*Disclaimer: Although I have been teaching writing for 17 years in the classroom, this is my first year following what I'm calling a writer's workshop model...so it is far from perfect! I just know how grateful I was to find other teacher's blogs as I began my planning so I thought I would share what has worked for me. I hope my descriptions spark some ideas for others to try in their writing instruction.
During my professional development, there were two things that I reflected on and realized I could do differently for the benefit of my students. The first was using mentor texts. We all know how connected reading and writing are so it just makes sense to teach specific writing elements using literature. I have always connected reading and writing. We read books all the time and then wrote in response to our reading. But I hadn't used books to teach a specific writing traits like dialogue, small moments, or strong endings by first showing these in a book.
The second was the idea of giving up some control-specifically, in the pacing and the topic. I always controlled the pace of my students' writing. We all brainstormed on the same day. We all wrote our topic sentences or strong openings on the same day. You get the idea. This went all the way through the process. I felt as a first grade teacher, I had to keep this structure. It was very much I do, we do, and you do. I write my opening. Let's write an opening together. Now you write your opening. And although I still love that support system of I do, we do, you do for many other lessons, it wasn't giving my students the ownership of their writing that I felt they deserved. Yes, I have done the boards where students indicate what stage of the writing process they are on. Yes, that allows for a bit more independence. But the writer's workshop model I have implemented lets go of even that control too.
And now, the writing topic. I have been queen of writing prompts when directly teaching a specific mode of writing. We made it fun, but often we were all writing about the same topic. For example, in October we would all research spiders and all write an informative piece about spiders. Or in September, I would bring in freshly picked apples and they would help make applesauce to give a memorable anchor experience for an informative "How To" piece. I'm not saying I will never do this (I can't give up the How To Make Applesauce experience!), but on a daily basis, I want my students choosing topics that matter to them.
The writer's workshop model allows students the freedom to have multiple pieces "under construction" so that they are all in a state of constant revision and editing. A piece is never done. After a mini-lesson, students may be inspired to apply that skill/trait to a new piece or pull out a "resting one" from several days ago. Or they may not even apply what was discussed in that day's mini-lesson on that day. Choice. So much more choice and so much more authentic.
Perhaps it will be a complete disaster and as I blog each month about the mode of writing we focused on, you can laugh (or cry) along with me. BUT from what I have experienced so far and from what I have read from others, I am maintaining my hope that this year we will be an amazing year for the writers in my classroom!
Organization and Planning
Scheduling
So first I carved out a writing block in my schedule. Ours is 1:15-2:00 every day. The format for the workshop is this:
Writer's Workshop
Mini Lesson with Mentor Text
Modeling
Independent Writing/Teacher Conferences
Sharing
Each component is about 10 minutes in length with the writing/conferences block being more like 15. And on some days the writing/conferences has been extended even a bit more and the sharing can be shortened. I love having this consistent schedule because not only do the students know what to expect, but I make sure that I'm ensuring that my students get each of these 4 important opportunities each day. I found that in the past, I had the best of intentions of conferencing or making sure the students see me model writing each day, but something would come up or somehow it would often get pushed aside. Our young writers need time each day to see writing modeled and they need time each day to just write.
Looking at our common core standards and the modes of writing we are required to teach in first grade, I made a lose map for the first couple of months.
August: Introduction & Launch Writer's Workshop
September: Narrative
October: Informative "All About"
November: Informative "How To"
December: Narrative & Writing to a Prompt
January: Opinion Book Reviews
Materials & And a Bit More Scheduling
So I spent way too much time this summer debating how to make this work in my mind. We always do a writing journal (think writer's notebook) and wanted to keep that component. I asked our amazing PD trainer and she agreed that there should be a time in the student's day for free choice writing in a writer's notebook and then a more focused unit of study time. So here is what I came up with. My students complete an independent literacy checklist while I'm meeting with small groups for reading instruction in the morning. So during this time they have their writing journal (writer's notebook) where they write about any topic in any mode of writing. (We provide choice menus also as an option for ideas. They are simply awesome! You can read about those here.) Then in the writer's workshop, we focus on a particular mode of writing for a month at a time.
Materials
1. Writer's Notebook
(We copy primary paper with picture boxes, include a choice menu, and cover page for monthly journals. But you could use the primary composition notebooks, regular composition notebooks, or spiral notebooks. I debated, but couldn't give up the primary lined paper for first grade and worried about the expense of the primary composition books since we would need more than one.)
2. a 3-Ring Binder for Writer's Workshop
3. a 3 hole punched 2-pocket folder
4. divider tabs
5. page protector sheets
6. dot circle (a red and a green for each student)
7. Lots of writing paper! (I just use the paper I created for the journals with the primary lines).
Inside the writer's binder is their writing folder. The folder has a green dot one on side and a red dot on the other. One of the mini-lessons I taught in the first couple of weeks was how to use their writing folder. I teach the students that they are never done with a piece forever. We may learn something new (for example how to include dialogue) and they may go back to an old story and add dialogue. So we instead say it is resting. The green dot is for the piece they are currently working on. At the end of the month, I'm having them select one piece to publish. They are free to take the rest home. This way each month, there is only writing pieces for the mode we are currently learning about. I'm also currently investigating a digital portfolio for students-so excited, but that's another blog post!
The divider tabs just help divide up some of the resources they get throughout the year and the page protectors to keep the most used pages from falling apart. They have a tab for writing goals, checklists/rubrics, writing ideas, and writer's tools (alphabet, sound charts, sight word list, etc).
I keep blank writing paper in a basket in the room so students can start a new piece whenever they need to.
First Lessons
We Are All Writers
I started writer's workshop on the very first day of school. I wanted my students to know that writing would be a very important part of our lives. We always read the book Happy School Year and students write their own wish for the school year (and then we celebrate with cupcakes). We discussed how we are all writers.
What Do Writers Write
I had students think about people in their lives that they see write. It was different for them to think of writing beyond authors writing books. They realized their mom writing a grocery list or a brother writing a thank you note was real writing too. We emphasize that writers often write about things that happened to them. They write about their lives. This (narrative writing) becomes our focus for the next several weeks.
I had students think about people in their lives that they see write. It was different for them to think of writing beyond authors writing books. They realized their mom writing a grocery list or a brother writing a thank you note was real writing too. We emphasize that writers often write about things that happened to them. They write about their lives. This (narrative writing) becomes our focus for the next several weeks.
Diagnostic Narrative
I wanted to see what my students could do before I started doing my mini-lessons. This would help me plan for our narrative writing unit and also will be so fun to look back on later in the year to see the growth they made. I gave them each a booklet and told them to tell me a story about something that happened to them. I was worried that my firsties would have tears since it was only the first week of school and I hadn't shown them how to write a story, but there were none. (I'll give credit to the growth mindset work we started doing right away!)
Start with the Picture
Very young writers sometimes don't know where to start. I used to always have kids write a sentence and then draw their picture after their writing. You know, get their work done then relax making the picture. I'm so glad I changed my thinking on that! (I'm too young to be old school though right?!) For our emerging writers, starting with a picture is much more empowering. From there the students can label their pictures and maybe begin to write a sentence. For preschool and kindergarten, most students would benefit from this. In first grade, it will depend on the child. I tell them they can start with the picture or the words. My more skilled writers are comfortable starting with their sentences, but many or even most of my students like to begin with their picture. So I make "start with the picture" it's own mini-lesson.
I'm Done, Now What?
I love this simple lesson. Before directly teaching this, some students would write for a few minutes and announce that they were done. Even if I tried to encourage them to add more details, they would insist that they were done. Now, I teach them that they are never done during writer's workshop. They have three options: add to their words, add to their pictures, or start a new piece. They love this. If they are at a point where they have nothing else to add, then they can chose to start a new piece. So they are always engaged in writing.
I love this simple lesson. Before directly teaching this, some students would write for a few minutes and announce that they were done. Even if I tried to encourage them to add more details, they would insist that they were done. Now, I teach them that they are never done during writer's workshop. They have three options: add to their words, add to their pictures, or start a new piece. They love this. If they are at a point where they have nothing else to add, then they can chose to start a new piece. So they are always engaged in writing.
My Writing Folder
After teaching students about their 3 options they have when they are done, they need to know how to organize all of their pieces. This is when I show them the red and green dots on their folders that I mentioned earlier.
My Heart Map
Using our Writing Tools
In this mini-lesson, we show the students how to use their alphabet chart and sight word list (as the year goes on we will add sound charts as we learn those sounds). For years, we have had the first grade sight word posted on a word wall. It looked nice, but wasn't that helpful for the students. I've read lots of posts and have seen several good ideas to help the traditional word wall be more meaningful to students. However, none seemed to be the right fit for our class. Each student has their own individual list of sight words they are working on in our class. So we are providing a section in their writing binder for them to store their word lists that they can reference when writing.
What is a Sentence?
During this mini-lesson we take the time to go over what makes a complete sentence . We did a sort on the smartboard of complete sentences and not complete sentences. When students have their independent writing time, I ask that they try to make sure they are writing in complete sentences on their new pieces. I also remind them that they can go back and reread their old pieces and make sure they wrote in complete sentences.
Stretching out the Sounds in Words
This is great lesson that my job-share partner does every year. For this mini-lesson she talked to students about how to sound out or stretch out the sounds in words. They love using the slime to practice stretching out the sounds in words as they are writing. So fun!
Publishing Our Writing
I plan to have students select one piece from their writing folder each month to publish. So I wanted to make sure we started in August. I brought in popcorn for students to snack on as they listened to each other read their stories. I put all of the stories into a book for our classroom library.
.'.;';Other Mini-Lesson Ideas
Other ideas that I didn't get to in August, but plan to introduce soon are self-editing, revising with a pen, and why we never throw away our writing.
Narrative Writing Coming Soon!
We started our narrative unit at the beginning of this month. I can't wait so share a list of our mini-lesson focuses with corresponding mentor texts. I also will share how we started writing conferences and began setting individual writing goals for each student. Here is a sneak peak at our small moments lesson!
Please feel free to comment or email (igniteapassionforlearning@gmail.com) if you have any suggestions or questions.
