by Jenn Hayhurst
On Thursday, November 30, 20017 Jeff Anderson and Whitney LaRocca joined #G2Great and began a much needed conversation about how to integrate powerful instruction for the conventions of language. This is a topic of great importance to teachers everywhere, as we are keenly aware that we need to find ways to make grammar instruction meaningful and relevant to students. When students understand grammar as a craft move they will unlock greater meaning and skill as readers and writers.
As POWERFUL Readers…
Jeff and Whitney inspired the #G2Great PLN to dive deep into the depths of language as they suggest that we, ”…joyfully bathe students in the language of books.” As teachers immerse students in great texts we are granting them access to sophisticated, language that is both beautiful and precise. When students learn how to read these texts with an author’s eye they are lifting their comprehension to new levels of understanding. They soon learn that reading and writing are reciprocal and that one strengthens the other:
As POWERFUL Writers…
Jeff and Whitney ask us to consider moving writing instruction away rule following to a more personal and organic endeavor. One that strives to refocus students on a discovery of their own writing process. They suggest that we can teach students to borrow author’s craft moves from favorite texts to raise the bar for their original writing. We should provide many opportunities for guided practice – “create, notice, and repeat” These ideas resonated in a big way with the #G2Great PLN:
Thank you, Jeff and Whitney your book, Patterns of Power Inviting Young Writers Into the Conventions of Language Grades 1 – 5 is the kind of book that pushes teachers to move from good to great classroom instruction. You remind us to think about how to connect students’ reading and writing lives in purposeful meaningful ways to strengthen their understanding of both.
