Sunday, November 21, 2010

Ch#12 Persuasive Writing reading reflection.

Persuasive writing is winning people to a particular viewpoint or persuading them to take a specific action. “

“To persuade is to win someone over to your viewpoint or cause(Simon,2005). In contrast to propaganda, which has a more sinister connotation, persuasion involves a reasoned or logical appeal.(Tompkins, p,267.)

“Persuasive writing is a type of writing where your main goal is to persuade or convince someone to do something that you want them to do. A form of persuasive writing is a letter written to someone telling him or her a complaint that you have. In order to write a persuasive letter you need to have reasons why the person should do what you are suggesting. You also need reasons why your idea might not be the greatest. So you basically have reasons from your perspective and from someone who thinks the opposite of you.”(www.library.thinkquest.org)

Ch#9 Narrative Writing reading reflection.

Narrative writing tells a story or part of a story.

“They acquire this concept of story gradually, first through listening to stories read to them, later by reading stories themselves, and then by telling and writing stories”(Tompkins,p,198.)

“When you write a narrative essay, you are telling a story. Narrative essays are told from a defined point of view, often the author's, so there is feeling as well as specific and often sensory details provided to get the reader involved in the elements and sequence of the story.”(www.essay info.com)

Ch#8 Expository Writing reading reflection.

Ch#8 Expository Writing
Exposition is a type of oral or written discourse that is used to explain, describe, give information or inform.

“Expository writing is factual; its purpose is to convey information about the world.(Duke&Bennett-Armistead, 2003) The information might be an explanation of the importance of recycling, the steps of how a bill becomes a low, a comparison of Islam and Christianity, or a description of the struggles facing pioneers traveling on the Oregon
Trail.”(Tompkins, p,171.)

“Expository writing is a type of writing, the purpose of which is to inform, explain, describe, or define the author's subject to the reader. Expository text is meant to deposit information and is the most frequently used type of writing by students in colleges and universities.”(Wikipedia)

Ch#7 Biographical Writing reading reflection.

Children can learn about other lives and different world by reading and writing about people who actually lived and the events described in them really happened.

“Biographical writing is writing about people. Children like to investigate the lives of well-known personalities as they read biographies and share information about themselves and their lives as they write personal narratives and autobiographies.”(Tompkins, p,147.)

“A biography is a written account of a person's life, a person currently living or historical, famous or unknown, accomplished or annonymous. Teachers enjoy assigning biographies because they open students' eyes to new eras, new ideas, and new perspectives on life. Students like them for the choices they offer.”(www.homeworktip.about.com)

Ch#6 Letter Writing reading reflection.

Having an authentic audience make children to be more careful about their writing, because they want to communicate effectively.

“Letters are written to communicate with a specific and important audience, children think more carefully about what they want to say, write more legibly, and are more inclined to use spelling, capitalization, and punctuation conventions conventions correctly.”(Tompkins, p,130.)

“Letter writing is an art. A well-written letter is a always a pleasure to read. Writing a letter is about conveying a message. Letter writing is much different from other kind of writing. The context can be casual or formal. There are other essentials to be noted as to whom the letter is addressed and if there is any tone required in the language. The flow of thoughts has to be continual.”(www.indianchild.com)

Ch#5 Journal Writing reading reflection.

Dialogue Journals is the good way to get to know children better by having a dialogue or conversation in dialogue journal. It affects not only relationship between teacher and children but also children’s writing in response to teachers’ requests.

“Dialogue journals are especially effective in promoting the writing development of English learner .Researchers have found that these children are more successful writers when they choose their own topics for writing and when their teachers contribute to the dialogue with requests for a reply, statements, and other comments(Reyes,1991)”

“Partners engaging in this process communicate regularly with students picking and initiating topics while a more proficient writer writes back, responds to questions and concerns, and asks follow-up questions.”(Peyton,1997;Staton,1987)

Ch#4 Assessing children’s writing reading reflection.

We can help children to be better writers(sophisticated writers) to measure how well children are using the writing process by using process writing assessment such as observing, conferencing, collecting, and scoring.

“Assessment provides information about what writers know and what they can do. It’s something that teachers do every day, in one form or another. (Anderson,2005)

“Because proficiency in written expression requires the intergration of multiple skills, the assessment of writing is a complex endeavor.”(Tindal& Marston,1990)