Multigenre Papers

I don't know that I am one hundred percent convinced that multigenre writing is an activity that must be included in the classroom. I like the notion of being able to target students with more artistic personalities through the freedom provided by the multigenre project, yet I wonder if this is necessarily a good thing. While I admit that giving students a breather from writting academically can extremely beneficial to the attitude and environment of the classroom, I do not believe that as teachers we should assign a great deal of multigenre projects. There is a strong level of value and merit placed upon formal writting and the skills that go along with being able to communicate effectively through writing. As such, we as future English educators need to be able to teach students how to produce high quality formal writting since that is what students will be required to use once they have entered the work place.

However, I am going to contradict myself right now by saying that multigenre writing is an excellent way of getting kids to find meaning in their writing and to be creative with their writing. In this way, writing becomes an authentic yet enjoyable task that most students would glean a great deal from. It is a more relaxed form where students can worry more about expressing themselves rather than about exact punctuation and usage. In creative writing classes I think a multigenre project would be highly beneficial as it would expose kids to a wide range of writing styles and various methods of expressing oneself through writing. In this sense, kids woud be forced to expand their knowledge of what it means to be a writer into areas of writing that they have never before considered. In using such a project, the chances of lighting a spark within a particular student are very high as there are many different types of material that might attract interest. Once interest in writing is gained and a certain confidence level has been gained a teacher may then be able to convince a young writer of the merits and necessity of more formal writing. Thus, this could be a great way of drawing kids into writing as a whole.

Once again, though, I wonder about the practicalities of using such a project. In teaching multigenre will kids be able to seriously develop their own style of writing with the genre, or will they simply mimick that of the writers that they study? What if meaningful multigenre writing does not translate into successful formal writing? Basically, I am wondering what constitutes an appropriate balance of multigenre and formal writing within a classroom? I guess I would like to know more about the subject of multigenre writing before I make a definite decision. Although Romano gives multiple examples of multigenre writing and the impitus for using it, I have never actually used or seen such a method used. I think once I am able to actually do some hands on things with multigenre stuff, I will have a much better idea of how I feel about this type of project overall. Anyone else have thoughts or suggestions about this?

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/multigenre.html
http://www.learner.org/channel/workshops/middlewriting/prog5.html
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=774

These three sites deal with the subject of multigenre teaching. The first and third sites list several possibilities for lesson plans and subjects using multigenre writing techniques. The second site offers comprehensive downloadable materials that further explain and illustrate the multigenre technique. All together these sites provide a pretty comprehensive look at the subject of multigenre writing.

The Writing Process

After reading Williams, Carney, and, I confess, some of Atwell, I have decided to concern my first posting with the writing process and specifically, what makes meaningful writing? Throughout the first semester we were constantly dealing with ways to make reading assignments meaningful, engaging, and worthwhile for students. We studied various reading strategies, study guides, and processes for teaching reading in a way that both enriched and interested students. In short, we discovered ways to intrinsically motivate students to do their work, and the question of how to do so with teaching writing has interested me.

As far as I can tell Williams suggests three main ways of creating meaningful writing experiences. In his section on meaningful writing he specifically focuses on the strategies of using pen pals and of simulation. By using pen pals, Williams says that writing becomes a form of easy communication familiar to students where the freedom of creativity and curiosity take over the writing form. This communicative writing can then be refined into other forms of academic writing through the proper techniques. Simulation creates an interest in writing among the students by allowing them to take on the mind set of a particular character or figure that they are studying. In this way, the student's desire to embody the life and times of that character becomes the driving force for writing.

While I found these to be two good ways of creating meaningful writing, I couldn't help but feel that teaching the technique of using process writing could also develop meaningful writing techniques. Williams wrote early on in chapter three that student-centered classrooms were beneficial as they allowed student talk, decision making, and choice. I believe that in writing using a student-centered approach is one of the keys to success in helping kids engage in a meaningful writing assignment. By learning from their peers and by exercising choice, as discussed by Carney, students are allowed to participate in the most personally interesting and challenging writing activities. In particular, Carney says that students should be presented with a variety of potential writing topics and options that may fulfill one specific writing requirement. In this way, the students my pick a topic that they feel they can write passionately and effectively about. As such, student desire to complete a certain assignment, and to complete it to the best of their abilities, is maximized out of a feeling of confidence that comes along with selecting their own direction in writing.

Finally, the process itself, in terms of invention, planning, drafting, pausing, etc., along with specific goals for writing such as HOCs and LOCs, provides additional support in creating a meaningful writing experience. By slowly teaching kids the step by step techniques needed to produce a final piece of writing, a monumental task is broken into a series of attainable goals. By having kids follow the process the emphasis is not on producing a final paper but on producing the best possible personal ideas and statements. When kids latch on to the statements and ideas that they have generated as a result of the process it is fair to assume that they have discovered a reason for writing, and in so doing, have created meaning for themselves. Thus, I gleaned a great deal from this collection of articles and look forward to putting the ideas contained in them to practical use.

In following up on the writing process I discovered the following website: http://www.angelfire.com/wi/writingprocess/specificgos.html

At this site you will find step by step instructions and ideas for using the writing process, which will in turn engage kids. There are many ideas contained under various subheadings such as; editing, revising, etc. that break down the writing process into managable activities for teachers and students alike. This site brings many fresh ideas and outside links into the discussion on meaningful writing, and will be a great asset in helping kids tackle a daunting task!

Letter From the Editor...

Well, it's a new semester with new classes. As such, the types of postings that you are used to seeing, a la Rick Beach, are no more. Instead, this blog is being rededicated to the art of writing. Yes, I will be using my niche here on the internet to respond to texts concerning writing, responding to comments made on these same texts by some of my peers, and posting helpful links to teaching material that comliments each entries subject. With this in mind, enjoy the next eight weeks of whitty banter, intellectual conversation, and disection of the pressing issues of writing! I can't wait, can you? Until then, play the wind and don't take any stupid penalties.

Editor and Chief,

Buck