Session 3: Objectivity and Subjectivity

We have 2 issues to write about in this session.
The first is what did you think of chapter 13 “objectivity and subjectivity” from Ken Macrorie’s book The I Search Paper?

A Topic Choosing You

The second is to begin to collect some writing around subjects that are interesting enough for us to potentially pursue as writers to a finished piece. We are in the collecting stage of the process where students brainstorm/draft/collect some writing in the form of lists, webs, prose, etc. so that they may have some material from which to make their decision. Some call it the prewriting stage, though you are indeed writing. So do some writing around at least 3 of your possible research items and chose one to post on the blog in the comment box.

Session 2: Reading Like Writers

In this session, we checked out some samples of research writing.  I brought in some I Search papers.  This is a different kind of research writing, where the researcher puts themselves and their process in the writing.  See links for session 2 to read about the style and some samples of your own.  In my opinion, it is a far more authentic way of investigating a subject, although it can be jarring in comparison to the research papers we may be used to.  Some points in the discussion against this kind of writing were "Is it actually a research paper?" and "It doesn't sound like nonfiction."  Other folks supported the style stating that "It is a way to get students away from just copying or paraphrasing."  Take a look at the pieces and let me know what you think.

Session 1: Research Writing

At the start of the year, some teachers at KF got together to study writing.  We began by looking at the writing process in its fullness.  Check out the link at the right to see some basics on the parts of the process.   Upon discussing the various stages that pieces of writing go through to get to publishing and sharing or celebrating, we talked about some of the genres of writing that we know and/or work with.  These included poetry, news articles, realistic fiction, historic fiction, fairy tales, recipes and research writing.  The group decided to focus on researching research writing through the year.  We wrapped up the sessions by cracking open brand new writer's notebooks and taking a few minutes to just write steadily as we might ask our students to do in order to flex their writing muscles and gain stamina.  Homework included reading a chapter from Katie Wood Ray's book Wondrous Words.  Check out the link from ncte to learn more about this book.  The chapter discusses Reading like a Writer, the first step in getting to know a genre.  The other part of homework was for teachers to find examples of research writing to share with their group next session.