1. List things you write just for yourself.

2. List things you write for someone else,

but you don't care if there's a mistake.

3. List things you write for someone else,

and you care if there's a mistake.

Quick Write

The "Write" Audience

Audience Appreciation & Awareness in Middle & Secondary Classrooms

Mr. Ryan Batsie & Ms. Danielle Valenilla

What do you think?• How do we motivate our students

to write?• How do we provide our students

with authentic writing experiences?

• How do we move away from the "audience of one" (AKA you, the teacher) mentality?

• Gallagher (2006) Teaching Adolescent Writers

o Atwell (2002) Lessons that change writers

• Maxwell, Allyn and Bacon (1996) Writing Across the Curriculum

Research

Our TheoryThere are three levels of audience

that middle and secondary teachers should consider as they plan instruction.

• Level 1 Audience (__% of class writing)o Writing for YOURSELF

• Level 2 Audience (__% of class writing)o Writing for ANOTHER

• Level 3 Audience (__% of class writing)o Writing for ANYONE

How much should we write?

• Personal notes• Quick-writes• ALL 1st drafts • Lists of ALL kinds• Brainstorming• Asking Questions• ALL Journal Writing• Doodling

What Level 1 Looks Like

• Creates autonomy for students• Allows them verbal freedom

(slang, etc.)• Helps generate ideas & develop

fluency• Helps develop a sense of writer's

integrity/honesty• No pressure• Self-centered (developmental

needs)

Benefits of Writing for YOURSELF

• 2nd Drafts• Homework• Reaction Papers• Special Occasion Cards• Writing events on a calendar• Personal Letters• Text messages• Tweeting• Facebooking

What Level 2 Looks Like

EXIT SLIPS

>>

• Creates accountability for students• Continues to allow them verbal

freedom (slang, etc.)• Helps solidify ideas & develop

fluency• Helps writer question their sense

of writer's integrity/honesty• Low pressure to create meaning

for another• Interactive (developmental needs)

Benefits of Writing for ANOTHER

• Final drafts• Essays• Job Applications• Writing Contests• Letters to the Editor• Submissions for Publication

What Level 3 Looks Like

• Creates opportunities for students to engage in authentic audiences

• Impresses the importance of standard conventions for meaning

• Establishes writer's commitment and stance concerning ideas

• Higher pressure to create meaning for a wide array of audiences

• Publication (Bragging rights) (developmental needs)

Benefits of Writing for ANYONE

• Hashtags can teach themeo #realtalk #classroomlessons

#teachablemoments• Authentic writing

opportunitieso Revisiono Conveying proper tone

• Modeling different sentence structures

• Modeling proper grammar

Follow Me: @MsValenilla

A Current Local Contest

HOW DO I DO THIS IN MY CLASSROOM?!

So you're probably wondering...

Make three lists and write as many things as you can think of that apply to each list.

• List 1: The Things I Write for Only Me

• List 2: The Things I Write for a Few to See

• List 3: The Things I Write for a Large Audience to See

Quick-Write

The Write Audience in the Classroom

• How does this look in a real classroom?• How does a teacher plan for real

audiences?• What does a student example look like?

Lead by example

Planning TemplatesStandard Big

QuestionMeaningful Writing

Aligned Conventions

Mentor Text Authentic Audience

Writing Why do you like or dislike a book?

Amazon Book Review

Spelling Amazon Book Reviews

Amazon website viewers

Writing Medium

Supplies Audience

Amazon Book Review

• Access to Amazon account (parent’s or own)

• Computer with Internet access• Word processing program• Reading book• Amazon alternative template• Parent permission letter

Amazon website viewers

Planning Templates

Mon. Tue. Wed. Thur. Fri.

Introduce Amazon Book Review

Pass out parent permission letter

Read Amazon Book Reviews

Introduce Book Review Rubric

Outline Book Reviews

Draft Book Reviews

Publish book reviews to our class blog

Online Learning Environment

Authentic Requirements

Book Review Rubric

Book Review Rubric

Student Example

Student Example• This review is from: Winning Balance:

What I've Learned So Far about Love, Faith, and Living Your Dreams (Hardcover)

• When I first saw this book on a shelf at my local library I grasped it and knew I had to get it. Shawn Johnson and other gymnasts have always interested me, never being a gymnast myself it was exhilarating to read this book and live a life I have never experienced. I had never known much about Shawn Johnson before reading this book,I had seen her in commercials but I had never heard her story...

Student feedback

Now it’s your turn…• What is your time frame?• What are you teaching?• What are your opportunities for

authentic writing?• How can you target the different

audience levels?