Presented by Amanda Nickerson Minerva Local Schools amanda.nickerson84@gmail.

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Writers Workshop A Glimpse at My Classroom

While teaching third grade without a core writing program, I spent a considerable amount of time researching various writing programs. I had experience with 6+1 Traits of Writing, but I wanted something that would overlap with my existing Readers Workshop in a meaningful way. Countless Google searches led me to Units of Study for Teaching Writing. I spent a long time researching the program. I learned that the program is research-based, and that it had a great impact on both NYC schools and Denver City Schools. Knowing how many literacy initiatives came out of Denver through teachers like Debbie Miller and Ellin Keene, I decided to take the plunge and purchased both the K-2 and 3-5 writing programs. I currently utilize the second kit with my third graders. I have used it for two years, and at this point, I can confidently say that this program is magical! The curriculum acknowledges that each student is the main character in his or her own life. Through a carefully crafted spiral curriculum, students master the art of writing through teacher modeling and through studying the craft of powerful authors. Students have the opportunity to write about topics that they are passionate about and tell stories that stem from their own life experiences under the umbrella of each particular unit. The Units of Study are aligned with the new Common Core Standards by addressing the following genres of writing: narratives, essays, fictional pieces, literary responses, and memoirs. In addition, the students also write biographical reports and participate in a Wax Museum to showcase their knowledge to supplement the UofS program. Prompts are used sparingly. Students learn strategies that real authors use and work in partnerships to ensure that their writing is given an audience. Partners will read to one another and offer suggestions to improve each piece. Students will sit elbow-to-Elbow, knee-toknee as they confer with one another about their compositions.This is real writing for a real audience with intention and a real purpose.This is writing at its best.

Units of Study A Yearlong Curriculum

Units of Study for Primary Writing: A Yearlong Curriculum: (K-2) * The Nuts & Bolts of Teaching Writing * Launching the Writing Workshop * Small Moments: Personal Narrative Writing * Writing for Readers: Teaching Skills & Strategies * The Craft of Revision * Authors as Mentors * Nonfiction Writing: Procedures & Reports * Poetry: Powerful Thoughts in Tiny Packages * The Conferring Notebook. * Resources for Primary Writing (CD-ROM of print & video material)

Visit wwww.Heinemann.com to order online. Contact Heinemann Customer Service:

Phone: (800)225-5800 Fax: (603)431-2214

Email: custserv@heinemann.com

Units of Study A Yearlong Curriculum

Units of Study for Teaching Writing: A Yearlong Curriculum: (3-5) * A Guide to the Writing Workshop * Launching the Writing Workshop * Raising the Quality of Narrative Writing * Breathing Life into Essays * Writing Fiction: Big Dreams, Tall Ambitions * Literary Essays: Writing About Reading * Memoir: The Art of Writing Well * Resources for Teaching Writing (CD-ROM of print & video material)

Visit wwww.Heinemann.com to order online. Contact Heinemann Customer Service:

Phone: (800)225-5800 Fax: (603)431-2214

Email: custserv@heinemann.com

Samples are available for download at http://www.unitsofstudy.com/iuos/samples.asp (3-5) and http://www.unitsofstudy.com/samples.asp (K-2).

Common Core Standards A Shift Towards Process Writing

The new Common Core Standards focus largely on three different types of writing: Informational/ Explanatory, Narratives, and Opinion Pieces. Take a look at how UofS matches up in the chart below. Note that each unit takes approximately one month.
Standard
K-2 Opinion Pieces

Unit of Study Program K-2 (growing complexity)

Genre(s) Authors as Mentors, Poetry: Powerful Thoughts in Tiny Packages Nonction Writing: Procedures & Reports Small Moments: Personal Narrative Writing Small Moments: Personal Narrative Writing Breathing Life into Essays, Literary Essays, Raising the Quality of Narrative Writing, Memoir: The Art of Writing Well, Writing Fiction: Big Dreams, Tall Ambitions Breathing Life into Essays, Teacher Created Research Unit

K-2 Informational/ Explanatory K- Single Event (Narrative) 1-2 Narratives 3-5 Opinion Pieces 3-5 Narratives

K-2 (growing complexity) K-2 (growing complexity) K-2 (growing complexity) 3-5 (growing complexity) 3-5 (growing complexity)

3-5 Informational/Explanatory

3-5 (growing complexity)

Writers Workshop A Framework for Success

Writers Workshop follows a predictable pattern of: Mini-lessons (5-10 minutes) Independent Writing (20-30 minutes) Conferencing (during independent writing) Sharing (5-10 minutes) Total Workshop Time: 30-50 minutes
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* My students are actively involved in our Writers Workshop for 30 minutes every day. I would love to have a longer writing block, but it doesnt fit into my schedule. * The framework is flexible. You may find that some days, your mini-lesson is a little longer, because maybe your students are highlighting passages or looking for examples in books. They may be engaged in other activities besides writing, and thats okay. You may write more other days, and your sharing sessions may vary. I typically allow a 2-5 minutes to turn and talk to a partner or circulate around the room for a Tea Party where they share a snippet with several people. Dont be afraid to adapt it to fit your needs.

What are Mini-lessons?

A mini-lesson kicks off Writers Workshop every day! It is a short 5-10 minute period in which the teacher explicitly teaches a writing technique through modeling, shared writing activities, or through the use of mentor texts. There are four types of writing mini-lessons: - Procedures and Organization (routines) - Strategies and Processes (generating ideas, timelines) - Skills (punctuation, paragraphing, etc.) - Crafts and Techniques (strong leads, similes, etc.)
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* I learned how to structure mini-lessons from reading mini-lessons written by other people. If you visit the Units of Study website, there are several sample mini-lessons available for download. You may want to read a few of the mini-lessons to get a feel for how they are structured and paced.
Samples are available for download at http://www.unitsofstudy.com/iuos/samples.asp (3-5) and http://www.unitsofstudy.com/samples.asp (K-2).

Independent Writing
* Students write independently daily for 20-30 min. * Students use a writers notebook and/or folder to organize their seed stories, drafts, and final copies. * Students determine the topics they will write about within a certain genre. * Students progress at different stages of writing. * The teachers role is to facilitate learning... conferencing, monitoring, encouraging, and coaching! * When youre done, youve just begun! {Our mantra!} * Students may sit around the room on the floor, in beanbags, at tables, etc.

Coaching in Conferences
* Conferencing and independent writing occur simultaneously. Since every student is engaged in writing about stories that matter, this frees the teacher up to confer with students. * You may conference with individual students during this time, or you may opt to pull strategy groups to the table. Sometimes I pull a group with different needs to help them gain momentum or generate ideas. I used to try to conference with one student at a time every time, but I found that a combination of approaches helps me to address my students needs more effectively. * Students may seek responses from other students (or partners) during this time. Published authors collaborate and bounce ideas around. My students do too. * Documentation: Some teachers prefer to keep a binder or Pensieve (if they use the Daily 5) to keep track of conferences. I generally keep copies of rubrics, writing samples, and lists of strategies/students. However, I prefer to write notes down in the margins of drafts or on Post-Its that are applied directly to the childs writing, because a permanent map of our progress is right there every time we work together, and the child gets to keep it. I make copies as necessary. It keeps my conferences brief

and allows me to work with more students.

Sharing
* Sharing is an integral part of Writers Workshop that should not be neglected. It is meaningful and empowering! * Students are given opportunities to share their writing (often a certain element or section) with a partner. Most times, students turn and talk to a partner briefly. Both partners share. If I conference with a student and think that their piece can help motivate others to achieve the same goal, I will ask them to share. At the end of a genre study, we typically spend 20-30 minutes sharing stories with one another in small groups. It takes forever to do it as a whole class, and the kids are just excited to share with one another! It is HUGE in terms of motivation. Plus, it gives students a real visible audience and gives them a chance to practice speaking orally. * In the spring, we have a Writers Coffeehouse! The kids have a chance to choose one published story that they have written to share with the class {and parents}. * Sharing time allows students to learn from each other. It also gives them the opportunity to hear/see strong examples of student writing and celebrate their progress!

Writers Notebook
* Writers Notebooks come in all shapes and sizes. You may give your students a choice to bring in whatever they want to write in, or you might opt to have them bring in a spiral notebook or composition book. I prefer having my students bring a spiral notebook to decorate, but I may try out a three ring binder next year! * Writers Notebooks allow for constant composition. These seed stories may lead to larger pieces. or may not. * Writers Notebooks are a place to write down conversations, language, words, odd facts, questions, lists, what matters/moves you, what haunts you, insights, quotes, etc. It is an idea bank as much as it is a place to hold stories. These ideas may spark stories down the road. * Heart Maps- Georgia Heard came up with the original idea of heart mapping. They may be created inside of the writers notebook or on a separate paper that is kept in each childs writing folder. It showcases what matters most and helps students generate ideas for writing. * Ralph Fletcher has a great book about Writers Notebooks called A Writers Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You. Its inexpensive, and its a wealth of knowledge!

Workshop Guidelines
* Encourage students to date, label, and save everything. * Have students skip lines in drafts to allow for editing and note-taking. * Encourage students to edit in ink to make changes visible. Never erase on a draft... just the final pieces. * Establish that writing is thinking. We must always be thinking and making sure that we do not distract others. * Students should sit EEKK {elbow-to-elbow, knee-to-knee} when conferring with others. Use a 6 inch voice whether conferring with students or the teacher. We must lead by example too. * When students are stuck, they should be able to use the resources in the room or anchor charts on the walls to help them. This must be explicitly taught and modeled early in the year to prevent interruptions during conferences and to keep kids from checking out mentally. * Determine procedures for materials, model them, then hold students accountable. * I love how my Writers and Readers Workshops overlap. If you spend the first few weeks of school teaching and modeling your expectations and procedures, you spend less time redirecting students or correcting behaviors later.

Benefits of Writers Workshop

* Having a designated time for Writers Workshop prioritizes writing instruction. * Students develop independence, motivation, and ownership as writers. They develop a love of writing, because they write about topics that are of personal significance. * Students learn how to evaluate their own writing to make improvements, and they learn how to write to craft stories with the audience and ultimate purpose in mind. * Writers Workshop sets a collaborative tone and builds a community of readers and writers. * Helps students see the connections between reading and writing through the use of mentor texts. * Students progress at their own pace. Once they publish, they begin a new seed story or jot down new ideas. They are never truly finished. Therefore, no time is wasted waiting on others to finish. Even hard deadlines for genres are not an issue. Students who are finished with the required assignment are free to work on their own exploratory pieces. * The more we empower students to think and write about what really matters to them, the more we increase the likelihood that they will grow up to be capable thinkers and innovators.

Anchor Charts Making Thinking Permanent

* Anchor charts are used in both Readers Workshop and Writers Workshop, but can be used across the curriculum to make thinking and learning permanent. These student and teacher made posters become testimonies to the work youve done together and are visual reminders of strategies or skills. * Some anchor charts can be procedural to help students reach the expectations set for them. I keep key procedural posters up all year to go back to if we need a refresher. * Some anchor charts can be used to help generate ideas. * Some anchor charts are used to teach specific target mechanical or grammatical skills. * Some anchor charts remind students of different strategies they can use as they progress through writing. * Some anchor charts are created by students as they study specific authors through author studies or look for strong examples in high quality literature. They do not always have to be created by the teacher. * If you would like a copy of the anchor chart PowerPoint, please feel free to email me.

Resources
Writers Workshop
Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School by Georgia Heard A Writers Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You by Ralph Fletcher Cracking Open the Authors Craft by Lester Laminack (Use with Saturdays and Teacakes which is also by Lester Laminack). Pyrotechnics on the Page: Playful Craft That Sparks Writing by Ralph Fletcher Writers Workshop: The Essential Guide by Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi
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Helpful websites & Free WeB resources

Teaching That Makes Sense http://www.ttms.org/steve_peha/
steve_peha.htm

Two Writing Teachers Blog http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/

Melissa Forney http://www.forneyeducational.com/drupal/free_handouts

Fiction Snippets
Gifted
Base! yelled Ivy breathlessly. She could feel the hot Texas sun beating down on her face. Julie almost ran into Samantha running after her. Recess is over! shouted Mrs. Sheen. When Julie and Ivy were in line, Julie said, Youre going to be It when we play tag tomorrow. O.K. Ivy whispered back. Ivy and Julie walked home together. When they got to the corner of Lemon Street, Ivy said good-bye to Julie and turned onto Lilac Street. Ivy stepped into her house. She saw Missy, her little sister, dancing along with the Muppets on T.V. How was school today? asked Ivys mom, stepping out of the kitchen. Fine answered Ivy. Wheres Andrew? Up in his room studying. I suppose you should be too answered Ivys mom. The next day, the sun was shining. Perfect day for tag, thought Ivy. She ran out on the playground. Youre It! Julie called Ivy. Ha! Gotcha! said Ivy after ten minutes of chasing Julie. Julie chased after Ivy. Ivy ran to the wire fence and sat down. Why dont we take a break said Ivy. As soon as Ivy finished saying it, Mrs. Sheen yelled, Line up! Come on Ivy, lets go said Julie. My hair is stuck in the fence said Ivy softly. Ill go get Mrs. Sheen! called Julie running off. In two minutes, Mrs. Sheen hurried over to the fence. Ivy, hold still. Let me see if I can get your hair untangled said Mrs. Sheen in her oh-I-hope-her-mom-isntmad-voice. Ivy...I think were going to have to cut it said Mrs. Sheen after two long minutes of trying to get Ivys hair untangled. O.K. mumbled Ivy. Mrs. Sheen went to get a pair of scissors, then returned. O.K. Ivy, hold still said Mrs. Sheen. Ivy bit her lip as she heard the snip. As soon as Ivy was in the school, she ran to the restroom. Her hair was very short on a strand. Oh boy sighed Ivy thinking what her brother Andrew would say. He always teased her, and this was his best chance. Ivy didnt walk home with Julie that day. She ran home all by herself. As soon as Ivy stepped in the door, Missy asked, What happened? My hair got stuck in the fence and Mrs. Sheen had to cut it mumbled Ivy. Then, Ivys mom stepped out of the kitchen. What about the fen--oh boy said Ivys mom. Why dont you put in a movie? Ill make some popcorn!

Fiction Snippets
High-Average
You are the weirdest know it all in the world! said Staci the leader of the bragging girls as she flipped her long blonde hair. She turned her hips and her purple skirt twirled while the diamonds on her shirt sparkled. While she turned she was looking at a tag on some clothing, thinking of what to do next with the Hannahs. Also thinking of what other stores to go to in the mall. As Shianne and Rose follow beside Staci. Girls lets go said Staci giving Hannah M. the loser look. Hannah M. ignored them. The girls scampered home. {The lead from a 7 page story}

Average
Ding dong went the doorbell of a 1980s house that smelled of shampoo and apple pie. Pitter Patter went a 3 year olds tiny feet on a hardwood floor. Maranda get the door!! said her dad. OK Daddy Maranda whispered back. Hewo said Maranda as the door creaked open. All she could hear was the warm wind through the trees. Who is it? asked Maranda quietly. No one answered the door. Daddy, no one is there. Nonsense! yelled Mr. Bruner and sent her to bed. Im telling the truth! she said as she slammed the door. Marandas room was gray, the only thing that was pink was, well, nothing. She only had one friend. Her name was Emily, her dream sister. Maranda pictured Emily with long blond hair and fancy jewelry. Time for dinner! yelled Mrs. Bruner from downstairs. For dinner, were having pork. OK said Maranda. She was downstairs when it all began. I know its your birthday, so I got you this said Mrs. Bruner. She pulled out a box. The box started to move and bark. Its a puppy! screamed Maranda. She opened the box and pulled it out. Im going to name her... Charlotte! said Maranda. Im reading the book Charlottes Web. Four years later, Maranda was 7 when she took Charlotte for a walk and a man tried to take Charlotte from Maranda. The man didnt get out of the hospital until school was over and it was summer again, so the Bruners announced Charlotte as an official guard dog.

Special Ed.
Jay wuz moveing to Florda. It wuz rayning, but he wuz not going to Florda anymor. Thay had to wate a haf an hour for the rane to slo down befor thay cod get on the rode. It was so slipry that cars wer geting in reks. Thay cod kind of see out of the windoz, but not to much. It wuz to danjerus to drive. He wuz with his dad. Ones the rane stoped, thay relizd thay didnt want to go to Florda aftur all.

Personal Narratives
GIFTED
Hhh! Hhh! I wished I was back in Ohio for a second. Then I wished I was in Antartica. I wished I was in Antartica because I was in Florida at Sea World in the afternoon it was SOOO HOT! Then I saw a sighn that said PENGUINS ---> Mom? Dad? Can we go see the penguins? I askt. Shure said my Mom. We found the place where the penguins were there was a LONG LINE! We waited about ten minute. Finllay we got on the convaer belt. It started moving. I feel like Im a bottle of milk at the IGA I said. Why? said my brother. Because Im on a convaer belt I said. The convaer belt was going sort of slow. It was sort of like a tunnle we were going into. In the tunnle it was black. Probably as black as my nieghbors cat Midnight. The best thing about it was it was cold!! I breathed in the cold air. It smelled like a winter day. Then I saw a grayish whiteish light coming out of a rectangle hole in the wall up ahead. It looked like it has glass over it. The convaer belt came closer and closer. I was thinking, the penguins! The penguins! You could see the penguins through the glass rectangle. I saw a small penguin. I stared at it and it stared back. I flapped my arms a little and it flapped back. I saw a lady in with the penguins. She was all bundoled up, coat boots everything. She had a snow shovle. She was putting snow in the cage. Then she dumped some snow on a penguins head! Then the penguin rubbed aginest her. I love you! I love you! It seemed to be saying. Soon we were off the convaer belt. That felt good I said, Now Im back in a volcaneo, but I will always remember this experience forever.

Average
The Taco Tooth Terror It all started one day when me and my mom went to taco Bell. And ordered our food and picked out our seats: so we could eat. I took a bite of my taco and another one and another one. Then I noticed something funy. I felt something hard it was a tooth. I started freaking out. I finnaly spit it out. I thought it was a workers tooth. then I realized it was mine. My mom rapped it up in a papper towl. And we at the rest. But I was still freaked out. We got home. And I was still freaked out at bedtime. I said thanks to my mom. For what? she said. For taking me out to eat I replied. Then I tucked the tooth under my pillow and went to sleep.

Personal Narratives
Average
It was a dark, rainy night, and I walked to the skating rink. Clump, Clump. I heard my feet clumping on the wet rainy road. Finally I got there, and I payed to get in. I got my skates out of my pink bag and put them on and swish I was on the go. I heard the Disco music playing and I saw the disco ball changing colors. I was there, and all of the skaters did the limbo. Then I was out of breath and had to pay for a drink It was $1.00 a pop. I got a pepsie and took a sip. I said hit to my fried Sarah and skated with her. Then I went back on the skating floor. Then I fly by my friend Sarah. I was so disy. I went back out and looked at the clock. It was 7:00 and got another big sip and it almost went down the wrong pipe. and I went out an then I went back in and everybody was going the other way. and I stoped skating for a minute and go another big sip and looked at the clock and it was 7:30 PM. then I fell on the soft floor. Then I got back up again. I went back on the skating floor and danced to the music while I was skating.

Low-Average
One afternoon me and my dog where in the yard playing. It was summer and it was nice out. We where tordes the swing set. Playing tug-of-war. We where yousing a old rope we found in the woodes. My roriller held on to one side and i held on to the uther side. He was winning. There was slober all over the rope. My handes where sliping. He was winning. My feet where slipping all over the place. My dog one... ya... ya... ya... I lurned that my dog is strong. My dog is the chimpion of tug-of-war.

Low-Average
When Christmas cam, I opened almost all of my presents. There was only one left. It was a DS and it had a lot of games with it. I tried to play it, but I didnt know how to. Then I looked at the instructiones. They were kind of hard, so mom had to read them. I got to play it finaly. I wanted to play Pokemon first because it was my favorite game ever. I played it a lot and I needed some help from Mom! Now, I always play different games and it is fun, fun, fun, fun!

Student Feedback
I wasnt a big fan of writing, but now I love writing. My favorite thing was fiction and personal narratives. In fiction writing, I loved that I could write about a Harry Potter fan club. Im really enjoying memoirs. Im probably gonna take a writing notebook on vacation and write on the beach. And write memoirs or fiction or both. Its one of my favorite topics in school. My imagination helped me in my writing this year and looking at other writing that other people did. Reading a lot of books helped me. I enjoy writing whatever I want to. I like using my schema. I like doing the charts with things we can do. I like writing about my life. Its easier to do beginnings and endings when we take our time to do strong beginnings and endings. I didnt like writing, because we always had to do prompts, but now I like it because we dont have to. It helped me be a better writer by having more details, making a list of stuff, making beginnings and endings for the best one, learning onomatopoeia, showing and not telling, describing characters, and giving lots of dialogue. I enjoy lots of things about writing like, it is fun to write fiction stories. I like using imagination. I like writing about fairy tales and mysteries.

Choosing a Life Topic!

Authors often write about the same topics or themes. Today, you are going to look back through your Writers Notebooks in search of repeating themes in your own writing. Were in search of life topics. Topics that pop up in our writing over and over again, because they matter to us. At first, well be looking for big watermelon topics like love or family. As we find them, were going to make lists of our life topics. Eventually, we are going to choose one watermelon topic to zoom in on! Our ultimate goal is to create a seed story about one moment. Perhaps, youre like Nicole in our example, and youll choose to write about a special memory with your grandmother. Perhaps your life topic is different. No matter what you choose, Im sure that your writing is going to be amazing, because YOU are the main character in your life story!

The Important List

Themes

Amanda Nickerson

Memoirs
Memoirs can be an anthology of poems, an essay, a narrative, a picture book, or anything that helps us tell about a life topic! In memoirs, we zoom in on our own experiences!

Amanda Nickerson

What does a memoir look and sound like?

When I was 5, I would dash downstairs after school to help my grandma put the wrinkled stained clothes in the washer. I remember bouncing up and down watching the sideways hurricane go round and round. Sometimes, my grandma would sit in a chair and bounce at the exact same time as me. I also loved heaving the damp clothes out and loading them heavily in the dryer, when the clothes became a tornado. When we were finished, I would love to hold the warm clothes, because it felt like a warm sunny day when my grandma and me washed all the stains and wrinkles out of the clothes.
Memoirs are entries about our own lives. Usually, we zoom in on small moments to show what matters most in our lives. What are your life topics? What do you like to write about?

Amanda Nickerson