Writers Workshop in Middle and High School NESA

Writers Workshop in Middle and High School NESA Spring Educators Conference Bangkok, Thailand April 2, 2011 Janine A. King

What is Workshop? Not a curriculum, but a set of structures and practices n An environment that gives students the opportunity to bring their reading and writing lives into the classroom for the purpose of stretching themselves in the company of others n A format that allows teachers to explicitly demonstrate the strategies and habits of mind employed by critical readers and n Janine A. King

n Teaching the writer instead of ‘fixing’ the piece of writing Janine A. King

The Importance of Environment Janine A. King

Meeting Area n Focus n Tone n Community of readers and writers n Teacher as mentor (vs someone who is going to tell us what to do now) Janine A. King

Collaborative Seating Arrangement Janine A. King

Anchor Charts n What - the skill or strategy being taught n Why it is important n How - an example Janine A. King

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The Mini-Lesson n Short n Direct n One teaching point (posted) n Explanation n Modeling/demonstration/examples Janine A. King

Notebooks: Writers Workshop Volume n Growth n Evidence of n Generating and collecting ideas n “Test Drives” n Experimenting with craft n Planning for drafting n Janine A. King

Partnerships Janine A. King

Partners… n Encourage each other n Push each other n Generate and develop ideas with each other n Provide a constant audience n Engage in active listening and learning Janine A. King

Conferring n Individualized instruction n Differentiation n Accountability Janine A. King

Writers Workshop Janine A. King

Why Writers Workshop? Choice n Notebooks n Explicit instruction n Teacher demonstration n Volume of writing n Conferring n Differentiation n Independence n Janine A. King

The Writing Process Janine A. King

The Features of a Personal Narrative Janine A. King

Generating n People/Places/Moments Janine A. King

Writing Partners n n Encourage each other “Please read it to me. ” “I like that part. ” “I’d love to hear more about…” Push each other “I hear you saying…” “Why does this matter? ” Generate ideas with each other “Wait! I need to add to my list. ” “You just reminded me…” Practice Active Listening Face each other Make eye contact Sit up straight Janine A. King

Generating n People/Places/Moments n People/Remarks/Emotions n First Time/Last Time n Musical Timeline Janine A. King

Planning Janine A. King

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Drafting Out of the notebook n On loose leaf paper n Skip every other line n Write about one event only n Keep the issue/message in mind n n Why is this important? Janine A. King

Revising Janine A. King

What does it look like to add significant, specific detail? Include: n Seasons, months, days of the week n Weather n Real names of streets, parks, stores n Colors n People’s appearances n n What are they wearing? How does it look on them? n n Hair, facial features and expressions Smiles, movements, brand names Janine A. King

Editing Teach two or three lessons based on observations of students’ writing. Examples: n Punctuating dialogue n Paragraphs n Commas n Pronouns n Verb tense Janine A. King

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Publish & Celebrate Read-around n Whole grade or across grade levels n Whole school n Blogs n ‘Coffee house’ n Parent/community invitations n Janine A. King

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Feedback Janine A. King

Self-Reflection Where did the idea for this piece come from? n How did the story/essay change from your original idea? n What revision strategy had the biggest impact on this piece? n What specific feedback was most meaningful/helpful? Why? n Janine A. King

Structure of a Workshop Janine A. King

The Architecture of a Mini-lesson Teaching Point n Connection n Teach n Active Engagement n Link n Share n Janine A. King

Personal Essay Janine A. King

Generating “Issues” Janine A. King

Generating n Pulling ideas and issues from previous narrative entries in your notebooks Janine A. King

Writing to Think Possible Thesis Statement n because… n For example… n Another example is… n This is important because… n On the other hand… n This makes me realize… Janine A. King

Planning n Developing and revising a thesis statement n Boxes and bullets (Main idea and supporting details) n Collecting evidence Janine A. King

Evidence n Personal anecdotes n Books, movies n A friend’s experience n Interviews, quotes n Facts from articles n Statistics Janine A. King

Drafting n Synthesis of evidence for each bullet n Use all you’ve learned about good writing n Incorporate transitions Janine A. King

Revising Make sure your subtopics are parallel but not repetitive n Each paragraph focuses on one supporting idea n Transitions are smooth and logical n Lead is powerful (mentor texts) n Conclusion leaves reader with a sense of closure (mentor texts) n Janine A. King

Editing Examples: n Punctuating quotes n Use of academic language Janine A. King

Celebrating n Students group essays by topic to invite readers Janine A. King

Sample Units of Study Personal Narrative n Raising the Level of Personal Narrative n Personal Essay n Fiction n Literary Essay n Memoir n Poetry n Janine A. King

Fringe Benefits Increased student engagement n Stronger student/teacher relationships n n Through sharing your own writing and conferring Teachers as writers n Teacher collaboration n More intentional planning n Cohesive school community n Janine A. King

Resources n n n The Writing Workshop: Working Through the Hard Parts (and They’re All Hard Parts) by Katie Wood Ray and Lester L. Laminack Assessing Writers by Carl Anderson Notebook Know-How: Strategies for the Writer’s Notebook by Aimee Buckner Units of Study for Teaching Writing, Grades 3 -5 by Lucy Calkins Thinking Through Genre: Units of Study in Reading and Writing Workshops Grades 4 -12 by Heather Lattimer Janine A. King

Resources (continued) Personal Narrative n Marshfield Dreams by Ralph Fletcher n The Glass Castle by Jeanette Wells n Knots in My Yo-yo String by Jerry Spinelli Personal Essay n Starting With “I”: Personal Essays by Teenagers by Youth Communication, Andrea Estepa, and Phillip Kay n This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women by James Allison, Janine A. King Dan Gediman, and Studs Terkel