Writer's Workshop
 

Getting Started

The left side of the folder holds papers that the students are expected to keep throughout the school year. I label this side of the folder Important Papers so that if they "get loose" they can be replaced in the right spot. The right side of the folder is strictly for Work in Progress.

We are required to record 4 pieces of writing in each child's Permanent Writing Folder each marking period. These folders are printed on heavy cardstock. We try to have a piece that represents something from each standard. By the end of the school year there will be at least 16 pieces in this folder. The folder is sent home at the end of the year.

I house these folders in a crate, along with all of the necessary papers for Writer's Workshop. The children learn to go to this crate for all of their writing needs. The key is to get them as independent as possible so that you have the time needed to conference with other students during workshop time.

Guidelines for Our Classroom Writing is kept in the left pocket of the writing folder. I have a direct and explicit lesson to go over what my expectations are. We practice this and review it often during the first weeks of writing so that it becomes automatic.

As part of a homework assignment the children are required to fill out an Interest Inventory. We take time to share the responses to the questions on this inventory during one of our first class meetings. It serves as a way for us to get to know one another, as well as sparks interests and additions to the inventory. Children become very excited when they can add to what they have, or want to change something because one of their classmates sparks a memory.

After sharing the Interest Inventory we spend writing workshop time filling out our Topic List.

We generate the topic list from our Interest Inventory, as well as any other things that come to mind. I model and generate my own topic list as part of this lesson. The children really benefit from this thought process.

I started using this idea over the last few years and it has been one of the greatest organizational features I use during workshop time. It saves time and really provides me with a necessary tool for keeping track of where the children are in the writing process.

The Class Status Poster is placed in a part of the room that it can be easily seen by myself, and can be easily manipulated by the students. Each child has a clothespin with their name on it and they are all placed on the Brainstorming part of the poster. I show the children how to move their clothespin as they progress through the stages of the writing process. They love doing this and it is a great visual to show they are making progress. It is great for me because I can see very easily if someone is at a standstill.

I use the Class Progress Record Sheet when I check in on students as they are working. This has been by far the greatest tool for me. It allows me to keep track of what I see when I chat with a child and gives me something to go back to when I need it. I type the names in and have many copies made at the beginning of the school year because I use this for each major piece of writing that we do. The sheets are stapled together and I keep them on a clipboard as I meet with the children. I circle the step they are on when I chat with them. This is an informal chat to see how they are doing. I refer to these notes when I have a final conference to check to see if earlier suggestions for editing or revising were made. Prior to using this sheet I relied on my memory for that...NOT a good idea!!!!

The graphic organizer we use for brainstorming depends upon the genre of the writing piece we are working on. There are many great sites for graphic organizers. Listed below you will find links to these sites.

When writing a first draft I drill into the children to remember to date each new day that they write.

I have tried many different vehicles for this step in the writing process and I have found the the second checklist below works very well in my classroom. Though the first checklist is much more detailed, it ends up being too time consuming and confusing. Too much time is spent changing colors. We approach this task more holistically and it works very well. I also use a Quick Word Dictionary to save time when editing.

My first lesson for this step of the writing process is to model the editing and revising I went through when I wrote the children their summer letter. I copy the drafts on overhead transparencies to show the process. They are really amazed to see that teachers have to go through this process and that teachers actually make errors, just like they do when they write!!!

The children are required to revise/edit with a classmate prior to coming to me for a teacher conference.

Though editing is an important part of the writing process, as a third grade teacher I am more concerned that the children work on the revision part of their writing. I provide the children with a Quick Word Dictionary to use as a first step in finding words that may be misspelled. This cuts down on the time taken to mull through a bigger dictionary. If the child can't find the word, then a class dictionary can be used. The word is then added to the Quick Word Dictionary.

Something else that works well that I often use is to work out the spelling of a word together, then have the child add it to their Quick Word Dictionary. It's a mini-word work lesson!

For example, suppose the word "teacher" was spelled...techir...

• I would put lines for the letters in the word    _  _  _  _  _  _  _
   

• Then I fill in the letters that the child had correct    t e _ c h _ r
   

• Last we discuss what the sounds are and relate to what we learned relative to decoding
   

• We fill in the correct letters and then the word is added to the Quick Word Dictionary

Marie L. Smith
Red Creek Central School District
Margaret W. Cuyler Elementary School
Red Creek, NY 13143
Last updated 97/1/08