Writer’s WorkshopJennifer Evans

Assistant Director ELA

St.Clair County RESA

Evans.jennifer@sccresa.org

http://www.protopage.com/evans.jennifer#Untitled/Home

Current Research

70% of all students in grades 4-12 are low achieving writers.

9th grade students in the lowest

25% of their class are twenty

times more likely

to drop out.

50% of high

school graduates

are not ready for college level

composition courses.

Kelly Gallagher, Author and Teacherhttp://www.kellygallagher.org/index.html

“Assigning writing is

easy. Teaching writing is

really hard.”

“We need to teach our

students to read like writers and

write like readers.”

The most effective strategy to improve writing…

Increase the amount and quality of writing.

What is the WriteWell© Curriculum?

It is a carefully sequenced, coherent K-12 writing curriculum that follows a Writing Workshop format

designed to:

span the grade levels

meet the needs of all students

increase writing proficiency at every grade

use effective, researched based instructional practices

Why WriteWell©?

Increase writing proficiency for life endeavors

Increase test scores

Coordinate and refine writing

instruction

Create a unified writing program

K-12

Increase use of research-based

instructional practices during

writing instruction

WriteWell©

Philosophy of Writing

Only teach what writers

do.

Teach the writer not the

piece of writing.

Writing is telling what you see and

what you think about it.

It is both external and

internal.

We learn about writing

through describing

writing not by having

someone prescribing

writing.

Three Types of Units

Genre

Author Study

Skill

WriteWell© Follows Writer’s Workshop Format

Mini-Lesson(10-15 min.)

Independent Practice with Conferring

(30-40 min.)

Sharing( 5-10 min.)

Successful Implementation of Writer’s Workshop

          

How Often

• Everyday• Everyday• Everyday

How Long

• KDG – 45 minutes

• 1st Grade – 45 minutes extending to 60 minutes

• 2nd – 12th Grades – 60 minutes

When

• Beginning the first day of school

• A single block of time at the same time everyday

Management

• Same format used everyday

• Same rules and procedures used everyday

• Keep it simple

Why

• Consistency

• Consistency

• Consistency

Grades 1-5 K staple small unit booklets for their

notebook Specific directions for grades 2-5 in

WriteWell Write everyday

Start with Notebooking

What Should I Write? Notebooking

What Should I Write? Three…

◦ Times you laughed really hard◦ Times you were in physical pain◦ Memorable Moments◦ Topics that interest you

Circle the one that you could tell the best story about

Tell your story to a partner Write your story in the writing section of

your notebook Share

What Should I Write? Play the contrast game. Write five minutes on

one side and then five minutes on the other side:

I want… I don’t want…

I remember… I don’t remember…

I do… I don’t…

Last summer… This summer…

Last Saturday… Next Saturday…

A scary place… A safe place…

Body Mapping

What Should I Write?

6 + 1 Writing Traits

One Day in the Life of Bubble Gum The Secret Knowledge of Grown-ups Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street

Craft Minilesson Ba-Da-Bing – Gretchen Bernabei

Ba Da Bing

Example: As I stepped onto the red carpet of the darkened room, I noticed a wall lined with lit candles and an old woman hunched in the far corner at a round table and I thought maybe now I’ll get some answers.

Independent Practice with Conferring

30-40 Minutes

Students work independently while the teacher meets with small groups or individual students• Conferring Talking Cards

Possible mid-workshop teaching point

• Occur naturally when the teacher notices something that needs clarification or further explanation to help students as they write

ConferringResearch

• Ask “What are you working on as a writer?”

• Have the student read aloud his/her work

Decide

• Synthesize what is learned

• Decide what to compliment: “What has this child done that I can name and make a fuss over?”

• Decide what to teach: “What does this child use but misuse? or “What is nearly there in his or her writing that I can help them with right now?”

Compliment

• Point out writing strategies the child used well

• Say “I like how you…”(give specific example)

Teach

• Teach only one thing

• Teach to the compliment

• Teach to today’s teaching point

• Negotiate a strategy

When choosing your teaching point think: Of all the options I have, what can I teach that will make the biggest difference for this writer?

Conferring Look ForsWhat to look for when deciding what to confer

about…

• Structure– Focused– Beginning, middle, end– Moves across time or space

• Meaningful– Writer cares about it– Reader learns from it

• Narrative strategies• Conventions that enhance– All caps – WOW– Bold – Wow– End marks – Wow!!!– Italics – Wow!– Stacked Words - One!

Two! Three!

Commentary With One-on-One Reading/Writing Conference

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2011/04/reading-and-writing-workshop-virtual-tours-each-component

Typical Conference Video

Sharing5-10 Minutes Notice Question Personal Connection Compliment and Suggestion (glow & grow)

Partner

Small Group

Whole Group

◦ Teaching Kids About Revising (Writing Workshop Lesson)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBKqgOvmJ8w

Student Sharing Video

Language/Grammar Minilesson Key Points

Aligned to CCSS

Weekly concepts taught

approximately five minutes a day

Follows Jeff Anderson’s format

PowerPoint to match each weekly

lesson

New Language Minilessons

MEAP and WriteWell©

Moved below the line for those who would still like to use it

Test Prep Units of Study embedded in units (starting in grade 2)

Generate many seed ideas in writer’s notebook “What Should I Write About?”

section

Target! Aim! Score! (beginning, middle, end)

CD with Student Writing & MEAP Released Anchor Papers: http://tinyurl.com/cvraun

New Pre and Post Assessments

Same Assessment to be given at the

beginning of the year and the end of the

year

Use to show growthSee Sample

Rubrics

How Units of Study Tend to Go

Immerse in the genre

Identify distinguishing features of the

genre

Choose an idea to write

about

Choose a mentor text to help you write

Plan your draft

Draft long and fast

Revise Edit Publish/Celebrate

http://sccresa.org/toolsforschools/curriculumtools/writewell/introductiontowritewell/writewell3rdgrade/◦ Notebooking◦ Explanatory Unit◦ Grammar Units◦ Assessments

WriteWell Unit in Depth

Teachers Teaching WriteWell

Video Library ◦ All grade levels◦ Various lessons

Kindergarten2nd grade10th grade

Writing Look-Fors

Navigating the Website WriteWell©

◦ http://www.sccresa.org/toolsforschools/curriculumtools/writewell/

◦ Select logo

◦ Enter school log in and password:Temporary Log in:Temporary Password:

www.sccresa.org

Online Exploration

Skim & Scan the Units

Review the Table of Contents

Log In and Select Your Grade

Questions?