Writer's Workshop in My Classroom (Part One)

 

I may have mentioned this before... but I l-o-v-e teaching writing to first graders.

Although it can be painstaking at times, the progress made by the end of the year is truly remarkable. I was asked by a follower last week how I ran writer's workshop in my classroom so I thought I would share in case anyone else finds this information useful!

Before I start, I will say that while I love teaching writing, I am by no means any type of expert in this field. In fact, I am pretty hard on myself when it comes to what my students produce as young writers. I am always going to workshops, reading professional books, and talking with other teachers to get their input on teaching writing. What I write in this post is just what has worked for me over the past few years. Please feel free to share what works successfully for you while teaching writing to the primary grades! I am always looking for new tips!

The Beginning:

At the beginning of the year, the writing process is pretty simple. I spend the first month of school reviewing handwriting, asking my students to produce simple sentences, teaching them how to "free-write" while building their stamina and all the while I am assessing their work. I like to know exactly where each of my students are by the end of the first couple weeks. Using plenty of writing samples, I split my students into groups.

Groupings:
Group 1: 

Need help with letter formation and/or still identifying letters (names or sounds).

Group 2:

Know all letters and sounds and working on producing simple sentences. Ex: I like to run.

Group 3:

 Can produce simple sentences and are working on making more complex sentences. Ex: I like to run outside with my friend.

Group 4:

Can produce complex sentences and are working on making sentences "juicier" as well as adding more to their writing. Ex: I like to run outside with my friend, Julie. We love to race and play tag during P.E.

*Note: I wrote my example sentences with correct spelling, but I do not expect my students to at the beginning of the year. I am a huge advocate of inventive spelling in first grade and I find that the less I stress correct spelling, the more willing my students are to let loose and enjoy writing.*

Naturally, I don't call my groups by a number, but instead I make up fun names for them (generally I choose jungle animals). As the year progresses these groups change and students are constantly moving from group to group. Throughout the year the groups progress in skill as well and the "high" group begins to work on paragraphs and longer papers, while the lower groups may be working on some basic mechanics. Before Christmas break, I may even have 5 groups. This happened last year when I had two particularly high students who were working on forming paragraphs and 2 new students who were still struggling to learn their alphabet. Whatever the case, I am very flexible with my groupings and I am constantly looking at my students' work to determine what they need from me the most.

Meeting Place:

Everywhere & Anywhere.

For real.

At the beginning of the year, I call my groups back to the kidney table so I can be up close and personal and we can get used to working together. For some lessons, like sustained writing, I find that this method is best. Sometimes, I will call over my group to the mat and we will sit and share parts of our writing. We will confer together and discuss when and where we could add details to a classmate's writing. Then I will send them on their way back to their seats to practice adding details to their own papers. Other times, I will walk around the classroom with a clipboard and look for specific things I have taught that day (punctuation, capitalization, adding details, etc.). These times I will either walk right over to a student and have a mini one-on-one conference, or I will make an impromptu group and get together somewhere cozy to re-emphasize a lesson. 

Keeping Track (Conferencing):

My goal each and every week is to meet with every student at least once. That being said, I try to meet with each student more than once per week and I like to meet with my lowest group every day. As optimistic as I am, I know that doesn't happen each week so as long as I have spent a few minutes with each student per week, I can tell myself I didn't totally fail :)

This past year, I participated in a year-long research study revolving around teaching writing and I picked up some great tips on how to keep track of your conferences with students.

Folder with index cards:

This system is easy to write quick anecdotal notes when you conference with your students and it saves space! I just  write down the date I met with a student and a quick note about what they are working on, getting better at, or still struggling with. I used to use a binder with a page for each student and I would write paragraphs every time I met with a child. I liked my cute little binder but this method is a lot faster and helps me get right to the point when I am meeting with parents to discuss a student's work.

My friend, Michelle, teaches 4th grade and she uses this system in her class. She wrote a little bit about here if you want to see how she does it!

Clipboard:

I mentioned this one above and I only use the clipboard method for specific skills. For instance if I had been teaching mini-lessons on using correct ending punctuation, I would walk around with my clipboard during the writing block and quickly assess each student. I made an editable version of my checklist for you. Here is an example:

Click here to download the editable version.

What are some ways you organize student notes during conferences??

***

I realized this post is going to be very long, so I added "Part One" to the title of this post and I will be back in a couple days to share more of what writer's workshop looks like in my classroom.

Up next:
Keeping track of student work

My writing block broken down (read aloud, mini-lesson, teacher modeling, guided writing, independent writing, & sharing).

If there are other things you want to know about, leave a comment and I will do my best to include it in my next post

*Part two is up and available to read, HERE*