1. Organizing the Chaos: Designing a Genre Study
Presented by:
Cerise Josephs, Fort Pitt ALA
Julie Mares, Northview ALA
Danila Woolley, Murray ALA

2. Let’s Get Started Please read the article for the next 10- 15 minutes.
Underline any salient points to discuss in your group.
Then, participants should share discussion points.

3. HOW DO I START PLANNING?
Cold-write
Profile sheet
Mini-lesson log

4. WHAT IS A COLD WRITE?
The cold write is an assessment given before beginning a genre study.
Students are assigned a writing prompt before any lessons have been taught.
The results of the cold write will give the teacher the data necessary to develop whole group mini-lessons, small-group conferences, and individual conferences.
Julie, Did you mean to say “individual mini-lessons” or “individual conferences”? CONFERENCES! THANK YOU!

5. HOW DO I USE THE PROFILE SHEET?
After the cold write is administered, the results are analyzed to plan lessons.
The class profile sheet is designed using the description of a ‘3’ or a ‘4’ from the Macmillan rubric.
This means that in order to give a child a plus on the class profile sheet, they must be at a ‘4’ level.
Julie do you want a slide that explains this step or are you going to talk about it on the last slide? What about when you were going to talk about what type of mini-lessons you should focus on during a genre study? I added it on my slide about types of mini-lessons, but if you think it would be better somewhere else-let me know. I MEANT TO HAVE THIS SLIDE COME BEFORE THE SAMPLE PROFILE SHEET. I WANT TO EXPLAIN THAT THE PROFILE SHEET IS HOW YOU ANALYZE THE DATA FROM THE COLD WRITE.

6. Is skilled in most writing conventions; editing is largely unnecessary
A CLASS PROFILE SHEET
PERSUASIVE
Ideas & Content
Presents a clear opinion that is convincingly supported; interesting facts and examples included
Organization
Opens with a clearly articulated opinion; presents reasons in a logical order; uses effective transitions
Voice
Demonstrates a strong sense of audience and purpose; conveys an interest in the issue
Word Choice
Uses opinion words to advance the argument; vocabulary clarifies the message
Sentence Fluency
Crafts sentences that flow naturally; original use of repetition may strengthen the persuasive position
Conventions
Is skilled in most writing conventions; editing is largely unnecessary
Presentation
Text is easy to read; whether handwritten or word-processed; formatting enhances the message
STUDENTS + -
Steph
2 Max
Kate
Hope
Nick
Steve
Dan
Chelsea
Tony
Anna
TOTAL 2 8 7 3 10 6 4 1 9
DO YOU THINK THIS IS GOOD ENOUGH – TO HIGHLIGHT THE AREAS THAT SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON DURING A GENRE STUDY AND DISCUSS IT? DO YOU AGREE WITH MY AREAS??

7. KEEPING TRACK—MINI-LESSON LOG

8. Creating the ideal mini-lesson (Lucy calkins series, kathy collins—growing readers)

9. Types of mini-lessons Procedural—focus at the beginning of the year
Craft—focus of the genre; what makes a great piece
Skill—mechanics of writing
FOCUS—Craft lessons
When is a good time to hit skill lessons?

10. Building an effective mini-lesson
Metaphor
Put a concrete picture in their mind
Link
To yesterday’s topic, general idea, final product
State teaching point
Pick one brief phrase and repeat several times through the mini-lesson
Active Engagement
Apply the teaching point to your work
Link to ongoing work
Apply the teaching point to their work

11. Metaphor Profile sheet—audience Start mini-lesson with a metaphor
DJ for middle school dance—what type of music did he play?
Jazz?
Classic rock?
Country?
Classical music?
R&B?
Radio hits?
Before he comes to school he finds out who his audience is and what they care about.

12. Link
“In conferencing, I have seen that you guys are carefully choosing topics that you care about. You have also chosen the right people that can help you solve those problems. I have noticed that you guys have given some reasons why the problem should be fixed.”

13. Teaching point
“Today, we are going to focus on who we are writing to, and what they care about. Just like the DJ would only play music that his audience likes, we are only going to give reasons that our audience would care about.”
Repeat this teaching point after the active engagement and again when you link the work to their independent work for the day.

14. Active engagement
“I’ve been writing my letter to the director of transportation. I am asking him to move the bus pick- up to the other side of the building.”
Reasons
I don’t like walking all the way to the bus.
We miss learning time to get ready to walk to the busses.
Cars drive fast on Mountain Street and could hurt a child.
You could get sued if a child gets injured.
It’s miserable when it rains.
Which reasons will he care about?
“Remember, we want to include reasons that our audience will care about. If they don’t care about the reason, then we probably shouldn’t include it.”

15. Link to on-going work
“Today when you are writing your letters or meeting with your response partners, I want you to really think about who you are writing to. Think about what that person cares about. Include reasons in your letter that your audience will care about. Ask your partner for ideas, if you need any help.”
“We are going to add this strategy to our poster: Strategies for Writing a Persuasive Letter.”
Write– Know my audience and what they care about.

16. Tips for great mini-lessons
Keep it short—10 minutes
Limit student talking
Keep connections brief
Use texts that are familiar
Repeat the teaching point several times
Demonstrate the teaching point in your work or in touchstone text

17. MAPPING BACKWARDS: LOOKING AT HOW TO VISUALIZE THE PUBLISHED PIECE
Student work samples
Touchstone text
Student artifacts
Cerise, Were you going to talk about this?

18. GREAT RESOURCES FOR WRITER’S WORKSHOP
6+1 Traits of Writing, Primary and Intermediate Culham
Writing Workshop Fletcher
Guiding Readers and Writers Fountas & Pinnell
Writing Like Writers Johnson & Westkott
The Writing Workshop Katie Wood Ray
About the Authors Katie Wood Ray
What You Know by Heart Katie Wood Ray
Writing to the Prompt Angelillo
Craft Lessons K-8, Fiction and Nonfiction Fletcher & Portalupi
Lucy Calkins
Growing Readers Kathy Collins

19. Directions for Analyzing the Sample Class Profile Sheet
This is a sample fourth grade class profile sheet for the personal narrative genre.
On the template provided, determine the areas of the rubric that need to be addressed whole- group.
Next, identify the areas that need to be addressed in small-group conferences.
Last, identify individual students who need help in a specific area.
If time permits, consider trying to create a mini-lesson using the suggested framework. Consider how you would develop your artifact.