Launching the Writing Workshop

Chelsea Belcher EDRE

Grades 3-5

Starting the Writing Workshop

• Build your student’s identities as writers by praising stories they’ve already told

• Build your student’s enthusiasm for writing and explain writers workshop

• Name a teaching point explicitly- Today we will learn about…

TEACH:Invite children

to become writers, and

you’ll teach a strategy for generating personal

narratives

Mini-Lesson

• Think of a person who matters to you, then list clear small moments you remember with him or her. Choose one to sketch and then write the story that explains it.

• Mom• Dad• Trevor

List 2-3 little moments in your head

• When I brought Trevor home• When Trevor heard his first storm• When Trevor saw fireworks for the first time• Draw a snapshot of when that moment started• Now draw what happened next.• Now, using tiny details- share your story with

your neighbor• Begin writing your story

Generating More Writing

• Remind students that writers use many strategies to write

• Give examples of a writer using that strategy

• Have students try that strategy

TEACH:Teach students

that writers sometimes think of a meaningful place, list small

moments related to it, then select

one and write about it.

Qualities of Good Writing

• Detailed• Always be explicit• Seeds- Not watermelon

ideas• Peer workshops/groups• Celebrate

TEACH:Teach students

that good writing should be focused,

detailed, and structured. Good writers tell their stories in scenes

rather than in summaries.

The Writer’s Job in a Conference

• YOU are the best model• Structure• Study• Avoid asking about

topic- focus on writing• Self- evaluation

TEACH:Introduce students to the structure of a writing convergent and teach them ways writers talk about their writing

Questions you may be asked• What are you working on as a writer?• What kind of writing are you making?• What are you doing to make this piece of

writing work?• What do you think of what you’ve done so

far?• What will you do next?• How will you go about doing that?

Building Stories Step-by-Step

• Cyclical process• Summarizing v.

Storytelling

TEACH:Teach students that wtiters unfold stories bit by bit rather than summerizing

Choosing Seed Ideas

• Seed ideas can come from anywhere

• Leave it as a seed or let it grow

TEACH:Teach students that writers reread their notebooks, selecting and committing themselves to an idea they develop into a finished piece of writing

Revising Leads/Endings

• Motivate students in the beginning stages

• Writing for your audience

• Making those decisions

TEACH:Teach students that writers deliberately craft the lead and ending of their stories.

Taking Charge of Our Writing Work

• They are the writer which means they are the creator.

TEACH:Emphasize to students that writers make decisions abut their own work, including when to finish pieces and to start new ones.

TimelinesTEACH:Teach students that writers can use timelines to plan and structure narratives

Mini-Lesson

• Timelines as tools for developing stories

• Let’s make a timeline together using my seed idea.

Stretching Our Writing

• Where can students elaborate

• Summarizing v. Storytelling

TEACH:Teach students that writers replay life events to write in ways that let readers feel the experience by writing whole paragraphs from single key events.

Mini-Lesson

• Writing in passages of thought

Developing the Heart of a Story

• Give students time • Include in conferences

TEACH:Teach students that writers revise by asking, “What’s the most important(or my favorite) part of this story?” and developing that section.

Publishing

•CELEBRATE!TEACH:Students should celebrate being a community of flourishing writers and share the writing with the public.

Remember

• Start as early as possible• Don’t get discouraged• Leave last years students in last years

memories• Your students are WRITERS and they can’t wait

to share their story with YOU!

THE END

NOW BEGIN WRITING!