WRITER'S WORKSHOP

Each 4 or 5 weeks, we conduct of Unit of Study in our Writing Class. We are focused on one Genre of Writing during our unit and we explore this genre to answer essentail questions about writing. Throughout the Unit of Study, the children participate in mini-lessons, collecting and drafting ideas, conferences, and publishing by working through the steps of the writing process. Below is a list of possible Units of Study and a description of our Writer's Workshop procedures for each Unit of Study.

Possible Units of Study:

Read Aloud: I begin each writer's workshop with a read aloud that serves a mentor text for our Unit of Study. This read aloud also serves as a springboard for our mini-lesson

Mini-Lesson: Every day the children particpate in a mini-lesson. These lessons are where I can raise a concern, model a technique or introduce a strategy. My mini-lessons are based on what I see the children do within their own writing and are usually short and direct.

Independent Writing: After our group mini-lesson, the children are sent of to write. The children may be working in their Writer's Notebook to collect ideas, draft chunks, or practice a technique. The children may also choose to conference with a peer or teacher during this time. As our Unit of Study nears its end, the children choose one of the ideas they collected, or a chunk they drafting. They commit to this piece and get it ready to be "sent out into the world" by working it through the stages of the writing process (drafting, revising, editing and publishing.)

Share Time: At the close of Writer's Workshop we gather together as a writing community and share our wiritng. Children are in charge of what they want to share. They may ask advice, read aloud a chunk, or demonstarte how they practiced a technique.

Conferring: While the children are busy during Independent Writing, I use this time to conference with children. I focus my conferences on how the children are doing with the strategies and skills presented during mini-lessons, answer questions they may have about their writing, listen to them read a chunk aloud, and offera new way of thinking about their writing.

Publishing: When a Unit of Study comes to a close, the children have commited to a piece to publish and "send out to the world." We have a writing celebration at the close of each unit of study where the children share their piece with classmates, parents, and guests. At the close of the celebration, the children place their writing in the "Published Work" binder. This binder grows throughout the year.

Celebration Ideas:

Here are some pictures of a past "Gallery Walk" that included, parents, other students and staff memebers. The children stood beside their desk and read their story aloud to visitors who left comments on post-it notes. We decorated our area, and made centerpieces for each table that included special pencils for our guests to write with.   We ended our Gallery Walk with an Awards Presentation. Awards were given based on mini-lesson throughout the unit (ex. Best use of Size and Color Words, Best Simile, etc.)