Writer's Workshop has
never been my strength as a teacher. I often feel that something is
lacking. Therefore, I did TONS of
research on the Internet over the summer. I also read several
professional Writing sources that were recommended by my
Principal. I found many components of Writer's Workshop that I plan on implementing into my classroom
this year (see below for 6 Traits Writing)
. My schedule allows for only 30 to 35 minutes per day, so I had to
make some adjustments to the recommended times.Here's what
my schedule will look like:
Mini-lessons: The daily
mini-lesson will come from Writing
Wizardy by Maity
Schrecengost. Students will "practice" the mini-lesson with their own
writing. The idea is for students to refer back to these ideas while they
are writing their own pieces. **Note** the beginning of the
year mini-lessons will be based on the 6 Traits of Writing (see below)
Student Writing:While students
are writing, I will be informally conferencing with individual
students. I plan on having a clip-board containing sticky
labels to carry with me (thanks to teacher Christine Campbell for this
idea). This way, I will be able
to write anecdotal notes about the students' writing progress.
Sharing: All research has shown
that students NEED to share their writing, otherwise is has little
meaning to them. The books that I read
suggest allowing students to share only a sentence or paragraph that
they are particuarly proud of.
6
Traits Writing Format Includes the following: Conventions: Students will be aware of writing
conventions. I.E. correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, and usage,
paragraphing, and capitalization Get a Conventions poster here Ideas: Students are aware of details, knowing
what's important or interesting, and writing will make sense and have
purpose Get an Ideas poster here Organization: The writing piece will be have a
beginning, middle,and end as well as make sequential sense Get an Organization poster here
Sentence Fluency: Students will
practice writing a variety of sentences with different lengths, as well as
using more complex sentences. Get a Sentence Fluency Poster here
Voice: There will be evidence of the student (their voice) behind the
writing. Denotes an enthusiam for writing and may
evoke an emotional response from the reader. Get a Voice poster here
Word Choice: Students are aware of language; they will stretch to try
new words and understand there are different
ways to say things Get a Word Choice poster here
Writing
this entire site is AWESOME, there are so many links that I haven't had
a chance
to check them all out. I will be using Ms. Renz's home
reading projects idea this year