This week I want to celebrate teachers in our division who are taking what they know about Regie Routman's optimal learning model and her approach to the teaching of writing, and applying it in varied and exciting ways...

In a Grade 1/2 combined class the students are learning about weather forecasts and what your audience needs to know.  They began with conversations during their calendar time about ways you could describe different kinds of days and began making charts to describe sunny days, rainy days, snowy days and cold days.  The teacher told them that they were going to be writing forecasts for the school that would be read over the morning announcements to help students and staff be prepared for the day.  (real purpose, real audience, real fame :) ) First the teacher did a model of her own, showing what quality could look like.  Then the students worked with the teacher to create many shared weather forecasts that are read over the announcements.  They are now beginning their own individual forecasts that will be videotaped for their parents to see at Parent Teacher.

A French Immersion teacher has used the upcoming Festival du Voyageur as a means to real purpose and audience.  Her students are performing at a school assembly in February.  They will be singing a song with additional verses written by students in French.  She began by sharing the song and telling students of her idea that they could write additional verses for the performance or for a bulletin board that would also be used as a way to publish their learning and writing about the voyageur.  She modelled writing a verse herself, with much thinking aloud about the rhythm of the song and how the words needed to fit that pattern.  Several shared writes allowed further think alouds and emphasis of key teaching points.  And now they are writing their own verses.

A Grade 4 teacher is using what she has done in Language Arts in Science.  Students are researching habitats with an end goal of producing a powerpoint to share their learning with another Grade 4 class.  She has used the "I do it, we do it, we do it, we do it...you do it" at every stage of the project.

• She modelled doing research and using slim jims to take notes.
• They did it together as a class.
• They tried it alone.

• She modelled turning her notes into an interesting powerpoint presentation with illustrations.
• They did it together as a class.  
• They made their own presentations. 

As we discussed the process she said two very interesting things.  The first was that at times it seemed "tedious" to her, in that it was taking much longer to do this project than in previous years and there was a lot of repetition.  The second was that the quality of these powerpoint presentations far exceeded those of previous years.  

A teacher in a culturally diverse upper elementary class used David Bouchard's If You're Not From The Prairie as inspiration.  Focussing on the page that says, "If you're not from the prairie you don't know snow", she told them they were going to write about not knowing winter if you were not from Winnipeg.  Their audience would be new Canadians who came to their school and also those who came to a Welcome Centre for new Canadians in our city.  As seven of the students were recent immigrants from places decidedly lacking in snow, it was a very engaging topic.  A Shutterfly book is in production as I write this.

Each story  includes the collaboration and support of grade level colleagues.  A climate of learning with and from each other.  A generosity of spirit and a nod to the idea that together we are stronger.

These are some of the stories I heard just this week alone.  I know there are more and I would be happy to hear... and share them.