Working as Writers: Establishing the Writing Community (Process Study)

The goal of this unit of study is to help students understand the purpose of the writing workshop (what they will be doing) and to establish guidelines for working independently as a writer within the classroom community (how they will do it)

Adapted from work by Calkins & Mermelstein (2003), Corgill (2008), and Ray & Cleaveland (2004)

Key Provisions (what students must

have)

Big Ideas (what students need to

know)

Essential Skills and Concepts (what students should be able to do)

Possible Text Supports (what students might use

to support their work)

Assessment (what students will complete as documentation of growth)

• Daily writing time • Demonstration,

practice, teaching, and celebration during the writing workshop period

• Tools necessary for writers to write and publish the kinds of pieces they envision

• Time for writers to think, talk, write, and share every day

• Support from the other authors and teachers in the classroom (students, teachers, books by published authors)

• A purpose for writing and an audience

• Opportunities for writers to read the kinds of books they want to write

• Opportunities for writers to write a variety of genres

• Writers develop

routines or regularly followed methods for writing and working each day.

• Writers respect their writing environment and take care of tools and materials that will support them in their writing work.

• Writers develop habits and strategies to support and enhance their writing

• Writers find reasons to write in every part of the day and in a range of genres

• Follow the routine of the writing

workshop • Participate in the mini-lesson • Select the tools necessary for

writing and publishing • Use the writing tools/supplies

appropriately • Work independently on writing for a

sustained amount of time • Develop a topic using pictures,

words, or both • Use representational drawings and

approximated spellings to develop an idea or topic

• Demonstrate knowledge of the basic characteristics of a book

• Share pieces of writing with classmates and discuss new learning

• Give and receive comments, suggestions, and questions about writing

• Explain the purpose and audience for their writing

• Be familiar with the topics of other writers in the class

• Write multiple rough drafts and select a piece for publication

• Publish one piece for a class celebration

• Examples of published

writing from students in past years

• The writing of professionals:

-wordless picture books -books that label the

pictures -alphabet books -books with poems -books with facts -counting books -question-and-answer

books -favorite picture books

• ‘What We Know About

Writers and Writing’ chart (whole class pre- and post-study)

• Student work samples from beginning, middle, and end of study

• Rough and final draft work Checklist: __Writer assumes identity of “I’m an author” __Writer makes the transition from the mini-lesson to writing __Writer works independently and productively __Writer knows writing conveys meaning __Writer’s text/pictures convey a story or information __Writer’s marks show growing concepts of print __Writer has strategies for using sound-letter correspondence

Working as Writers: Where Writers Get Ideas (Process Study)

The goal of this unit of study is to help students understand where writers get ideas and to teach students to use the resources around them to support their work and learning

Adapted from work by Calkins & Mermelstein (2003), Corgill (2008), and Ray & Cleaveland (2004)

Key Provisions (what students must have)

Big Ideas (what students need to

know)

Essential Skills and Concepts (what students should be able

to do)

Possible Text Supports (what students might use

to support their work)

Assessment (what students will complete as documentation of growth)

• Daily writing time • Demonstration, practice,

teaching, and celebration during the writing workshop period

• Tools necessary for writers to write and publish the kinds of pieces they envision

• Time for writers to think, talk, write, and share every day

• Support from the other authors and teachers in the classroom (students, teachers, books by published authors)

• A purpose for writing and an audience

• Opportunities for writers to read the kinds of books they want to write

• Opportunities for writers to write a variety of genres

• Writers use their

world and their experiences to discover and collect ideas for writing

• Writers write for different purposes and different audiences

• Writers use their reading and the work of other authors to gather ideas and discover possible formats for their own writing

• Writers may write about the same topic in different ways

• Writers notice, listen, observe, and think like writers all the time

• Collect photos, artifacts, and

writing to represent their lives and their experiences

• Talk about writing and ideas with classmates in share time

• Generate a list (oral or written) of topics to use in writing

• Decide on and develop a new topic using pictures, words, or both

• Explain the purpose of, the audience for, and the root of a writing idea

• Be familiar with the topics of other writers in the class

• Write rough drafts and select a piece for publication

• Publish one piece for a class celebration

• Examples of published

writing from students in past years

• Books in which authors’ voices tell us something about the origins of the ideas for the books (look on book jackets, authors’ notes, and dedications)

• Videos of authors and illustrators discussing their ideas for writing (Reading Rockets website)

• ‘What We Know About How

Writers Get Ideas’ chart (whole class pre- and post-study)

• Student work samples from beginning, middle, and end of study

• Rough and final draft work Checklist: __Writer generates topics without resistance __Writer makes the transition from the mini-lesson to writing __Writer works independently and productively __Writer’s text/pictures convey a story or information

Additional Units of Study

Personal Narrative Writing How to Read Like Writers Finding Writing Mentors

Writing for Readers How to Structure Texts in Interesting Ways Connecting Illustrations with Text

Literary Nonfiction How to Use Punctuation Poetry

Peer Conferences The Craft of Revision