The Three Pillars of Writers Workshop NESA Spring Educators Conference Bangkok, Thailand April 4, 2011 Janine A. King

The Three Pillars of Writers Workshop The Mini-lesson Individual Student Conferences Writers Notebooks Janine A. King

Structure of a Workshop Janine A. King

The Mini-Lesson Short Direct One teaching point (posted) Explanation Modeling/demonstration/examples Janine A. King

The Architecture of a Mini-lesson Teaching Point Connection Teach Active Engagement Link Share Janine A. King

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Mini-lesson Demonstration What’s in a name? Writers write about what they know well. Janine A. King

Conferring With Writers Janine A. King

The Architecture of a Conference Research Compliment Teach Link Janine A. King

“What are you working on Research Instead of, “How’s it going?” ask “What are you working on in your writing today?” Janine A. King

Compliment Authentic Specific Keep in mind where you want to take this student as a writer. (Remember… you want to teach the writer not “fix” his or her writing). Janine A. King

Teach Connect to the compliment Small steps – take the writer from where s/he is to the next step Demonstrate or show an example in your own notebook or draft Give the student something specific to try then wait for evidence of understanding or check back in a few minutes Janine A. King

Link Apply your teaching point to writing in general Janine A. King

Record Keeping Provides assessment information Builds a profile of the student Guides future conferences Helps intentionally develop the student as a writer and a reader Janine A. King

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Types of Conferences Content Compliment Expectation Goal Inquiry “Keep doing what you’re doing because it’s working!” Expectation when a student isn’t doing what they need to be doing Goal Example: stamina Inquiry “ Together let’s figure out some things you are working on and where you might go with them.” Janine A. King

Conferring Around Notebooks RESEARCH Look for: Habits Effort Generating Developing ideas/meaning Volume Stamina Growth Janine A. King

Conferring Around Drafts RESEARCH Look for: Meaning Why is this important? Is it focused in on a small moment? Organization Beginning, middle, end Leads/conclusions Craft Action Dialogue Inner thinking Detail Janine A. King

“Cheat Sheets” What are the goals of the unit? What are some common challenges of the genre? Janine A. King

Conferring Practice “Student” “Teacher” Read the piece of writing and make it your own. “Teacher” Confer with the student and record the parts of the conference. Remember… Hands off the writing Look for what is good. Teach the writer instead of fixing the writing. Janine A. King

The Heart and Soul of Writers Workshop Writers Notebooks The Heart and Soul of Writers Workshop Janine A. King

Writers notebooks… give you a place to write every day to explore your writing take risks record your thinking note your observations of the world around you practice living like a writer Janine A. King

Getting Started Janine A. King

What’s in a name? Where does your name come from? What do you like/dislike about your name? What about nicknames? Janine A. King

This story makes me think of… Think about a time something like this happened to you. What feelings did you have when you listened to this story? Janine A. King

Laundry Lists Best Life Events Worst Life Events Notable Quotes Interesting Words Unusual Facts Scary Stories Janine A. King

Observations – Using Your Senses “Your writers notebook can work as an alarm clock to remind you to wake up and pay attention to the world” Ralph Fletcher Janine A. King

Music to My Pen “What is living if I can’t live free? What is freedom if I can’t be me?” Bonnie Raitt Janine A. King

Tips Keep your own writers notebook Write regularly Share your writing spontaneously Praise effort – especially in the beginning Be patient Janine A. King

Caution Prompts Journaling or diary entries Teacher handouts Note taking Lack of growth/change over time Janine A. King

Resources Mini-lessons The Writing Workshop: Working Through the Hard Parts (and They’re All Hard Parts) by Katie Wood Ray and Lester L. Laminack Units of Study for Teaching Writing, Grades 3-5 by Lucy Calkins Thinking Through Genre: Units of Study in Reading and Writing Workshops Grades 4-12 by Heather Lattimer Janine A. King

Resources (continued) Conferring Assessing Writers by Carl Anderson Notebooks Notebook Know-How: Strategies for the Writer’s Notebook by Aimee Buckner A Writer’s Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You by Ralph Fletcher Janine A. King