Building Writing Fluency “Write, write and write some more. Think of writing as a muscle that needs lots of exercise.” -Jane Yolen

Outcomes Deepen understanding of the purpose of writing fluency and using the strategy to build student stamina in writing Obtain activities to build fluency and stamina daily in your classroom

What is Fluency? “Fluency is the ability to generate text– a lot of it– in a short period of time.” Aimee Buckner “This gives students something to work with when rereading, revising, and even editing.” Aimee Buckner “To get past “page fright,” writers need to experience the power of motion. Before we start a piece of writing, the page is blank. To get the ballpoint rolling, we must simply begin.” Jeff Anderson “Fluency is the ability to generate text– a lot of it– in a short period of time.” Aimee Buckner “This gives students something to work with when rereading, revising, and even editing.” Aimee Buckner “To get past “page fright,” writers need to experience the power of motion. Before we start a piece of writing, the page is blank. To get the ballpoint rolling, we must simply begin.” Jeff Anderson

Why Writing Fluency? “Everything we write today prepares us for the writing task of tomorrow.” Fluency = Building Writing Stamina Standard 10- Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Building Stamina Rigor Reflect Analyze Create Quality Focus Daily Practice

1.Cross out “is” and write “should be” on the name tag 2.Think of an alternate answer to the typical answer of your real name. 3.Purpose is to leave this very open ended so that there are a variety of responses. 4.Leave time in class for sharing student writing 5.Another Option – Use content related figures or items (Matter, Volcano, John Smith, Attean…) should be

Aimee Buckner “Notebook Know-How” “When I think about my most reluctant writers, I realize they are the ones who don’t write fluently. They have trouble thinking of what to write, how much to write, or they forget what they wanted to write.”

Power Writing Teacher displays two words. Students select one. Teacher says, “Write as much as you can, as fast as you can, as well as you can in _____ minutes. Go!” Students write for _____ minutes. Teacher calls time: “Stop writing. Lift your pencil up in the air. Draw a line underneath what you just wrote. Count the number of words you wrote.” Students record word count under the line. Optional: Teacher record results for each round on chart. Add more time to reflect or add more ideas

More Power Writing – “Toss Ins” Have students continue writing for another minute, but this time, the teacher will randomly “toss in” additions to include in their next minute’s writing. – Example… “Add the number 1,000; add a superlative; add an appositive; add a social studies term.” – Basically, you are “tossing in” specific items related to class learning

Writing Fluency Ideas Cross Curricular Prompts – Science, Social Studies, Math… Variety of Text Types – Opinion, Narrative, Informational Picture Prompts – With or without questions and sentence starters Poems, Quotes, Open ended questions “Take a Stand” Prompts – Students take a stand on an issue and quick write an opinion Interest Lists Visual Prompt PowerPoint available on Writing Central!

Picture Prompts

Poem Prompts

Take A Stand

Content Writing – Science Narrative

Grungy Grace I am extremely devious, my name is Grungy Grace. I hardly ever brush my teeth or was my hands and face. " It's time to wash," my father says, but since I'm not a dope, I simply turn the water on and wet the towel and soap. "Brush your teeth," my mother says, I never even blink. I squeeze out gobs of toothpaste, and I brush the bathroom sink. I'm very good at fooling them, my brain's extremely keen, but I've got lots of rashes, and my teeth are turning green.

Lift A Line “Fluency is the ability to generate text– a lot of it– in a short period of time.” Aimee Buckner “This gives students something to work with when rereading, revising, and even editing.” Aimee Buckner “To get past “page fright,” writers need to experience the power of motion. Before we start a piece of writing, the page is blank. To get the ballpoint rolling, we must simply begin.” Jeff Anderson “Fluency is the ability to generate text– a lot of it– in a short period of time.” Aimee Buckner “This gives students something to work with when rereading, revising, and even editing.” Aimee Buckner “To get past “page fright,” writers need to experience the power of motion. Before we start a piece of writing, the page is blank. To get the ballpoint rolling, we must simply begin.” Jeff Anderson

Share Your Best Practices As a table group share activities that you do in your classroom to build writing fluency.

When Will I Fit This In??? Where can you find 15 minutes for your students to write and share every day? Discuss with your table group. (Remember, it can be in any content area, any time.)

Three Things To Remember about Writing Fluency Students who write every day will become good writers. Fluency builds stamina. Fluency pushes students past writer’s block.

Resources Professional Texts Notebook Know-How Aimee Buckner 10 Things Every Writer Needs to Know Jeff Anderson