The Aim Is to Have 3 Writers Workshops Sessions a Week

Writer’s Workshops

The aim is to have 3 Writers Workshops sessions a week.

Some sessions are free thinking and writing sessions, others can have more direct instruction. E.g. teacher provide seed, students explore seed independently, teacher prescribes genre sprout but students choose genre sprout topic.

Beginning of year – GETTING ORGANISED

Send a letter home to parents explaining how it works.

Students bring in a Writer’s Notebook of their choosing.

·  Students gather their ideas in here – includes their thinking and the unpacking of ideas.

·  Once at school the students will stick the following in their Writer’s Notebook

·  Paragraph explaining what it is

·  Gathering seeds ideas

Students will also receive a Writer’s Folder. In here students will have the following:

·  Writer’s Notebook

·  Alphabet writing

·  Writer’s Notebook from Start To Finish

·  10 top tips for writing

·  How to publish writing (derived from class lesson)

·  How to proof read writing

·  Current Writing Projects

The Teacher will need to set up the following:

·  Student Writing Files (hanging files in a filing cabinet or in a box)
In here students will place:

·  Ceased writing projects

·  Published writing projects (the drafts)

·  Scheduled Conference Folders
A folder for each scheduled conference group with names clearly labelled on the front.
Daily work that is ready to be conference is placed in these folders ready to be discussed at the next conference.

·  Tabs with each students name

·  Individual Writing record – headings Title; Text Type; Progress.
This keeps a record of what writing pieces they have created

·  Plastic Pocket in the front of each folder for writing to be edited by teacher

·  Writing Checklists
Students attach this checklist to each piece of writing and tick as they move through the writing process.

·  Editing Checklists
Students attach this checklist when they finish their first draft to help them edit their writing piece.

·  Work Program

·  This needs to include a list of students’s names where comments can be written during conference and a record can be kept of students who have shared as well as spelling folder checks.

·  This will also include planning for Introductory Activities and Small Group Teaching

·  Writer’s Notebook
Teacher gathers their own ideas and does writing

·  Class Writer’s Notebook
for whole class shared ideas or explicit lessons

·  Writing Profiles
For observation and analysis of students’s writing

HOW TO USE A WRITER’S NOTEBOOK

GATHERING SEEDS

There are many ways to think and ponder things to come up with writing ideas.

·  See the Gathering Seeds sheet

·  You might like to create a SEEDS BOX – where you put resources for students to gather seeds from.

WATERING YOUR SEEDS (Thinking about the seeds)

Don’t limit students to one way of thinking about their seed – give them opportunities to try many different ways. This is great to do during focussed teaching times. Ideas include:

·  Think / Feel / Wonder

·  PMI
Mindmap

·  Y Chart

·  Rapid writing

SPROUTS – What you could write about – text type and topic

Students come up with at least three ideas of writing pieces they could create from the seeds ideas.

·  Use the Alphabet Writing chart to help

·  Encourage students to explore a variety of genres and text types

·  Make sure when students write down a text type they also write the topic – what it is they are actually going to be writing about.

HOW TO FACILITATE WRITING

There are two main ways that students get their writing ideas:

·  Choosing a sprout from their Writer’s Notebook

·  Using a topic given by the teacher (either in a conference or as a whole class activity)

Students start writing until the session finishes.

When the next session begins students have four choices with their writing

·  Continue writing a previous piece

·  File pieces they don’t want to work on anymore

·  Start new writing from a sprout

·  Create a Writer’s Notebook entry (gathering seeds and sprouts)

WHEN A STUDENT HAS FINISHED A DRAFT

When a student has finished a draft of writing they

·  Staple an editing checklist and a writing checklist to their piece.

·  They then edit their writing piece.

·  Once edited they place it in the Conference Folder. The teacher will then read their work before their conference session and then provide them with feedback during their individual conference.

·  Students can now continue on with other writing pieces or create a Writer’s Notebook entry whilst waiting for this writing piece to be conferenced.

Once conferenced with the Teacher they can

·  File the piece for later

·  Continue the writing process and revise

Once they have revised their writing they

·  Decide how they will publish their writing piece (They can use their “Ways To Publish Your Writing” sheet for ideas).

·  Return their writing piece to the Conference folder for the teacher to check and approve publication at the next conference.

PUBLISHING

There are many different ways for students to publish. Once their work is published they can place written pieces in their portfolio or on display (as appropriate)

Note: Students don’t always have to type their pieces, get volunteers to do it.

HOW DOES A WRITER’S CONFERENCE WORK?

·  Each student is allocated to a Writer’s Conference group. They remain in the same group for a semester/year.

·  Writer’s Conference Groups are mixed ability based.

Before the conference with your allocated group, get the folder and read through / edit any pieces that are ready to be conferenced. On a sticky note write comments and questions you have for the student about their piece.

During the conference connect with each child

·  Students bring their Writer’s Notebook to look through

·  Discuss current writing piece (including those that have been edited)

·  Update Individual Writing Records

·  Follow up on students who don’t have anything to be conferenced

·  Share writing with each other

WHAT DOES A WRITING SESSION LOOK LIKE?

(Refer to examples for more detailed information)

INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITY (10 minutes)

·  This has a topic for the whole week and each session builds on the last. Look at examples for further information

SCHEDULED CONFERENCE (15 minutes)

·  During this time touch base with the students in your scheduled conference group. Conference individual writing pieces, choose who is going to share with the grade.

·  Use this time to direct students to spelling words they need to add to their spelling list.

TEACHING GROUP (20 minutes)

·  Choose students to create a small temporary group who need to focus on a particular area and spend time with them refining their skills. They may only spend one session with you or may work with you all week.

·  You could

o  Focus on developing ‘strategic writers’

o  Skills and strategies explicitly taught

o  Grammar, punctuation taught in context

o  May be common or individual needs.

SHARING TIME (15 minutes)

·  Students who have been chosen during the conference will share their writing with the grade.

·  Students who have finished publishing their writing will share this with the grade.

LESSONS

1.  Publishing – what does a published piece of work look like / sound like / feel like / smell like / taste like?

In small groups students brainstorm how they could publish finished pieces of writing. They are encouraged to be creative and to think beyond typing up a piece on a word processor and printing it.

2.  Vision Boards – what do you want to achieve this year? What are your hopes and dreams?
Students create A3 vision boards using pictures and words from magazines. These images are those that catch their attention and then they place them together on the board to create their vision for the year.

Students then use their Writer’s Notebook to do a Think / Feel / Wonder about their Vision Board.

From here students then decide on three writing pieces they could create from their Vision Board or their Think / Feel / Wonder. Students must indicate the Text Type and the TOPIC.

3.  Students find various ways to add to their Writer’s Notebook. This could be in the form of:

!  Rapid writing from an image (You could even using the Wellbeing cards)

!  Choosing a picture from a magazine

!  A quote written on the board

!  Any other ideas from the “Gathering Seeds” handout.

4.  Share with students the Gathering Seeds ideas and have students choose one of those that they haven’t yet done to gather seeds and write thoughts and ideas.

5.  Use the Alphabet Writing Sheet to help students come up with sprouts for their writing topics. Ensure students always have a text type and topic.