Peek Inside This Extracurricular Writing Club: Reflective Practice

A Backstory: I love writing workshop. Okay, that’s obvious. But I get excited when I see writers working to reach personal goals in writing. I see this most often on Freewrite Fridays, where kids are free to make choices and follow their interests. This got me thinking: What if there was an opportunity to engage in writing workshop without all of the have-tos of education today? With encouragement from my school leaders, I launched our school’s first “Author’s Club,” meeting every Friday before school.

By the Numbers: 8 first graders, 6 second graders, 2 third graders, 2 fourth graders, and 5 fifth graders signed up. I debated making the club third through fifth grade only, but I’m learning the age gap between writers leads to great opportunities for mentorship.

How It Works: Each Friday, we follow a typical workshop structure. Students arrive, engage in a minilesson, then go off to write, conferring with me and with peers. We wrap up with an author’s chair and share session, then students begin their school day.

The Author’s Chair sessions have been nothing short of amazing! It’s adorable to watch a first grader bravely read their book to the mixed group and hear the gentle and kind words of advice from the older writers. It’s just as special to see eyes light up and mouths drop as a skilled writer reads a long story, the audience hanging on every word.

Why It Rocks For Kids

On the first day, a fifth grader I’d never met walked in confidently and announced that she was an avid writer who struggled to find time to get her work done, much like adult writers. “This will be good for me,” she declared. “I need a set time to focus on writing every week.”

These writers love making decisions and directing how their Friday morning will go. Many of them choose to bring their writer’s notebook from their classroom, but others have a separate folder they keep in my room with just-for-fun writing. One first grader even stopped by last week to grab her work for the weekend since we didn’t have school on Friday.

The older writers are loving the opportunities to teach. I recently overheard a conversation between a fifth grader and second grader. The fifth grader was explaining different points of view to the younger writer and helping her decide which to put in her story. “You’ll learn this in fourth grade,” she warned, “but I think you’re ready for it now.”

Why It Rocks For Teachers

Sometimes, the beliefs I hold about writing workshop clash with the daily expectations of a classroom teacher. For example, I believe that drawing is an important part of storytelling, yet I sometimes feel the pressure to rush along a writer who spent 40 minutes drawing a detailed image. Or, I’m inspired by kids who want to co-author a piece, but I’m worried I won’t know how or what to grade if they write a book together. This pressure comes from time constraints, curriculum expectations, or anxiety about what administration or other teachers would think. Conversely, in our writing club, writers (and their teacher!) feel the freedom to work at their own pace, focused on their own interests. This club inspires me to carry that energy to my classroom and pushes me to uphold my beliefs despite the common barriers. Suffice to say, my cup is filled each Friday morning with these passionate and motivated writers!

Where We’re Headed: While I’ve led minilessons the first few weeks, we will soon shift to student-led minilessons, leaning initially on the expertise of the older students. I discussed this opportunity with a fifth and fourth grader as we looked at their writing. I asked what skills they’ve mastered that they could teach the group. The writers decided to teach a lesson about dialogue together, agreeing sagely that the younger writers in the group could use some instruction and practice around this topic. I’m eagerly anticipating how the mentorship between the older and younger writers will progress with the support of student-led minilessons and small groups.

The group helped me launch our first school-wide writing contest, inspired by Melanie Meehan. Students in the club are excited to help judge the entries!

I’m also looking forward to engaging this group in the Two Writing Teachers’ Classroom Slice of Life Story Challenge that happens every April, and wondering about the logistics for a writing celebration. While this passion project is a work-in-progress, I’m so excited to see where the year takes us.