Time is a precious commodity in elementary schools. Making the time for a daily writing workshop often means that something else has to get short shrift. However, sometimes, the time for writing workshop gets cut by five or ten minutes. Here are several suggestions for what you can do if writing time gets cut.
Category: strategy lesson
Instant Minilesson Follow-Up
A strong active engagement, and a routine for informally assessing student work during the minilesson can give you the tools you need to be sure that no student leaves the meeting area completely confused.
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Goals & Techniques Cards
Reflecting on my first experience using TCRWP's goals & technique cards for informational writing with a small group of writers.
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ICYMI: A Wrap-Up of the Tailoring Our Teaching Blog Series
Our first blog series has come to an end. This post recaps the Tailoring Our Teaching Blog Series. Also, we'd like to know what YOU would like to write about the next time we host a blog series on TWT.
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Tailoring Our Teaching: Strategy Lessons Support Writers
Strategy lessons allow you to meet with a small group of writers during independent writing time. They're essentially small-group minilessons based on needs you notice several writers exhibiting.
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Record-Keeping Forms
I recently tweaked some of the record-keeping forms I disseminate when I consult with teachers about conferring. Some of the forms now have space to record the mentor text a teacher studies in alongside a child in a conference or with a small group in a strategy lesson. I think it's important to keep track… Continue reading Record-Keeping Forms
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Enthusiasm
I had, what felt like every kid in my class, so many students who wanted to share after yesterday's Writing Workshop, which was comprised of four strategy lessons. I was pretty surprised that so many students wanted to share. My kids know that I pre-select the sharers, but regardless, still came up to me in… Continue reading Enthusiasm
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Strategy Lessons for Writer’s Block
I'm giving my students the choice to sign-up for one of four strategy lessons after the minilesson is over tomorrow morning in Writing Workshop. You'll find a Scribd Document below which contains the text, not the writing samples I'm using, for tomorrow's strategy lessons. (Note: The hyperlinks got wedged-into other words. Pardon their appearance!)
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I Can…
As promised, I'm going to be blogging about a variety of sessions I attended at NCTE this past weekend. Some sessions dealt with the teaching of writing, while others dealt with 21st Century Literacy, Reading Workshop, and parent engagement. Yesterday morning I woke up early to attend "Assessment in the Reading Workshop," which was hosted… Continue reading I Can…
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Peek In!
Peek into two a strategy lesson and a conference I had during today's Writing Workshop. 1. Strategy Lesson With Ruth's Blessing, I printed out her the Slice of Life Story (SOLS) she wrote about Sam's Nighttime Secret. I gathered four of my students together on the small rug of my classroom and handed them a… Continue reading Peek In!
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Keeping Records
Strategy Lesson Record Sheet Originally uploaded by teachergal It's always been tedious recording the teaching point from strategy lessons on three - five kids' conference record sheets every time I conduct a strategy lesson. Therefore, I've decided to separate the strategy record logs from my conferring logs. I created the record sheet, right, inside of… Continue reading Keeping Records
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Checking Drafts BEFORE Publishing
I just began an e-discussion with someone about whether or not teachers should check their students' drafts (i.e., EACH STUDENT'S DRAFT) prior to allowing the kids to move forward and publish their work. We both think the same way: ABSOLUTELY! This absolutely needs to happen in order to ensure that not only is the child… Continue reading Checking Drafts BEFORE Publishing
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 