Let Your Voice Be Heard Margaret Woodward Santee Wateree Writing Project 2011

Research & Theory “The writer’s voice…will illuminate, extend and sometimes even contradict what is offered in the essays about teaching writing.” (Ray XV) “You should avoid using the passive voice because it makes your writing sound weak and awkward. Using the active voice helps make your writing direct and forceful.” (Holt, Rinehart, Winston 199) “Voice is the author’s fingerprint on the page.” ( “Don’t tell readers what to feel. Show them the situation and that feeling will awaken in them.” (Goldberg 75)

Rationale Students’ voices are always heard orally but not in their writing. – Encourage students not to be afraid to let their voices be heard but let their true selves shine through. – Allow the students’ feelings and opinions to erupt as if they were talking. Students assume their writing is filled with wondrous words; however, when they hear someone else reading it, they obtain a new perspective.

Active vs Passive

Don’t let someone else speak for you; let your voice be heard.

Bibliography “Active vs Passive Voice.” Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue University. 17 June “Extended Response Scoring Rubric.” South Carolina State Department ofEducation. 23 Oct June Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within. Boston: Shambhala Publications Inc., Holt, Rhinehart, Winston. Writing Workshop, Third Course. New York. Harcourt, Brace &Company, Oltmanns, Stacey. “Voice.” Mrs’s Oltmanns’ Web of Knowledge. Nd. Hanson School District. 17 June Peha, Steve. “Student Writing Samples.” Teaching That Makes Sense June Ray, Katie Wood. Wondrous Words: Writers and Writing in the Elementary Classroom. Urbana: NCTE, Ray, Katie Wood., and Lester L. Laminack. The Writing Workshop: Working Through the Hard Times (And They’re All Hard Times). Urbana: NCTE, 2001.