Writing Workshop
Writer's Workshop
In a writing workshop, students learn how to write within a supportive community of writers. Students learn to value writing and how to develop a writing process that works for him or her. Students in writing workshops are nurtured in many ways. They are encouraged to reflect often as writers and learn about many things beyond the writing process that support their growth. Students are invited to do all the things a writer really does... research, explore, collect, interview, talk, read, co-author, pre-write, draft, revise, edit and publish.
Units of Study
Grade 4
Unit 1 - The Arc of Story: Writing Realistic Fiction - Students learn that the lenses they bring to reading fiction can also be brought to writing fiction, as they develop believable characters with struggles and motivations and rich stories to tell.
Unit 2 - Boxes and Bullets: Personal and Persuasive Essays - Students learn the value of organization and form as they gather evidence to support and express an opinion on topics they know well.
Unit 3 - Bringing History to Life - Students are ready to tackle historical research in which they collect evidence and use details to vividly describe people and events long ago and far away.
Unit 4 - The Literary Essay: Writing About Fiction - Students build on their learning of essay writing and apply it with increasing sophistication to a unit on literary essays—that is, writing about fiction.
The Writing Process
Gathering Ideas is...
* Filling your notebook with ideas to write about.
*Writing about things that you know well.
*Writing about your life and the world around you.
*Living like a writer in the world.
Choosing a seed is...
*Rereading entries to find an idea you want to make into a draft.
*Choosing an idea to turn into a draft.
*Thinking of a kind of writing you want to make and choosing an entry that feels like it.
Nurturing your seed idea is...
*Thinking and writing more in your notebook about your idea BEFORE you draft.
*Writing as much as you can about your idea.
Drafting is ...
*Moving from notebooks to drafting paper.
*Organizing your idea.
*Deciding how to begin.
*Writing fast and long, choosing words that really matter to you.
Revision is...
*Rereading your draft and thinking about ways that you can make it better and how you can make it better.
*Adding details or craft moves that you need.
*Adding writing that you need or taking out writing that you don't need.
Editing is...
*Getting your writing ready to go out into the world.
*Checking for spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation.
*Using a checklist as a guide to making changes.
Publishing is...
*The teacher helping to edit your work if it is to go out into the world.
*Preparing your work for an audience by typing it or rewriting it neatly.
*Adding illustrations covers, or photographs.
*Deciding on a a celebration as a class.
