DIVISION OF TEACHER EDUCATION

COURSE: JBTE/ENG 204: Writing in the Secondary Language Classroom

NAME OF ASSIGNMENT: Task 2 - The Writing Workshop

STUDENT ID: 1907037

DATE: October 30th, 2020

LECTURER: Mrs. Bernisa Roberts

 Lucy Calkins' Writing Workshop

Writing gives voice to our thoughts and feelings while allowing us to share them with others. As

a form of communication, writing transcends time and is a medium for the dissemination of

information and messages from one generation to another. Nordquist (2019) defines this

dynamic language skill as a system of graphic symbols that is used to convey meaning and refers

to it as the act of creating text. In a classroom environment where writing is taught, this skill

enables students to develop their phonetical skills, comprehension, mechanics, perspective on an

issue and adequately communicate those to an audience (the teacher or their peers) (Dominican

University of California, 2018). For these reasons, teachers of Writing must possess a clear

understanding of what is involved in becoming a better writer. Additionally, they must ensure

that they learn how to create an atmosphere that is conducive to writing and one that supports

effective writing instruction for all learners. This paper explores the components of The Writing

Workshop along with the integration of The Writing Process, a predictable working environment

and a system of workshop teaching throughout the day as three steps in the implementation of

The Writing Workshop as seen through the lens of Lucy Calkins.

Calkins uses the term 'Writing Workshop' to refer to her framework of writing instruction

and practice within a classroom. She believes that "writing does not begin with deskwork but

with lifework" (Calkins, 1994, p.3) In other words, writing comes out of a writer's experience

and interaction with the world. When students write they are making meaning on the page in

connection to their own lives. As such, teachers must make writing meaningful and help their

students to understand that there is always something to write about they are alive. She affirms

that "writing allows us to hold our life in our hands and make meaning of it (Calkins, 1994, p.4).

Therefore, teaching students to write is not just limited and restricted to jotting down notes and
writing drafts but helping students to make significance of the events that occur daily in their

lives. "When we help children know that their lives do matter, we are teaching writing"

(Calkins, 1994, p.16).

Calkins' writing workshop comprises of a mini-lesson, work time, peer conferring and or

group response, share sessions and publication celebrations. Mini-lessons can either begin or

end every workshop. For the min-lesson, the teacher can choose to introduce/reinforce a strategy,

make a suggestion to the whole class, raise a concern, explore an issue and or model a technique.

Mini-lessons are intentional. Students are brought together to learn what they need to know in

order to work. Mini-lessons provide occasions for read aloud, writerly conversations, talking

about procedural issues, demonstrating writing strategies or simply a time for very brief

experimentation. Thus, when structuring mini-lessons, teachers must consider the following:

Where will the class gather? Will students sit at their desk or under a tree? Will they need their

notebooks, pencils, drafts and if so, how will I (the teacher) use them? Will we make public

records of our mini-lessons? Will there be a day for student led mini-lessons? These questions

will help teachers to format their mini-lessons properly for there are numerous benefits to be had

from employing such a component. Mini-lessons can: use literature to generate good writing;

help students learn peer conferring and workshop procedures; engage students in revision

strategies and demonstrate qualities of good writing (Calkins, 1994). As teachers develop their

mini-lessons, Calkins recommends that they use the following as developmental tools: write

publicly in front of the class, read excerpts from writing done at home, tell the story of a

conference with a student or ask students to bring their favorite book to the mini-lesson.

In exploring Work Time, Calkins (1994) states that it is the only indispensable part of

The Writing Workshop. During this time all students are engaged in writing. They may be
writing different things (essay, poem, letter) and at different stages of the writing process but all

students must be fully engaged in writing. As the students finish one piece, they move on to

another piece. Some students will write independently while others will write alongside the

teacher for several minutes. Generally, the teacher moves around the classroom conferring with

students. She monitors, encourages and provides help where needed.

Peer conferring and or response group is the third component of Calkins' writing

workshop. Peer conferences are usually initiated by students and last about five minutes dealing

with group members' works in progress. For example, the group may decide to help John. During

the five minutes, John will read aloud, answer the group's questions and think aloud about his

writing. On the other hand, response groups are usually formed by students at the teacher's

suggestion, and are four or five members strong. Response groups meet daily for twenty minutes

and begin with a report of what each member needs for that day. It ends with each member

stating what he/she will do before the group meets again.

Share sessions is the fourth component. These sessions serve two purposes: share and

support students' work in progress and function as a public, teacher-supported conference. By

actively participating in these sessions students learn how to confer with each other in one-to-one

peer conferences. Teachers can try one of two ways in giving students an opportunity to share

their writing pieces. They can select three or four students to take turn sitting in the author's chair

at the front of the class reading from their notebook or drafts aloud while soliciting responses

from their classmates. Teachers can also ask a group to share their process of writing with the

rest of the class. They can talk about their feelings during silent reading time, brainstorming

together or an upcoming deadline.

 Finally, students gather together at regular intervals to publish and celebrate their work.

Teachers can set up specific days for students to publish their pieces. They can choose to do so at

the end of every unit and have several celebrations during the school year. The teacher can also

invite parents and other family members to one of the celebrations or students may make an

audiotape of their best work.

In her (Calkins) quest for implementation, she considers the integration of The Writing

Process, establishment of a 'predictable working environment' and the creation of a system of

workshop teaching throughout the day. In The Writing Process, the first stage - Prewriting - has

been replaced by the word 'Rehearsal'. According to Calkins, this stage involves two things.

Firstly, it represents the writer's state of readiness out of which he/she will write. At this

beginning juncture, students record things they notice and wonder, their memories, ideas,

favorite words and responses to reading. These can be placed in a container or box which

Calkins refer to as a 'writer's notebook'. Thus, the writer's notebook becomes a vital tool for

rehearsal. By engaging in this collection of experiences, students "are more apt to experience

writing as a process of growing meaning" instead of writing on a topic because they are told to

do so (Calkins, 1994, p.24). Secondly, teachers must use this time to demonstrate the role writing

plays in their own lives and to invite the students to be a part of that same experience. It is here

that teachers introduce The Writing Workshop and ensure that the writer's notebook becomes a

valued tool in their students' lives. According to Calkins, this demonstration is not taught in one

class session, rather the teachers' teaching is characterized by ongoing structures and rituals that

shape the writing workshop. Consequently, students may be asked to do a variation of show-and-

tell and or meet in small groups to share. Whatever the structure or ritual is, the teachers must
make it significant in the classroom and seek to sustain it over time so it becomes habitual and

predictable.

In Drafting and Revising, Calkins also uses the notebook. Entries are made in the

notebook: worries, concerns, events, small moments etc for a few weeks. As the students make

their entries, they are drafting. The goal at this point is not to write well but to encourage

independent writing and fluency as the students move through the process of writing. When a

notebook entry grabs a student's attention, a decision is made to develop it. The student then

begins to expand that entry by writing more information on the topic. Several actions involving

writing, watching, remembering, reading, talking, questioning, imagining and pretending bring

new layers of meaning to the student's original idea. This Calkins refers to as Revision - further

development of a student's original thought.

In Editing, teachers help students to edit by creating a balanced relationship with the

writing conventions from the start. This is done by allowing them to write often and freely. As

they do so, students become aware of their own mistakes. Teachers then provide them with

checklists and tools for editing and host editing conferences with students.

Further work towards the implementation of the workshop, Calkins recommends the

establishment of a 'predictable workshop environment'. Again, teachers need to select rituals,

arrangements and classroom structures if they are to guide their students toward an ever-

deepening involvement in writing in the classroom. She further adds that the writing

environment must be featured with display areas for placing children's work, creation of a library

corner etc but mostly, "the classroom environment is created with relationships and the

structures that support them" (Calkins, 1994, p.187). Additionally, time must be set aside for
writing and this time must be predictable. Simply put, the time for writing must be known by

both students and teacher in advance and it must be quite adequate for the purpose of writing.

Calkins recommends "an hour a day, every day, for the writing workshop" (Calkins, 1994,

p.188).

Finally, create a system of writing workshops throughout the day. "What an obvious and

wonderful thing it would . . . that our classrooms would become active interactive workshops all

day long" (Calkins, 1994, p.340). Each day as various subjects are taught, teachers engage in

'status of the class' report. In 'status of the class' report, teachers ask students to state what they

are doing, reading or have done or plan to do. As students report, teachers circulate the room

providing individual help where necessary. When the children's pieces have been 'perfected', the

teacher engages the class in 'share meetings' where students read aloud their pieces. When this is

done habitually, "writing workshops contribute to a workshop-oriented classroom by helping all

of us know that meaning isn't found, it is grown" (Calkins, 1994, p.24).

As a constructivist, Calkins believe that children should generate their own text from

material from their own lives. Hence, teachers are tasked with helping students to jot down bits

of their lives experiences in a 'writer's notebook'. Additionally, teachers must have teaching time

(mini-lessons), engage students in working individually and with each other before they share

and publish their writing pieces. This must be done in an environment that is conducive for

writing and one that is structurally and ritually organized and known by both students and

teachers. Teachers are also encouraged to integrate The Writing Process throughout the writing

workshop and to integrate elements of the writing workshop across the various subject areas

throughout the course of the day. As students write, they must see that, "writing . . . is not a

process of recording details but one of making significance of them" (Calkins, 1994, p.5).
 References

Calkins-McCormick, L. (1994). The art of teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

Dominican University of California.(2018). Importance of teaching students how to write.

Retrieved from https://dominicancaonline.com/skillful-writing/teaching-students-write/

Nordquist, R. (2019). Definitions, examples and observations on writing. Retrieved from

https://www.thoughtco.com/writing-definition-1692616