Conferencing during Independent Writing Time

Conferencing occurs during the independent writing time. Conferencing can take different forms. Students often seek out their partners or another student to conference with for opinions, suggestions, etc. Teachers actively conference with either individual students or small groups during this time also.

Conference questions to help a teacher "lead in" to a conference:

• How's your writing project going?
• Tell me what you are writing about.
• What can I help you with?
• Read what you've written so far.

Questions asked to focus instruction during a conference:

• Why are you writing this?
• I do not understand...
• What can you do to help your reader see, (hear, feel, etc.)...?
• How can we slow this down?
• What are you planning to happen next?

Structure of a Mini-Lesson

There are four parts to the Mini-Lesson if you follow Lucy Calkin's way from the Units of Study. They are Connection, Teaching, Active Involvment and Link. Following is a brief synopsis of each part:

Connection

Students access prior knowledge and hear the teaching point.

Teacher talk sounds like:

Yesterday we...
Today I'm going to ...


Teaching

We teach one skill, strategy, method, etc. during this time. There are four types of mini-lessons:

• Procedures and Organizations (routines)
• Strategies and Processes
• Skills
• Craft and Techniques

Teacher talk sounds like:

I want to show you...
Watch and notice how I...

Active Involvement

The teacher gives all students a quick opportunity to try out the new skill or strategy. Students practice the strategy and often turn and talk with their partner.

Teacher talk sounds like:

I invite you to try it in your writing.
Turn and talk to your partner how you can...

Link

To bring closure to the mini-lesson, you link to what the class has previously learned.

Teacher talk sounds like:

So today and everyday...
Now, you know that writers...
As you continue your writing you may want to...

Power Point An Introduction to Writer's Workshop

Here is the Powerpoint I presented to staff at our first inservice back to school in August, 2007.

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Structure of Writer's Workshop

I began to inservice the teachers on writer’s workshop on the first day back to school in August, 2007. I shared a powerpoint I created on An Introduction to Writer’s Workshop. Following are the key highlights from it on the structure of writer’s workshop.

Writer's 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 Writer’s Workshop Time: 30-50 minutes


Let’s take a closer look at each of the above parts of writer’s workshop.

Mini-lessons are conducted with the whole group. Ideally you have created an area of your room where the whole class can be seated on the floor gathered closely to you. A mini-lesson is explicit instruction in a specific writing technique taught in a short 5-10 minute period at the start of the workshop.

There are 4 types of writing mini-lessons:

• Procedures and Organization - routines


• Strategies and Processes


• Skills


• Craft and Techniques
  

Independent Writing occurs back at student tables/desks following the mini-lesson.

• Students write daily.


• Students determine the topics they will write about.


• Students use a writer’s notebook and/or folder for organizing writing.


• Students are at different stages of writing.


• Teacher’s role is facilitator…circulating the room, monitoring, encouraging, conferencing, and providing help as needed.


• “When you’re done, you’ve just begun.”
  

Conferencing is done during the independent writing time.

• Students seek responses from their partners.


• Teachers conference with individual students and/or small groups.
  

Sharing is done with the whole group to end the Writer’s Workshop.

• This is an integral part to the writer’s workshop.


• Students are given opportunities to share their writing piece, expose strategies they found helpful, share literature that inspired a piece of writing, and/or share a seed idea from their writer’s notebook.


• This time allows writers to learn from each other and to see/hear good examples of writing.


• This time also allows for students to practice speaking orally.

Summer vacation and the background work continues...

The end of the school year 2006-2007 came quickly. A few teachers had asked me if they would be able to take home a Units of Study kit over the summer to get familiar with it before the start of the new school year. I welcomed this idea. The kits came in from Heinemann and I got them all stamped with our school name, numbered and inventoried. As it turned out, only two teachers ended up requesting kits for the summer break.

I took a kit home myself so I could continue my orientation with the Units and start to prepare for inservicing the teachers in the fall. I also knew I would be attending the full day workshop prior to school starting at our local Intermediate School District.

About mid-way through summer, an e-mail came out alerting teachers to the sales local stores were having on composition books. The composition books are needed by each student in grades 3-5 to be used as their writer's notebooks. Normally, they cost one to two dollars each, however, with the summer school supply sales they were on sale for twenty-five cents. A real bargain...especially considering our tight budget at school. Many of the teachers made the sales and stocked up on notebooks with the principal promising reimbursement upon our return to school in the fall.