Annotated Bibliography Dean, N. (2000). Voice lessons classroom activities to teach diction, detail, imagery, and tone. (pp.

xi-xiv). Gainesville: Maupin House. What? Diction is a writers choice of words. Good voice has words that are clear and concise. Diction depends on the topic, occasion, and purpose of the writing piece. P. XI Detail in writing includes facts, observations, and incidents. Details create mental images in the readers mind. P. XII Imagery is a verbal representation of a sensory experience. All five senses can be included in writing to make the voice stronger. P. XIII Syntax is the structure of a sentence. It includes word order, sentence length, focus, and punctuation. P. XIV Tone is the attitude of the author expressed on the page. P. XIV So What? When I was in school, I remember learning about the these strategies and including them in my writing. I always thought it was a fun way of writing. I have seen some of these strategies being taught in my PDS 1 experience in several different classrooms as well. Now What? I plan on teaching my students the strategies listed above. Even if we are not yet learning about writers voice, these strategies are beneficial to learn about. Kesler, T. (2012). Writing with voice. The Reading Teacher, 66(1), (pp. 25-29). doi: 10.1002/TRTR.01088 What? Creating a dialogic interaction in the writing community is necessary. Pg. 27 Writing workshop is important for creating the dialogic interaction that is important to the writing community. This is because students will work in their zone of proximal development and learn from one another. Pg. 27 One idea for finished writing is to post it on a designated bulletin board, and allow students to make comments and suggestions. Pg. 28 Teachers can use guiding questions to guide students into using the appropriate voice for what theyre writing. Pg. 28 Its important for teachers to provide mentor texts to show students examples of the kinds of texts they are striving to write. Pg. 28 Teachers can establish Authors Share or Authors Chair to allow students to share their writing. Pg. 29 During Authors Chair, students can project their writing with the document camera so the class can read and say their comments or questions. Pg. 29 Deliberate and purposeful expression of voices is important to the classroom community because that is where writers often find their voice. Pg. 29

So What? In my PDS 1 experience, I have seen some fifth grade students show off their written work similar to the authors chair experience. Instead of sitting in a chair and reading to the class, groups of students made a commercial and had it filmed. These videos were then shared with the class. The students had a great time with it, so this proves that allowing students to share their work (whether in authors chair or another way) is motivating and fun for the students. Now What? I know it is important for students to interact and work with one another in their zones of proximal development, so that is something I will implement in my classroom. I like the idea of having a designated bulletin board to post students writing projects so other students can read them and make constructive suggestions and comments. I would like to do that in my own future classroom if I get a grade level and a class that is mature enough for it. Marjorie, F. (1995). If you're trying to teach kids how to write...you've gotta have this book!. (pp.26-150). Nashville: Incentive Publications. What? Students are more likely to write effectively and with fluency in an environment where they feel safe. Pg. 26 Students need to feel accepted, cared for, and free to take risks without judgment, in a classroom that is serious about hard work. Pg. 26 Most writers feel uncomfortable with writing about certain topics at some point in time. One way to ease students into writing is to have them talk a lot about the topic they are struggling with, because that is a good first step to writing. Pg. 42 It is important to not stifle students thinking. Teachers should not limit students writing too much or give too many specific examples of what they have to write. Pg. 42 One way to make your students comfortable with expressing their own ideas is for you, the teacher, to express your own ideas. Sharing your dreams, fears, and embarrassments will show your students that it is okay to write about personal moments. Pg. 43 Another way to make students comfortable with writing is to start small with fun, short, non-threatening pieces of writing. Pg. 43 Allowing students to present their finished writing projects is important. It gives them pride and can boost their self-esteem! Pg. 150 The goal of writing as a professional is to get ones work published to share with others, so allow students to share their work if they would like to. Pg. 150 Presenting their work allows students to learn from the presentation experience, because they get to see their classmates reactions and it can influence their next writing project. Pg. 150 Having students share their writing allows for a time to point out effective techniques and other things they can work on in a safe environment. Pg. 150

So What? Students need to feel comfortable in their environment when writing before they can use strong voice in their writing. During my PDS 1 experience, I have seen a few classrooms in which the teacher has created a comfortable, open environment for students to write. One teacher likes to share her personal stories with the children, whether they are funny, embarrassing, or sad. She also allows her students to share their thoughts and makes them feel like she truly cares. These factors together make the students feel comfortable enough to write about what is on their mind. Ive also seen this teacher allow her students to share their work, and the students really do take pride in it and enjoy that experience. Now What? When I get a classroom of my own, I want the students to feel safe, comfortable, and motivated to write. I will create that type of environment by sharing my own thoughts and stories with them, and listen to what they have to say. I will encourage them to write and put their own personality into their paper, and encourage them to share their completed work with the class. I know what when they have a chance to share with their peers, they will take pride in their work and try hard again next time. Noden, H. (1999). Image grammar. (pp. 13-89). London: Heinemann Publishing. What? There are many strategies to help students recognize the beauty of an authors art. For this to occur, the classroom environment needs to be interactive. Pg. 13 One strategy is to create an artists image palette. In this strategy, students collect words and phrases used by professional writers that create powerful images in the readers mind. Pg. 13 Another strategy is for students to compare images from films of best selling novels. This helps students to see the relationship between words and images. Pg. 15 Tour a Writers Gallery is a strategy in which writing samples are posted around the room, and a small group visits each one and they discuss the writers artistic techniques. Pg. 22 Twentieth century readers are increasingly visual. This could be due to dominance of film, television, computers, and video games in the modern day. Pg. 36 Teachers can use videos and art as visual tools since so many students are visual learners now. Teachers can use this to help students enhance details in their stories. Pg. 36 Paint the Personality Behind the Clothes is a strategy to help students brainstorm and work on descriptive words. The teacher can have two sets of clothing in the room, and the students have to brainstorm and write a story about the people who wore those clothes. Pg. 40 Encourage students to write their opinion on a certain topic in a conversational tone. This will help them explore a different type of voice. Pg. 89

So what? This books states readers now are increasingly visual, and I would definitely agree with this. Many students that I have seen during my PDS 1 enjoy watching videos and playing on the computer. I have seen one teacher use this in her teaching. She shows her students a video, then has her students write a response in their journals. This is a great way to incorporate the students desire for a visual and technology into the writing process. Now What? There are many strategies in this book that I would like to use in my classroom, and there are some that could be tweaked to work in many different classrooms. The Paint the Personality Behind the Clothes strategy seems like something students would enjoy, so I would like to do that in my classroom. I also like the idea of students collecting their favorite words and phrases from authors. In my classroom, I would have a bulletin board where students can add their favorite words or phrases whenever they come across one in a book. Peha, S. (2003). Looking for quality in student writing. Retrieved from http://www.ttms.org/writing_quality/voice.htm What? Grading a student on his or her writers voice can be difficult. There are a few qualities to look for, however. These include appropriate voice, passion, honesty, authenticity, and development. Each writer has his or her own unique personality, and so everyone needs to have a unique voice. Some voices might be similar, and that is okay. The writer needs to choose a topic she is interested in and cares about. If the writer does not care about the topic she writes about, neither will the reader! Honesty is important to voice because writing is all about expressing yourself and your feelings. In order to express yourself, you need to be honest about your feelings towards the topic you choose to write about. When working on voice, students need to be authentic in their writing. The author of an authentic writing sample will be obvious because it sounds like something that person would say. Writing with voice means it needs to have a well-developed personality. The reader should get the sense that she is getting to know the writer. Using the appropriate tone is important to voice. The writer needs to consider the purpose and audience when writing, and use an appropriate voice accordingly. So What? When I was in school and we had to write, we were almost always given a topic to write about by the teacher. This book suggests that writers should be able to choose their topic so that it is something they are genuinely interested in; that is when the writers voice is more likely to show. In my PDS 1 experience, I have seen teachers that allow their students to choose what to write about, and it seems that the students are more motivated to write that way.

Now What? When I get my own classroom, I want to leave writing topics open to the students. If I do need them to write about something specific, I will make sure the topic is not too narrow. This book also suggests five things to look for to assess writers voice. These five qualities are things that I want to teach my students and have them aware of them, even if voice is not our focus at the time. Piazza, C. (2003). Journeys the teaching of writing in elementary classrooms. (pp. 112- 113). New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. What? Voice is a way for writers to speak out and be heard. Pg. 112 Voice is shown through a writers attitude or stance. Pg. 112 Voice can include a writers sound, tones, rhythm, emphasis, pace, etc. Pg. 112 Usually writers have multiple voices. These can be found in oral and written language. Pg. 112 Conversational voice is the voice someone has when he speaks. Pg. 112 Dramatic voice is the voice of a character the writer has written about. Pg. 112 Audible voice can be embedded in words that are to be read aloud or in functional acts such as spelling. Pg. 112 Children socially and developmentally construct a voice while assimilating the voice of others around them. They develop a speaking personality. Pg. 112 Voice is typically something that is thought of as natural, but it can also be purposeful and carefully selected. Pg. 113 So What? I have seen students writing samples in the elementary grades in which their conversational voice is completely different than their writing voice. Sometimes this can be a positive thing, and other times it is not. As a child, I was very shy, but I enjoyed writing and sometimes showed my voice more through writing than conversation. Some children, on the other hand, are social butterflies and jokesters, but do not transfer that voice to their writing. They might think they have to sound more academic or professional and shy away from using their personal voice. Now What? I would like to teach my students about the different types of voice and why they are important. They need to know what some styles of voice can be appropriate in different settings, and sometimes it is okay to write the way you speak if it helps develop a writers voice. I also want to teach them that, yes, voice is often a naturally occurring thing, but you can also work on it by using strategies.

Portalupi, J., & Fletcher, R. (2001). Nonfiction craft lessons teaching informational writing k-8. (pp. 8-65). Portland: Stenhouse Publishers.

What? Often, students write nonfiction stories like a dump truck; they dump loads of facts into their writing by simply stating facts they have learned. Pg. 8 Having students talk about their nonfiction writing topics with classmates helps them to get familiar with the subject. It is like they are rehearsing for what they will write. Pg. 11 Students are ready to write about a nonfiction topic when they know enough about it that they feel comfortable enough to teach that topic. Pg. 12 Pretending and playing make-believe or dress up allows students to use their imagination and become what they are writing about. This lends itself for students to then write with voice. Pg. 37 Writing can be defined as personality-on-paper. Pg. 47 One small way to work on writers voice is to use supporting details and examples. This allows students to ground their writing with specific examples. Pg. 62 One way to show students what voice is and why it is important is to have students compare a dictionary entry with an interesting text on the same topic. Pg. 65 So What? When I was in elementary school, I also experienced difficulty with using voice in nonfiction writing. Im sure I did a lot of the dump truck writing as described in this book. I have also observed this during PDS 1 in some of the classrooms. I have seen the students write nonfiction and state facts without making it interesting. I have not seen their teachers show them examples of voice in nonfiction or tell them about strategies to work on it. I think even just talking about it with the students and telling them that they can make their nonfiction writing sound more interesting, and showing them examples, would help them to improve their writing a bit. Now What? This book gave me several ideas for strategies, activities, and lessons I could use in my own classroom. When my class is to write about a nonfiction topic, I will allow them to talk to their peers before writing. I will also allow them to tutor their peers in a subject they are planning on writing about, so that they will know if they are ready to write about it, or if they should learn some more. I will also show my students examples of voice in books and compare it to a boring text so they can see how important it is how big of a difference voice can make.

Robb, L. (2004). Nonfiction writing from the inside out. (pp. 125-136). New York City: Scholastic Inc. What?

Ways to enliven students voice is to have them show instead of tell, use sensory images, strong verbs, and specific nouns. Pg. 125 It is important to present lessons on voice multiple times. As with other subjects, students often need to hear something multiple times and in multiple ways before they really learn it. Pg. 125 One method for students to improve their voice is to have them change their sentences from telling to showing. Encourage students to show their thoughts and fill their sentences with details. Pg. 126 Another strategy is to have students use sensory images to gain the readers attention. Have them incorporate the five senses- hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell- into their writing. Pg. 128 Using strong verbs will create a more distinct voice. Teachers can ban certain words that are weak and clich, and have students replace them with words that paint images in the readers mind. Pg. 130 One way for students to sharpen the images they create through writing is to have them use specific nouns instead of vague ones. Pg. 133 Students need to apply a writing technique multiple times to absorb and learn it. One way to do this is to have them edit previous writings they have done and utilize strategies we are currently learning. Pg. 136 The ending of a writers story is just as important as the beginning and middle. If students overuse the abrupt THE END, expose them to real endings in books. Analyze how writers end books and have students use the techniques they learn. Pg. 136

So What? When I was in school, my teachers had me include the five senses into my writing. I thought this was a fun way to make my writing more interesting, and it seemed like my peers enjoyed it too. It gave us a chance to get creative. In my PDS 1 experience, I see most of the elementary students use The End at the end of their stories. It seems that by the end of their story, they are exhausted of writing and that is the easiest way to end their story. Now What? If I have students that overuse The End as a story ending, I can put that on my banned words list. I like the idea of exposing them to endings of books written by authors so they can see the different strategies they use. I also like the idea of giving students the option to go back and edit their previous writing works instead of constantly starting a new writing project. Tompkin, G. (2011). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product. (6th ed. pp.62-63). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. What? The writers distinctive style is called voice; it is the quality that breathes life into writing Pg. 62.

Voice is the imprint of the writer on the page. It is the heart, soul, and breath of the writingthe spirit and the flavor (Pg. 62). Voice allows the reader to hear someone speak from the page. Pg. 62 One trait of voice includes the writer choosing meaningful topics. This makes the writers voice stronger. Pg.62 Another trait of voice is passion. The more passionate the writer is about the topic he chose, the more his voice will show in his writing! Pg. 62 Another trait of voice is knowledgeable writing. It is easier to write with a strong voice when you understand your topic! Pg. 62 Adopting a tone also helps with voice. This tone can be serious, silly, or casual. Pg. 62 Word choice is vital to utilizing voice in writing. Proper word choice helps writers to convey the intended meaning in the readers mind. Pg. 62 One way to think about word choice is to paint a picture with words by using the five senses. Pg. 62 Another way to think about word choice is to use precise words with the perfect connotation. Pg. 62 Using strong verbs helps with word choice and voice. Avoiding common verbs, such as said, makes writing more interesting. Pg. 63

So What? I have seen numerous examples of teachers making an effort to have their students avoid common words such as said or happy. One fun way Ive seen this done is to have a tombstone designed and cut out on butcher paper. On the tombstone, the teacher can write whatever word(s) she wants her students to avoid. Another thing mentioned in this book that I can make a connection with is word choice and using the best words to help paint the right picture in the readers mind. I remember in middle school, my teacher asked the class how we would feel if someone called us scrawny, or lean, or skinny. Each of these words has a similar meaning, but can make us feel very differently. She also gave other examples that day, but this one stuck in my head because it was something I could relate to. Now What? Just how I had a teacher that gave examples of word choice to portray how connotation works, I want to do that same thing with my future students. I will give my students examples that they can relate to that will make them remember what connotation is and why it is important. Helping them with their word choice is one step in the right direction to begin writing with voice. One other thing I would like to instill in my students is a passion for writing. To do this, I will allow them to write about topics they wish to write about as often as I can. I will encourage them to show their passion through their writing.