Bard High School Early College - Newark

Writing & Thinking Workshop

Workshop Script for Naming and Interviews (80 min + Interview sharing) Goals for the Session: Give each student an opportunity to meet another classmate, and to be introduced to some of the fundamental Writing & Thinking techniques. Key Elements: FW FFW LOOPS SHARING: READ-AROUND VOLUNTEERING IN PAIRS VOLUNTEERING PROCESS FW. The session begins with a Free Write. (5 min) Teacher then teaches the term Free Write and writes FW on the blackboard, and points out that FWs can be shared, but never have to be. (1 min) Reading aloud: Ask the students to turn to Sandra Cisneros My Name in their Readers. (Alternate choices: Linda Hogan, Song for My Name; Marilyn Mei Ling Chen, How I Got That Name.) Ask for a volunteer to read through the story/poem. (2 min) Additional readings: Ask for another volunteer to read through it. Then, read it in a group read-around, with a different person taking each sentence/line. Explore additional readings as desired. (6 min) FFW. Students do a Focused Free Write on what their name means to to them. (5 min) Teacher then teaches the term Free Write and writes FFW on the blackboard, and points out that FFWs always have the possibility of being shared. (1 min) SHARING. FFW is read in a READ-AROUND. (8 min) LOOPS. Teacher teaches the term Loops as a series of interrelated FFWs (usually three, but could be more); teacher writes Loops on the blackboard. (1 min) LOOP #1. FFW on Something I would like to do someday. (5 min) LOOP #2. FFW on Something I would like to do this year. (5 min) 1

LOOP #3. FFW on Something I would like to do this week. (5 min) SHARING. Each student shares of the three Loops FFWs in a READ-AROUND. (8 min) INTERVIEWS. The students are divided into pairs. Within the pair, each takes turns, sharing all three Loops, and then being asked follow-up questions by the partner. They might be encouraged to take notes. (20 min; 10 for each person in the pair; can be longer, if there is more time before the Break) FFW. The students are asked to write an FFW about the person they just interviewed, which will be used to introduce that person to the class. (8-10 min) BREAK SHARING. Volunteering in pairs, the students each introduce one another to the group by reading their FFWs. (20 min) PROCESS. Students are asked to write an FFW to the prompt, What was it like to be introduced by someone else? (5 min) Teacher teaches the term Process as a kind of writing we do to write about what just happened, or to think about how something just went; teacher writes Process on the blackboard. (1 min) SHARING. Volunteering, several (usually 3-4, but more if interested) students read their Process FFWs aloud. (3 min) Subsequent Activities: With the rest of the session, the instructor guides the students through the Expectations for Students in the Reader. Students, in a volunteer or readaround format, read each part aloud, with time for instructor explanation and questions. If there is time remaining, an additional quick activity can be done, such as reading a story aloud together and/or doing one FFW with sharing.