Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Writer's Workshop in Kindergarten from Day One “ Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little. ” -Tom Stoppard Bonnie Jackson, Dennae Lovell, Megan Houfek & Meghan McMahon

Jump Right In!

Jump Right In! You can't always wait for the perfect time, sometimes you must dare to jump!  Start from DAY ONE!  On – Demand Writing  Found in Pathways book  Beginning of each unit  Don't be expect perfection!

Keys to Success

Keys to Success  Commit to DAIL ILY instruction  “Sacred” time of day that does not get interrupted  Be accountable to your teammates  Work together & take charge  Make sure you are on the same page  First year – read day by day  Don't overwhelm yourself!  Make sure to read INTRO INTRO to each lesson!  Don't be afraid to have your book with you during your lesson  You will get more comfortable with time!

Modif ications That Worked For Us  Supplies  No pen – used pencils  Erasers/No erasers?  Stapler – Children could add pages with teacher help  Date Stamp – Kids able to write date  Writing Folders – Red & Green Stickers  Find a balance & what works for you  Focus each day on Mini-Lesson  Make sure to clearly state teaching point

District Assessments Aligning Units of Study to Correlate Make sure to look ahead!  Trimester 1 : Narrative  True Stories  Think of an event/“small moment” - not bed to bed story  Trimester 2 : Informative/Explanatory  Write informational book to show what you learned  What do you want to teach other people?  Trimester 3 : Opinion  Favorite Sense  Did this assessment earlier – unsure of correlation with persuasive

Some Problems We Encountered & Possible Solutions Problem Possible Solution(s) Some children wanted to write different types Allow this during 'Work on Writing' time of stories Requires A LOT of paper! Can use Newsprint paper to save $$ Doesn't address mechanics Incorporate during other times of the day (mini- lessons, guided writing, conferencing, work on writing, etc.) Change paper format later in the year to focus on handwriting Laminate ABC chart on the back of folder (instead of sheet protectors) Clean out writing folders at the end of each unit Students sometimes forget their writing topic Use a class list to jot down topics

Helpful Hints  CD-Rom  When opening – click on Google icon, not resources  Website with easy access to materials  Don't go slow! Go faster when you don't know!

Changes to Make After our First Year  More writing celebrations  If pacing allows – add how-to books  Persuasive more aligned with common core given time constraints and assessment topics  Keep track of conferencing  Individual check-ins with students  3-2-1: Small group of 3 students, buddy lesson with 2 kids next to eachother that both can benefit from, 1 student → 6 children within one WW sesson  Build more independence – begin conferencing earlier  Writing Goals Chart – gives students one thing to focus on  Include sharing component of lesson format  Take out writing before lunch – less time taken out of Lesson  Lesson plan format so you don't have to pull out books each time.

Lesson Format Share 5 m i n Independent Mini-Lesson Writing 1 0 - 1 5 m i n & Conferencing 3 0 m i n Architecture of Writer's Workshop remains constant each day. T y p e s o f M i n i - L e s s o n s Traditional (with demonstraton): show kids what it looks like to do it and then let them try Guided Practice: do it all together Inquiry: instead of a teaching point, pose a question (ex: What makes this so read-able?)

Pacing Guide Our Pacing TCRWP Suggested Pacing Unit One – Launching the Writing Narrative – Unit One Sept - Oct Sept – Workshop (Book One) Winter Break Unt Two – Looking Closely: Observing, Oct - Nov If Then... for Narrative Writing – build January - Labeling, and Listing Like Scientists more confidence February Unit Three – Writing for Readers Nov - Dec (Book Two) All About Books February - April Unit Four – How-to Books: Writing to Jan - Feb Teach Others (Book Three) Opinion Writing – Based more on April - May District Assessment Requirements Unit Five – Persuasive Writing of All Feb - Mar Kinds (Book Four) Persuasive May - June Unit Six – All About Books Apr - May If... Then... book is helpful when students Unit Seven – Crafting Stories Using May - June need help with certain concepts. All We Know About Narrative Writing

Writing Institute Major Takeaways  Mentor Texts  Choose your favorite books to use as mentor texts – mark up with concepts to teach  “Teach the writer, not the writing”  Make sure to teach one concept each lesson  Don't need to model each time  Teacher Model Texts  Create your own books for each unit  Can use during mini-lesson or conferring  Importance of oral story-telling in beginning stages  Turn and Talk / Pair Share  Conferencing Format  Research, Compliment, Decide, Teach, Link

Student Writing Sample Opinion Writing Unit

End of the year Beginning of the year (Opinion) (Narrative)

All About Narrative

“All I need is a sheet of paper and something to write with, and then I can turn the world upside down.” – Friedrich Nietzsche