How do mini-lessons help my struggling writers? Minilessons help guide struggling writers because they give information without overwhelming a student with the information before practicing what they learn. Instead, it breaks up instruction so students aren’t in one place for too long and have a chance to show what they know and practice with as little or as much help as they need from the teacher and others, such as instructional aides or classmates. Are they too simple or guided for my more advanced writers? No! Although mini-lessons may seem very guided, they are a great balance of guided and independent work time. The teacher helps students learn about a strategy or topic before allowing students time to work in pairs, groups, or individually. Instruction and guidance can be as in-depth or minimal as fit for your class and students’ needs! When and How Should I Use a Mini- Lesson? All About Mini- Lessons About Mini-Lessons Mini-lessons are “focused explanations and demonstrations of writing workshop procedures, writing strategies, and the writer’s craft.” The purpose is to highlight the mini-lesson’s topic, present information on it, and provide a chance for guided practice. Mini-lessons are a simple way to help teach student’s a strategy and give them the mixture of guided practice and independence they need and want. (p. 20) Benefits of Mini-lessons Can be done quickly or over a longer amount of time Teaches ideas that don’t need lots of direct instruction in a short amount of time Lets students take the lead in their learning by having them practice with guidance Direct instruction is not always effective, so allowing students to practice rather than spending the whole instruction period modeling gives students a chance to learn first-hand USING MINI- LESSONS TO TEACH Avery Smith, Elementary Teacher
Transcript
How do mini-lessons help my struggling writers?
Minilessons help guide struggling writers because they give information without overwhelming a student with the information before practicing what they learn. Instead, it breaks up instruction so students aren’t in one place for too long and have a chance to show what they know and practice with as little or as much help as they need from the teacher and others, such as instructional aides or classmates.
Are they too simple or guided for my more advanced writers?
No! Although mini-lessons may seem very guided, they are a great balance of guided and independent work time. The teacher helps students learn about a strategy or topic before allowing students time to work in pairs, groups, or individually. Instruction and guidance can be as in-depth or minimal as fit for your class and students’ needs!
When and How Should I Use a Mini-Lesson?
Usually, they are a part of writer’s workshop; however, they can be used daily or as often as needed during instructional times! Some are taught with the whole class or other times can be used to teach a small group that needs more help with a certain topic or need more supervised help/practice.
All About Mini-Lessons
About Mini-LessonsMini-lessons are “focused explanations and demonstrations of writing workshop procedures, writing strategies, and the writer’s craft.” The purpose is to highlight the mini-lesson’s topic, present information on it, and provide a chance for guided practice. Mini-lessons are a simple way to help teach student’s a strategy and give them the mixture of guided practice and independence they need and want. (p. 20)
Benefits of Mini-lessons Can be done quickly or over a longer
amount of time Teaches ideas that don’t need lots of direct
instruction in a short amount of time Lets students take the lead in their
learning by having them practice with guidance
Direct instruction is not always effective, so allowing students to practice rather than spending the whole instruction period modeling gives students a chance to learn first-hand
Student-led rather than teacher-led lesson, which has many benefits for student learning
Can be individualized and differentiated to fit your student’s needs
The teacher identifies a topic for the mini-lesson (often by writing it on chart paper/the board), and makes a connection between the topic and ongoing activities in the class.
2. Share Examples
Explain the topic using mentor texts or students’ own writing. Invite the class to identify other examples and either students or the teacher write on chart paper/the board.
3. Provide Information
Present any additional information and demonstrate how to apply it in their writing. Use this time to clarify misconceptions and contrast this topic with related topics.
4. Supervise Practice
Have students work in pairs/small groups to practice what they’re learning. Teacher should circulate around the class and assist/review presented information as needed.
5. Assess learning
Monitor student application of information they learned once participating in activities like writer’s workshop.
Example Mini-Lesson the Four Types of Revisions (7th Grade)
1. Introducing the Topic
-Ask students to check persuasive essays to see which types of revisions they're making
-Students tally revisions and report most of changes are single-word substitutions
2. Sharing Examples
-Teacher presents first page of anonymous student's essay (with conventions corrected) that needs variety of revisions by projecting it on board/reading it aloud
-Together they revise it and the teacher encourages his students to suggest revisions other than word substitutions
-Teacher points out a sentence in 1 paragraph that doesn't belong and another paragraph that's out of sequence
-Class made 10 revisions overall
Example mini-lesson cont’d
3. Providing Information
-After done making revisions, teacher codes each revision in the margin and tallies each type (5 additions, 2 substitutions [subs], 3 deletions, and 1 move on first page of essay). Of the 10 revisions, 4 were single word, other 6 involved phrases, sentences, and paragraphs.
4. Guided Practice
-Teacher passes out copies of entire sample essay and asks students to work with partners to revise the rest.
-Encourage them to make all 4 types of revisions. Afterward, students calculate type of revisions marked and share some with class.
5. Assessing Student Learning
-Teacher examines types of revisions students made to essay. Students also wrote reflection about types of revisions they made and how they improved quality of writing through revision choices.
