TeachersCollegeWritingWorkshop“LucyCalkins”GuideforParents

AtSoquel Elementary,webelievethattheTeachersCollegeWritingWorkshopmodelallowsstudentstohavethe“last”word;itallowsstudentstotakesomethingpedestrianandmakeitmeaningful.Webelievethatourlivesareworthwritingabout,andthatourstudentsneedtocareaboutwhattheywrite.Webelievethatwritingisacraft;itcanbeempoweringforstudentstolearnhowtobecomebetterwriters.Webelievethatwritingshouldhappeneveryday.Studentsineachgradewriteindifferentgenresthroughouttheyear.Studentsarenotassignedtospecifictopics,butratherchoosetheirowntopicswithinthegenrebeingtaught.

WhatdoesWritingWorkshoplooklikeintheclassroom?

•WritingWorkshopbeginswithamini‐lessonthatteachesanew strategy:Teachersstartwith,“Sofarwe’vebeen……TodayIwanttoteachyou…”orwithasmallmomentthatconnectstowhattheteachingpointofthedayis.Ortheteachercanletstudentsknowthatshehasbeenthinkingaboutthemaswritersandthatsheisgoingtoteachthemsomethingthattheyareactuallyreadyfor:“WatchmeasI…”.

Theteachermaybeginwithasampleofherownwritingorasampleofsomeoneelse’swriting,amentortextspecifictotheunitorgenrebeingstudiedorwithasharedwritingpiecethattheclassisworkingontogether.

•Variouschartswillbeondisplayintheclassroom.Thesechartsarevisualremindersthatreinforcewritingstrategies;theymayhelpwithdialogue,structure,elaboration,orconventions.

•Ideasaregeneratedandstudentspracticetellingtheirstorytoapartner.Storytellingisarehearsalforwriting;studentsdevelopideas(timeisspentonteachingstudentshowtogenerate,andchoose,aseedidea.Studentsmaychooseagoodseedideabyaskingthemselvesthefollowing:DoIrememberitwell?Isthisamomentthattaughtmesomething?AmIcomfortablesharingit?Studentsmaypossiblycreateatimelineandidentifytheirfeelingsateachpointonthetimeline.

•Nurturingandgrowingtheseedideacomesnextthroughrehearsal:studentsareencouragedtore‐readtheirentryandthinkaboutthebig,importanteventsinthismoment,whattheywerethinking/feelingateachpoint,howdidtheychangeasthestoryunfolds.Studentsthenlearntomakeawritingplan.Somewaystomakeawritingplanare:

1.Createatimelinethattracksourstoriesandouremotions.Quicklyjotdownideasondotsplacedonthetimeline.Go backtoeachdotandask,HowwasIfeelingatthispoint?Studentscanthenjottheemotionsdownonaparalleltimelineusingmorethanoneword.Finallywereviseourentry,makingsurethatweshowouremotionsandthoughtsatthetime.

2.Takesmallmomentsandbreakthemintobeginning,middleand end.Developthetensionandtheproblem.Theproblemisnottheevent.Useboxpictures.Tellthestoryusingtheboxes.Drawpicturesandlabelthemwithwords.Addingwordshelpsformulatethestory.

3.Makeastorybookletwithillustrationsoffourmajorevents–thisforcesstudentstorememberandstartthinkingaboutmajorthemes.

•Studentsthentelltheirstorytotheirwritingpartner.They showeachothertheirsketches.,andtheymaybepromptedtoaddmorepicturesandwords.Partnersaskquestionslike,Whatwouldtheybesaying?Whatwouldtheybethinking?Studentscandrawdialogueboxestoreflectinnerthinking.;itisofteneasiertohearvoicebeforewriting–theteachermaysay,“Howcanyoubringthatfeelingoutwithyourwords?”

•Draftingisthenextstepintheprocess.Writersgetreadytodraftbythinkingaboutmeaning…theyaretaughttoaskthemselves,WhatamItryingtosay?Whatismystoryreallyabout?Paperchoicesvaryaccordingtogradelevel,andthereispaperchoicewithineachgradelevel.Studentsmaydraftwithjustpictureboxes,orolderstudentsmaydrafton“blackdot”paperwithlinesskippedsothatthereisroomtogobackandaddnewideasandrevisions.Studentsinuppergradesareencouragedtowrite“longandstrong,”or“fastandfurious”usingthoughtpromptstopushourthinking(allinall,whatImeanis,thisisimportantbecause…)Theyconsiderhowtobegin…withdialogue,setting,action,orinnerthought.Theyusuallyspendadaywritingouttheentirestory.Teachersaremodelingthroughoutthisprocess:Forexample,ateachermayshare,“Mystoryisreallyabouthowwhenyou’reateenager,yourparentsbecomeembarrassing.Forexample…”

•Afewdaysofrevisionthenoccur.Teachersdonotmarkupstudents’paperswithedits,butratherfacilitateaprocesswherethestudentsthemselvesarethinkingaboutwhattorevise.Theteachermayencouragetheuseofpromptstopushourthinkinginclude:forexample,anotherexample,inaddition,inotherwords,ontheotherhand,thisisimportantbecause,allinall,whatI’msayingis….Thegoalistostretchouttheheartofthestory,orwhatthewriterbelievesthestoryisreallyabout.Theeditingprocessalsoincludesafocusongrammar,punctuation,andmechanics.Studentsmayuseaneditor’schecklist.

Studentslearnthatgoodstorieshavedialogue,detail,innerthinkingandsetting.Thisiswhatwearelookingforwhenwerevise.Theteachermaydemonstrate,andthenhavethestudentstryit:“Watchme,nowyoutryitrightnowinyourpiece.”Theteachermayalsodemonstratebyhavingstudentslookatagenerictext;studentsallworkatonceonaddingdialogue,forexample.Theteachermaydemonstratebyshowingthestudentsamentortextofagreatwriter.Theteacherencouragesstudentstotryasimilarstyleintheirownwriting.

•Thepublishingprocess(writingcelebration)cantakeplaceinmanydifferentways:amuseumwalkwherestudentswalkaroundandreadothers’writingpostedalloverthewall,studentread‐aloudsinfrontoftheclass,apublishingpartywithparents,leavingwritingoutonstudents’desksandhavingotherswalkaroundtheroom,readthestories

silently,andleaveacomment.Thestudentsaretaughtthattheirwritingisnotsolelyfortheteacheranymore;itistobecelebratedbyal

WRITINGSTRATEGIESTOUSEATHOMEWITHYOURCHILD

  • Encourageyourchildtocarrytheirwriter’snotebookwiththem,payingattentiontodetailsandthinking,“Icouldwriteatruestoryaboutthis.”
  • Thinkofastrongfeeling,andthenlist“smallmoment”stories pertainingtothatfeeling.Chooseonetowriteabout.
  • Thinkofthestoriesthatyourfamilytellsandretells.Writeaboutoneofthose.
  • Keepanongoinglistofstoryideasinyourwriter’snotebook.
  • Thinkofasubject,oraperson,place,orthingthatmatterstoyou,thenlistsmallmomentsyouremember.Chooseonetosketchandthenwritetheaccompanyingstory.
  • YoucanmakeaTchartofsmallmoments.Thinkaboutpeopleinourlivesthatareimportanttous.Thinkofaspecificpersonandmemories;makealistandgenerateideas.Thentalktosomeoneathomeaboutit.
  • Thinkoffirsttimes,lasttimes,orimportanttimesinyourlife.Writeaboutoneofthosemoments.
  • YoucanmakeanIssues/People/Momentschart:focusontheordinary,everydaytensionfilledmoments;orthinkofapersonwhomatterstoyou,thenthinkofsmallmomentsspentwiththatperson.Fromthesemoments,chooseonetowriteabout.Orthinkofanissue(i.e.peerpressure,parentsembarrassingyou)anddothesamething.
  • Diagramplacesofmemoryandlabelthepictureswithindividualwords
  • Useabookandlookatthemomentsandrelationshipsandseewhatyouconnecttoandmaywanttoexamineinyourownlife.
  • Takesmallmomentsandbreakthemintobeginning,middleandend.Developthetensionandtheproblem.Tellthestoryusingtheboxes.Drawpicturesandlabelthemwithwords.Addingwordshelpsformafoundationforformulatingthestory.
  • Encourageyourchildto“show,don’ttell.”

Howtobegin?Beginwithastronglead:

‐setting:“OnewarmSeptemberday…”or•setting:“Cobwebsfilledtheair.”Thesettingshouldreflectwhattheenvironment/placelookslikeandfeelslike.Studentsareencouragedtostartwiththefivesenses,andadddetailsonfromthere.

‐action:“Thekittenscratchedatthedoor…”or“Iranacrossthestage….”

‐dialogue:“‘Shhh,’calledhismother.”Dialogueshouldreflect thekindofpersonthecharacteris,includinghis/hertoneofvoiceandcharacteristicspeech.Studentshavelearnedhowtorespondtoateachermodelingwritingcues;forexample,ifastudentwrites,“Shesaidshewasmad,”theteachermayencouragethestudenttoa)attacha

tonetothatstatement,suchas“shewhispered,”or“sheyelled”andb)addanaction“shesaidasshewasbrushingherhair.”

‐question:“Haveyouever?...”

‐exclamation:“Wow!”

InnerThinkingisawayofshowingacharacter’semotions;youcanworkonthiswithyourchildbyhelpingthemsummarizetheiremotion,suchas“Iwasafraid”andshowing“Myheartraces.Sweatdrippeddown…”

Howtoend?Stayclosetowhatsmostimportantattheend.Encourageyourchildto“show,don’ttell;”i.e.“Hejumpedupanddown.Heshouted“Hooray!”asopposedto“Hewashappy.”

TeachersCollegeWritingWorkshopVocabulary (orFrequently Used Terms)

SmallMoment:Studentslearntotaketheeverydayeventsoftheirlivesandstretchthemintofocused,well‐structuredstories.

SeedIdea:Tocreatetoareallygoodstory,ithelpstothinkofasmallersubject,orseed,withinthebigwatermelontopic.

LongandStrong:Developingstaminaincreasesstudentoutputontests.TherehavebeenreportsthathighSATscoresaredirectlyrelatedtothelengthofthepiece.

Writinggibberishisn’tgoingtomakeagoodpiece,butlearninghowtowritelongANDstrongisimportantforkidstoknowhowtodo.

HeartoftheStory:Studentsaretaughttofindthe"heartofthestory"andstretchitouttoanevent‐by‐eventsequence.

PlayaMovieinyourMind:Studentscanmakeamovieintheirmindtosupportwhatishappeninginthestorytheyarereadingorwriting.Thishelpsstudentsvisualizetheeventsinthestory,enhancescomprehensionwhilereadingandallowsawritertoaddgreaterdetailtotheirpiece.

ShowDon’tTell:Imageryislanguagethatpaintsavividpictureinthemindof thereader.

Storytelling:Writingintheair;itisimportanttoteachthedifferencebetweenstorytellingandreporting.

Fancyitup:Addingdetailsandelaborating.