Response to Harper's Article

Response to Harper
“The Writer’s Toolbox: five Tools for Active Revision Instruction”
Harper discusses five revision techniques and how to help student use them in their own writing. Her idea of including a 5” x8” manila envelope with a card for each revision tool based on Barry Lane’s revision techniques made sense. She took some rather abstract ideas and made them more concrete for her students. She gave them some common language to use in revision and taught them the techniques so that they had “tools” to use during revision. Previously her students had just added in more words when she told them to revise their writing. Now they knew techniques.
The implication for my classroom is that I can see teaching the five techniques that Lane wrote about. I think her idea of using a common symbol such as the camera for the “snapshot” techniques is an effective way to help students cut to the chase when revising peer work. It takes less time than writing comments and having the common language allows them offer quick feedback. I also like the manila envelop with the cards because it is a good reminder of the techniques. Using and applying the techniques helps the students internalize the concepts and allows them to use actual strategies to improve their writing.
My experience in working with my students on writing in the Resource Room setting is that they have very little idea as to what to do to improve their writing. Teaching the five techniques and giving them symbols to label each will help them process the information better. My plan would be to initially try this with my third through fifth grade students. The five techniques could be taught in writers’ workshop as mini-lessons. We would explore these techniques over time. I would introduce the techniques and practice them doing a think aloud and modeling the technique initially. Brainstorming the symbols would be a way for the students to have some ownership. Harper doesn’t say who puts the information on the cards in the manila envelopes. I am unclear if it is something that the teacher has printed on the cards, or if the students make their own. I find that if students make something they remember it better and have ownership of it.
Lastly, I really like the comparison of a writers’ toolbox to a carpenters’ or mechanics’ toolbox. Harper states that the toolbox must function just like a traditional toolbox. The tools must be readily available to grab so they can be put to quick use. She states that this helps prevent mental blocks or endless rewordings. It gives the writer a range of tools or choices and appropriate tools for each job. This concrete example will help me explain the revision toolkit to my students and I think it will help them understand the concept better. I look forward to testing its effectiveness with my students’ writing next year.