Even with only 5 questions, I feel that there is a lot of room for answer explanation. Since I am looking at students' writing before, during, and after, I also came up with two tentative questions to ask after each out-of-classroom activity:
Was this activity helpful to your writing process?In the MA I read, student involvement towards more effective learning was never a factor. If I hope to see improvements in the students' writing process during writer's workshop, I would like to set them up for success and use activities that are beneficial to their learning. I guess that is a bit of a "trial by error" situation; am I allowed to change what activities I do with children if something does or doesn't work? Or do I have to stick to the original plan?
Would you like more activities similar to this one in the future?
So, to you all: How can I improve on these two questions?
I think you're totally allowed to change the activities! Jolynn could probably help you with some "specific-enough, and yet craftfully vague" descriptions of what you are planning to do so that you are allowed that flexibility =)
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of your questions..if you were looking for more open-ended questions...
What about asking "How did this activity help you become a better writer?" or "What did you learn about writing in this activity?"
I don't know if those are what you're looking for, but they kind of popped to mind when i read your questions. The second one seems pretty good to me! You could maybe add "What was your favorite part of this activity?" Just for your own information to see what the kids were really enjoying =)