Arc of Story: End-of-Unit Reflection

As I finish grading the last of the end-of-unit narrative on-demands, I’m smiling. Aside from the evident creativity, it’s so clear to me that these writers grew a ton, especially the ones who took the mini-lesson strategies to heart and/or who I was able to meet with often throughout the unit.

Of course, on-demand data is just one snapshot assessment. I know, for instance, that one very capable student spent 20 minutes sitting there thinking, and only about 5 minutes writing, after some gentle (and then not-so-gentle) nudging to put pen to paper.

That said, I’m pleased with the overall data: it shows 17 out of 23 students made strides, demonstrating half a year’s growth to almost a year and a half’s growth for some. While 5 students’ scores went down, and one student’s stayed the same, the overall class score of 14.09 (beginning of 4th grade) jumped to 18.29 (end of 4th grade).

How’d we do with the goals?

• Focused short story arcs? — Some of the published pieces were focused, others not so much, but most of the on-demands were clear and to the point.
• Transition words? — The on-demand data shows a jump from a 0.63 average to a 1.48 average, meaning growth of about one year. The student who was smack dab in the middle when I thin sliced the August on-demand data grew tremendously in this area, as well as with show, don’t tell.
• Show, Don’t Tell — The majority of on-demands included dialogue, most of which had approximations of correct punctuation (i.e. quotation marks, but perhaps no commas, or correctly punctuated, but not starting a new paragraph each time a new character speaks). There also was much more vivid description. The on-demand data supports a year’s growth in “elaboration,” with the craft skills lagging behind. That’ll be a goal for the next narrative unit this year.

Documenting & Celebrating

Incorporating feedback from their first writing celebration, we decided to make this one “intimate” —aka. they just shared their stories with each other, and we only invited Male and Angie to observe. There were no feedback sheets, no stories laid out. They each took their printed stories, protected in a plastic sleeve, somewhere in the room where they could read aloud or listen to a friend’s. The engagement was high. It was very joyous and sweet.

Later in the day, after a math test and during quiet time, they continued to return to the writing center to grab another friend’s piece to read.

Writers wanting to read other writers’ stories, even when it’s not Writer’s Workshop? Yup. I’ll take it.