Writer's Workshop

In a workshop approach the literacy skills in reading and writing are interrelated and blend together. My students start writing from the first day of school. Writer's workshop is an approach that meets the needs of all students. Writer's Workshop follows the same format throughout the school year:
-Mini-lesson (5-15 minutes) in which the teacher teaches something the class will benefit from
-Independent writing/conferring: During this time the children are writing independently and some are meeting with teachers, and
sharing when the teacher relates something the children have done back to the mini-lesson, and/or highlights student work.
-Share time


Conferring:
-Look at the child's work.
-Ask questions to figure out what the child is doing in their writing
-Respond positively to their piece of writing
-Decide on a teaching point
-Remind the child to continue using strategies


**The important thing to remember during conferences is that we are NOT trying to improve the student's piece of writing. Instead, we are trying to help the student improve as a writer. This is not the time to tell the child how to change their piece of writing or to fix spelling and punctuation mistakes. We are only looking at the content of the piece of writing.


**If children ask how to spell a word, tell them to write down the sounds that they hear. If we start telling them how to spell words, they will continue to rely on us for spelling.