POWERPOINT

2. Social Justice Picture
Book Presentation by
Alex
 Peer Evaluators: Emily and Virginia
 Everyone else: go to twitter and search for one of the following
people:
@fastcrayon (Amy Fast – inspirational VP)
@gcouros (George Couros – innovative educator)
@TopDogTeaching (Kayla Delzer – innovative high-tech
educator)
@trev_mackenzie (Trevor Mackenzie – Inquiry model expert)
Find a post that you find inspiring or insightful to share with the peers
at your table. (You can begin talking and sharing right away)
Presenter:_______ My Name: ________
During this presentation…
I noticed…
I felt…
I learned…
One thing I would like to incorporate into
my teaching from this presentation would be…

3. Social Media as a source of
Professional Development
 Traditional sources of PD include staff meetings,
workshops, conferences, AQ courses, and other
formal learning opportunities that connect you with
experts.
 Many teachers take on their own informal PD by
reading through Professionally Speaking or other
publications, watching TedTalks, or searching social
media for new and exciting classroom practices.

4. A place to find
inspirational
quotes and ideas
Social Media PD:

5. A place to find
inspirational
quotes and ideas

6. A place to find
articles, podcasts, videos,
and infographics to learn from

7. A place to find
articles, podcasts, videos,
and infographics to learn from

8. A place to find ideas for the
classroom from other educators
who inspire me to help change the
system of education

9. A place to find ideas for the
classroom from other educators
who inspire me to help change the
system of education

10. PLC Discussions
 Sharing your critique of social media resources
related to writing instruction in the JI classroom

12. Curriculum
Continuum Hunt
 At your table group, have each peer choose a different
specific expectation from the chart.
 Look at that expectation across all grades 4-8.
Gr4 (86), Gr5 (100), Gr6 (114), Gr 7 (130). Gr 8 (144)
 Read the specific expectation description and prompts.
(usually in italics)
 Record a summary of the grade level expectation on a
sticky note. Place your sticky notes on the chart.
 Discuss what you notice with your group members.

13. Comprehension Writing Vs. Curriculum Writing
(according to the Overall Expectations)
*often misinterpreted by parents*
Comprehension
Writing
is marked under
Reading Expectations
as this is focused on
answering questions to
reflect an understanding
of the text that was read.
Curriculum Writing
is marked under
Writing Expectations
as this is focused on a
form of writing with a
specific purpose
intended for a specific
audience.

14. What do we teach students with
respect to writing?
Writing Forms
Writing Process
Writing Traits (6+1)
 Complete the puzzles at your table to help you
understand what each of these mean and to see
how they are all connected
 We will take this up as a class when you are done

15. A Recap…
WHAT ARE WRITING FORMS?
Purpose + Audience = Form

16. Factors to consider:
1. Who are the readers? (age, gender, education,
occupation, economic status, area of residence,
ethnic ties, political/social/religious beliefs, etc.)
2. What level is their level of knowledge on the
subject? (novice, general reader, specialist, or
expert).
3. What opinions, values, prejudices, or bias do
they possess on the subject? (*more important in
older grades, persuasive writing, etc.).
HOW DOES AUDIENCE
GUIDE WRITING FORM
SELECTION
HOW DOES PURPOSE GUIDE
WRITING FORM SELECTION?
A Recap…

17. ANCHOR CHARTS FROM MY CLASSROOM:

18. A Recap…
The WRITING PROCESS refers to
the stages of writing from idea
generation to publishing

19. A Recap…
The WRITING PROCESS
Curriculum Connections
Writing Process
1. Generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to
write for an intended purpose and audience
(Reasoning and Organization)
 Pre-writing
 Drafting
2. Draft and revise their writing, using a variety of
informational, literary, and graphic forms and stylistic
elements appropriate for the purpose and audience
(Communication)
 Drafting
 Revision
3. Use editing, proofreading, and publishing skills and
strategies, and knowledge of language conventions, to
correct errors, refine expression, and present their work
effectively
(Language Conventions)
 Editing
 Publishing

20. A Recap…
6+ 1 Traits of Writing
THE VOCABULARY WRITERS USE TO DESCRIBE
WHAT GOOD WRITING LOOKS LIKE – ANY KIND OF
WRITING!
1. IDEAS
2. ORGANIZATION
3. VOICE
4. WORD CHOICE
5. SENTENCE FLUENCY
6. CONVENTIONS
+ PRESENTATION
“USING THE LANGUAGE OF TRAITS IN OUR
ASSESSMENT GIVES US A SHARED
VOCABULARY FOR SPEAKING ABOUT AND
WORKING WITH TEXTS THAT STUDENTS
CREATE”.

21. A Recap…
6+ 1 Traits of Writing

22. A Recap…6+ 1 Traits of Writing
Connections to Curriculum
and the Writing Process
1. IDEAS
2. ORGANIZATION
3. VOICE
4. WORD CHOICE
5. SENTENCE FLUENCY
6. CONVENTIONS
+ PRESENTATION
1. BRAINSTORM
2. DRAFT
3. REVISE
4. EDIT
5. PUBLISH
Good writing traits intersect every step of the writing process!
(Form)

23. A Recap…
CONTENT & CONVENTIONS
Food for Thought
• If we focus too early on conventions, students become
discouraged. Idea generation and celebrating good ideas needs to
be the primary focus.
• BUT… both ideas and conventions are important!
• If you have perfect spelling and punctuation, but nothing
important to say, who cares?
• If you have something great to say, but errors are not letting
you get your message across, what is the point?
• You need strong ideas, good details, and organization AND
you need proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar to help
you say it clearly.

24. Additional Information Slides
you might find helpful to peruse
A Recap…
 Writing Forms
Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ScDZzSj7L8
KfMv1huzr6lzEWt-4eue7FjQhwmtvJdQU/edit?usp=sharing
 Writing Traits
Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VZIjX9CXZC
WIAg68KEqMr3sNFQit6GoJCvHbxxyiUTo/edit?usp=sharing
 Writing Process
Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TUWDZZZnt
7EzGnvnD3h-VYw_voVoicI4hi5u2qQkn4Y/edit?usp=sharing

25. How can we teach writing?
Daily 5 Approach
Writer’s Workshop Approach
Mentor Text Approach

26. No matter the approach, always remember good
teaching practices include
explicit instruction, clear examples,
and opportunities to take risks,
learn from mistakes & celebrate success!

27. One way to teach writing is to
organize your literacy block into
Guided Reading/Writing Sessions,
along with Centered Activities
labeled as the Daily 5
DAILY 5 APPROACH

28.  Reading to self
 Reading to others
 Listening to reading
 Writing
 Word Work
Students need exposure to good
writing – the more they read, the
more they understand purpose,
sentence structure, word choice,
etc.
Students need practice writing in different
forms, for different purposes and audiences,
and to improve their vocabulary and word
choice. The more they write, the more
proficient they become at getting their
intended message across.
DAILY 5 APPROACH

29. Daily 5 Work on Writing
vs Writer’s Workshop
Daily 5:Work on Writing
Students chose what they want
to write about
Advantages: Students are
engaged in their own interests
Students learn to begin writing
quickly rather than being stuck on
a topic they have been given
Writer’s Workshop
Students apply what has been
taught in a mini lesson
Advantages: Application of
specific strategies for improving
student writing
Focus on working through the
writing process, six traits, criteria
etc.

30. WRITER’S WORKSHOP:
10-15 min – Mini-Lesson
20-30 min – Non-Stop Writing
10-15 min – Sharing Writing
• Each day, a new focused mini-lesson
would be taught and modelled. Students
then work on that skill independently in a
low-risk task.
• Students are not formally assessed on
these tasks. Rather they are encouraged
to take risks and receive feedback.
• Writing forms are often teacher chosen
(topics are sometimes pre-chosen too) so
that all students receive the same task
with varied levels of support/guidance.
WRITER’S
WORKSHOP

31. Mini Lesson Basics
• 5-10 minutes long
• multi-level
• precedes independent writing time
• explicit instruction
• assessment based
• focus on procedures and organization (routines), strategies and processes, skills,
craft and techniques
• composed of four major parts: Connection (teacher puts today's work in the context
of children's ongoing work as writers and explicitly names what they'll be learning
about today); Teach (explicit teaching of one important concept that will make their
writing better, often drawing upon own writing, children's literature or student's
writing); Active Engagement (students talk to a partner or examine their own writing
for evidence of the concept); Link (encouraging students to try out the strategy in
their writing that day or to add it to their toolkit of strategies)
Mini Lesson Challenges
• handling student participation
• keeping mini-lessons brief
• teaching with clarity and purpose
• maintaining student engagement
WRITER’S
WORKSHOP

33. Writer’s Workshop © Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2006
Possible Teaching Points for Writing Mini-Lessons
These suggestions are intended as a starting point.
Further topics for mini-lessons will emerge as students’ needs evolve over the year.
PROCESS CONTENT PRODUCT/QUALITY
• Establishing routines
– why we have them
– how they are done
– generating mini-lesson
topics
• Stages of the writing process
• Writer’s Notebook
– what it is
– how to begin
– why we use it
– how to use it
– where to find ideas
– teacher monitoring
• Developing ideas
– using mentor texts
– from movies
– from television
– by conferencing for ideas
with peers
• Drafting
– why we do drafts
– draft formats
– first, second, and final draft
– expectations
• Revising
– what is revision?
– why we revise
– how to revise
independently and with a
partner
– tracking revisions
– preparing for a revision
conference
• Editing skills
– using checklists
– how to peer edit
– how to give constructive
– criticism
Add your own:
• Language and word study
– using a dictionary
– using a thesaurus
– spelling rules that work
– run-on sentences
– paragraphing
– speech marks
– punctuation
• Mentor texts
– what they are
– why we use them
– how to use them
– where we find them
• Magazines and newspapers
– formats
– types
– illustrations
– different columns
– letters
– editors
– advertisements
– reporting
– captions, headlines
• Text forms
– letters
– scripts, lyrics
– poems
– reports
– essays
• Cross-curricular writing
– historical diaries
– plays
– science reports
– math journals
– math problems
– games descriptions
• Family stories
• Photographs
Add your own:
• Publishing
– who is the audience?
– publishing software
– formats
– materials
– frequency
• Presenting
– who is the audience?
– knowing and engaging
the audience
– range of presentation
methods
• Editing for publication
– peer and teacher editing
– using checklists
– final edits
• Rubrics for assessing writing
– development with
students
– levels of attainment
– exemplars
• Illustrations
– techniques
– style
– famous illustrators
– page design
– mentor texts
• Writing on Demand
– why we practise it
– planning for writing
– use in everyday life
Add your own:
WRITER’S
WORKSHOP

34. *Possible Mini-Lessons:
(based on Curriculum)
1.2 – developing ideas
1.5 – Organizing ideas (beginning
middle, end sequence)
2.1 – Form (components of
narrative writing)
2.2 – voice (perspective and word
choice)
2.3 – word choice (synonyms,
show don’t tell)
3.4 –punctuation
WRITER’S
WORKSHOP

35. Where writers get ideas:
“Writers get ideas from things they know and care about.” Model where authors get ideas - think aloud and then model
writing about something that you know or care about. This modeling facilitates another connection that your students
can make to authentic writing.
The big idea: “Every story has a big idea.” The big idea (or main idea) is important for students to grasp. Teach this
mini-lesson to help students understand that they must choose a focus for their writing and stick with it. Go back and
revisit several read alouds you have recently read. Talk with your students about the “big idea” in these books. “What
was each one mostly about?” Create a “BIG IDEA” anchor chart together. Guide their thinking to include the following
points: 1) The big idea is what the story is mostly about; 2) Every page should be about the big idea; 3) The title should
match the big idea. Watch for students using this thinking during student conferences so that they can model for the
class in share time.
What is a good beginning? “Our stories need good beginnings so that the readers want to keep reading.” The best
way to help children understand and begin using good beginnings is to demonstrate them with a variety of mentor texts.
Make an anchor chart to reinforce the mini-lessons on good beginnings. A good beginning may include an introduction,
a question, or a descriptive lead (“One hot summer day......”).
What is a good ending? “Our stories need good endings that make the piece feel finished.” The best way to help
children understand and begin using good endings is to demonstrate them with a variety of mentor texts. Create an
anchor chart together and include these ideas for endings: an ending can come from your heart ( I love.....); an ending
can be like the beginning; or an ending can ask the reader a question. The ending may give the reader something to
think about. Share time is an avenue to reinforce good beginnings and endings written by the students.
Using interesting words: “Our stories will be more interesting if we use interesting words. Interesting words are words
that we don’t hear everyday. Choose a mentor text to share that has many interesting words. Point out some of the
words and note that the author could have used “everyday” words but chose to use a more interesting word. Have the
children look and listen for interesting words in mentor texts. With a student’s permission (or use a sample from the
previous year with the name removed), share writing that is “everyday” and have the class suggest more interesting
words.
Examples of mini-lessons that focus on content

36. “We can tell a story with our words.”
Model oral storytelling. Have a student tell a story. Have the students turn and talk with a partner about a story that they can tell.
“We can tell a story with our pictures.”
Show the students a wordless picture book and read the pictures. Model drawing a picture and telling a story.
“Illustrations are drawings that match the words in our stories.”
An illustration is an important part of the story when creating picture books. Our illustrations should be neat and complete. Model
illustrating pages that you write for the students. Stress “neat and complete”. .
“I need a plan for my writing.”
For young children, their picture can serve as the plan. Graphic organizers such as webs and story maps can be taught to the
older primary students.
“I should include details in my writing so that it is interesting to read.”
For our youngest writers to learn to add details to their writing, they must first be taught to add details to both their oral
storytelling and to their drawings. When children tell stories, encourage them to add details by asking them questions during the
story. They will not be able to write a good story if they can not tell a good story. For kindergarten, one sentence with details for
the beginning, one for the middle, and one for the ending should be included. For first grade, encourage two sentences with
details for each and second graders should include at least three details.
“Punctuation directs the reader as to how the text should be read.”
Use mentor texts to demonstrate the ways in which the punctuation helps us, the readers, know how to read the text. Probably
the most important thing to stress to students is that the punctuation tells the reader the manner in which the author wants the
text to be read. Periods, question marks, exclamation marks are stopping marks. Commas direct us to pause in our reading or
commas in a series separate words so that the text makes sense.
“After my piece is finished, I can use the editor’s checklist in my classroom.”
Appropriate skills for the editor’s checklist are taught one at a time. As they are taught, they should be placed on the Editor’s
Checklist anchor chart or pocket chart that is visible to the students and becomes another tool that they can use in the
environment. It may also be included in the writing folder. The Editor’s Checklist grows as instruction occurs in the classroom.
Examples of mini-lessons that focus on process

37. Mentor texts are pieces of literature that you—both teacher and
student—can return to and reread for many different purposes.
They are texts to be studied and imitated...Mentor texts help
students to take risks and be different writers tomorrow than they are
today.
And of course, a mentor text doesn't have to be in the form of a
book—a mentor text might be a poem, a newspaper article, song
lyrics, comic strips, manuals, essays, almost anything.
Source: https://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/4090
• We use Mentor Texts to show the connection between reading and writing.
• We want Students to see themselves as authors, and learn to be good writers from
mimicking the things good writers do in the texts they read.
• We want students to be exposed to many strong examples of good writing.
MENTOR TEXT APPROACH

38. FINDING MENTOR TEXTS IS EASY – THERE ARE SO MANY COLLECTIONS POSTED
ONLINE VIA GOOGLE SEARCH, PINTEREST, TEACHING BLOGS, AND OTHER
SOURCES.

39. FINDING MENTOR TEXTS IS EASY – THERE ARE SO MANY COLLECTIONS POSTED
ONLINE VIA GOOGLE SEARCH, PINTEREST, TEACHING BLOGS, AND OTHER
SOURCES.

40. FINDING MENTOR TEXTS IS EASY – THERE ARE SO MANY COLLECTIONS POSTED
ONLINE VIA GOOGLE SEARCH, PINTEREST, TEACHING BLOGS, AND OTHER
SOURCES.

41. The Writer’s Workshop Approach
Form: Persuasive Poster
Purpose & Audience: Anti-Bullying & Teens
Mini-Lesson Focus: Voice, Word Choice & slogans
Minds-On: Exploring Examples
Action: Writing time!
Consolidation: Sharing and Feedback

42. The Lesson:
Tip #1: It has to be simple
Tip #2: It has to leave an impression
Tip #3: It has to roll off your tongue
Tip #4: It has to be memorable
Creation Tip: Write down everything
you want to say; then trim it down; then
trim it to a single sentence.
How many of these
slogans can you recall?

43. The Lesson:
Tip #1: It has to be simple
Tip #2: It has to leave an impression
Tip #3: It has to roll off your tongue
Tip #4: It has to be memorable
Creation Tip: Write down everything
you want to say; then trim it down; then
trim it to a single sentence.
Evaluate these
anti-bullying slogans:

44. The Lesson:
Tip #1: It has to be simple
Tip #2: It has to leave an impression
Tip #3: It has to roll off your tongue
Tip #4: It has to be memorable
Creation Tip: Write down everything
you want to say; then trim it down; then
trim it to a single sentence.
Evaluate these
anti-bullying slogans:

45. Writing Time: Tip #1: It has to be simple
Tip #2: It has to leave an impression
Tip #3: It has to roll off your tongue
Tip #4: It has to be memorable
Creation Tip: Write down everything
you want to say; then trim it down; then
trim it to a single sentence.
Write a draft of an anti-bullying slogan
that you might use on your poster.
Use the tips above to help you.
Grade 6 W2.2 Voice: Establish a distinctive voice (e.g. use language that
communicates their stance or POV on an issue)
Grade 6 W2.3 Word Choice: Use vivid and/or figurative language and innovative
expressions (e.g. adjectives, adverbs, similes, metaphors, or other rhetorical devices
such as personification or exaggeration)

46. Sharing Time /Consolidation:
Is it simple?
Is it easy to understand?
Does it leave a lasting impression?
Does it roll off your tongue?
Is it catchy?
Is it memorable?
Could it make a difference?
Share your slogan with your peers.
Offer feedback to each other
based on the criteria above.

47. Next Steps:
Writer’s Workshop #2:
The drafting stage of creating posters:
Adding Visuals
Writer’s Workshop #3:
Revising & Editing: The Feedback process
Writer’s Workshop #4:
Publishing Techniques & Tech Support

48. Writing is challenging…
Celebrate your small successes!
http://bit.ly/
2hK4uNg

49. Looking Ahead to Next Week:
 Professional Reading + Forum Response on
Meaningful Writing Assignments
 PBP by Emily
 Writing Part 2 will include: another example of
writing instruction using mentor texts;
examples of writing assessment, and a quick
look at lesson planning!