June23,2016

DearElana,

Yourdemowasapictureperfectwayintotheworldofimagination!Itbeautifullyillustratedthe
differencesbetweenobservationsandinferencesandhowwecanusethosetoanalyzeand
createstories.

AFFECT/MOTIVATION
Yourenthusiasmandpassionforteaching5thgrade,apprenticingwriters,incorporatingvisual
literacy,andexperimentingwithnewpracticesiscontagious!Yourlessonwasengagingfora
varietyoflearners,especiallybecauseofyourintegrationofvisualliteracyandsupports.The
pictures,theuseoftheELMO,yourgraphicorganizers,andtheEETballswereawesome!All
ofyourscaffoldsmadetheintimidatingprocessofenteringstorytellingmuchlessterrifyingand
waymoreapproachable.Therewasenoughstructureandscaffoldingtoensurewedidntfeel
likeweweredrowning,butatthesametimecouldcreativelyexplorewriting.

PROMISINGPRACTICES
Yourdemowasveryprocessoriented.Witheverystep,theworkwedidwashandsonand
seamlesslysequenced.Wefeltverywellsupportedasyouslowlyreleasedusintothewildof
creativewriting.Yourintegrationofvisualliteracygaveustherightamountofsparktoinspire
ourinquiryintothestartingtextandthenourownwriting.Youverymasterfullyused
questioningtodrawoutourthinkingandkeepusonthepathoflearningwithouttellinguswhat
tothink.

CCSS/POLICY/PR
Yourlessonaswellasyourapproachtoyourteachingdemonstratesopenness,promotes
curiosityandcreativity,andmodelledpersistence,flexibilityandrisktaking.Intermsofthe
standards,yourdemofacilitatedcriticalthinkingandhelpedustoevaluateassumptionsthatare
oftenmadewhenmakinginferences
Youpromotedauthenticstrategiesforwritingandentering
thewritingprocessfornarrativewriting.

CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.5.1Q
uoteaccuratelyfromatextwhenexplainingwhatthe
textsaysexplicitlyandwhendrawinginferencesfromthetext.
CCSS.ELALITERACY.W.5.5
Withguidanceandsupportfrompeersandadults,
developandstrengthenwritingasneededbyplanning,revising,editing,rewriting,or
tryinganewapproach.
CCSS.ELALITERACY.W.5.3.A
Orientthereaderbyestablishingasituationand
introducinganarratorand/orcharactersorganizeaneventsequencethatunfolds
naturally.
CCSS.ELALITERACY.W.5.3.B
Usenarrativetechniques,suchasdialogue,
description,andpacing,todevelopexperiencesandeventsorshowtheresponsesof
characterstosituations.

EXTENSIONS/ADAPTATIONS
Yourlessoniseasilyadaptabletoboththehighschoolandpostsecondarycontextsaswellas
withdifferentpurposesandgenresforwriting.Forinstance,withthedisciplinaryliteracy
assignmentusedwithfirstyearcollegestudents,wecouldseehowanalyzingwhatisdifferent

betweenwhatisseenandwhatisactuallybeingsaidcouldbeusedwheninterviewingto
integrateprimaryresearchorgoingtoamuseumtoanalyzetexts.Atthehighschoollevel,we
couldeasilyintegrateimagesandutilizethesameprocessyourlessonalsoactedasacallto
actiontobringbackcreativewritinginacontextwherepersuasive/argumentativeandexpository
writinghaspushednarrativetothebackburner.AndtheEETprocesswouldbeanamazing
heuristicforengaginginpeerfeedbackandrevisionofwritingforalllevels.Whatsalso
exemplaryaboutyourdemoisthewayinwhichitbuildsinavarietyofscaffoldstodifferentiate
foralllearners.

QUESTIONSARISEN
WithregardtotheEETballs,wewerewonderingmoreabouttheroleoftheWhiteballandwhat
wheremeans?Youalsomadeusthinkabouthowthereareattributesofelementaryliteracy
instructionthatareoftenperceivedasbeingtooyoungforourstudents,butreallyhaveaplace
inthesecondaryandpostsecondarycontext.

Thankyouforhelpinguspictureourselvesascreativewritersandteachersofcreativewriting!

Love,

Kate,Kim,Sarah,Christina,Trixie
YourRCWPCohort2016