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Writing Workshop Conferences

Writing September 27, 2016
Cue the “AHA” moment! So, as I’ve mentioned in a few of my Five for Friday posts I have been loving using Writing Workshop Units of Study again. While I have always done WW model in my classroom, we just now got Lucy Calkin’s materials to use (which I used a few years ago at another school) and I’m loving it. The kids are too! They are making connections left and right which makes my teacher heart happy!
So, the one difficulty I ran into was that everyone wanted to talk with me and show me their story every day.  I have 19 kids. We have 15-20 minutes of writing time. This wasn’t working. I couldn’t effectively meet with everyone and some kids felt like they were never meeting with me.
So…duh…duh…duh – this schedule below was born!
This has been a lifesaver! It took me a few minutes to whip up and in the last week I already see a difference. While some kids still want to talk with me every day, they now know what their scheduled day is. This way I’m able to see everyone during the week. It also led to more quality conversations. I love being able to meet with them one-on-one, see what they’re working on, and talking about positives and things they can improve on.
If you are a Writing Workshop teacher, I highly recommend you give the schedule a try!! Happy conferencing!

FREE Writing Checklists

Picture of four writing checklists.
To make your life easier I have a FREE set of writing checklists for your students to use! These are geared towards the primary grades and include 8 different checklists – so you’ll be able to differentiate based on what you’re teaching and your students’ needs. Grab your writing checklists HERE.

Compound Words Freebie!

Freebie, Writing September 5, 2016
I have a new freebie up in my TPT Store (Jordan Johnson). This week one of our reading skills/grammar skills was to review compound words. Since I know most of my students have a general understanding of compound words, I made up a quick game to make practicing fun and get them up and moving.
Each student had one part of a compound word.  Then, while the music played, students walked around the room switching cards with people as they passed. When the music stopped, they had to find their match.  For example – basket needed to find the student who had the word ball. Then, everyone read their compound word out loud.  We played this a few times.  It was a quick way to review the skill and much more entertaining then doing a grammar page in a workbook.
Check out what’s included in my freebie. It can be found in my TPT store, here….
24 Cards are Included

Hope everyone is having a nice 3-day weekend!

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Tying Up Loose Ends – Writing Workshop Wednesdays

Writing August 17, 2016
If you missed the first six parts of Writing Workshop Wednesdays…click below to catch up.
Today is a super quick post with one last thing I wanted to share.  I also would love to answer any questions and comments you have about Writing Workshop – so please comment in the comments section!
Spotlight Bulletin Board
 
One thing I did this year was a spotlight section on my Writing Bulletin Board.  The majority of my Writing Bulletin Board had writing anchor charts, but I saved a small section for a spotlight board.  The spotlight board showcased student work that had excelled in the area we were focusing on. One of the first spotlight boards I used last year was for adding details.  So I had a little page that said Spotlight On: Adding Details. Then, I would hang up a few student samples of kiddos who really had done a good job of focusing on that area.  I liked this because it was a way to showcase student work. It also was a great motivator.  Students wanted their work up there so they were more attentive to our specific focus.  I also had spotlight boards for – word choice, using capital letters, using end marks, using commas, and more.
 
Thank you for stopping by today to see the last few pieces and ideas for Writing Workshop.
Thank you also for checking out my Writing Workshop Wednesdays series over the last few weeks. If you have any questions about Writing Workshop, feel free to email me or leave the question in the comments section and I will respond!

FREE Writing Checklists

Picture of four writing checklists.
To make your life easier I have a FREE set of writing checklists for your students to use! These are geared towards the primary grades and include 8 different checklists – so you’ll be able to differentiate based on what you’re teaching and your students’ needs. Grab your writing checklists HERE.

Publishing Pieces – Writing Workshop Wednesdays

Writing August 10, 2016
If you missed the first five parts of Writing Workshop Wednesdays…click below to catch up.
Today I’m going to share with you how I have students publish pieces during Writing Workshop. This is the way I handled publishing when I did not have the Units of Study by Lucy Calkins.
Publishing:
Draft example – pre-editing:
 
So, to start, students completed the editing process with their rough draft (which I discussed in my post last week).  After they edited, students then got their final draft paper.  It looks similar to their rough draft paper, but it has a box for a picture to accompany their final draft. Our first time publishing, I model what to do so students understand they need to re-write their draft neatly, and they also need to include the changes they made through the editing process.  This takes a bit for younger kiddos to understand. After modeling and going over it explicitly, it’s time for the kids to publish their own pieces.
After they have finished writing neatly, adding the revisions, and drawing their picture to match their story, I give them their cover page.  I keep this simple – and just give them a blank, white piece of paper.  Nothing fancy.  On the cover, they write their title, who the author is, and draw a cover to match their story.  While this seems simple with just a blank page, I like this because it gives kids a chance to be creative and design their cover to their liking.
Sharing:
The next part is a favorite of most of the kids – sharing! As we know, kids love to talk and love to share.  Another part I’ve added to publishing and finishing a piece, is sharing it with the class when you’re finished.  I do have all kids share because I think it’s important for everyone to work on public speaking skills, feel comfortable sharing, and it’s important that they feel proud of their work. I often have students share it under the document camera so that it is projected on the board. This way students in the audience can see the pictures and writing.  I also have had kids sit in my fancy teacher chair and read it to the class like a book, pausing to show the pictures like I do during read alouds. Both ways work great and the kids really like sharing their work with each other.
After a student finishes sharing their story, we all applaud. Then, I have the audience think of compliments for the student sharing. The student sharing gets to pick two students to tell them a compliment.  We also practice saying thank you when we receive a compliment and working on our manners.
 
Thank you for stopping by today to see some ideas for publishing pieces during Writing Workshop.
Here’s what’s coming up next in the series…
-Tying Up Loose Ends

FREE Writing Checklists

Picture of four writing checklists.
To make your life easier I have a FREE set of writing checklists for your students to use! These are geared towards the primary grades and include 8 different checklists – so you’ll be able to differentiate based on what you’re teaching and your students’ needs. Grab your writing checklists HERE.

Teaching Editing – Writing Workshop Wednesdays

Writing August 3, 2016
If you missed the first four parts of Writing Workshop Wednesdays…click below to catch up.
So, my editing ideas are a mix of Writing Workshop info, a mix of Hope King’s Editing to Perfection ideas, and based on experience and each class I’ve taught.  So it’s kind of a hodge podge of ideas.  But, the one thing we all know from teaching is you have to take something and make it your own. You have to make it fit your students, your grade, your curriculum, your teaching style, etc.  So, here goes… here is my favorite way to teach editing.
First, I share with the kids a piece of my own writing. This could be handwritten or typed. I like typed because it’s a little easier to see, but handwritten projected works well too.  I make sure to have multiple spelling mistakes, punctuation, clarity, and so on.
The chart you see on my board is from Hope King’s Editing to Perfection post.  She has five different focuses each time you read your writing. Here they are:
First read – Read for big mistakes
Second read – Check for spelling
Third read – Check for capital letters
Fourth read – Check for punctuation
Fifth read – Read for clarity. Ask yourself  – “is it clear?”
So, I went through this all very SLLLLOOOOWWWWLLLLYYY with my kids and I mean slow.  I first had them pick out their favorite draft from their Writing Workshop folder.  One that they would want to publish and share with their friends.  After students picked a draft out, I showed them my writing piece that we would edit together.
First, we looked at the first step – checking for big mistakes.  I read my story out loud and they helped me find any big mistakes in there.  (They will start catching capitals and all that, but have them wait on those).  I only show them one part of the chart at the time, so they don’t get too far ahead of themselves.  After checking for big mistakes in my writing piece, the students went back to their seats and using their purple pen, they checked their writing pieces for big mistakes.
We continued on through each step.  The second step is to check for spelling. I read through each line of my story out loud again and we stopped at the end of each line to see if we caught any spelling errors.  Then, students went back to their seat and checked their piece for spelling errors. This process continued on for each of the final steps.  We would do it together, then they would do it on their own.
As you can see from my writing piece, we found a lot of errors together.  This is good because it shows kids that writers make mistakes and it helps to show the importance of going back and checking your work.
Next, I had students get with a partner and read their story to the partner.  This acts as another way to edit their work and make sure that they caught everything.  After the student finishes reading the story, the listening partner gives two compliments and also shares one suggestion or thing to work on.  I love using partners because it gives kids a chance to work together, but also learn from each other.  How often do we read something we wrote and it sounds fine, but then someone else reads it and catches mistakes.  Partner editing is a great way to start working on that at an early age.
**The first time I teach editing, it takes at least two writing sessions.  One session to teach the chart process and go through it.  A second session to work on partner editing.
After editing using the chart and their partner, students then wrote their final copy on final draft paper. Next week, I’ll share more about publishing and sharing their writing pieces.
Editing Checklist
As the year goes on, and the kids become more independent, I have them use an editing checklist to help them edit their papers.  We use the same checklist for reports, narratives, opinion pieces, etc so that they are familiar with it.  This checklist is a good reminder for them to go back and look at each area of their writing and to double check it and make sure they have used the writing mechanics correctly.  It includes similar items that I talked about above in our whole class editing lesson.
Thank you for stopping by today to see some ideas for teaching editing during Writing Workshop.
Here’s what’s coming up next in the series…
-Publishing Pieces -Tying Up Loose Ends

FREE Writing Checklists

Picture of four writing checklists.
To make your life easier I have a FREE set of writing checklists for your students to use! These are geared towards the primary grades and include 8 different checklists – so you’ll be able to differentiate based on what you’re teaching and your students’ needs. Grab your writing checklists HERE.

Mini-Lesson Ideas – Writing Workshop Wednesdays

Writing July 27, 2016
 
If you missed the first three parts of Writing Workshop Wednesdays…click below to catch up.
 
Today I’ll be sharing with you some Mini-Lesson Ideas that I have used in my classroom.  As I mentioned in the last few posts, if you have Lucy Calkin’s Units of Study – use those for your mini-lessons. If you don’t, use your standards to guide them.  My Mini-Lesson Ideas below are examples from when I didn’t have the resource and just created my own Mini-Lessons based on my past use of Writing Workshop, the standards, and where my kids were at.  A quick reminder – Mini-Lessons should only be 5-10 minutes.  Remember the majority of Writing Workshop time should be spent with the kids writing.
Beginning of the Year Mini-Lessons:
 
The biggest thing that I can stress, especially at the beginning of the year, is to model, model, and model some more. If Writing Workshop is going to be successful, you need to go slow and introduce each part through modeling.
Here are some basic lessons I start with:
  • Brainstorming Ideas – I often use a circle map. I put the word “ideas” in the middle circle and start brainstorming ideas for the larger circle.  I model how to do this and try to pick examples from when I was a child that I know kids will relate to.  I explain that they are all things I’ve done or experiences I’ve been through.  Some examples include – riding a bike for the first time, trip to Disneyland, seventh birthday party, first day of school, field trip to the zoo, etc.  The nice thing about coming up with a big brainstorming list is that as kids finish stories they have something to get ideas from if they don’t know what to write next.
  • Filling Out Graphic Organizer – As I mentioned I used the Small Moments Writing Pack from Leigh Langton. I also modeled how to take one of my ideas from the circle map and how to fill in the graphic organizer to plan my story. I always point out to the kids that this isn’t the draft. This is their chance to map out what they’re going to write. I don’t require complete sentences or it to be totally filled in.  They just need enough to help them plan their story.
  • Model How to Write Draft from Graphic Organizer – This is another big one. I normally model this a time or two or more as needed.  Kids need help fleshing out their story from the graphic organizer. We don’t want kids to just copy what they planned and call that their draft. We want them to flesh their story out and add details.  I model this one very slowly…
 
           Small Moments Writing Pack
 
Standards-Based Mini-Lessons
 
A big chunk of my mini-lessons are spent covering various writing standards. At my school, we don’t use Common Core and we grade pretty much only Writing Mechanics in second grade. So, most of my mini-lessons were focused on capitals, end marks, quotations, commas, etc. We also teach the 6 traits at my school. So, in addition to more grammatical lessons, I also taught lessons on organizing your paper, sentence structure/fluency, word choice, and more.
Here are a few examples of lessons I did:
  • Capitals – To teach capitals, which is normally more of a review in second grade, we started by watching a Brainpop Jr. clip. Brainpop has many wonderful clips and it’s a fun way to start a writing lesson. Then, as a class we created an anchor chart.  This anchor chart shows times and reasons why we need to use capital letters.  On a separate day, after working on capitals for a few days, I had the kids look at one of my writing pieces and help me edit it. When we edited it, we only focused on capitals.  They love being helping the teacher fix her writing :-).
My story that we edited for capital letters together as a class.
  • End Marks – I teach end marks a similar way to capitals. We started by a review video on Brainpop.  Then, we created an anchor chart covering the three different end marks. I like anchor charts because they are created together with the class and then displayed on the wall so the kids can refer back to them (and they really do).  Then, again, I had a writing piece about a class activity that the kids helped me correct.  When they are helping me correct, it makes it easier to suggest that the focus that day be “look through your paper – did you get all the end marks?”
End Marks Anchor Chart – Class Created
My story that we edited for end marks together as a class.
  • Adding Details – For adding details, this is a big focus at the beginning of the year.  Some students like to write the bare minimum and be done.  For this one, I show them two examples of the same story. I then ask them to be the teacher and tell me, which story is better and why. We then talk suggestions for how I can improve the one that wasn’t as good.  During share time, when the focus is details, I pick students to share who have really added some strong details to their story. The more exposure kids have to it in mini-lessons and share, the more likely they are to do it in their own writing.
My example – Version #1
My example – Version #2
 
  • Word Choice – This was one of my favorite mini-lessons. I started with a whole group activity. I gave them the sentence “The dog ate.”  We discussed how this is a sentence, but it really doesn’t tell us much and it is very exciting. They then helped me create a few different ideas for how to make it better. See examples below. Then, the next day, I put a sentence up on the projector and the students made a better sentence on their white boards. This activity went so well!! They loved being creative and in turn it helped them improve word choice in their own writing pieces during writing time.
Whole Group Word Choice Lesson
The pictures below are independent practice:
 
 
 
  • Commas – Commas was another area where we started with Brainpop and then moved on to the anchor chart.  Some of the kids got it right away and I also implemented it in our Friday Fix-It Morning Message.
 
 
Mini-Lessons Planning Page –
I’ve used the below planning page to help me plan out  my Mini-Lessons.  Download your own copy,
Thank you for stopping by today to see some ideas for Writing Workshop Mini-Lessons.
Here’s what’s coming up next in the series…
-Teaching Editing -Publishing Pieces -Tying Up Loose Ends

FREE Writing Checklists

Picture of four writing checklists.
To make your life easier I have a FREE set of writing checklists for your students to use! These are geared towards the primary grades and include 8 different checklists – so you’ll be able to differentiate based on what you’re teaching and your students’ needs. Grab your writing checklists HERE.
 

Typical Writing Workshop Format – Writing Workshop Wednesdays

Writing July 20, 2016
If you missed the first two parts of Writing Workshop Wednesdays…click below to catch up.
Today I will be sharing with you the typical Writing Workshop format. This has been adapted from Lucy Calkin’s Unit of Studies and Katie Wood Ray and Lisa Cleaveland’s About the Authors.
  
A typical Writing Workshop lesson consists of 4 components…
  • Mini-Lesson
  • Time for kids to write
  • Conferring with students
  • Sharing
 
Mini-Lessons
A mini-lesson typically lasts 5-10 minutes.  It should be no longer than 10 minutes because the goal is for kids to spend time writing, not listening.
I love this Lucy Calkins clip where she explains the importance of a mini-lesson to Writing Workshop.  Check it out here…
Mini-lessons are where the explicit teaching happens.  Modeling is so important during the mini-lesson. I often will write in front of the kids. It’s so important to do that so they see how it’s done and can see the whole process play out. In addition to writing in front of them, sometimes I will also take a piece I already wrote and use that for the mini-lesson. It’s also a great idea to use student’s writing during the mini-lesson. Especially if you notice a student whose been doing the skill you’re covering that day particularly well – use their paper! It’s even better when the kids can learn from each other. Mentor texts are another great tool to use during mini-lessons.  It’s wonderful when kids can see other authors who they read all the time, doing the same things they’re working on in their writing.
Mini-lessons are where I throw my standards in or things I’m seeing during conferences. If you have the Writing Workshop Units of Study – follow those and add in as needed. If you don’t have the Units of Study, you can create your own mini-lessons based on your standards. Next week, I’ll be sharing some specific mini-lesson ideas on the blog.
At the end of the mini-lesson, I always wrap it up by giving the kids a goal of something that I’m looking for that day during their writing time. If we worked on using capitals, the goal is to make sure you’re using capitals in your writing. If we worked on descriptive word choice, that day’s goal will be to use exciting and descriptive words in your writing.  The goal always fits the mini-lesson and is very specific so the kids know what to focus on during their writing time.
Anchor Chart for Capital Letters that we created during a mini-lesson
Used this writing sample as a mini-lesson.  Students had to help me fix the punctuation errors.
Time to Write
Kids need time to write.  Like the quote I used in last week’s blog – as long as they’re writing – they’ll be fine.  Kids need time to create their own content and to craft their own writing style.  The block of time for the kids actually writing should be about 30-35 minutes. It should take up the largest part of Writing Workshop. If we want kids to be better writers, then they need time to practice writing.
During time to write, kids have their goal or focus area from the mini-lesson earlier.  Kids will be at different stages during this time. Some kids will be planning a new piece, while some will be editing, or working on a final draft.  This is where the differentiation comes in. Students will also be writing about all different topics.  I love this – it provides them choice and ownership of their writing.  During time to write, you the teacher, will be conferencing – see the next little section.
Pre-Writing Pages from Small Moments Writing Pack
Draft from Small Moments Writing Pack
 
Small Moments Writing Pack
The students above are using planning and draft pages from Leigh Langton’s Small Moments Pack. It can purchased in her TPT store, here.
Conferencing
Conferencing with students takes place while they’re writing. So, conferencing lasts roughly – 30-35 minutes.  Some teachers use a conferencing schedule so they know which kids the meet with certain days. In the past, I played it by ear, but will be making a conferencing schedule this year.
I make a conferring schedule, with each kid having a day that they know I will confer with them. That makes it more manageable for me to get to everyone.:
Example of Conference Schedule from Flamingo Fabulous in Elementary
During conferencing, this is your time to really differentiate and help each child with where they are at in the writing process.  We had a speaker named Jerry who is training our current staff on Writing Workshop. He mentioned start with a positive and for your constructive criticism, make sure it goes along with the positive.  For example, I like how you added details to the introduction.  Do you think you could add a few more to the ending to make the reader feel like they are there?  Jerry said that kids will understand the constructive criticism more if it’s tied to what they do well.  He also focused on asking questions to get kids to take ownership of their next steps instead of the teacher dictating that this is what needs to be done.
 
Sharing
Sharing is a huge piece of Writing Workshop, however it has the smallest amount of time in the WW format. Share should only take about 5 minutes and is done at the end of the writing time.  I usually keep a list of my class and check off kids as they share. This way everyone gets a chance and I don’t gravitate towards picking the same students multiple times.
For picking students to share, I sometimes rotate, but I often ask kids to share for a reason.  If our focus that day was descriptive writing and during conference time I noticed a child who used a lot of descriptive words in her/his story – then I will ask them to share. Kids don’t have to be finished with their story to share. If a student has an excellent introduction, but that’s all they have – have them share it.  I normally have the students I pick be students who focused and worked on what we discussed in the mini-lesson.
For sharing, the child puts their story under the document camera so it’s projected on the board. Then, the child reads the story to the class. When they’re finished, they pick two students to give them a compliment of something they did well.  I do model this a lot at the beginning. I noticed because of the modeling that the compliments were actually quite specific.  Gone are the days of good job or I like it, but kids were giving feedback like I like how you used words that described what you were doing, etc.
 
Thank you for stopping by today to see how I format my Writing Workshop time!
Here’s what’s coming up next in the series…
-Mini Lesson Ideas -Teaching Editing -Publishing Pieces -Tying Up Loose Ends

FREE Writing Checklists

Picture of four writing checklists.
To make your life easier I have a FREE set of writing checklists for your students to use! These are geared towards the primary grades and include 8 different checklists – so you’ll be able to differentiate based on what you’re teaching and your students’ needs. Grab your writing checklists HERE.

Set-Up and Products – Writing Workshop Wednesdays

Writing July 13, 2016
I’m back for our second Wednesday of Writing Workshop Wednesdays.  Click below if you missed last week’s post.
Why Writing Workshop?
 
Today’s post is all about what products and items you will need to set-up Writing Workshop in your classroom. Below I’m sharing with you what I’ve used in my classroom and what has worked for me. There are definitely many ways to set it up, but I have found the below ways to work for the last few years.  The products and items listed below work for if you have the actual Units of Study materials at your school or if you are just using the Writing Workshop model on your own and creating your own mini-lessons.
Below are some of the items you will need to start using Writing Workshop in your classroom.
  • Folders – Each student needs their own folder that is only for Writing Workshop time. Inside the folder, put in two labels. On the left side they label can read – Finished, Done, red sticker for little kiddos. On the right side the label can read – Still Working, Not Done, green sticker for little kiddos. The red and green work well for non-readers, red meaning I’ve stopped working on this piece and green meaning I’m still going.  You basically want one side of the folder for kids to be able to put pieces that they are finished with. The other side of the folder you want students to put pieces they are still working on.
  • Place to keep the folders – I choose to keep my folders in Lakeshore’s All Purpose Teacher Organizer. It can be purchased at Lakeshore for $59.99.  Target also has bins that would work and there are many places now that make book bins that will hold folders.  I like the Lakeshore one because it has a spot for each part of the writing process. I have my bins labeled – pre-writing, draft, editing, publishing, finished.  When the kids put their folder away, they put it in the bin of the step that they are on. It’s a great way for me to quickly check and see who is on what step of the writing process.  It’s also a good way for kids to know the steps of the writing process and be able to identify what step they are in throughout the week.
  • Place to keep writing paper – I use a Sterilite Plastic Drawer set from Target.  You can use many different things to hold your writing paper. I just recommend having more than one drawer or compartment. You’ll want to offer a few different types of paper to writers and need a way to keep it separate and organized.
    • Paper –  Here are a few different options –
Small Moments Writing Pack
    • If you and/or your school has the Lucy Calkin’s Units of Study Writing Workshop program there is a disc with many different types of paper.  I recommend following Lucy’s instructions about what paper to use during what time of the year, but I also recommend offering up a few different types.  When I taught first grade, we had booklets (three pages stapled together).  Some pages had one line with a big space for pictures. Some pages had 4 lines with a smaller space for a picture, etc.  The nice thing about this is that it presents the writers (students) with a choice (differentiation).  Each writer can use what paper works for them.  As the year goes on and we want the kids to be writing more, the paper choices will change and offer up more space for writing and less space for pictures.
    • If you don’t have the Lucy Calkin’s books at your school, I highly recommend the Small Moments Writing Pack by the Applicious Teacher (Leigh Langton).  I used this pack when I taught 2nd grade at a school that didn’t have the Lucy Calkin’s materials. I liked the pre-planning pages and I love that she offered up a few different writing page options depending on your students and their abilities.
    • Booklets – I also used booklets when I taught first grade a few years ago.  They were pretty easy to make and I could again adjust the number of lines and picture space to offer more options.  About the Authors recommends the booklets because it helps the kids feel like real authors since they are writing in a booklet like the books they see.  Below is an example – towards the end of the year I also offered booklets with blank pages. This allowed kids to be creative with where and how they put their text and pictures. Here’s a funny story a student wrote about me…I was a huge Suns fan and Steve Nash was my favorite player.  So, she decided I would marry him lol
       
    • If you google or look on Pinterest, there are also many other paper types.  Again, make sure you have a variety so every writer will have an option that works for them.
  • Resources – I already mentioned this two amazing resources last week.
    • Lucy Calkin’s Units of Study materials are amazing.  She now offers them by grade level and they are tied in with the Common Core standards. In the Units of Study, you will have various topics (Narrative, Opinion, Informational, Poetry).  You will also have mini-lessons provided for you that are written as they are taught in actual classroom.  It makes it very easy to teach mini-lessons because the book offers a great format and step by step directions for each lesson.  It could be scripted, but I recommend reading the lesson and making it your own.  This program is expensive, but definitely worth it.
    • For a less pricey option, with still a lot of bang for your buck – I also recommend About the Authors by Katie Wood Ray and Lisa Cleveland.  This book can be found on Amazon and is much more affordable.  In this book, they have ideas for mini-lessons, writing paper ideas, set-up ideas, etc.  Great book especially for K-2 teachers.  This is where I got the writing booklet that looks like a book idea that I mentioned above in paper choice.
  
 
Thank you for stopping by today to see what items and materials I use when teaching Writing Workshop.
Here’s what’s coming up next in the series…
-Typical Writer’s Workshop Format -Mini Lesson Ideas -Teaching Editing -Publishing Pieces -Tying Up Loose Ends

FREE Writing Checklists

Picture of four writing checklists.
To make your life easier I have a FREE set of writing checklists for your students to use! These are geared towards the primary grades and include 8 different checklists – so you’ll be able to differentiate based on what you’re teaching and your students’ needs. Grab your writing checklists HERE.
 
 

Why Writing Workshop? – Writing Workshop Wednesdays

Writing, Writing Workshop July 6, 2016
“No matter what, just let them write every day.  Even if you’re not sure what to teach, just let them write.  They’ll do fine.” – Lisa Cleaveland – Teacher (from About the Authors).
I love this quote! I love this quote because it fits perfectly with the Writer’s Workshop model.  Instead of being so concerned about spelling, capitals, punctuation, etc – we need to just get kids actually writing.  As long as they’re writing, they’ll be good. They need to write every day…in all subjects.

I’m a huge believer in the Writing Workshop model and one main reason is because it focuses on getting kids to write.  Gone are the days of every word needs to be spelled correctly. Gone are the days that kids are scrutinized for missing a comma.  Now, these things are important. These things are also a part of writing. But, they are not the end all be all.  When I was a kid, I don’t remember writing much until middle school. I know I did, but it doesn’t stand out to me. I think part of it is because we weren’t allowed to just write.  Everything was so focused on the sentence structure being perfect and each punctuation mark being just so that it didn’t feel like writing. It felt like a lot of work.

Again, let me reiterate. I’m not saying grammar and spelling aren’t important.  Neither are Lucy Calkins, Katie Wood Ray, or Lisa Cleaveland. I’m just saying we need to give kids a chance to just focus on writing.  Since I’ve been using this model I have seen so much growth in my student’s writing. Even those reluctant writers who you are lucky to get a few lines from – I’ve seen growth.  Writing Workshop is about allowing kids to write and be at the level they’re at. If kids are so stressed about how to spell the word “Florida” then their story stops.  If kids spell it the best they can and keep going, then we’ll see more actual content.  Which is the whole goal of writing to me. Content not perfection.  Especially in the early elementary grades.

 

Here are a few more reasons why I love using Writing Workshop:
  • Differentiation – Writing Workshop allows kids to work at their own pace.  Johnny may have edited and published five stories and be beginning number six.  Susie on the other hand might be a slower writing and working on publishing her first piece.  With Writing Workshop kids don’t have to be on the same page or even the same piece. They’re able to work at their own speed and you as the teacher are able to tailor personal goals to what each student needs during conferencing.
  • Content – Writing Workshop focuses on content not perfection. I also like that Writing Workshop allows kids to just write about what they want.  There are no prompts in Writing Workshop. While prompts have their time and place, and students need to be able to write to a prompt, during Writing Workshop, kids write about what they know and have experienced. They can write about learning to ride a bike, their trip to the beach, going to Disneyland, losing a tooth, a class field trip, etc.  They have choice in their content, which makes writing more enjoyable and you will see them more engaged during the writing time.
  • Modeling – Another huge focus in Writing Workshop is modeling.  Kids need to see how writer’s write. They need to see how they can come up with ideas. They need to see how to edit. And the best way to do this is through modeling.  Often it’s the teacher modeling with his or her own writing. It also is bringing up other students to model skills taught during Mini Lessons during sharing time.  Modeling is a very important step in Writing Workshop.
  • Mini-Lessons are Tailored to Standards – Whether you are using the actual Lucy Calkin’s Writing Workshop resource or you’re doing this on your own (I’ve done both), you can tailor Writing Workshop to your standards.  When I was creating lessons on my own and using the format, I picked standards and made mini-lessons to fit them.  I also would notice things my students were doing and then create mini-lessons based on areas we needed to work on. For example, my students especially at the beginning of the year had a hard time adding details. Their stories were very short.  So, we focused a few lessons on adding details and they then had a chance to practice it during the writing time.
  • Kids Love It – Kids love Writing Workshop. I once went to a school where they didn’t have a writing resource and I implemented Writing Workshop using the format and then creating my own mini-lessons. The kids ate it up! They were so excited for Writing Workshop time during the day.  I also saw major improvements in their writing and less stress. Many of the kids since this was new were so fixated on making their writing perfect that the content was lacking.  As they became more comfortable with the process, I saw major growth and they actually enjoyed writing.

 

 

As I mentioned, I’ve been lucky to have the resources and at times have had to create my own. These two books below are amazing! Lucy Calkin’s is a writing genius! I highly recommend her Writing Workshop series (it is pricey).  My current school just adopted the resource this summer and we’ll be using it next year.  I also used the older version many years ago at my first school.  I also recommend the book About the Authors.  This is geared more towards K-2/3 and is another great writing resource.  Ray and Cleaveland provide many ideas and many mini-lessons for teachers to use to implement writing in the classroom.  You don’t have to have the books to be able to use Writing Workshop in your classroom.  Stay tuned for the next few blog posts to get more ideas of how to implement even if you don’t have the resources.

 

Here’s what’s coming up next in the series…

-Writer’s Workshop Set-Up and Products Used
-Typical Writer’s Workshop Format
-Mini Lesson Ideas
-Teaching Editing
-Publishing Pieces
-Tying Up Loose Ends

Writing Workshop Wednesdays Series

Writing, Writing Workshop June 29, 2016

I am starting a new series on my blog called Writing Workshop Wednesdays.  This is a series that has been on my to do list for awhile and with summer here it’s the perfect time to write it up!  I’ve been using Writing Workshop in my classroom for the past 9 years and have used it a variety of different ways.  I’ve had the Lucy Calkin’s materials (which are amazing) and also had to wing it a bit using the format and my own resources.

Here’s what you can expect over the next few weeks in the Writing Workshop Wednesday series:

– Why Writer’s Workshop – July 6
-Writer’s Workshop Set-Up and Products Used – July 13
-Typical Writer’s Workshop Format – July 20
-Mini Lesson Ideas – July 27
-Teaching Editing – August 3
-Publishing Pieces – August 10
-Tying Up Loose Ends – August 17

Check back next Wednesday, July 6 to learn about “Why I Use Writer’s Workshop.”
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