Writing Workshop: What is it?

“But the core of a workshop – the heart, the marrow – is kids putting words on paper.” --Ralph Fetcher and JoAnn Portalupi (2001)

• In much the same way a pottery, jewelry, or furniture workshop operates, a writing workshop attempts to provide all the tools, materials, and resources that will help an artisan to create a desired product – in this case, a piece of quality writing. Unlike a furniture, jewelry, or pottery workshop, however, the workers in the writing workshop are all apprentices and the workshop supervisor, the teacher, is more concerned with the growth of the artisans in their craft than in the polished quality of each individual work produced. --Blasingame and Bushman

• A writing workshop is a regularly scheduled, substantial chunk of class time when students work on self-chosen pieces of writing. --Zemelman and Daniels

• The fundamental assumption of the workshop as educational institution is clear: this is learning by doing, learning through practice, aided by modeling and feedback from a master practitioner. --Zemelman and Daniels

• The idea behind Writer’s Workshop is simple: if we know from experience that a workshop approach to the teaching of writing works well for aspiring professional writers, why shouldn’t we use this approach in our classrooms? As in a professional writer’s workshop, each student in the class is a working author. The teacher is a writing professional and peer coach, guiding authors as they explore their craft. --Steve Peha

• What does it look like when students are doing the work of thinking? The work of achieving? The work of becoming better human beings? Literally and metaphorically, it looks like a workshop, a place where works – concrete demonstrations of understanding – are created. --Sam Bennett