Enhancing Creative Writing Skills Through Structured Mini-Lessons and Independent Practice

1. Writer’s Workshop

3. Read Aloud • 5 minutes • Mentor text • Used to model something that an author does in their writing • Don’t need to read all of a book • The best books-read multiple times

4. Mini-lesson • 10-15 minutes • Teach concepts, strategies, and techniques • Teach children to write different genres • Direct instruction- model using literature or teacher’s own writing • Taught to common core- grade level (bulk of your class) • For example • writing strategies and skills • Literacy elements – character, setting, plot, etc. • Literacy techniques- voice, descriptive words, etc. • Genre features- moral • Text features- caption, glossary, etc. • Example mini-lesson- direct instruction prewriting

5. Independent Writing, Conferring, Guided Writing • 15-60 minutes (dependent on grade level) • Most of the writing period should be independent writing time • Prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing • Independent writing can be done in centers

6. Conferring • Teacher meets with students individually • Anecdotal records- date, observation, discussion, teaching points • Purpose is to see how the student is doing and set future goal

8. Guided Writing • Work with small group • Homogenous group • Focus on specific skills • Rest of class should be independently writing

9. Shared Writing • 5-10 minutes • Students share their writing • Partners • Whole Class- Document camera • Show what they have been working on

10. Resources