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Writing Workshop
Writing Workshop
"Teaching children to write - to express their ideas clearly and creatively, and to find joy in the process - is a complex task. To grow as writers, children need explicit instruction in the craft, mechanics, and process of writing, choice in what to write about, and plenty of time to practice. Writing Workshop is an instructional practice designed to help children become confident and capable writers. During Writing Workshop, children have time to work independently and with their peers. They engage in the writing process by selecting topics, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing their original work. They receive explicit instruction in the craft of writing from exploring genre, to organizing their pieces, to word choice, style, and mechanics. The workshop structure encourages children to think of themselves as writers and take their writing seriously. It gives children the skills to express their important thoughts and celebrates the fact that their stories and ideas matter and are worth expressing." - Children's Literacy Initiative
New ELA Writing Rubrics and Resources
New ELA Writing Rubrics and Resources
Please click the link below to view our new standards aligned writing rubrics.
2024 District Created K-8 Narrative Writing Rubrics
2024 District Created K-8 Informational / Expository Rubrics
2024 District Created K-8 Argumentative Writing Rubrics
2024 District Created English I-IV Writing Rubrics
2024 TDW Information and Rubrics from SCDOE
District 6 Cold Write Prompts and Directions
2025 District 6 Created Standards Aligned Writing Units of Study
The Essentials of Writing Instruction
The Essentials of Writing Instruction
"The bottom line conditions for effective writing instruction are, then:
Writing needs to be taught like any other basic skill, with explicit instruction and ample opportunity for practice. Almost every day, every student in grades K–5 needs between fifty and sixty minutes for writing instruction and writing.
Writers deserve to write for real, to write the kinds of texts that they see in the world—nonfiction chapter books, persuasive letters, stories, lab reports, reviews, poems—and to write for an audience of readers, not just for the teacher’s red pen.
Young writers need to be immersed in a listening and storytelling culture where their voices are valued and heard. Children will become better writing partners and better writers if they are encouraged to contribute their stories, opinions, thoughts, and ideas to a community of writers
Writers write to put meaning onto the page. Young people will especially invest themselves in their writing if they write about subjects that are important to them. The easiest way to support investment in writing is to teach children to choose their own topics most of the time.
Children, early in their writing development, need to be taught phonemic awareness and phonics—the instruction that undergirds their language development and that supports and fosters their ability as writers.
Children deserve to be explicitly taught how to write. Instruction matters—and this includes instruction in spelling and conventions as well as in the qualities and strategies of good writing.
Children deserve the opportunity and instruction necessary for them to cycle through the writing process as they write: rehearsing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing their writing.
Writers read. For children to write well, they need opportunities to read and to hear texts read, and to read as insiders, studying what other authors have done that they too could try.
Children need clear goals and frequent feedback. They need to hear ways their writing is getting better and to know what their next steps might be." - Lucy Calkins in The Essentials of Writing Instruction
What makes a good writer? How do you become a good writer? Lucy Calkins - author of the Units of Study for Reading and Writing series - offers words of wisdom on how to approach writing tasks to produce the best compositions possible. She discusses revising writing, reading your own writing, paying attention to detail, and other aspects of being a good writer. "Read your writing as if it were gold," says Lucy. Click the above video to view.
Time, Ownership, and Response:
Time, Ownership, and Response:
How the Process Drives Product
How the Process Drives Product
Writing Workshop focuses on the processes that writers engage in. Through engaging in the authentic process of real writers, students choose their own topics, spend time daily writing and working through their pieces, and confer and share about their progress and their product. Nancy Atwell’s 1998 book, In the Middle describes the importance of ownership, time, and response in her model of writing workshop. Ownership, Time, and Response are widely accepted essential components of an authentic writing process. Consider ways in your writing workshop that you are providing students with opportunities for choice and ownership, with time daily to engage in writing their own pieces and applying the skills taught and the strategies modeled, and with feedback to support students' growth as writers.
Gradual Release of Responsibility Workshop Model
Gradual Release of Responsibility Workshop Model
Writing workshop is an organizational framework for teaching writing that provides students with a gradual release of instruction model that begins with teacher-led direct instruction, followed by time each day for students to apply what they are learning in their own writing, as well as opportunities to receive feedback through conferencing and share time.
What Does Writing Workshop Look Like?
What Does Writing Workshop Look Like?
There is no set program or formula for implementing writer’s workshop. It will look different in different classrooms, but student ownership, daily sustained time for writing, and response to student writing will be valued.
Writer’s Workshop typically consists of five main parts: mini-lesson, independent writing time, conferencing and small group instruction, mid-workshop teaching, and share time.
To see these essential components in action, take a look at the video to your left. You will see how this first grade teacher intentionally implements an gradual release structure beginning with a short and focused mini-lesson, followed by student work time, and feedback she provides through individual conferencing.
5 Predictable Parts of Writing Workshop
5 Predictable Parts of Writing Workshop
"Writing workshops are deliberately designed to offer a simple and predictable environment so that the teacher can focus on the complex work of observing students' progress and teaching into their needs.
Each session begins with a minilesson. Kids sit with a long-term partner while in the minilesson.
The minilesson ends with the kids being sent off to their own independent work.
As students work, the teacher confers with them and leads small groups.
Partway through independent work time, the teacher stands and delivers a mid-workshop teaching point.
The workshop ends with a share. " Lucy Calkins - -www.unitsofstudy.com/framework
Click on the video above to see a short, eight minute video of a teacher's mini-lesson on how writer's can start a piece with a feeling. (2nd Grade)
Click on the video above to see a short, six minute video of a teacher's mini-lesson on how fantasy writers develop a setting. (5th to 8th grade)
Mini-Lessons That Matter
Mini-Lessons That Matter
To ensure that your mini-lessons are both brief and explicit, it will be important to intentionally plan your direct instruction with the following four components in mind:
"Connect
"Connect
Set the context by describing the learning that has been taking place. Explain what you’ll be teaching them (that is, what the literacy objective is) and why it will help them as readers.
Teach
Teach
In this part, blend together explanation and demonstration. Explain what your demonstration will be, then model the behavior, skill, or strategy. Additionally, in order to help children “see” what is happening as you write a piece of text, for example, think aloud about your process.
Try it Out or Have-A Go
Try it Out or Have-A Go
Give the children hands-on practice with the teaching point and assess their understanding. This takes place while the children are still in front of you in the large group meeting area.
Link
Link
Restate the teaching point one more time. Encourage the children to plan and commit to applying it in their independent work.
Remember, the mini-lesson is designed to be brief in order to make sure that the majority of time during Writing Workshop is devoted to children writing. By sticking to this architecture and keeping questions and discussion to a minimum, you’ll be able to do just that. Offering consistent language scaffolds throughout will ensure that your language learners are included and supported as well. Let’s explore each part of the mini-lesson in more detail."
For specific examples of each of these components, take a look at the mini-lessons resources website on Children's Literacy Initiative Mini Lesson Resources
For five great mini-lessons to help start your writer's workshop, click on the picture above or the link below.
For five great mini-lessons to support secondary teacher's writer's workshop, click on the picture above or the link below.
Important Ideas For Mini-Lessons
Important Ideas For Mini-Lessons
*Plan mini-lessons to many different types of writing so they can apply to students no matter what stage of the process they are in.
*Keep lessons short and focused, but share more than one example of the concept so students see a number of possibilities for students to experiment with.
*One way to approach mini-lessons with your students is in the form of a Writer’s Toolbox approach to writing notebooks.
*Mini-lessons can come from texts and authors and your own experience as a writer. Your writing is such a valuable model because you know their needs best and you are a “real” writer.
*Consider different types of lessons you can do to address the different stages and approaches to the processes of writing (pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, publishing, etc.).
*Consider different genres and units of study that would be interesting for both you and your students. Plan for variety and don’t forget about the wealth of nonfiction possibilities out there.
*Build your mini-lessons from real world mentor texts that model best what your students are trying to write. Keep sticky notes in your favorite texts/titles and catalog the lessons they hold
Types of Mini-Lessons
Types of Mini-Lessons
"One of the most important things that writers need, of course, is explicit and direct instruction on writing habits, craft, strategies, forms, and genres. If we know what capable writers do, we need to offer a balance of mini-lessons that support our goals. We need to instruct children on all of the qualities, habits, and strategies of effective writing.
Let’s take a look at the types of lessons young writers need.
Writing Habits & Identity
Writing Habits & Identity
These lessons help develop children’s sense of themselves as writers. They encourage children to explore their own writing and working styles. Some examples include:
Writers keep a list of ideas that they can write about in their writing folder.
People write books and we can too.
Writers ask questions when they listen to a friend’s writing.
Writers can aim to write an entry that fills up at least one entire page.
Writers know what to do when they’ve finished a piece.
Writers take care of the room by using materials wisely.
The Writing Process
The Writing Process
Children benefit from understanding the process that writers go through to develop a piece. Teach lessons that explicitly help children in each phase of the writing process: pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Some examples of mini-lessons to teach include:
Writers keep a notebook of topic ideas.
Writers think across pages to plan how their story will go.
Writers stretch their ideas over multiple pages in their books.
Writers get all their great ideas down and then go back and revise.
Writers use an editing checklist to help their audience read their piece.
Writers celebrate each other’s work.
Genres & Forms
Genres & Forms
These mini-lessons help children explore and practice different types of writing. It’s important to teach different forms of narrative, informational, and opinion writing. Some examples may include:
Writers write for different audiences and purposes.
Writers back up their opinions with examples.
Writers focus on small moments to tell a story.
Writers add labels, captions, and pictures to information books.
Writing Craft & Technique
Writing Craft & Technique
Lessons on word choice, organization, and style help children develop their own voice and craft. Some lessons to teach may include:
Writers learn to stay on topic in a piece of writing.
Writers can replace general words (dog) with specific words (Dalmatian).
Writers can vary sentence openers instead of relying on the same sentence stem.
Writers write a few endings and choose the best one.
Writers can add dialogue to their pieces.
Writers create mental images for their readers with figurative language.
Editing & Mechanics
Editing & Mechanics
Teach children to check and correct their work to make it more readable for their audience. Examples of these types of mini-lessons include:
Writers use a capital letter for “I”.
Writers use resources in the room to spell an unknown word.
Writers use spaces between words.
Writers read their writing out loud to catch mistakes.
Writers punctuate dialogue correctly.
Partners can help each other edit.
Writers use editing checklists to check their work." - Children's Literacy Initiative
Jennifer Serravallo's Writing Strategies Book is an excellent resource for mini-lessons. Click the title or the picture above for more information. Each school's literacy coach has a copy of this text for teachers to view and to use.
Fletcher and Portalupi's Craft Lessons for Teaching Writing is an excellent resource for mini-lessons. Click the title or the picture above for more information. Each school's literacy coach has a copy of this text for teachers to view and to use. There is also a green book that has craft lessons for nonfiction texts as well.
Linder's Big Book of Details is an excellent resource for mini-lessons that can help students learn how to elaborate and add more details in a variety of texts. Click the title or the picture above for more information. Each school's literacy coach has a copy of this text for teachers to view and to use.
Click the video link above to hear 3rd grade teacher, Shana Sterkin explain how she uses mentor texts in her classroom to help students not only see models of authentic, well written texts, but to also envision how they can apply the strategies and skills identified in the text in their own writing.
Author and writing expert, Ruth Culham explains why and how to use mentor texts when teaching.
Making the Most of Mentor Texts
Making the Most of Mentor Texts
"Mentor texts provide an opportunity for you to use children’s literature to provide a model for good writing and genre studies. Mentor texts are pieces of literature that can be examined and used for explicit teaching to show young writers how to shape meaning in the writing process. Through mentor texts, you have the opportunity to “show” not just “tell” children what quality writing looks and sounds like by reading authentic literature. When writers learn to listen to a story, they approach writing with a different lens that elevates expectations.
Because the children are familiar with the story line of a mentor text, each time you revisit the text you can focus on one aspect or one linguistic component of the text, instead of rereading the entire book. This is particularly helpful for Writing Workshop; one of the goals of the Writing Workshop is to ensure that the majority of time is devoted to children’s independent writing. Therefore, any reading aloud that you do for demonstration purposes in your mini-lesson, by definition, needs to be brief.
When choosing mentor texts, consider books that:
Provide outstanding models that will help children grow as writers.
Demonstrate the importance of choosing words wisely.
Exemplify your teaching point.
Stimulate creativity and create interest.
Highlight author’s craft.
Are rich in beautiful illustrations that add another layer to the text.
Contain multiple life lessons.
Are culturally diverse.
Provide opportunities for children to explore language." - LEARN - Children's Literacy Iniatiative
Lester Laminack's Writers Are Readers is a great resource for explaining how reading and writing opportunities can be integrated through the use of intentionally chosen, well-written mentor texts. Click the title or the picture above for more information.
In her text, What You Know By Heart, Katie Wood Ray explains how effective curriculum and instruction results from your deep understanding of quality writing—what you know through your own and others' writing. Katie shows us how to apply this personal approach as we create curriculum for our own writing workshops. Click the title or the picture above for more information.
In Wondrous Words, Katie Wood Ray provides an inquiry based model for teaching students how to write effectively through the use of mentor texts and craft study. Click on the title or the picture above for more information.
Craft Study: Teaching Students to Read Like A Writer
Craft Study: Teaching Students to Read Like A Writer
In her books, Wondrous Words and What You Know By Heart, Katie Wood Ray provides us with an effective framework for using mentor texts to help our students learn to read like writers. See the Craft Study Thinking Chart developed below for helping students engage in studying author's craft so that they can apply the craft techniques observed and discussed into their own writing. Click on the link below to see a description of how to use this process with your students and an excellent example from author, Penny Kittle Teaching Students To Read Like A Writer Using Craft Study
Craft Study Thinking (2018_10_14 23_43_29 UTC) (2019_08_06 02_02_06 UTC).doc
Lester Laminack's Writers Are Readers is a great resource for explaining how reading and writing opportunities can be integrated through the use of intentionally chosen, well-written mentor texts. Click the title or the picture above for more information.
Ruth Culham's Writing Thief explains how writers learn by imitation and craft study. She says major part of becoming a writing thief is finding the right mentor texts to share with students. Within this book, discover more than 90 excellent mentor texts, along with straight-forward activities that incorporate the traits of writing across informational, narrative, and argument modes. Click the title or picture above for more information.
Writers Are Readers
Writers Are Readers
This is an excellent resource for how to integrate your reading and writing instruction provided by Sara Margaret West, literacy coach at West View Elementary and Katrina Hankins, literacy coach at Roebuck Elementary.
In their blog post, Why Independent Work Time Matters, Marina Rodriguez explains, "The independent writing time in a writing workshop is critical. Cultivating purposeful time, rich with language, literacy, and freedom to grow creates lifelong impact on individual students. During this time, students experience organic opportunities for critical thinking, communicating, collaborating, and creating. " She uses this graphic to illustrate how students should spend the majority of, their workshop time independently working supported by the mini-lesson and the share time. To read her blog post in it's entirety, click the link below. Why Independent Work Time Matters
Katie Wood Ray's The Writing Workshop: Working Through the Hard Parts (And They're All Hard Parts) is an excellent resource for implementing writing workshop and is full of practical suggestions for managing both the independent work time but also conducting conferences, peer feedback, assessment ideas, goal setting, etc. It is a go to resource! Click the title or the picture above for more information.
Student Work Time
Student Work Time
The most important part of writing workshop is when students have the opportunity to try out the skills and strategies taught and modeled during the mini-lesson in their own writing.
"Work time is the heart of Writing Workshop. During work time, children have the opportunity and time to develop their ideas, engage in the writing process, and apply the skills, strategies, and behaviors they are learning about.
Writing is a skill that develops over time and through lots of practice. The more time we give children to write, the better they get at it! The workshop model gives children this much needed practice time.
During work time, children are busy planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing their own original pieces. Children may also be researching, discussing ideas, or collaborating with classmates. The specific choices will depend on the age and ability of your writers, as well as the genre of writing you are teaching.
Work time is also your chance to meet children’s needs by working with children individually or in small groups. Holding conferences with a few children each day and teaching guided writing in small groups will help you get to know who your children are as writers. It will allow you to talk to children about their writing and identify their strengths and needs. This important information will help you plan effective instruction and nurture their growth as writers.
All this busy, purposeful activity doesn’t happen magically. For any work time to be successful, you need to create a joyful climate in which growing as a writer is prioritized. Develop procedures that support choice, independence, and peer interaction. Teach procedures explicitly and give children plenty of time to practice them." - Children's Literacy Initiative
When writing workshop is built on predictable expectations and routines, it runs smoothly and efficiently because both the teacher and the students know what to expect. These procedures are introduced at the beginning of the year and are established over time. Take a look at this short video clip on the right of how a teacher spends her mini-lesson establishing procedures for beginning writing workshop. These procedures ensure that the majority of the time in writing workshop is spent with students engaged in the act of being writers.
Conferencing with Students
Conferencing with Students
"Feedback is key to student learning. Since writing conferences are conversations between students and teachers, they provide opportunities for two types of feedback: student to teacher, and teacher to student. The powerful thing about the feedback loop is that assessment and teaching happen in real time. In conferences, you listen to students' work, and then you teach in response to what you've learned. As the school year progresses, feedback is also informed by what you have learned across time about students and how they're growing and changing as writers. And, as soon as a conference is over, students can act on the feedback they've received from you immediately. " - Carl Anderson in A Teacher's Guide to Writing Conferences
What Makes A Good Writing Conference?
What Makes A Good Writing Conference?
Invite students to have a real give-and-take with you.
Invite students to have a real give-and-take with you.
Even though in conferences you’re a teacher talking to students, you’re also a (more experienced) writer talking to (less experienced) fellow writers about what writers do—come up with topics, make a plan for a piece of writing, write a lead, develop a section
with detail, use commas in a series, and so on. In this give and take, you learn about what students are trying to do as writers and how well they’re doing it, and the students learn how they can do their work better.
Speak in a conversational tone.
Speak in a conversational tone.
Tone is the foundation of the good relationships you want to develop with students over the course of the school year. Speaking in a warm, friendly manner puts students at ease and makes it more likely they will talk with you about what they’re trying to do as writers. What you learn from this talk helps you assess students and decide what you should teach to help them grow.
Sit alongside students, at their eye level.
Sit alongside students, at their eye level.
How you sit with students helps you establish a positive tone in conferences. You might grab a nearby empty seat or sit on one that you carry with you around the classroom. As you sit, it’s important to make frequent eye contact with students and make sure that your
facial expressions show an interest in what students are telling you.
Use "active listening" strategies.
Use "active listening" strategies.
For example, give some wait time after asking a question so that students have the time and space they need to come up with a response. Ask students to “say more” about what they tell you. And repeat what children say to check that you’re hearing them correctly.
Using these strategies shows that you have a real interest in what students are saying and that you’re really trying to understand them. Students will usually respond by talking to you more.
The goal of a writing conference is to teach students something about writing that they can use in the future. If you add to students' writing repertoires in every conference, they become better writers over time."
-Carl Anderson in his blog post, What Makes A Good Writing Conference
Click the video links to the left to view Carl's application of these conferencing strategies in his work with students.
Structure of A Conference
Structure of A Conference
"Conferences are opportunities to hold short conversations with individual readers in your room. These are conversations that help you understand your children’s interests and passions, their thought processes as both a writer and as they acquire the language of the craft of writing, their strengths and their needs. They quickly become a favorite time for everyone involved. In order to ensure that your conversations give you the information you need to both learn more about your individual children and help guide them in their reading development, effective conferences typically follow the following structure:
Research → Decide → Praise → Teach
This structure also makes it easier for the children to know what is expected of them and what will take place.
RESEARCH
Begin your conference by asking open-ended questions in order to learn what the child is able to do as writer and what you think the next step might be for the child. For example, “Hi Danielle. Tell me about what you’re working on today. Can you read me what you’ve written so far?”
DECIDE
Now that you have done your research, you need to make some decisions. What is this writer doing well that you can name? Based on what you know about writing development, what skill, strategy, or behavior might you offer this child in order to help them grow? These are decisions you will have to make in the moment, during your conversation.
PRAISE
Name something the child is doing well. Consider how you can relate it to what the child needs to do next.
“Wow, Danielle. You just told me that you are writing about the time that you were sick with strep throat. Your first line made me interested and curious about what happened to you, and it also made me think of a time that I was sick. I can tell you worked hard on crafting a strong lead.”
TEACH
Offer one skill, strategy, or behavior that will help this child move forward as a writer. Remember to “teach the writer, not the writing.” In other words, look for something universal that you can teach, that can be applied regardless of the exact piece or type of writing. You might begin like this, for example:
“I also noticed that you gave just one detail in the middle of your story, about what you did while you were sick at home. To keep your readers interested, and to help them to imagine the same story that you have in your mind, we need to give them lots of details throughout the story. You can use some of the question words to help you think of details to add. Let me show you what I mean. Who? Who was at home with you? What? What did you do all day? How? How were you feeling?”
c. 2009 by Carl Anderson from Strategic Writing Conferences (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann)
To see a writing conference in action that follows the research, decide, praise, teach model click the video above.
In his book, A Teacher's Guide to Writing Conferences, Carl Anderson shares practical tips and explains the underlying principles and reasons for conferring with students, and how to make writing conferences a part of your daily routine. Click on the title or the picture above for more information.
Immersion and Inquiry Framework (2018_10_14 23_43_29 UTC) (2019_08_06 02_02_06 UTC).docCreating Units of Study For Writing Workshop
Creating Units of Study For Writing Workshop
In her book, Study Driven, Katie Wood Ray provides a framework using an integrated, inquiry-based approach for using mentor texts from authentic, real-world genres that students immerse themselves in and along with targeted instruction and intentional support to create their own written pieces that show evidence of their understanding of both craft and content. Take a look at the framework for building a unit of study like this in the document on the left. Below is a link to Study Driven as well as other excellent resources for developing your writing workshop curriculum.
Katie Wood Ray's Study Driven is the best professional development text I have read for developing units of study for writing workshop that integrates mentor texts and inquiry through genre studies. It provides a step by step guide for how to create your own unit of study and in the back appendix it provides excellent unit of study ideas for real world genres such as infographics, photo essays, memoirs, etc. Click the title or the picture above for more information.
Lucy Calkins' Units of Study are wonderful resources for teaching integrated reading/writing units of study for narrative, informational, and opinion/persuasive writing. Each elementary school has one grade level set of each of these resources for grades K-5th grade. Please see your literacy coach for more details. Click on the title or picture above for more details.
In Fountas and Pinnell's Genre Study the teacher finds strategies for teaching and learning in which students are actively engaged in developing genre understandings and applying their thinking to any genre. It is through using genre understandings that your students think, talk, and read texts with deeper understanding, and write effectively . Click on the title or picture above for more details.
Click the link above or below to access
Click the link above or below to access
Elementary Narrative Writing Workshop.pptxElementary Narrative Writing Workshop
Elementary Narrative Writing Workshop
Click the link above to view elementary narrative writing workshop resources.
Elementary Informational Writing Workshop.pptxElementary Informational Writing Workshop
Elementary Informational Writing Workshop
Click the link above to view elementary informational writing workshop resources.
Elementary Opinion Persuasive Writing.pptxElementary Opinion/Pers. Writing Workshop
Elementary Opinion/Pers. Writing Workshop
Click the link above to view elementary opinion / persuasive writing workshop resources.
Middle School Writing Project_ Narrative Writing Dawn J. Mitchell Instructional Services, Spartanburg District 6.pptxMiddle School Narrative Writing Workshop
Middle School Narrative Writing Workshop
Click the link above to view middle school narrative writing workshop resources.
Middle School Writing Project_ Informational Writing.pptxMiddle School Informational Writing Workshop
Middle School Informational Writing Workshop
Click the link above to view middle school informational writing workshop resources.
After School Middle School Writing Project Argumentative Writing.pptxMiddle School Argumentative Writing Workshop
Middle School Argumentative Writing Workshop
Click the link above to view middle school persuasive/argumentative writing workshop resources.
Cold Write Prompts
Cold Write Prompts
Cold Write Instructions and Prompts K-8
Click the link above to view the district created cold writing prompts for beginning, middle, and end of year for grades K-8.
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