Presentation at the International Reading Association (IRA) conference in San Antonio, Texas, April 2013

1. What makes a fire burn
is space between the logs,
a breathing space.
Too much of a good thing,
too many logs packed in too tight
can douse the flames
almost as surely
as a pail of water would.
So building fires
requires attention
to the spaces in between,
as much as the wood.
When we are able to build
open spaces
in the same way
we have learned
to pile on the logs,
then we can come to see how
it is fuel, and absence of the fuel
together, that makes fire possible.
We only need to lay a log
lightly from time to time.
A fire
grows
simply because the space is there,with
openings
in which the flame
that knows just how it wants to burn
can find its way.
--Judy Brown
Fire

2. "Catching
Fire"
Using Inquiry to
Ignite Learning in
a Writing
Classroom

3. Juanita Ramirez-
Robertson
Denton ISD,
Texas Woman's University
Marla Robertson
Texas Woman's University
Jennifer Smith
Texas Woman's University
Polly Vaughan
Lewisville ISD,
University of North Texas

4. Writing is Learning
Writing is learning quote
Donald Murray:
"meaning is not thought up and then written down.
The act of writing is an act of thought" (1985, p. 3).
"use writing as a way of learning, a way of
discovering and exploring, of finding what you may
have to say and finding ways in which you may say
it" (p. 6).

5. Think of your classroom/work
Everyone write:
What are my wonderings?
What are my questions?
What am I struggling with?
Why am I here?
Inquiry

6. Workshop Agenda:
1:00 Introduction
1:15 Writing/Sharing
1:35 Daily Log
1:45 Teaching Demonstration 1
2:15 Teaching Demonstration 2
2:45 Introduction to Inquiry
2:50 Teacher Inquiry Cycle/Small Groups
3:10 Student Inquiry
3:25 Writing/Reflection
3:35 Wrap up/Discussion

7. Read Aloud - Journal Writing
Getting
Started
Writer's Notebook -Ralph Fletcher

8. Author's
Chair

9. Daily Log

10. Dog Daily
Daily Log -
How to make a movie out
of a PowerPoint
presentation

11. Daily Log
Handout

12. Daily Log
Powerpoint using
QR codes

13. Daily Log
How to Make a
Photo Caption

14. Teaching
Demonstration
1

15. Generating Topics

16. Students Avoid Writing Because...
10. They struggle to organize and use the
mechanics of writing.
9. "The teacher didn't give me a pencil."
8. They struggle to retrieve the right word or words to
express an idea.
7. "I had some maverick ideas but I did not put them
down on paper as I feared they would be too
revolutionary for you to understand!"
6. They feel the process of writing on paper is slow
and tedious compared to the fast paced world of
texting, tweeting and emailing.
5. They are environmentalists who believe writing on
paper encourages lumber-jacking.
4. Students are not allowed to write about what
interests them.
3. They don't want to.
2. They don't have the confidence they need and
don't think they can write.

17. 1. "I don't have
anything to
write about."

18. Help them light the fire!
In the classroom generating writing ideas and topics can be
one of the most daunting tasks that young writers face.
The teacher’s role is to provide students with strategies for
generating and selecting their own topics and ideas, not
to feed or give the students topics.

19. The
Bucket
List

20. Write,
write,
write!

21. Strategies for
Generating Topics
Brainstorming
Free Writing
Looping
Clustering
Listing
Cross Pollination

22. Teaching
Demonstration
2

23. Using Mentor Texts

24. • —Books or other texts that
students can refer to when
learning a new writing skill.
• —Mentor texts are for every
age and ability level – even the
teachers!
• —We use mentors in every
aspect of our lives, why not
use them in writing also?
What are mentor texts?

25. Choosing mentor texts
You need to enjoy the text, be
drawn to it in some way.
—Does the book provide
examples that you want to
teach?
—Choose a variety of genres:
poetry, fiction, nonfiction,
memoirs

26. Introducing mentor texts
• —FIRST, through read-alouds.
• —Allow students to enjoy the story, listen to
the words, appreciate the writing.
• —THEN, revisit and use as a learning tool.

27. Using Mentor Texts to Add Detail to
Writing
Dorfman, L. R. & Cappelli, R. (2007). Mentor Texts. Portland, OR: Stenhouse Publishers
Choose a book that is familiar to students.
—Reread the first couple of pages, leaving out the details.
—When students notice, ask them what they want to know
that was not just read.
—Reread the pages, including the details.

28. Purpose
—When we leave details
out of our writing, it
leaves the reader asking
many questions. We
want the questions to be
answered in our writing,
so we add details.

29. Help them light the fire!
What do I write about?
—Brainstorm a list of SMALL moments

30. Start with
one sentence
—Choose one moment
and write about it in one
sentence.
—The best hot chocolate
I ever tasted was in
Venice, Italy.

31. —Look at my sentence.
The best hot chocolate I ever tasted
was in Venice, Italy.
—What questions do you
have?

32. Add details
—Use the questions to
help you add details to
your writing.
—By answering the
questions, the writing
will be clearer and
more interesting.

33. Let's Try It!
• —Volunteers?
• —Your turn:
◦Turn to a neighbor.
◦Read your sentence and record the questions
your partner asks.
◦Listen to your partner’s sentence and ask
questions.
◦Answer the questions in your writing.

34. Independent Writing
—Trade your writing with a different neighbor.
—As you read the writing, mark if there are any areas that
you have additional questions.
—Trade writing back and revise.
—

35. The goal is for
students to begin
to ask and answer
their own
questions in
writing.

36. Introduction to Inquiry

37. Without purpose,
significant learning is
difficult if not
impossible to achieve.
(Wilhelm, p. 8)

38. Help them light the fire!
By recasting a curricular topic in terms
of a guiding question, we set the
stage for a model of teaching known
as "inquiry"
(Wilhelm, p. 8 - See Jacobs, 1989; Smith & Wilhelm, 2006; Travers, 1998;
Wiggins & McTighe, 2003)

39. Marla

40. Juanita

41. Polly
Multiculturalism in writing. How can we
help students write in their cultural
voice?

42. Jennifer's Inquiry Question
How can teachers integrate
digital tools into the Writing
Workshop?

43. Dog Daily
Coming Back To Inquiry

44. Teacher Inquiry
Implementing the Inquiry Cycle
in your teaching practice

45. Early Elementary - Marla
Upper Elementary - Jennifer
Middle School
High School
Students with Services
- Polly
Content Area/ELL - Juanita
Your Teacher Inquiry

46. Student Inquiry
Implementing the Inquiry Cycle
in your classroom

51. Help them light the fire!
Writing is a process of
"learning to write and writing
to learn"
-Zinsser, 1988, p. 16

52. Journal Writing/Reflection
We only need to lay a log
lightly from time to time.
A fire
grows
simply because the space is there,with
openings
in which the flame
that knows just how it wants to burn
can find its way.
--Judy Brown

53. Wrap-up/Discussion
Ah ha Moments

54. Catching Fire Workshop References
Allington, R. L. (2001). What Really Matters for Struggling Readers: Designing Research-based Programs. New York,
NY: Addison-Wesley.
Allington, R. L., & Cunningham, P. M. (2006). Schools That Work: Where All Children Read and Write. New York, NY:
Allyn & Bacon, Inc.
Brindley, R., & Schneider, J. J. (2002). Writing Instruction or Destruction? Lessons to be Learned from Fourth Grade
Teachers’ Perspectives. Journal of Teacher Education, 53, 328-341.
Cambourne, B. (1988). The Whole Story: Natural Learning and the Acquisition of Literacy in the Classroom. Auckland,
New Zealand: Ashton Scholastic.
Capello, M. (2006). Under Construction: Voice and Identity Development in Writing Workshop. Language Arts, 83(6),
482-491.
Corden, R. (2007). Developing Reading-writing Connections: The Impact of Explicit Instruction of Literary Devices on
the Quality of Children’s Narrative Writing. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 21(3), 269-89.
Elbow, P. (2000). Everyone can write: Essays Towards a Hopeful Theory of Writing and Teaching Writing. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Graves, D. H. (2002). Testing is Not Teaching: What Should Count in Education. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Murray, D. M. (1985). A Writer Teaches Writing. Dallas, TX: Houghton Mifflin.
National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges. (2003). The Neglected “R”: The Need
for a Writing Revolution. New York: College Board.

55. Catching Fire Workshop References
National Writing Project, & Nagin, C. (2006). Because Writing Matters: Improving Student Writing in our Schools. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Ray, K. W. (2006). Study Driven: A Framework for Planning Units of Study in the Writing Workshop. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
Shelton, N. R., & Fu, D. (2004). Creating Space for Teaching Writing and for Test Preparation. Language Arts, 82(2),
120-128.
Short, K., Harste, J., & Burke, C. (1996). Creating Classrooms for Authors and Inquirers. 2nd ed. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
Smith, F. (1988). Joining the Literacy Club. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemman.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, trans. M. Cole, V. John-
Steiner, S. Scribner, and E. Souberman. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Whyte, A., Lazarte, A., Thompson, I., Ellis, N., Muse, A., & Talbot, R. (2007). The National Writing Project, Teachers’
Writing Lives, and Student Achievement in Writing. Action in Teacher Education, 29(2), 5-16.
Wilhelm, J. (2007). Engaging Readers and Writers with Inquiry: Promoting Deep Understandings in Language Arts and
the Content Areas with Guiding Questions. New York: Scholastic.
Zinsser, W. K. (1988). Writing to Learn. New York, NY: Harper & Row.

56. Catch Fire!
Juanita
Ramirez-Robertson
jrobertson@twu.edu
Marla Robertson
mrobertson6@twu.edu
Jennifer Smith
jsmith30@twu.edu
Polly Vaughan
vaughanp@lisd.net