Robert Young

Writers’ Workshop (Wordshop)

“There is no better way to develop and enhance students’ writing skills than through the mindful use of writer’s workshop.”     – Me

Writers’ Workshop = an intentional environment for developing writing skills (the “word” version of a skate park, artist colony, or multiple-lift garage)

Key elements of a workshop

• Known structure (students know what to do and where to do it)
• Student choice (within parameters, students choose what to write)
• Peer support (students edit each other’s work)

To develop a workshop (for grades 3+; adapt for lower grades)

Designate room areas and functions

Suggestion: Desk/main seating area of the room is for quiet, independent writing. Margins of the room are for collaboration, including discussing ideas and editing. Adult editing areas are at tables outside the main writing area.

Create a classroom process for writing

Suggestion:

• Introduce type of writing (e.g. personal narrative, informational, argument)
• Share examples (mentor texts, student samples)
• Model writing
• Students write
  • Plan
  • Create a draft (skip lines = easier edit)
  • Self-edit/ revise
  • Peer edit/revise
  • Adult edit/revise
  • Present/share

Note on adult editing: It will be helpful if you can arrange for additional adult editors. These could be educational assistants, administrators, or parents. In some instances, competent older students will work. Make sure to go over the process with all.

Devise a schedule

          Suggestion: Three days a week for an hour. Include in that time a mini-lesson (10-15 minutes to focus on skill development – e.g. quotation marks, leads, strong verbs), writing time (30-40 minutes), and presenting (10-15 minutes). If you don’t have an hour block, focus workshop times on writing; use the other two days for mini-lessons and sharing).

Prepare students

          Suggestion: Students should be proficient using dictionaries (for self and peer edits). Practice editing.

Special notes about editing: Teaching your students how to edit their own writing as well as the writing of others is one of the most important skills you will teach. Editing = helping. Editors help writers write better. Good editors do three things: Compliment, ask questions, and offer suggestions. Their comments are specific. Compliments come first.

Have writers first read their pieces aloud so editors can focus on the content of the writing. After that, have editors look at the writing to help with the other aspects (organizations, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions). Responses could be made on an editing page or on the original paper. Use editing marks for making convention suggestions.

Special considerations

• Developing a functional workshop takes time. Start small (with short pieces like poems and letters/e-mails) and slowly (building over time), making sure students know the process and are comfortable working with each other.

• Since the process is cyclical, make sure students know what their options are when they have completed a piece. That might be working on another piece of the same type of writing, or something you introduced previously. Use writers’ notebooks to cache ideas.

• To help motivate students, include as much authentic writing as possible. Authentic writing (aka real-world writing) is writing that goes “beyond the eyes of the teacher.” It is writing meant to be read by others.

• Every student has something to say. A writing workshop will help them develop the skills to say it.