To stop and start and stop to look up a word and start writing and stop again to check spelling and start again is very disruptive to the flow of ideas, to the creative writing process. When the word/ phrase list is in their heads, there is little need for reference sheets. When the word/phrase list is in the back of each journal, the student knows exactly where to find it because he has generated the list!
Hand ownership of writing over to the students. Student engagement will increase. Your proofreading and editing will decrease.
