Writer’s Notebook
I am so happy to be able to create a writer’s notebook. I have always loved writing in journals, but now having the writer’s notebook, I can write even more like my thoughts, my likes, and my connections to the world. When finding a writer’s notebook, it has to match your style. The one I found has a floral design on the covers, a pen holder on the side, a pocket holder to hold any loose papers I have, and has lined pages. All of these things are what I looked for when choosing my writer’s notebook. I love floral designs, having somewhere to put my pens (I am the world’s worst at losing pens), and having lines to write on (if not, my words would be going in a diagonal).
Recently, I read an article, Writer’s Notebook: A Place to Dream,Wonder, and Explore by Ralph Fletcher. There were a lot of great points I found in this article. One of the quotes I found was, “A student who keeps a notebook can begin to live like a writer—noticing, paying attention, listening, collecting, musing, wondering, playing with language, taking pleasure in her own words.” I could not agree more with this quote. Being able to have somewhere to write down these ideas and connections down is great for a writer and is a place where the writer can always come back to for ideas. Having a writer’s notebook is also a great way for writer’s to see their potential and to learn more about how to write and what they like to write about. One other quote that stood out to me was, “The writer’s notebook has the power to teach writers by letting them write.” The best way to learn how to write is simply practicing and doing it multiple times. The more someone practices at doing something, the better they will become. There is such a power felt when there is an ownership of something. Having a personal writer’s notebook can give that ownership the writer may need.
Serendipity
I am currently reading Textbook by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, which is such an incredible book and it is not your “normal” kind of book. Amy Krouse Rosenthal makes the reading fun and interesting. Each time I finish a page, I want to keep going and she what else she has to say. To me, it is like a writer’s notebook for her and I love feeling like I am in her mind.
In the book, she begins to write about the word Serendipity and what it means. Serendipity means realizing the connections you have with others, finding something exciting, and especially the coincidences. Coincidences is what she focused on the most when describing serendipity. I loved reading the serendipity moments she had and it made me think of a few I have myself. One of them being the way mine and my husband’s birthdays connect to my parents. My birthday is on July 8 and my mom’s is on October 8. My husband’s is on October 9 and my dad’s is on August 9. Another is me, my mom, and my cousin are all nearsighted in the same eye (the right) and have perfect vision in the other (the left).
Mentor Text
A mentor text is a text that can be referred back to when writing something similar to it. A book that is very helpful for finding a going deeper into what a mentor text is, is Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children’s Literature, K-6 by Lynne R. Dorfman and Rose Cappelli. In this book, they bring out the opportunities a mentor text can provide and how to find the right mentor text. This book also reminds me the importance of modeling. Everyone needs to see what something should look like before doing it themselves. This is the best way we can learn and know how to apply it to our own ideas. This reminds me of how much more I gained when my teachers have gone over what we were expected to do before we did it. It’s a great way to set expectations and to allow the others to know where they need to start. One quote I loved from Chapter 1 was, “To see themselves as writers, students need choice, opportunities to collaborate, venues for real-world publishing, and time for reflection.” I love this quote because all these steps are needed and are so important. Like they also added, reflection is often overlooked because some do not think it is important. However, reflection is so crucial because it lets writers look back at what they did. This can mean at what they think they loved and what they would like to add.
A Writer’s Statement… My Belief about the Teaching of Writing
Writing instruction should be fun and enjoyable for the student writers. However, I feel like now writing instruction has turned into a difficult task for students to complete and there is more focus being put on to the grammar and punctuation instead of the story itself. Thinking back to when I was in school and had to write, I remember getting my paper back and there being multiple marks from the teacher on it. Having this experience with writing made me feel like I was not going to be a good writer. As teachers, we need to show students how fun writing can be by allowing them to write what they would like and not focus so much on grammar and punctuation. We should focus on how they developed writing and what they included within their writing. We should help the students learn they are writers and help them see the potential they have. Writing is a way to express and learn more about themselves. Creating a writer’s notebook is a great way for students to feel motivated to write because they can look in it for multiple ideas to write about. The environment for a writer can be anywhere they feel comfortable and relaxed. It doe not have to be sitting at a hard desk in a brightly lit classroom. It can be on a couch, outside under a tree, and so many other places.
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