HISTORY: WRITING STUDIO

THE WHY + THE WHAT

The aim of the writing studio is to approach the writing process as an art form. Often, writing and researching in a historical context can be difficult for some students.

How do we make that process more valuable? How do we encourage self reflection daily, weekly, in the moment? How do we help our students define where their strengths lie, and work in ways that speak to those strengths?

Approaching a writing heavy course with studio practices can address those issues. Writing and researching in a historical context should include a "researcher's sketchbook", which can be used by both student and facilitator to glean where the student is at, where the student wants to go, and how the student can visualize their actions within the process to become a writer.

THE RESEARCHER'S SKETCHBOOK

It's important for students to engage in the process by designing their own Research and Writing Sketchbook. For some students, this might be a difficult process at first. As a facilitator, you can provide some guides for students. These guides serve to show students what kinds of information they could record in their sketchbook to gain a better sense of themselves and their writing.

Please consider using some of these templates to get started.

Develop your own, too, in conjunction with students. Show them that their research sketchbook is an evolution and a portfolio of process. Use it as a roadmap to your one-on-one and group critiques. Model for students by showing yours. Decide as a class what kinds of things need to be tracked for a given class or assignment. Put students behind the wheel: let them craft and determine what information is vital to track through the research and writing process.

STUDIO SPACE

It's important to carve out time for students to exist in your space like they would in a more traditional studio. How will you set it up for them? How will they move things around and get settled?

How much time is dedicated to the research sketchbook? Set the norms.

Highlight a visual tracking system in your space that tells students where they are at in the process. Allow students to help define what the tasks are and fill them in as they complete them. Determine in what order students completed tasks by picking a different color to fill in tasks completed on a given week. This will show you, as facilitator, the order in which any given student chose to complete those tasks. It likely won't be linear--and that can help inform the practice moving forward.

In addition to visual tracking, set up studio norms. Define what a student should be doing in the space and keep that in the forefront of their minds. As you rove, ask students which of the activities they are currently engaged in and why.

POTENTIAL STUDIO IDEAS

ANATOMY OF A THESIS QUESTION

Each student allows other students to help them define keywords and phrases to help during the research phase. Students should include this activity in their research sketchbook and padlet (visual mapping/story board/pin board) so they can refer to it during the process.

PRIMARY SOURCE PUZZLE

Groups are given a plastic bag with primary source material(s). Each group needs to dissect the parts they are given and understand what their purpose is and share with the rest of the class. Together, the entire class engages each group's puzzle piece(s) to put together a story. Analyze each other and the pieces; determine as a group, exercising each student's unique lens, how the story might be told. How might it be told differently? Additionally, you could flip this activity so that each group receives a bunch of the same materials and each group develops their own story. In the share out, compare each group's similarities and differences.

5-5-15-15-5-5 WITH YOUR LIBRARIAN

Have the librarian engage in a studio day every week. Deploy the 5-5-15-15-5-5 model (or some variation of it). 5 minutes for students to give elevator pitches about their topics, 5 minutes to ask general research questions that would benefit the entire group (how do I find primary sources?), 15 minutes for the librarian to share tips, 15 minutes to work individually as the librarian and teacher rove, 5 minutes for follow up/remaining questions, and 5 minutes for 3 things I learned today or still need to find out, or 5 minutes to state one new thing learned today (be it a tip or a research discovery) and no student can repeat something another student said.