4. Writer's Workshop is a highly effective format
for process writing instruction that
incorporates authentic practices within a
consistent structure. As students write within
the Workshop model, they have an array of
choices that may include (but are not limited
to) topic, genre, ideas, organization, and tone.
5. As in a professional writer’s workshop, each student in the class is a
working author.
The teacher is a writing professional and peer coach, guiding authors as
they explore their craft.
Instead of spending the majority of class time on spelling tests, grammar
worksheets, handwriting practice, and other isolated sub-skills of writing,
Writer’s Workshop is designed to emphasize the act of writing itself—
students spend most of their time putting pencil to paper, not just learning
about it.
8. Connection
with
Yesterday’s lesson
Ongoing unit of
study
Mentor Text /
Student work
An experience
Teaching
Point
Explicit Instruction
Model
Create anchor
charts
Active
Engagement
Try out the new
strategy
Watch / Participate
in demonstration –
Shared Writing
Plan work out loud
Link
To ongoing work
Practice
To – With – By Model
9. The teacher writes in
front of the students
demonstrating a
writing strategy, skill
or convention of
written language
Teacher often shares
her thinking as she
goes through the
writing process.
Teaching Point
11. 1. Procedural (how to get materials, how to confer, etc.)
2. Writer’s process (strategies writers use and
techniques for revising a piece, etc.)
3. Qualities of good writing (information to deepen
students’ understanding of literary techniques: scene,
point of view, strong language, leads and endings, etc.)
4. Editing skills (information to develop their
understanding of spelling, punctuation, and
grammatical skills)
12.
13. Linking
New information takes time to sink in, and
many teachers now realize that in order to
learn something well, students have to use it
for a while on their own without the fear of
being negatively criticized. That’s why we
teach “mini” lessons, so students have the
majority of their class time available for
applying what they’ve learned to their own
work.
14. 30-40 Minutes
Students work independently while the teacher
meets with small groups or individual students
•Conferring Talking Cards
Possible mid-workshop teaching point
• Occur naturally when the teacher notices something that
needs clarification or further explanation to help students as
they write
15. Research
•Ask “What are
you working on
as a writer?”
•Have the
student read
aloud his/her
work
Decide
• Synthesize what
is learned
• Decide what to
compliment:
“What has this
child done that I
can name and
make a fuss
over?”
• Decide what to
teach: “What
does this child use
but misuse? or
“What is nearly
there in his or her
writing that I can
help them with
right now?”
Compliment
•Point out
writing
strategies the
child used well
•Say “I like how
you…”(give
specific
example)
Teach
•Teach only one
thing
•Teach to the
compliment
•Teach to
today’s
teaching point
•Negotiate a
strategy
When choosing your teaching point think: Of all the options I have, what can I teach
that will make the biggest difference for this writer?
16. “What are you working on as a
Writer?”
P 6-8 from “Welcome to a
Writer’s Workshop” by Steve
Peha
18. • He knows to include dialogue
inside quotation marks
• He uses commas to set off a
name in the middle of a sentence
• He knows how to write simple
sentences
• He understands that proper
names require capital letters
First,
notice the
skills the
student
uses
correctly:
19. •He knows that proper names need capital
letters, but he’s inconsistent in applying this
rule.
• He also seems confused when a name
stretches across more than one or two words
(ie. Pear of Aces is written “Pear of aces”)
• He understands that dialogue needs
quotation marks, but he doesn’t understand
how to use the comma to identify who is
speaking.
• It appears he isn’t aware of paragraphing at
all, either in terms of dialogue or as an
organizational tool in writing.
Second,
think
about
what his
errors
teach
us:
20. • Since he has partial knowledge of the rules
of capitalization, it makes sense to start
there. (Show him how you decide which
letters need to be capitalized when a name
includes a collection of words. You’ll be
talking about titles as well since the same
rules apply.)
• He is also ready to learn about combining
two short sentences. (Show him how he
could do this with a number of places in
this piece he could apply this skill.)
• Because he shows an understanding of
comma use in a sentence, he’s probably
ready to expand his knowledge of other
ways commas can be used.
Next,
select one
or two
skills to
teach him
when you
confer.
What shall
it be?
21.
22.
23. To determine what she was learning, I asked her
to respond to the following:
[1] For each of the six traits, pick one thing from
your paper that you like best, and tell why you
like it.
[2] Pick specific parts of the piece to talk about.
[3] Use the vocabulary from the Six Traits criteria
for each trait to help explain your reasoning.
[4] Give lots of details to support your opinion.
26. Guided Writing
Teacher works with a
group of students with
similar strengths &
needs.
During interactive writing, the
teacher and the students may
“share the pen.” The class may
share ideas and write a piece
together. Or, the students and
teacher may write back and
forth with one another, possibly
in journals, on charts or sticky
notes.
27. Sharing is the most instructionally
valuable part of the class, other
than the writing time itself.
Students are influenced much
more by their peers than they are
by us. When a student reads
something to the class and gets a
particular reaction, they really take
it to heart.
Graves suggests that students
focus their audience’s attention on
one specific aspect of their work
by saying something like: “The
name of my piece is…. I’d like you
to listen for… and tell me what you
think about it.”
28. 5-10 Minutes
Notice
Question
Personal Connection
Compliment and Suggestion (glow & grow)
Partner
Small
Group
Whole
Group
29. Working together
as a team, make a
list of the
essential
standards you
expect your
students to learn
by the end of the
year or by the end
of each unit.
Create a checklist
to monitor
progress and for
student use.
(examples
appendix K and L)
Determine how
your team will
accommodate the
various skill levels
in your classes.
30. Status of the Class can be done every day,
but if you don’t want to take the time for it,
once a week will probably be enough to
make it work for you.
One teacher sets up a pocket chart and labels
each row with one of the stages of the Writing
Process. Then she takes her student’s pictures
and moves them from row to row as they
progress on their pieces. This allows her at any
time, and from any place in the room, to glance
at the chart and immediately know where all of
her students are in their pieces.
35. “Assigning writing
is easy. Teaching
writing is really
hard.”
“We need to teach our
students to read like
writers and write like
readers.”
Kelly Gallagher, Author and Teacher
http://www.kellygallagher.org/index.html
36. The most effective strategy to improve writing…
Increase the amount
and quality of writing.
37. How Often
• Everyday
• Everyday
• Everyday
How Long
• KDG – 45
minutes
• 1st Grade –
45 minutes
extending
to 60
minutes
• 2nd – 12th
Grades – 60
minutes
When
• Beginning
the first day
of school
• A single
block of
time at the
same time
everyday
Management
• Same
format used
everyday
• Same rules
and
procedures
used
everyday
• Keep it
simple
Why
• Consistency
• Consistency
• Consistency
38. Grades 1-5
K staple small unit booklets for
their notebook
Specific directions for grades 2-
5 in WriteWell
Write everyday
Teacher needs to have their own
writer’s notebook and commit to
using it, even if only for a few
minutes a day (Use your drafts to
share with students to help
instruction during minilessons)
39. Three…
◦ Times you laughed really hard
◦ Times you were in physical pain
◦ Memorable Moments
◦ Topics that interest you
Circle the one that you could tell the best
story about
Tell your story to a partner
Write your story in the writing section of
your notebook
Share
48. Take time to
review the “Writing
Workshop Look-
Fors” and “Teacher
Self Reflection for
Writing
Workshop”.
Determine where
you are by
highlighting what
your consistently
do on both
documents.
Set goals for
where you would
like to be by the
end of the year.
Plan what you
need to do to
achieve your goals
and what support
you will need.
49.
50.
51.
52. Day 1:
Review/Introduce
the concept
Day 2: Model
Choice Lesson
Mini
lesson
Conferring
Sharing
Day 3:
Observe/support
in classroom
Editor's Notes
Structure similar to 90-minute reading block – whole group, small group, independent work
We all know the importance of modeling reading. It is just as important to model for the students the qualities of good writers. Modeled writing generally occurs more often in the primary classrooms as the students are beginning to develop as writers. In upper grade classrooms, the teacher may choose to model specific craft or convention lessons. All students may not need the modeled writing lesson, so the teacher may pull just a small group for the writing lesson. Modeled writing generally occurs within Writer’s Workshop time, but it may also occur in content areas also.
handout
Guided writing generally occurs during Writer’s Workshop. When the rest of the class is working independently on their pieces, the teacher may pull a small needs-based group and teach them a specific writing strategy. The teacher informally assesses the students during the writing conference and then uses that information to guide the guided writing group.
Interactive writing can take many forms with the classroom. Within the classroom, the students are expected to journal. Often the teacher responds to the child in the journal. If a piece is too personal, the student may choose not to share the piece with the teacher. Interactive writing also occurs when the class writes a piece of writing together. The students and the teacher may “share the pen” and contribute sections of the text. If journals are being used, it is important for the teacher to, “Read and comment on the journal as often as possible” (Graves, 375).
Scan, copy, print appendix K and L from Writing Workshop The Essential Guide by Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi
example
Assign and assess writing does not teach students the knowledge and skills needed to become better writers
WriteWell is designed around the format of Writer’s Workshop where teachers teach students minilessons as well as teach them to read like writers and write like readers.
Model/coach students to elevate their writing
Read lots of mentor texts in the genre – have them look at the text with the thought “What did the writer do that I could do?”
Turn & talk about the “how”
Show them by writing in front of students – write in front of the class and think aloud during the process, modeling about 5-7 minutes at a time
WriteWell is about quality vs. quantity
“seed ideas”
20 best moments
20 worst moments
Kelly Gallaghar’s suggestion for persuasive writing ideas: matrix chart – school issues, local issues, state issues, national issues, global issues (take one class period and give students stacks of newspapers and magazines --- have them generate a list of ideas on the matrix
Structure similar to 90-minute reading block – whole group, small group, independent work
Participants spend some time online exploring the units for their grade level
