Schoolwide Writing Workshop

Unit 1 Launching Writers Workshop: How Writers Work

The beginning of the school year is an exciting time. Having a good start to the school year where you and your students become part of a classroom community that listens, shares, and responds to each other's thoughts, stories, and ideas is one goal of this unit. As third-grade writing teachers, we know writing can be personal, challenging, or even intimidating. Therefore, you need to convey to all your students that your classroom is a safe place to share, give it a try, or make mistakes. You want your students to realize writing is important and they are all writers!

Unit 2 Nonfiction

Nonfiction is the genre that will dominate most students' educational and vocational lives. Therefore, understanding the purposes and possibilities of nonfiction writing will motivate students to read and write informational texts. Literary nonfiction provides third graders with the experiences necessary to begin to blend writing craft with facts and to subsequently produce texts that are both engaging and informative.

Unit 3 Biography

The word "biography" comes from Greek words meaning "life" and "write." Studying biography gives students the opportunity to read and learn about various inspirational people who have made a difference to many. As writers of biographies, students will express their opinions about the subjects they write about and include researched facts and details that highlight the subjects' achievements and influences. Biographers write about people who interest and inspire them. Through biographies, writers express their points of view or opinions about a subject—typically one they hold in high regard. People they admire and respect from the past or present are worthy subjects for students' biographical writing.

Unit 4 Patricia Polacco Author Study

Like our third-grade students, Patricia Polacco is an author, storyteller, and illustrator. She is also a wonderful writing mentor for your students. No one can tell a story like Patricia Polacco! She says that she comes from a family of wonderful storytellers. "My fondest memories are of sitting around a stove or open fire, eating apples and popping corn, while listening to the old ones tell glorious stories about their homeland and the past."

Unit 5 Poetry

Poetry is an engaging study for writers of any age. As writers, poetry allows for experimentation with language and structure. The fact that poems are often short is not lost on our youngest writers. This increases the appeal for poetry genre studies in early grades because writers find the idea of publishing less intimidating than with other genres. Young writers can also see close relationships between their published pieces and the published pieces of favorite poets. As teachers, poetry is a favorite genre study because it allows us to closely study qualities of good writing across many different pieces. Students often publish more than once in a poetry study, which allows for extended assessment opportunities.