How Writer's Workshop Works

1. The workshops are: designated periods of sustained writing time. The time allotted depends on what material is being covered at any given point in time.

2. The workshop writing time will be used for various writing activities. Students could be writing on a specified genre--"Assigned Piece" OR on a Choice Piece (CP)--an original, creatively written piece about a topic, genre, audience and purpose of their selection.

3. The deadlines for the Choice Pieces are given way in advance, and are broken down into writing stages. They must be worked on at home as well as when time permits in school; it is your responsibility to create you own personal timeline based on these deadlines.

4. Assigned Pieces are only worked on in school. Assigned Pieces are exactly what they sound like! I assign a topic, and you respond to that topic! As long as the student works in class, completing on time will be easy!

CHOICE PIECES: (1 per marking period—total of 4)--Done IN AND OUT of school!

1. Choose your own genre (style of writing), topic, audience and purpose.

2. Your piece MUST BE: At least 1.5 pages typed (double spaced) but no longer than 3.

3. After you finalize a certain genre style for your piece, you ARE NOT allowed to finalize a piece in that

genre again.

o Please Note:

- If you are writing a:

Sequel: summarize the previous plotline. If you are writing a prequel summarize the sequel.

Longer pieces (more than 3 pages double-spaced): you must summarize the ending for a grade.

Haiku, Cinquain, Acrostic, Diamante(ANY short poem): you are required to write two pages with

3 full columns worth of poetry.(Remember a Haiku is 5-7-5 syllables).

Free verse/Narrative poem: you must have two pages with 2 full columns per page worth of

poetry.

Comic strip (anything graphic): both the rough and final drafts must be descriptions—not

pictures! You may draw a picture with the description for your final copy, but it is not part of the

grade.

The Writing Stages *These are also the stages of the process you will be in during Writer’s Workshop time:

- Prewrite (ideas are organized)

At this point, you may need to ask for examples of the genre you are trying to write in

- Compose Rough draft

- Self-revise

- Peer-conference

- Teacher-conference (optional, but advised)

- Self-edit

- Final draft (follow Format for Final Draft worksheet for technical requirements).

- Present!

ASSIGNED PIECES: (ALWAYS done in school--MAY have to work on at home)

Assigned pieces may include, but are not limited to:

*Personal Narrative *Informative/Explanatory

*Argument/Opinion Writing (Persuasive)

*Narrative (Speculative) *CRQ’s

*Comparison-Contrast

*Research

Choice Piece Rubric

Possible Genres for Choice Piece

“Genre” is simply the kind of writing that you are creating. For your Choice Pieces, you must ALWAYS choose a “Genre”. Here are some possibilities:

NONFICTION (Not Fake)--Writing that focuses on that which is real and/or factual

Informational report or article--factual writing that is about a specific topic, not written in narrative style

Biography--writing about a real person that spans the subject’s entire life

Autobiography--factual writing that is a biography about oneself

Personal explanatory--seeks to explain a topic about oneself in detail (ex: relationship between my brother and myself)

Memoir--narrative telling of author’s memories that includes reflections about the impact or importance of the memories

Editorial--presents opinion of writer

Persuasive essay/letter--tries to convince reader writer’s opinion is correct

True stories--narrative writing of something that really happened

Letter--direct written message sent from one person to another

How-to--provides instruction for carrying out procedure or task

Guidebooks--written directions, advice, and information, often related to travel

Personal narrative--shares a particular event in chronological order with many explicit details so reader feels they have experienced event as well

FICTION (Fake)--Made up stories with characters, settings, problems, events, and solutions

Realistic fiction--generally set in the present that have believable characters, settings, and plot

Humorous fiction--written in comical way involving unusual actions and/or events

Mystery--revolve around discovering secrets or solving crimes

Thriller--grip readers through significant suspense and excitement

Historical fiction--set in the past that mix real persons with fictional characters and/or mix real events with fictional ones

Fantasy/Fairytale--highly imaginative, often include magical elements and strange or unusual characters and settings

Science fiction--often set in the future or in different worlds, that include real and imagined science or technology

Tall tale--stretch reality; often humorous and assumed to be untrue

Fable--teach a moral or lesson using animal characters

Legend--based on a real person or event but cannot be proven, often exaggerated

Myth--considered sacred and attempt to explain how things came to be

Poetry--artful writing that brings imaginative awareness and/or emotional response through language chosen for its meaning, sound, and/or specific form

Descriptive essay--writing in paragraph form that creates vivid picture in reader’s mind of a person, place, or thing through use of detailed sensory imagery

Travelogue--chronological diary describing highlights of specific travel destination

Character sketch--short essay describing details of a character’s traits, including appearance, personality, relationships, strengths and weaknesses

Choice Piece "Sparks" Story Starters

Self-Edit & Peer/Parent Revise Conferencing Sheet

Self-EDIT

Call the COPS

Capitalization

• Sentences start with a capital letter

• Proper nouns have a capital letter

• Removed unneeded capital letters

Overall look

• I double spaced

• I filled in my heading

• My writing looks the same throughout - same size and spacing

Punctuation

• Every sentence ends with a period OR ends with an exclamation mark or question mark when appropriate

• I used commas when I was listing

Spelling

• I tried to spell words using the sounds that I hear when I say it

• I looked at the word wall for help

• I asked a friend if they knew how to spell the word I was using

• I asked a teacher for help on spelling

Peer/Parent REVISE

Flex our ARMS

Add

• I added more details

• My details are relevant

• I explained my thinking

Remove

• I took out any words or ideas that did not make sense

• I took out any sentences that did not make sense

• I took out ideas that were not relevant to my writing

Move

• I moved a word in a sentence to help make my thought clearer

• I moved a sentence within a paragraph to make my writing clear

Substitute

• I identified the boring words I used

• I used a synonym to change the boring word to make it stronger

• I looked for the word “very” and thought of other ways to write my idea (ex: very tired = exhausted)