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Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Stenhouse Blog Tour: Celebrating Writers with Ruth Ayres

"Celebration ought to wrap around many moments in writing workshop - not just the final product."                                  - Ruth Ayres 
Bring out the streamers.  Blow up the balloons.  Set out the party food.  Celebrate!  I feel like my blog needs to flash, throw confetti, and make sounds of cheers for this new - and much needed - book by Ruth Ayres:  Celebrating Writers:  From Possibilities Through Publication.  Schools need celebration.  Children should be celebrated.  Their stories should be captured and their "tiny steps toward a writing life (p. 4)" should be noticed and rejoiced.  In her book Ruth reminds us this doesn't always mean punch and cookies, but instead "Celebration is is so much more.  Celebration ought to wrap around many moments in writing workshop - not just the final product. (p.5)."

When Ruth Ayres visited Ohio in October I was so excited to hear about her new book.  She came to talk with the members of the Literacy Connections about celebrating young writers in our workshops.  Her talk was energizing, inspiring, and positive.  After listening to her speak I could hardly wait to get started reading it.  When I received my copy I couldn't put it down.  I was thrilled to be asked to join the Stenhouse blog tour for her new book:  Celebrating Writers.  No matter your grade level, if you are a teacher working alongside writers, you'll want to read this book.  Ruth's book had me taking notes and planning changes for our workshop - changes to bring joy into the time we work as writers.

Today I'm so excited to have Ruth stop by Reflect and Refine to answer a few questions about Celebrating Writers.


Me:  How does your work as a writer carry into the way you celebrate the work of young writers in classrooms?
Ruth:  It is this – writing myself—that has had the biggest impact on my craft of teaching. Even when working with preschool writers, my own writing life helps me be a better teacher. I understand the importance of individualizing the process, as well as the importance of having specific direction. It’s this balance of choice and structure that I’m able to provide because I write myself.

Me:  You share with readers how your thinking has changed about celebration, and talk about celebrating the small steps along the way. What do you try to notice and celebrate in the daily process of writing?
Ruth:  Risks. I try to notice and acknowledge the risk it takes to put words on the page. I’m always looking for what a writer is almost (but not quite doing). Then I celebrate this small thing. Recently, my seven year old son shared a story with me. He is an experienced second grade writer, but as I read his writing, I realized his capital letters were out of control. The only place he used them accurately and predictably was with proper nouns. Character names, towns, months, and street names were all capitalized in his writing. However, there were a lot of other capital letters loitering in the middle of sentences and the middle of words. They were also missing at the start of sentences. So we celebrated what he knew and I nudged him to expand his use of capitals. This is the perfect kind of daily celebration. Building on what you almost know is a great way to grow as a writer.

Me:  I’ve always wanted to take the steps to teach primary writers how to confer with one another. In your book you share many suggestions for creating partnerships and helping students learn to give helpful feedback. What considerations or suggestions do you have for those working with youngest of writers to create meaningful partnerships?
Ruth:  This is a great question. I’ve spent a lot of time working with a kindergarten and first grade teacher in supporting their students to build strong partnerships. We do our best to make the process concrete. One way we do this is with checklists. The check list shows a picture of each of the steps. We start simple with these four steps:
  1. Sit side-by-side so both people can read the book.
  2. Read the book aloud.
  3. Make sure the book is finished with words and illustrations on every page.
  4. Tell your writing buddy something you value about the book.
Then we add things like this:
  • Touch the main topic on each page. Is it the same for the entire book?
  • Check that the words and illustrations both help tell the story.
  • Look for Word Wall words.
  • Help your writing buddy think of something to do next as a writer.
By making the work of partnerships concrete, we’ve found our youngest writers are often the best writing buddies.

Me:  What do you hope readers take away from your book?
Ruth:  I hope they feel energy for writing workshop and are inspired to teach with joy and purpose.

Other blog tour stops:
November 11th:  A Year of Reading
November 12th:  Kate Messner's Blog
November 13th:  HERE!
November 14th:  Read, Write, Reflect
November 15th:  Nerdy Book Club 

14 comments:

  1. I can't wait to read the book. I love the part about celebrating risk tasking. This is something that I really tried to do when I conferenced with children. I would then point out those risks the child took during our whole group share time.

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    1. Jodie,
      I loved how uplifting it was. I couldn't help but think about what a deficit system we sometimes create and how powerful just changing our lens is for children.

      Cathy

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  2. I received my copy already & have begun. It's going to be a useful book that will help me share ideas with those teachers I work with, new ideas to cement the power of workshop! Thanks Cathy & Ruth!

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    1. Linda,
      I just enjoy Ruth's writing whether it is on her blog or in a book. You'll love it!

      Cathy

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  3. Following the blog tour has given me inspiration and joy. Thank you Cathy for the interview. I hope that Ruth will at some point reflect on this blog tour experience.

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    1. Terje,
      Thanks for stopping. Like you, I've found reading the posts across blogs to be like "bonus features" in movie DVDs I purchase.

      Cathy

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  4. Loving this blog tour. Can't wait to get the book!

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    1. Betsy,
      You'll love it! I wondered if it would apply to our young readers, but I felt it was very applicable to them. Isn't it funny that writing is writing whether you are 3, 6, 15, or 30+.

      Cathy

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  5. I read the whole book in one sitting too! I shared writing partners with a teacher today. This book does leave the reader with energy to head back into workshop and celebrate!

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    1. Elsie,
      I was really fascinated by this idea. I have always wanted to add partnerships, but I've just never been quite sure how to get it done. Ruth's words have me thinking about it again. This time I think I have some ideas for making it work.

      Cathy

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  6. "Teaching with joy and purpose" that almost sounds like the title for Ruth's next book. I have been thinking that this book might not be for me as I teach older students, but the more I read about this book the more convinced I am that I need to get this book. Thank you for this blog tour!

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    1. Jaana,
      Thanks for stopping to comment. I think you might have Ruth's next book in mind. Funny, I wondered if the book would be applicable to very young writers. I thought it seemed more geared toward older writers. Then I read it and realized any one teaching K-12 --- and anyone who writes --- would find great value in reading it.

      Cathy

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  7. Betsy Hubbard is the winner of the free book from Stenhouse. Congrats, Betsy. Thanks to everyone who stopped to comment.

    Cathy

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  8. I think this may be the first post that I ever read on your blog way-back-when...I think I followed the tour here.

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