Written Conversations

Like teachers everywhere, I’m getting ready to go back to school.  While most of my thoughts these days are about the little things like nametags and book shelves, I know that once those early days pass, we can get going on more in-depth activities. So even though you may not be ready to think about more than getting your room ready right now, sometimes it’s nice to have a little something floating around that you’re looking forward to using in the near future.  And today, that little something is called Written Conversation.

I saw Written Conversations described in a great book called Content-Area Writing by Harvey Daniels, Steve Zemelman, and Nancy Steineke (look at the description here). It’s meant for grades 6-12, but many of their suggestions can be used in lower grades, and with all subject areas. I happen to love Written Conversations. In fact, I love it so much I don’t know why I don’t use it more often. It gives kids a chance to practice their writing, and to read what others have written and respond to it. As the teacher, you can see who is thinking and writing, and who isn’t. And another nice bonus is this activity is completely quiet. I don’t think quiet is important all the time, but it can sure be a nice change some days!

To begin with, you will need to pick some kind of text or even a picture that you want kids to think about and discuss. I’ve used poems, nonfiction selections, paintings, and photographs. That text or picture will be glued in the middle of a much bigger piece of paper; I usually just pull off pieces of bulletin board paper. Divide your class into groups of 4-6 students, and give each group a big piece of paper with the text on it. It helps to push desks together so the kids can walk around the paper. Each person in the group will also need something to write with.  I really like using markers, with each student writing in a different color. It is then very easy to see what each student has written.

Once everyone in the group is settled with a marker, I will either read the text out loud, or read a prompt for them to respond to. This is for the students who may not be as strong in their reading skills-I want them to be able to be responding right away instead of laboring over the text. Then I tell the students to write about the text. They can ask questions, tell what they think a particular line means, tell how it connects to them or something else they’ve read – but it all has to be done in writing. They can highlight the text, or underline parts they find confusing, and they can also begin to respond to what the others in the group are writing.  Many times students can clarify the questions that other students are writing about. They underline their proof in the text, or connect to something else they know about.  This may mean walking around the paper to find a spot to respond, which is fine.  However, I don’t let them wander over to another group’s work, and they can’t do any talking.

If things are slow at first, I will walk around and write questions to get the conversations going. The nice thing about doing this activity more than once is that kids get used to the format and it doesn’t take them as long to get started. I’ve had my quiet students tell me they really like this activity because their “voice” was finally heard – they didn’t have to wait for the chattier kids to stop talking. I will say that it is a challenging activity for kids who dislike writing, and it will be very apparent who has contributed a lot and who hasn’t when the activity is done.  But it’s a great record of everyone’s thinking, and the students and I love looking at all the comments when the activity is done. I know this year I plan to use Written Conversations more often!