EVERYONE IS WRITING, NOW WHAT?! TEACHING SMARTER DURING INDEPENDENT WRITING Presented by: Jackie Novak Lake Orion Community Schools 1 st -3 rd Session

Plan for the Session  More advanced session  Management is in place  Let’s get down to the nitty gritty  How to teach well during independent writing  What good teachers ask  How to use resources you already have  How to change your conferring based on the writing process

Can you imagine? Why isn’t it hard for us to imagine what kids are capable of during 40 minutes of indoor recess?

Why Independent Writing Scares Us  Managing workers is highly demanding – grown-ups  We know kids need to spend time with their writing, but it is the least directed component  We lose the comfortable feeling of directing everything and must teach children how to do it

Planning for Writing Workshop What teachers spend the most time planning for outside of the instructional day? Units of study Mini-lessons Editing student work Publishing (parties, formats, etc.)

Writing Workshop Components  Mini-lesson  Independent Writing  Partner Work  Share Time Differentiated teaching!

Think About Your Mini-Lessons  Reflect on your own teaching  Jot down your mini-lessons for writing  All of them you can remember!  Any unit during the school year  Which are your favorites?  Which do you return to often?

Why Confer?  If we care, they’ll care – whack a mole and my year  We need to ask writers questions so they begin to ask questions themselves – independence CCSS p.18  Undivided attention/relationship – memories  Provides accountability to child  John Hattie’s research p.1  180,000 studies, 30 million kids ~ student achievement  100 factors that contribute ~ feedback 5%

Let’s Look at Process  Planning  Drafting  Revising  Editing There are certain teaching moves we make to help children at each stage of the writing process. p.1-4

Planning Students are rehearsing and planning for writing. Student talk is encouraged. Sketching for early writers is also encouraged since it is the first step toward communicating in writing.

Drafting Students are writing down ideas by referring to a plan they have made. Teachers help students stretch out words and think about keeping a focus. Sometimes the teacher helps the student draft and revise at the same time.

Revising Students add more and/or take out parts of the writing that don't belong with the main idea. Students think about how and where to put the words on the page. The pieces of writing in these conferences are whole; the writers are going back to imagine a new way of thinking about them.

Editing Students go back to a piece of writing that is completed to fix missing words, punctuation errors, or spelling mistakes. The students are being taught to discover an error, correct it, and find another one.

You Have What it Takes!  Conferring is just an individual mini-lesson  Principal and wall charts  Example of a teacher - good leads  Take your list and plug the mini-lessons into the writing process categories p.2

Creative Scheduling  The pendulum stops here – Sharon Taberski  Goal: Making contact with every child at least once during the week  Serravallo’s scheduling plan p. 5-6  Mrs. Wills’ scheduling plan  Quality vs. quantity  Turn & Talk – create your own

I Have My Resources…Now What?  Do NOT immediately hunker down  Move and make your quiet presence known  Watch everyone for a few minutes  Smooth out an issue  Mobilize a few children who need a nudge  Get an idea for future conferences  Cluster slow starters

Once Writing Starts…  Continue to dot the room with your presence  Work with one child per each section of the room  If you sense that children need more attention include others in your conference  Walk around with your conferring materials (packet walk starting at page 3)  Don’t be hyper-invested to make every piece perfect. It will be still be “kid writing!”  Hold kids accountable to get their work done

Managing Distractions Kids should not wait at their seat, raise their hand, or interrupt your conference Conference sign-up (Be careful!) When will you get to the conference sign ups?

What’s Wrong in My Classroom?  When we are too busy rushing, we’re not noticing patterns  Elementary school does not mean long lines of kids  Be an observer  What is the problem?  Stamina, start longer!  Independence?

Where Does This Conference Fit in the Writing Process?  Find a place for this in the writing process.  When could this conference be used? Look for architecture  Research  Decide and Compliment  Teach

A final thought  Our wisdom and experience are too valuable to run untapped within us take the plunge and try something new.  “In truth, this is more than you and I ever got in school, so do your best with getting to everyone.” Katie Wood Ray “Each conference, well taught, makes us better teachers. Our children deserve our bravest selves.” Lucy Calkins