Writing
A special portion of our day is known as Writer's Workshop. This time of day is an opportunity for each child to develop their creative writing skills by becoming authors and illustrators of their very own books. As the year progresses, pictures and symbols transform into pictures with simple sentences, and eventually evolve into personal narrative stories with a beginning, middle, and end! We like to celebrate all of our writer's accomplishments by having Author's Celebrations at the end of each quarter.
Here is an example of what a typical Writer's Workshop may look like:
Mini-Lesson: This typically involves reading from a story by an author from our current Author Study or a lesson from our Writer's Resource Guide. As we read, we are noticing things that the author and/or illustrator does in his/her story to make it entertaining for the reader. This time usually lasts about 10 minutes. Before I send them away to work on their stories, I remind them of the skill we are currently focusing on and working that into their story.
Student Writing: During this time, writer's are scattered all over the room with their writing portfolios, tool boxes, and creative minds! The room is quiet, besides a few whispers from student to student about how to sound out a word, the teacher moving around the room for mini-conferences, and pages flipping in books. This is their time to work on a cover, an illustration, or a story part they are beginning today or may have started another day. This time usually lasts from 10-15 minutes depending on the length of the mini-lesson.
Pair Share: As students come to the carpet, they will have the opportunity to share their writing with a partner. After students have shared, portfolios are put away in the designated location. This is so students will be less distracted as they listen and participate in the sharing of other students' writing as part of our Author's Share Chair.
Share Chair: One student gets to orally share their writing entry with the entire class.
The student in the author's chair then gets to ask three students to either ask a question about their story or to share a comment on what they thought about their writing. (focusing on meaning and content) We always make sure to praise the author's original writing and ask how they figured out certain letters or words! (focusing on writing elements)
Why do we do Writing Workshop in this manner?
We can focus on....
Here is an example of what a typical Writer's Workshop may look like:
Mini-Lesson: This typically involves reading from a story by an author from our current Author Study or a lesson from our Writer's Resource Guide. As we read, we are noticing things that the author and/or illustrator does in his/her story to make it entertaining for the reader. This time usually lasts about 10 minutes. Before I send them away to work on their stories, I remind them of the skill we are currently focusing on and working that into their story.
- For example, during our Author Study on Kevin Henkes, we noticed that he likes to create realistic fiction stories about animals. As a result, several students created stories about a and changed themselves into animals for the main character.
Student Writing: During this time, writer's are scattered all over the room with their writing portfolios, tool boxes, and creative minds! The room is quiet, besides a few whispers from student to student about how to sound out a word, the teacher moving around the room for mini-conferences, and pages flipping in books. This is their time to work on a cover, an illustration, or a story part they are beginning today or may have started another day. This time usually lasts from 10-15 minutes depending on the length of the mini-lesson.
Pair Share: As students come to the carpet, they will have the opportunity to share their writing with a partner. After students have shared, portfolios are put away in the designated location. This is so students will be less distracted as they listen and participate in the sharing of other students' writing as part of our Author's Share Chair.
Share Chair: One student gets to orally share their writing entry with the entire class.
The student in the author's chair then gets to ask three students to either ask a question about their story or to share a comment on what they thought about their writing. (focusing on meaning and content) We always make sure to praise the author's original writing and ask how they figured out certain letters or words! (focusing on writing elements)
Why do we do Writing Workshop in this manner?
We can focus on....
- letter formation
- left to write progression
- how print and pictures contain the message
- how to differentiate between letters and words
- spacing between words
- the sounds and letters in words
- punctuation
- assisting children develop greater independence in writing
- expressing ideas through pictures, oral language, and print
- valuing ideas that are important to students
- sharing orally