Writer’s Workshop Grade 2-3 Erin Pavente Catie Reeve

Why? Creates an environment where writing every day is valued. Students have choice and ownership in their writing. Students feel motivated to write. Encourages writing as a life long habit.

Structure Mini-lesson Status of the Class Writing & Conferring Peer Sharing & Author’s Chair

Mini-lesson 5-10 minutes Provide many opportunities for modeling Mini-lesson structure  Connection  Teaching  Active Engagement  Link

Mini-lesson video Use the day length mini-lesson planner to record how Mrs. DiCesare includes all of the parts of a mini-lesson. Discussion

Status of the Class 2-3 minutes Teachers check in with each student briefly to determine where they are in the writing process.  Work in progress  Request a conference (editing)  Publishing Discussion- What process do we want to use for status of the class as a grade level?

Prewriting  Thinking, brainstorming, envisioning, drawing, labeling.  Students are getting ready to write, choosing a topic, and picturing their ideas. Writing In Progress  Students are working out their ideas, getting their thoughts onto paper.  The focus is on composing, not on conventions. Revising  Students are rereading to add details, working out confusing parts.  Students are adding descriptive language, “fancying” up their writing! Editing  Students are rereading their writing to add appropriate writing conventions and fix spelling errors.  Students work with a teacher to make their writing grammatically correct. Publishing  Students create a final, polished copy of their work.  Students use a special publishing notebook or paper. The Writing Process This is not a linear process, and students can move back and forth between the stages with varying levels of independence.

Writing and Conferring minutes Students are writing.  ALL students are engaged in the writing process- no exceptions!  Students will work at their own pace and move through the stages of the writing process. Teachers are conferring.  Keep it brief and warm. Compliment the writer for the strategies they are using.  Stay focused on teaching points such as content, topic choice and fluency of story telling.

Conferring Video Watch Stephanie Parson’s envisioning conference. How does she use teaching points to guide the student’s writing? Discuss with a partner.

Tips for Conferring Research the writer through observation and conversation, looking for strengths. Choose the strategy you want to reinforce. Give a specific example of when the writer used the strategy. Tell the writer why the strategy is helpful. Re-state the steps of the strategy in a way that transfers to all writing.

Peer Sharing and Author’s Chair less than 10 minutes Students share their writing everyday. Sharing can be used as a way to reinforce your teaching points and mini-lessons. Celebrate student achievement.

Share Time Video Watch Mrs. DiCesare lead share time. How does she intentionally choose students to share? How does she maintain a respectful learning community? Discuss with a partner.

Record Keeping and Assessment Assessment Rubric- assessment tool that provides an in-depth look at individual student progress. Anecdotal Records- form to be used on a daily basis, helping you focus on student strengths and future teaching points.

Creating Meaningful Mini-lessons We need to use our record keeping and assessment to  Guide our instruction  Determine what to teach next  Choose what mini-lessons should be taught to the whole group vs. a small group  Maintain flexibility in our teaching Brainstorm mini-lesson ideas based on the writing you have seen so far in your classrooms.