Teaching and Organizing Writing

I have seen two different methods of doing writer’s workshop. In one classroom, writer’s workshop happens once a week, with the students doing some writing at other times, such as thank you notes, science notebooks, and memory writing for scrapbooks. In the weekly writing workshop, students choose their genre and topic. The teacher starts with a read-aloud, pointing out a specific idea students can use in their writing, such as similies or the use of repetition in a story, but there is no modeling of the writing process. Once students have finished drafting their piece, they use an editing sheet that lists the steps for revising and editing. It includes things such as I have added details to my writing, had a friend read my writing, and included periods and capitals. Students rarely spend much time on it. After this, the students have an adult read their writing. When I tried to do this, I was not sure what feedback to give the child. The students feel like they are done and aren’t open to working further on their story. They just want to get to typing and publishing their piece. To them, they have gone through the linear process and there is no reason to back up a step. These students do not hate writing, but their writing is not moving forward. It takes a long time for students to get back into their stories each week so writing is a slow process.

Another classroom uses Routman’s model for teaching writing. Students write daily about their own topics within the genre being studied (small moment stories, letters, poems, etc.). There is explicit modeling each and every day of thinking about writing, chosing a topic, revising to add details, and every other aspect of the writing process. Students conference with peers as a pre-write, telling their story out loud. The teacher engages in roving conferences with the students and final conferences when they are ready. Not all writing is published. Students pick a favorite piece they want to put the effort into revising and publishing. Student writing is celebrated every day, sometimes just sharing a great lead, sometimes a finished piece. These students are disappointed if they don’t get to write every day and their writing is improving greatly.