Writing Workshop

My sabbatical travels have taken me to Whitson Elementary in Topeka, Kansas where I have the pleasure of being a part of writing workshop in Sarah Lucero's second grade classroom. I am making almost daily visits during this workshop time, which gives me the opportunity to collect samples and to interact with the students. It's such a pleasure to see a fully functioning writing workshop where the students choose what they want to write about and are given the time, space, and materials to take their writing through each stage of the writing process. Sarah has devised a clever system of having the students keep track of where they are in the writing process. A bulletin board display is used so that she can easily track the progress as students move from one step to the next.

Sarah begins the workshop with a mini-lesson based on the grade level curriculum and what the students need extra help with, as she has noticed during writing conferences. So far I have seen mini-lessons about inserting quotation marks, using a powerful writing tree to plan out writing, and publishing their writing in booklets. These lessons are brief, as Sarah frequently lets the students know that she wants them to have plenty of time to work on their writing. During the mini-lesson Sarah reminds students of the ways what she is teaching can be applied to their writing. During the actual writing time, students are working at various stages of the writing process. On-task students are rewarded with the use of a clipboard or pillow during writing time. The classroom is busy with active writers. Sarah is busy holding individual conferences with students.

Once students have finished a piece of writing, practiced reading it aloud to themselves, and visited with a peer editor, they are ready to bring the writing to a conference with Sarah. This is done at her desk, and the student is expected to use editor marks to make corrections as the two of them read the piece of writing together. They sit across from each other with the writing on a small shelf between them. Sarah gives specific individualized instruction to each student during the five minute or so writing conference. Between conferences Sarah checks on the progress of students and answers questions that have been waiting during the conference. She has trained the students not to interrupt writing conferences unless they are bleeding, can’t breathe, or barfing (the 3 B’s).

At the end of the day on Fridays, Sarah has scheduled a sharing time. She makes this a celebration atmosphere by having students put table cloths on the desk and passing out drinks and snacks. The author’s chair is draped with small Christmas lights, and the plastic megaphone is made ready for each author to use. One student sets the stage by saying, “lights, camera, action”, each author takes a turn sharing their writing. After each one finishes reading, the class gives two snaps (instead of clapping), and then share stars or positive comments. This is truly a celebration of the work and effort it takes for each student to write and publish their own work.

Sarah clearly values student writing as seen by the time she devotes to writing workshop each week. When I ask her about the development of writing workshop in her classroom, she kindly says that she first learned about it from me, as she is a former student. Although I may have planted the seed in language arts methods class, Sarah has clearly tended the delicate plant that has grown into a wonderful thing to behold!