The Most Important Part of Writer's Workshop

I've been a passionate fan of Writer's Workshop ever since I learned about it a VERY long tie ago! (Not to give away my age, but I was first introduced to Writer's Workshop and the work of Donald Graves back in the 1980s!) I've been lucky to have a lot of instruction and support with the Writing Process, and have used it in my classroom with much success!

There are so many important parts to the process of writing! Here are some ideas!

 Is sticking to a schedule the most important part?

Developing a schedule is very important! Most children need the predictability of a daily schedule. Sticking to that schedule matters, but there's something more important.

 Is having the right materials the most important part?

Having the right materials is indeed very important! For young children, it's important for them to be writing on paper (as well as on a computer) to develop those fine motor skills. Folders with key writing tools are also valuable. Having the right materials matters, but there's something more important.

 

 Is checking their daily work the most important part?

 

It's very important to check the students work frequently, but it would be insane to try to check every piece of writing they ever wrote! Checking their work is one of the strategies to help you plan what you need to teach. Checking their work matters, but there's something more important.

 Is pre-writing the most important part?

Just like athletes need a warm-up, so do writers! Many activities can be considered pre-writing: talking, drawing a picture, making a list, free-writing, outlining, or doing research are some ways that writers warm up before the true writing happens. Pre-writing matters, but there's something more important.

Are Individual conferences the most important part?

Conferencing with individuals has many benefits. Quite often having a chat about a piece of writing that's in progress will help a child progress. This is also a comfortable one-on-one time to give a student plenty of positive feed back. Individual conferences matter, but there's something more important.

 

 Are mini-lessons the most important part? 

Mini-lessons are what drives their writing skills! 

They are an opportunity to model desirable writing skills. The best way to find topics for your mini-lessons is to look at their work and see what they need modeled. Another place to find ideas for mini-lessons is in your district's writing standards. 

Mini-lessons matter, but there's something more important.

 

 Is taking a status of the class the most important part? 

 

Taking a status of the class helps you keep track of where your students are. It's a good place to see how long each student is spending on each step of the writing process, and if they are using their writing time productively. It's not necessary to do this each and every day, but 2-3 times a week is suggested.Status of the class matters, but there's something more important.

 

 Is giving them time to write the most important part? 

 

Children need to write daily. However you can squeeze it into your very busy day, make sure they've got some time to write every single day! Just like an athlete, writers need to use their skills so they don't lose their skills! Giving them time to write matters, but there's something more important.

 

 Is conferencing the most important part? 

Besides individual conferences, it's important to have small group conferences as well as whole class conferences. Sharing conversations about the writing of classmates can promote positive attitudes about writing, and can be very motivational as well as educational for young writers. Conferencing, but there's something more important.

 

 Is sharing the most important part?  

Yes! This is it! Knowing that the students will be sharing is what motivates them to write! It gives them a sense of audience! It's important that children share their writing often! They can share in a whole group conference, a small group share, or even one-on-one with partners. It's essential! Why write if no one is ever going to see it? They need that audience!

 Here are a couple of other posts about writing you might like:

Writer's Workshop: Help them learn to love writing by writing about what they love!

12 Ways to Celebrate Writing

Looking for some writing resources? 

Check these out: Writing Resources

What do you value about the Writing Process?

 

 

 

Organization and Management, A Little of Each

As I've been teaching for about 100 years, I've explored many different ways to manage behaviors.

This is the thing I've settled on lately:

The Scoreboard has been my savior for the last few years!  It is my main tool for management in the classroom. The best part? It's simple to use! It's part of the Whole Brain Teaching strategies, and I absolutely love it! Basically, when the kids do something well, put a tally on the happy side. When something doesn't go well, put a tally on the sad side. If Happy beats Sad at the end of the day, the kids earn 5 minutes toward a privilege, such as extra recess, arts and crafts, or a dance party. Different teachers do different things with the scoreboard, but that's how I use it. It goes all day, every day!

See more about Whole Brain Teaching HERE (Be sure to watch the videos. That's what hooked me in!)

Now here are a few organizational ideas:

Organizational Tip #1: Organization for base ten blocks! Aren't these caddies great? It's so easy for the kids to get the pieces they need. I used to keep them in one big tub, but all the little cubes would fall to the bottom, and it was tough for the kids to get the ones they needed! These are much easier! (Plus, these base ten blocks are made of foam... much quieter!)

If you're interested in these caddies, just explore this image!

Amazon calls them "Art Caddies", but classroom teachers know they're useful for many things other than just Art supplies!

Organizational Tip #2: Writing Folder Organization! Use 4 different colors, and have even amounts of folders for each color. There's never a question of where a folder would go, or where to put it away. After school, go through the red ones on Monday, yellow on Tuesday, green on Wednesday, and blue on Thursday. Then you get Friday off!  

I use the drawers of the cart for different kinds of paper.

  

 I put pre-stapled booklets, staplers, tape, and staple removers on an extra desk.

Organizational Tip #3: Letter guide/ number grid! I give every child one of these two-sided cards that we use ALL THE TIME! They are good tools for math as well as handwriting. (That's the Handwriting Without Tears alphabet on the back.) They are great for covering work during a test.  They make great bookmarks. They can help kids keep their place while reading. Seriously, these letter guide/ number guides are out several times a day. Plus, if you laminate them, the kids can write on them with dry-erase markers! The letter guide is copyrighted, so you'll have to get that through HWT, but you can download the color-coded number grid HERE!

Hope you appreciate these management and organizational tips!

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing

As a blogger, I know the power of the audience. It's you readers out there that make me want to blog, and make me want to make quality blog posts! Don't our children need this same sense of audience to motivate their writing? I think so!

Here are some ideas for celebrating the children's writing:

1. Share in Class! Have one child read his/ her story to the class. The class is expected to listen and ask questions that "prove they were listening." This works well when the child is "mid-story" in order to get ideas on where to go from this point.

2. Small Group Shares! Have children work in groups of 2 or three to share their stories as above.

3. Share Your Best Sentence!  I like this one because there's usually enough time for each child to share one sentence. If the children know it's coming, that helps motivate the children to work on the quality of their sentences.

4.  Share With Someone Else in the Building! There are lots of adults in an elementary school who would be thrilled to "play along" with this one! It's a great motivator to promise a child that he can read his story to the custodian, or the secretary, or the cafeteria workers. It's a win-win!

5. Share With Another Class! Plan to get together with another class in your own grade, or another grade to pair the children up for a big share! There are advantages to each age group: older, younger, or peers!

6. Skype! - Do you have a class with whom you Skype?  What a great opportunity for children to share their writing! 

7. Write Letters! See THIS BLOG POST for the benefits of letter writing and resource to make it easy!

8. Bulletin Boards!  Post the children's writing on the wall for others to see!

9. Class Books and Newspapers! These will be read by classmates (and parents) over and over!

10. Publish! It's amazing how special it makes a story when it's typed up and a fancy cover is put on it. I allow students to take out each others' published books for Independent Reading time. It gets really interesting when we're talking about Author's purpose... the author is sitting right there in the classroom!

11. Have an "Author's Tea"! Invite parents, grandparents, and administrators, and give the children an opportunity to read one of their stories to the group. This can be as simple or as elaborate as you make it. It's a great opportunity for a party, and a great opportunity to motivate your young writers with a live audience!

12. Have a Class Blog!  I have to admit, I've never done this, but I'm planning to start a class blog very soon!  Imagine the thrill to see your own written work displayed on the internet! Wait... I know what that's like, and that's why I can't wait to give my students the opportunity to do the same!  

If you have a blog for your class, or know of one, I'd love some input! I have loads of questions and concerns, so I'm looking for examples and mentors in the Class Blog department!

Ten Things for Students to do While You're Teaching Reading Groups

One of the toughest things about being a classroom teacher is keeping those other kids engaged and learning, so I can teach reading groups.  

Here are some of the things I have my students work on while I'm teaching groups:

1.  Independent Reading  

This is the most important one! They do need to read daily, and it should be books at their reading level. My students browse for books from our classroom library, and keep books in book bags for independent reading time. I also let them relax with pillows. I try to make Independent Reading the best part of the day... it should be! See this post for more about my Independent Reading: Relax and Read!

2.  Content Reading

This is a great time to read about other topics, like science or social studies topics! I'm sure you'll find plenty of books or resources they'll love!

3. Read With a Partner 

This is very motivational for the children, and I sometimes use it instead of Independent Reading. They do love anything social!

4.  Independent Writing  

We do have Writer's Workshop nearly every day, but some of the children really love some time to get some writing done during reading group time. Since writing is usually at the very end of the day, they tend to be more productive when they get a slot of time for writing in the morning. It's a win-win! Here's a fun resource that mine have always found super motivating: ABC Book.

5.  Word Work 

This is an opportunity to work on those phonics skills! I tend to keep my word work connected to skills and patterns that we are working on in the reading program, but many of my students also need lots of review on short and long vowels, rhyming words, word families, and, of course, sight words.  There are plenty of resources out there, or make your own! My students love to use their whiteboards, letter tiles, and manipulatives for their word work. Click the images below for links to Amazon. (Affiliate links.) For other word work ideas, see this resource: Spelling Task Cards. 

6.  Literacy Games and activities

Literacy games and activities can include word work, comprehension skills, grammar practice, developing vocabulary, reader's theater, or any combination of these. Again, adding that social component motivates the children. Games are such a great opportunity to practice skills, and they keep the children engaged and happy! Here are a few my students have enjoyed: Word Work Games.

7.  Digital Task Cards  

Any type of task cards are perfect for this time of day, but I happen to be a big fan of Boom Learning Digital Task cards! The cards (digital or other) can practice work work, comprehension skills, grammar skills, thinking skills, or even social studies or science! You can make your own or use task card you've found. Here are some ideas: Combined Review Task Cards.

8. Read with a Teacher Assistant or Parent Volunteer 

I do have a few little ones with very short attention spans or who just need a little more guidance. These children really benefit from reading with an adult. The adults are encouraged to stop and chat about the story and encourage understanding as well as enjoyment.

9. Practice Handwriting Skills 

Sometimes they just have to focus on making the letters touch the lines in the right places! We are lucky enough to have Handwriting workbooks, but any paper will do! They can even practice handwriting skills on whiteboards or chalkboards. Try this self-directed Cursive Writing bundle!

10. STEM Activities

This is a wonderful time for children to focus on a STEM project given at another time of the day or perhaps simply explore some of their STEM materials! 

What do your students do while you're teaching reading groups?