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Writer’s Workshop. Presented by: Amy Pregulman October 2010. A Look At Our Time Together. 12:30 -1:00 Framing Our Understanding Developing observational goals, overview of the workshop, Sandra Cisneros 1:00-2:00 Observing WWS 3-4-5
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Writer’s Workshop Presented by: Amy Pregulman October 2010
A Look At Our Time Together 12:30 -1:00 Framing Our Understanding Developing observational goals, overview of the workshop, Sandra Cisneros 1:00-2:00 Observing WWS 3-4-5 2:00-2:30 Debriefing With Our Writers 2:45- 4:00 Planning and Implementing WWS 4:15-5:30 Conferring With Each Other
Making the Most of Our Time Together • Place judgment aside-embrace the learning moment • Respect the tone of the class • Limit side conversations- if you need to touch base with a colleague please speak in the hallway • Enjoy the power of observation- watch the master teachers • Choose a focus or two- language, time, tone… • Please limit interaction with the students
A Slice Of Your Life Write about a memory you have -It can be a poem, a paragraph, a page… Some Ideas To Ponder… How did hearing Cisneros inspire you? What were your take aways as a writer?
Writer’s Workshop Presented by: Amy Pregulman October 2010
Setting the Tone of Writer’s Workshop • How do we see our students as writers and thinkers? • How do our students see us? Do they see us as writers and thinkers struggling with the same issues they do? • What kind of talk is happening in the class? Who is doing the talking?
…Setting the Tone • Can the students articulate what WWS is? Do they understand the process? • What do the walls of the classroom look like? Do they reflect current instruction? • As you observe the students writing, does it look like they are invested in what they are writing about? • Is there a joyful quality of the interaction and feel of the room?
Time In Writer’s Workshop Share Crafting Lesson Independent Crafting Time
A Look at The Year Through Units Of Study • What curriculum must I cover? • What other areas of study can I integrate? Social Studies? Science? • Where are my passions? • What published pieces do I want to have?
Through The Year In WWS • August: WWS: Setting the Tone • September- Memoir Unit • October- 2 week sentence study • October/November Fiction Unit • December: Folktales From Around the World • January: Country Study • February/March: Essay Unit • April: Responding To Literature • May: Poetry
Memoir Goals • Brainstorming Ideas • Writers need lots of ideas • Organizing Ideas • Webbing, flows (beginning, middle, end) • Choosing an idea • Rehearsing • Rough drafting • Revising • Good beginnings, good endings, sensory images, titles • Editing • Simple sentences; subject/verb, paragraphs • Text features • Title page, author’s page, dedication page, page numbers
Fiction Goals • Ideas • Organization Rehearsing, story mountain • Rough Draft • Beginning, middle, end, climax, resolution, character development • Revision • Snap shots, thought shots, dialogue, beginnings, endings • Editing • Sentence fluency, • Dialogue • Strategies for transitioning from draft spelling to published spelling • Text features • Author’s page, dedication page, title page and back cover
Using Mentor Texts and Read Aloud • Choose read alouds carefully • Learn from your mentors: • How can your students learn from Ralph Fletcher or Sandra Cisneros in your Memoir unit?
Working Toward Independence • “I never remember things I didn’t understand in the first place.” ~ Amy Tan
Gradual Release of Responsibility Teacher Modeled Shared Writing Small Groups Pair Share Student Independence
I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter. ~ James Michener
Conferring • “This is one moment in the writer’s life. Treat it as such.”
What is the writer doing? • Observe the writer. At first that might be all you do. Write it down. Keep a written record. • Our thinking and understanding our thinking and understanding of the writer changes over time
Ask • Today, what are you working on as a writer? • How’s it going? • Help inexperienced writers articulate their thinking. • You are adding details to your writing. That’s what good writers do- even if they aren’t quite doing it.
Name • what they are doing. I notice you are working your beginning/ ending/structure…
Decide What ONE teaching point to you have for the writer? • Yes, there are twenty…. • pick ONE. • Write it on a sticky note and take note of it yourself. It will hold you both accountable.
Teach • Demonstrate, explicitly tell, show by example… • “Now you try it.” • Nudge the writer. Adapted from: One to One: The Art of Conferring with Young Writers. L. Calkins, A. Hartman, Z, White. Heinemann; Portsmouth, NH; 2005
Link and Remind Link their writing that they are trying today Remind them to continue to do it in the future
Remember Conferring is in addition to the mini-lessons you are doing with the whole group. It will not be as productive or as useful if this is the only kind of teaching going in the class.
Not Working? Ask yourself: What do I need to provide to get this back on track? Am I allowing enough time? What instruction needs to take place? Is the room crazy? Back up….do procedural mini-lessons with the whole group. Unless everyone knows what to do, the crazy will stay! Do more than one or two students need the same thing? Use small group or whole group instruction! What is the biggest bang for your buck!
