1. Effective Writing Conferences Carl Anderson June 27, 2006 Clinton High School

2. The Structure of a Writing Workshop The Mini-Lesson (5-15 minutes) This is the time during the workshop when the teacher does whole-class direct instruction. In many classrooms, students gather in a meeting area, such as a carpet. Then she teaches students about a writing strategy, a craft technique, or a language convention.

3. The Structure of a Writing Workshop Writing Time (20-35 minutes) This is the time during the workshop when students write. It’s during this time that the teacher does individualized direct instruction. This is when we confer with students.

4. The Structure of a Writing Workshop The Share Session (5-10 minutes) At the end of the workshop, we bring the class back together to focus on the work of one or two students. In some workshops, students sit in an “Author’s chair” and read their drafts aloud to get feedback from their classmates. In other workshops, the teacher asks student who tried that day’s mini-lesson to share their work.

5. Strategy/Technique Conferences A conference is a conversation. The point of a conference is to teach students to become better writers. Find out what the child is doing and help him/her to do it better. Follow the student’s lead when they tell you about their writing. Let them know you care about them as a writer and a person.

6. Conferring when the child says, “I’m done!” Keep in mind he may actually be done with a first draft and has revised and edited. He can start a new piece. If they have not reread and revised, decide what to teach by asking… *What do I know about the student’s need to grow as a writer? *What have I taught in recent mini-lessons? *What has the student done well in the draft?

7. Conferring with Literature Look at a mentor text with them. Ask the student to describe the writer’s craft done by their author. You can point out the craft work to them. Ask the student how they’re going to use what they’ve learned from their mentor in their own writing.

8. Decisions to Make About Our Conferences Where should I conduct my conferences? Where students are seated seems to work best. What tools are needed to confer? A clipboard and conference sheets. Post-it notes can be helpful, too. *At what point in the writing process should we confer? At any point in the process; the draft does not have to be finished. *How long should the conferences be? Average of 5 minutes; 4-5 students during a typical writing workshop time frame.

9. How to keep Mini-Lessons “Mini” and not “Maxi” 1.A mini-lesson begins with a connection. a.Explain why you’re teaching the mini-lesson. b.Name what you are going to teach. 2.Next we teach students about a kind of writing work. a.We might give students information by… *an explanation *examples (our writing, student writing, literature) *by demonstrating writing b.We might help students gather information … *from their experiences as writers *from close study of a text.

10. Keeping Mini-Lessons “mini” 3.After we teach, students ‘have-a-go” with what we’ve taught. *say something to a partner *look at your work and make plans *do an exercise 4. End the mini-lesson by linking it to students’ independent writing.