Brenna's 618 Blog

Reflecting back to session 12 when we discussed the biography genre, there are a few things about the genre that I am still thinking about. Before reading Tompkins (2012), my idea of the biography genre was limited to simply biographies and autobiographies. I had not considered that personal narratives or memoirs were also considered part of the biography genre. Additionally, prior to reading Tompkins (2012), I found the genre to be very limited and simple. I was eager to see how the Genre Expert Project presenters were going to interact with such a simple genre. However, Tompkins (2012) broadened my knowledge of biographies and helped me better understand the genre has a whole, and specifically why personal narratives and memoirs were also considered biographies.  I enjoyed the activity that the presenters had us complete with the "Me" quilt. It was interesting because many of the mentor texts were diverse, but we were all able to use the same activity to describe some aspec...

As the semester is starting to wrap up, I am beginning to reflect on the variety of genres we have discussed in class and how I will incorporate them in my classroom. Each week, I have felt that my knowledge of reading as a means of writing instruction has grown, as well as my knowledge of each genre. So far, one of the most beneficial parts of the genre discussions we have had has been the incorporation of mentor texts. I have learned a great deal about how to utilize mentor texts in the classroom for each genre. With that being said, I have also noticed that many mentor texts that have been brought to class have been repeated for multiple genres. Some examples include "Rollercoaster" and "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive The Bus." At first, I was very confused how one text could fall under multiple genres, however, as my knowledge expands, it makes sense that one text could be considered more than one genre.  A specific mentor text that I wish to discuss is "Cl...

When reading though my peers blogs, I was particularly drawn to Marissa's blog entry titled "Using Writing to Think About Genre Project."   Her blog post stood out to me because I currently find myself in a similar situation. Like Marissa suggested, with my genre expert project presentation approaching, I have been thinking more about how I can incorporate aspects of my article into our class presentation. I appreciate that Marissa showcased her article in her blog post, and appreciated it even more that it was focused on a genre study approach. The article that I selected for the poetry genre was also a genre study approach, so I was able to connect to Marissa in that way. Additionally, both of our articles were written by the same author, which suggests to me that she is a credible researcher when considering genre studies. In the article that Marissa selected for her genre expert project, titled "Teaching Memoir in the Elementary Classroom," Gibney (2012) sug...

This week I had the opportunity to reflect on and learn more about the persuasive genre. One of the largest take aways I had was that the persuasive genre is really all around us, even when we do not realize it. I appreciated the fact that our Genre Expert Workshop presenters had us bring in our own advertisement because that is what lead me to my realization. When reflecting on the dozens of advertisements I had come across in the week prior, I realized how prominent they really are. Advertisements are everywhere; therefore, the persuasive genre is everywhere. It is important to note that there is a distinct difference between persuasion and propaganda, as mentioned by Tompkins. Both persuasion and propaganda are included in advertisements, and it is crucial to have a critical eye in order to tell the difference between the two.  I enjoyed sharing the advertisement that I selected with Dr. Jones and my writing group mates. I ultimately chose an advertisement for Olympic One paint ...

This week, Maddie's blog had my focus, specifically her entry asking " what makes a good mentor text ?" Her entry really stood out to me as her voice was incredible! I could almost hear her reading it out loud to me, which was really powerful. By using different formatting tools, such as different colored text to emphasize certain ideas, capitalizing certain words, and using informal language to express her interpretation of the text(s), her voice was conveyed very strongly. Well done, Maddie!  Regarding her interpretation of the text Supporting Young Writers With Award-Winning Books by MacKay, Ricks, and Young (2017), she did an excellent job of highlighting the guiding question "what makes a good mentor text?" Maddie also poses her own question: "Just because a text is an award-winner, does that mean it is the best mentor text for  all  students?" I too also thought deeply about this question, as I feel that too many award-winning books are used as...

I enjoyed the readings for this week because giving feedback on writing and assessing writing has been something I have struggled with as a first year teacher. Writing in 1st grade looks a lot different than what I was used to in my student teaching placements in 3rd and 5th grade, so it has been quite an adjustment. I have wondered many times if my students' writing is considered on grade level or is developmentally appropriate for their age. I have also wondered how missing out on essentially half of Kindergarten has impacted their writing. On top of all of this, as an (admittedly so) not-so-confident first year teacher, I started the year off wanting my students to like me so was very hesitant at first to make any major corrections to my students' writing. This may have been because I wanted my students to like me right off the bat, or rather I just was not entirely sure what was expected of a first grader. Nonetheless, chapter 4 of Tompkins and the article by Philippakos (2...