The Teaching of Writing Living inside the art

Key Structures of Writing Workshop Mini lessons Connection Teach Activity Link Follow Up Conferences (RNCTL) Research (stand back, observe, open-ended question, listen, look at page-refer to it) Name Compliment Teach (explain, demonstrate, get them doing it) Writers’ workshop is a safe and risk free environment where writers invent and make decisions about material they choose. It is a stretch of time when writers know they have control. It begins with a mini lesson that is purposeful and focused on one thing. It must end so that writing can begin. It is also important to allow students to make decisions about when and where to use these strategies. We use curricular knowledge plus kid noticing when making decisions about what to teach in mini lessons and conferences.

Environment & Quality Talk Pay attention to talk Value talk in itself Allow collaborative talk such as pair talking and small group talking The most productive time for talk is throughout the process as the writing is emerging The least productive time for talk is after the draft

Reading for Craft Respond initially to what the text says to you Point to a place where you think the writing is good Describe-don’t label-what the writer is doing Speculate about what might have been in the writer’s notebook Speculate on the sorts of revision the writer might have done

A Writing Cycle Collecting in the notebook Finding a topic Collecting around topic Designing the text for audience Drafting rapidly Revising Editing Publishing to audience Reflecting/self-assessing Teaching writers to finish and begin again inside their notebooks-In order for the work throughout this cycle to be meaningful, there must be an audience. Publication is what makes the writing process meaningful. We want to teach students that they haven’t ended the process after they have published and reflected, but rather that they return to their notebooks, always living as writers getting ready for the next project. Although the forms and purposes that a writer takes on may change, the cycle remains the same. Every unit of curriculum in a workshop is not a genre study. Students need to at times to be responsible for their own decisions about the genres in which they write so it is important to allow opportunities for writers to cycle through a non-genre specific study.

A Notebook Full of Possibilities Memories Overheard conversations Lists Questions Reflections Analyzing Noticing things that change Quotes from our reading life Research Capturing thoughts while learning Venting Epic plans Dreams Thinking about social justices Realizations Notebooks are safe places to produce thinking. They help get the writer full of things to say, which can later be crafted, designed, and revised for a specific audience and purpose. They allow the writer a way to find a topic or in some cases, for a topic to find the writer. They provide a space or workbench for testing out possible angles or organization of the parts of a draft not written. For these reasons, the notebook is NOT a place for assignments or teacher prompts. It is a place where writers may make intentional and purposeful decisions about what enters into it.

Growing Possibilities into Topics Listing & Revisiting lists Rereading Finding Connections & Themes Reading around your thoughts Bouncing ideas around through talk Once students have ten to fifteen entries and are beginning to get the hang of how to live with a notebook, they can choose one topic and commit to developing it further within their notebook. These are just a few strategies that you might teach to help students grow into a topic. It is our hope that students begin to realize that whatever lies within the notebook is a possibility for more extended writing.

Collecting Around a Topic Memories of the topic in your life Ideas and thoughts about what’s important about the topic The history or science of the topic Objects that would be in a museum How other people might view the topic Reflections and feelings about the topic Concrete facts and information and then reflect Once a writer had narrowed their attention to one topic, they may spend a few days making entries about that one topic. The writer may look at the topic through various lenses and aspects. Here are a few strategies for gathering entries around a selected topic.

Designing for Readers Intended audience Intended purpose Feeling or mood Sound or language Organization of the text Sequencing for meaning Visual Elements Creating a project plan By now a writer has collected a number of entries around a selected topic, making the topic much more full and rich with thinking. There are now more parts to it and more decisions to be made.

Drafts exist outside the notebook Drafting up a Storm Drafts exist outside the notebook Writers do whatever it takes to keep the writing flowing! Writers choose their own materials and procedures Drafting is not recopying. The draft may be in a different notebook or on loose leaf paper in a folder. This way the writer may continue living in the notebook. Allow writers to experiment with procedures and tools that work well for getting their ideas nailed down onto the paper. For example, in a draft the writer may skip the hard parts and write the easy parts first or they can say whatever comes to mind even though it may be wrong. Students sometimes resist revision if they have not truly drafted.

Revision is Freedom! Support revision work through invitations to try Teach purposeful revision Revision can happen early (developing content, arrangement of piece, etc.) Revision can happen late (attending to meaning and purpose for audience, line by line)

Editing the Surface Sharpen attention to the surface Consider the expectations of the reader Limit attention to absolute correctness

Publication & Reflection Publication makes the process meaningful Reflection helps the writer think about their unique process of writing and about how texts work

Return to the Notebook The notebook is always waiting for us to return to it as we live as writers.