APenAndAProcess:WritingWorkshopInTheSecondaryClassroom

AmarilloHighSchoolAugust16,2013

PresentedbyShannaPeeples

shanna.peeples@amaisd.org

WritingWorkshopBasics

RalphFletchersays,“Threebasiccomponentsshouldbepresentinyourworkshop:1.Timeforwhole-groupinstruction(oftenreferredtoasaminilesson)2.Timeforwriting3.Timeforstructuredresponse(asawholeclassorinsmallgroups)”(Fletcher&Portalupi,2001).Materials:Awriter’snotebookofsomekind,compositionorspiral(canstoreormakestudentsresponsiblefor)–toexperimentwithwritingtechniques,recordthoughts,feelings,seedideas,etc.AworkingportfoliostoredintheclassroomYourownwriter’snotebookthatyoucommittousing,ifonlyfortenminutesadayApossibleweeklystructure(forhighschool)mightlooklikethis:Monday:SpeakingandlisteningworkshopTuesday:ReadingworkshopWednesday:LiteraturecirclesThursday:Writingworkshop

minilesson

share

write

35-45minutes

5-1010-20

Friday:Writingcircles(orviceversaifIknowI’mgoingtohavealotofkidsoutonaFriday)“Readingaloudcanworkmagiconaclassroomcommunity.Itcreatescommonexperiencesthatbindustogether”(Fletcher,75)From“TeachingThatMakesSense”(p.19)“TipsforDoingWriter’sWorkshopwithMiddleSchoolandHighSchoolStudents

• Sincetimeisshort,yourbestbetistocutbackonthemini-lessons.Keepthemasbriefaspossible,andusethemonlywhennecessary.Theyarenotnearlyasvaluabletothestudentsaswritingandsharing.

• Evenifyoucan’tteachwritingeveryday,youcanteachitonthesamedayseachweek.Tryfortwoorthreedaysinaroweachweek,oreverydayforafewweeksatatime.Atthisstageinyourstudents’intellectualdevelopment,writingisamuchmorevaluableskillthanreading–especiallythereadingoffictionwhichwillhaveverylittlepracticalvalueforthestudentsastheygetolder.

• Ifyouhavetochoosebetweenhavingtimeforreadingandtimeforwriting,favorwriting.Writingisthemorevaluableskillforstudentstryingtogetintocollegeorentertheworkforce.Besides,writingrequiresalltheskillsofreadingplusthelogicalthinkingofmath.Atthisage,allofyourstudentsshouldbeabletodecodetext.Sofavorwritingoverreadingwheneveryouhavetomakethechoice.Itwillserveyourstudentsbetterinthelongrun.

• Encouragestudentstodealwithpersonalissuesintheirwriting.Duringtheirteenyears,studentshavesomeheavythingstodealwith.Tellthemit’sOKtowriteaboutserioussubjects,andcreateanenvironmentinyourclassroomthatissupportiveofthis.

• Whenyoudoassignwritingtopics,trytopickthingsthatstudentscanrelatetoinanauthenticwayandwritehonestlyaboutortheywillfindpracticalintheyearstocome.Bookreportsandother“critical”writingmayhavebeenthebreadandbutterwewereraisedon,butfewoftoday’sstudentshavemuchuseforit(andneitherdidweifwewanttobehonestaboutit).Thinkaboutthekindsofwritingyoungadultsneedtodointherealworld(collegeentranceessays,jobandscholarshipapplications,businessletters,journalism,technicalwriting,generalproblemsolving,etc.)andmodelyourwritingassignmentsonthosethings.

• Yourbestreferenceforworkingwithstudentsintheirteensisofcourse,NancieAtwell’sInTheMiddle,butasstudentsgetolder,thewholeworldofadultwritingbooksisopentoyouandyourstudents.SomeofthebestareZinsser’sOnWritingWell,Goldberg’sWritingDownTheBones,andElbow’sWritingWithoutTeachers.”

Action/Reflectionstep:Takeafewminutesandlistyourgoals–shortandlongterm–foryourstudents.Keepyourlistsshortandasspecificaspossible.Thinkabouthowyou’regoingtoprovideregularopportunitiesforstudentchoiceinthewritingworkshop.Whatstepswillyoutaketohelpcreatea“risk-takingenvironment”?Whatarethepossibleproblems?Whatcouldyoudotoanticipatethoseproblemsandheadthemoff?

Writer’sWorkshopUsingWritingCircles

TheBasics:

A. Groupsnametheirwritingcircleandchooseacommontopic.B. Kidswriteonthechosentopicusinganypointofvieworgenre.C. Writingcircleminilessonsfocusonmanagementandcraft.D. Writingcirclesmeet.E. Kidssharetheirwriting.F. Kidsrespondtooneanother’swriting.G. Eachcirclechoosestheirnexttopic.H. Eachwritingcirclesharestheirnewtopicandsomeofthecurrentday’s

writingwiththewholeclass.I. Kidsreflectonwhathappenedinthewritingcircleandtakenotesintheir

notebook.J. Periodically,kidsreviewtheirroughpiecesandselectthemostpromising

one.K. Writerscollaborativelyrevise,polish,andpublishtheirwriting.L. Circlemembersserveasoneanother’sagents,illustrators,reviewers,and

editors.M. Finishedworksaresharedandcelebratedpublicly.

Itisworthspendingaweekonbondingyourgroupsandteachingthemtoworkasateam.Goodstrategiesforthisincludebuildingsomethingusingthesamesupplies,completingatinytask,andinterviewingeachother.Reflectontheprocessesthatdoanddonotworkandhavestudentscreatepostersforeachpartoftheprocess.Refertothesethroughoutthefirstsixweekstobringstudentsbackintoawarenessofwhatworks.Whataboutkidswhodon’t/can’t/won’twrite?1.Kidsneedtohavealistofatleastthreepossibletopicswhentheyjoinawritingcircle.Spendaclassperiodhelpingkidstogenerateideas.AgoodlessonforthisisNancieAtwell’s“WritingTerritories”lesson.

http://www.strategicwritingconferences.com/resources/SWCTopicCon4.pdfThisisasamplefromCarlAnderson’sStrategicWritingConferences:SmartConversationsThatMoveYoungWritersForwardhttp://www.appstate.edu/~smithtw/rcoe/Craft_Minilessons/RE_3150_f02/AnnaMarie_Craft.htmThislinkisateacher’sminilessonwithsampleterritoriesortopicshttp://msmcclure.com/?page_id=6142Anotherteacher’slesson,butmuchshorterandtothepointWhathasworkedinyourclassroom?Howmanyinacircle?Forhowlong?Howdoyouchoosethem?2.Eachcircledoesn’thavetohavethesamenumberofstudents.ItrytoneverputmorethanfiveinacircleifIcanhelpit.Ilikesmallergroups,particularlytriads,becausetheymovefasterandhavehigheraccountability.

• Ikeepmycirclestogetherforatleastasemesterbecauseolderteensarenotoriouslywithholdingandslowtotrustorsharewitheachother.Inmiddleschool,Iswitchedoutmygroupsmorefrequently,usuallyeverysixweeks,sokidswouldhavemoreexperiencewithmoreablepeers.

• Inmiddleschoolandhighschool,it’sbesttofindoutfirstwhokidsDON’Twanttoworkwith.Iusuallyaskkidsduringthefirstweekofschooltofilloutanindexcardtellingmethreepeoplethey’dliketoworkwithandonethattheyknowtheyCAN’Tworkwith.Itrytomatchgroupsaccordingly.

Howhaveyousuccessfullygroupedkidsinyourclasses?

Howmanytimesdoyoumeeteachweek?3.Inhighschool,thisistough,butdoable.MyESLstudentsmeeteverydayforthefirsttwelveweeksbecausetheyneedthatmuchsupport.(Theyareatanelementaryschoolliteracylevel).MyotherstudentshavemetonThurs/Fribecausetheyarewarmedupbythen.Inmiddleschool,youmaywanttomeetthreetimesaweek.Trywritingcirclesononedayandthenhavekidsdraftandreviseduringthenextday’swritingworkshop.Kidsneedthemosttimeinthecircle.Erronthesideofcuttingminilessonsshorterorcuttingthemalltogether.Thissoundscrazy,butyou’llactuallygetmoreworkoutofadolescentswhenyougivethemmorecontrolovertheprocess.

• Youcanassignstudentswritingathome,inclass,orboth.Theconsistencyofthestructurewillbegintohavekidsmoreeagertohavesomethingtoshareastimegoesby.Forkidswhoconsistentlydon’t/won’twrite,youmayneedtohaveyourownsmallcirclewithhimorher.Thiswriterismostlikelyto

needheavyscaffoldingwiththeirfluencyand/orheavyscaffoldingwithcollaborativelearning.

• “Wewantkidstolookforwardtowritingcircles,andconsistentscheduling(intermsofdayandtime)helpsmakethathappen”(Vopat,p.30).

Howaboutthetimingofthecircleitself?4.Thiswillvarybyindividualteacherand/orcampus,butageneraloverviewlookslikethis:Minilesson(5minutes)Kidssharingandrespondingtowriting(15-20minutes)Newtopicselection(5minutes)Whole-classsharing(5-10minutes)Writingcirclenotebookreflection(3-5minutes)Writingtime(ifavailable)“Keepingkidswhoareessentially‘finished’ontaskwhileothersarestillworkingisoneofthemajorchallengesofgroupwork.Thisisn’tmuchofaprobleminwritingcircles,however.Acirclethatfinisheschoosinganewtopicearlyandhassometimebeforetheannouncedwholeclasssharing,forexample,caneitherstarttheirnewwritingordiscussideasforhowtowriteaboutthenewtopic.Discussingtheirthinkingaboutthenewtopicinvariablygiveskidsadditionalideasandgeneratesenthusiasm”(Vopat,p.32).Thismakesmenervous.Itseemspermissiveandnaïve.5.“Writingcirclesgivekidsastructurethatallowsthemtorelaxandexploretheirwritinginasupportive,collaborativeenvironment.Fromthesemanydraftsemergesthekindofwritingkidswanttoinhabitandmakebetter.Theseriesofdraftsultimatelymotivateskidstotaketheirwritingtothenextlevel.Andbecausethedraftingalsoconnectsmanykidswiththerealitiesofwritingvoiceandaudience,ithelpsmakethemstrongerwriters.AsZemelman,Daniels,andHydeobserveinBestPractice:NewStandardsforTeachingandLearninginAmerica’sSchools,‘thebestlanguage-learningoccurswhenstudentsattemptactualcommunicationandthenseehowreallisteners/readersreact’(1999,59)”(Vopat,p.33).Howdoyouassessthis?

6. Vopatsuggeststhatkidskeepawritingcirclenotebook.Thiscanbeanactualbinder,afolder,orastapledorboundbooklet.“Theimportantthingistoprovideawayforkidstokeeptrackoftheirwritingcircleprocesspdrafts,topics,responsestrategies,dailyreflections,whethertheyarefirstwriterortimekeeper.Standardized‘thinkingbback’reflectionsheetscanbecollected,quicklyreviewed,andretunedtokids,whothenneedtosecurethesesheetsintheirnotebook…theycandocumenttheir‘goodfaith’effort…Awardcreditforfullparticipation.Kidsarebasicallyengagedinthewritingcircleworkor

theyaren’t,andit’stheirresponsibilitytoshowsufficientworkintheirwritingcirclenotebooktomakethecaseforsuchgoodfaitheffort…IfkidscompletethewritingcircleassignmentstheygetaB;ifthey’vedoneagoodjobtheygetanA;iftheireffortshavebeenlessthangood,thegradeisloweredappropriately”(Vopat,p.33).

• Youmaydecidetoco-createarubricwithstudentstodescribewhatgoodworkinthecirclelookslike.Fromthere,youmaydecidetoco-createarubricwithstudentsthatdescribeshowafinishedpieceofwritingwillbegraded.

Howhaveyouassessedgroupworkinyourclass?

TextstoHelpCreateYourWritingWorkshop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKY_7AhnS3oThisvideoisagreatexampleofaminilesson.Whiletheclassroomisanintermediateone,andthelessonisabitlonger(10minutes)thanwecanuseinsecondary,itisagoodmodel.http://www.learner.org/workshops/middlewriting/prog1.htmlThisvideoisforthosewhowantareallyin-depthlookathowtocreateacommunityofwriters.It’spublishedbytheAnnenbergFoundationandisarichresourceforthoselookingforfree,butgoodonlineresources.WhatyouKnowbyHeart:HowtoDevelopCurriculumforYourWritingWorkshopbyKatieWoodRayLessonsThatChangeWritersbyNancieAtwellWriteLikeThis:TeachingReal-WorldWritingThroughModelingandMentorTextsbyKellyGallagher50EssentialLessons:Tools&TechniquesforTeachingEnglishLanguageArtsbyJimBurkeComeToClass:LessonsforHighSchoolWritersbyCarolJago

Bibliography

Atwell,N.(1998).Inthemiddle:Newunderstandingsaboutwriting,reading,and learning.Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann.Atwell,N.(2002).Lessonsthatchangewriters.Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann.Ayres,R.andShubitz,S.(2010)Daybyday:Refiningwritingworkshopthrough180 daysofreflectivepractice.Portland,ME:Stenhouse.Fletcher,R.andPortalupi,J.(2001).WritingWorkshop:Theessentialguide. Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann.Peha,S.(2003).Welcometowriter’sworkshop.Retrievedfrom

http://www.ttms.org/PDFs/05%20Writers%20Workshop%20v001%20(Full).pdf

Vopat,J.(2009).Writingcircles:Kidsrevolutionizeworkshop.Portsmouth,NH: Heinemann.