I am always amazed when I look at my blog stats and find that people are still looking at my daily oral language post from last August. When I used Daily Oral Language with my 5th graders, I used the Great Source book. The students grew bored with it quickly and it didn’t seem to matter what tricks I tried to keep them interested, they were bored. I’ll admit, this could have been because I was bored with it myself. I felt like I was betraying my own beliefs about writing. I believe that if we want students to improve their grammar and writing skills they should be given opportunities to use grammar and practice writing. This daily activity just seemed like a waste of valuable writing time. I admit, it was nice to have a daily activity that they could get started on when they walked in the door. It was great “busy work” that gave me time to take attendance. I felt guilty for relying on “busy work” though so I had to find an alternative. What is my alternative you ask? In my classroom we call it ‘first thoughts’. It started out as “journal time” but became ‘first thoughts’ when I explained to students that I just wanted them to write their thoughts, the first things that cam to mind. I said, “just write your first thoughts” and it stuck. When I first started this, students were welcomed everyday with a note from me on the board. They would read my note and write a response in their journal. This was working pretty well, but soon they became a little bored with my notes. They weren’t always interested in the things I was interested in. One day I had a student groan, “Why do we have to answer your questions? Why can’t we ask our own questions?” Desperate for something that would get my students interested in writing, I decided to give it a try. While they responded to the question I had written on the board, I went to my computer and typed up a form students could use to let me know what questions they wanted to ask their classmates. I printed a few and students began filling them out. The next day, and every day after, when my students came into the room, they were greeted with questions from their classmates. They come into the room, read the board and begin writing their first thoughts. The first ten minutes of class are spent reading, writing, and thinking. What more can a teacher ask for?
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What did your students keep their first thoughts in? How often did you grade it? What did you grade for?
I enjoyed reading about the evolution of your opening routine from DOL to “first thoughts.” I’m always trying to come up with something that will get studets off to a productive start when the bell rings.
Where did you get ideas for your first thoughts?
When I was writing the messages, I just wrote what I was thinking about at the time. It might be a question about the story we had read the day before or about something going on like a ballgame, track meet or other school event. My prinicpal started every day with a quote or thought of the day. Sometimes I wrote about that. I just wrote what I was thinking and asked them about things that I was curious about.
What a wonderful post. We have been struggling with DOL this year..my son who loves to write creative pieces doesn’t do well on DOL. I think it is because there is no real flow to it. Did you help your students edit their writings or did you have another grammar lesson you used?
I helped them edit their writing. I used their writing to lead me to lessons that I knew needed to be reviewed or introduced. If I noticed that several students were making similar mistakes, I would work with them in small groups. We would talk about what I had noticed and turn to the language handbook found in the back of our literature book to help us correct the errors. I did a lot of individual and small group instruction based on the errors I saw students making in their journals. Does this answer your question?
Have you looked at Jeff Anderson’s work? He publishes with Stenhouse. I posted some ideas on my website on alternatives to DOL that might interest you.
http://www.debrennersmith.com
How cool. I love the way good teachers can make good teaching. I have heard the praises of DOL, but I can see where it would be boring. I like your idea so much better.’
Thanks!
Anonymous writing teacher, thanks for visiting my blog and for such a nice compliment.
Although this is a very creative way to get students to journal, it does not focus on the main reason for DOL. Teachers use DOL to review grammar rules and instill the proper punctuation of sentences. Creative writing is fun and an excellent way to get students to write, but lacks in grammar instruction.
Sarah,
I appreciate your input; however, I am not sure you understood my post. My intention was to get students away from the rote review of grammar and into more authentic writing experiences. You see, if students don’t want to write, they won’t care about grammar. Until our students become writers, grammar will not matter to them. Daily Oral Language is just a review of something that many students believe is unimportant and useless. You are absolutely correct about one thing, journal writing is not a way to review grammar rules and instill the proper punctuation of sentences. I would argue though that journal writing is not creative writing. I didn’t have students writing in journals for fun. Journal writing is not what I consider a “creative writing” activity. Journalling is a thinking activity. When my students wrote about the events of their day, they were forced into the state of reflective thinking. I recently read “How We Think” by John Dewey. Dewey says, “reflective thought; it alone is truly educative in value.” You may dismiss the work that my students and I were doing as something frivolous and fun, but I would argue that it was much more.
Why do we continue to teach grammar and mechanics with a strategy that simply does not work? Why do we force students to rehearse errors and teach grammar exclusively out of the writing context? Would love to hear your responses. More points at http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/grammar_mechanics/why-daily-oral-language-d-o-l-doesnt-work/ and, more importantly, a grammar/mechanics warm-up/opener/bell-ringer that uses a balanced approach of error analysis and model writing is detailed at http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/grammar_mechanics/why-daily-oral-language-d-o-l-doesnt-work/.
D.O.L is a pre-packaged program that is easy to use, I have not found any reserach which supports D.O.L. improving student achievement. It is simply proofreading that does not transfer to student writing. It doesn’t teach how grammar works and there is certainly no critical thinking involved.
I use a book called Grammar With a Giggle. It is still proofreading and editing but it is in the form of a story entering to older students
I use a book called Grammar With a Giggle that teaches DOL-type skills but spins it in interesting stories, not just stray sentences. My 5th graders love it and I have friends who use it at the middle school as well.