Reclaiming Writer's Workshop - Part 1

Year after year my 4th graders seem to forget how to write with punctuation! They forget it to the point that I secretly wonder if their prior teachers ever introduced it. (Be honest, I'm not the only one thinking it!) We all know that a lack of punctuation in writing promotes run-on sentences til the day is long. They have so many ideas the words spill onto the page like a bowl of spaghetti. So we must ask ourselves: how do we explicitly instruct writing while simultaneously making it a fun and creative process?

With that in mind, I started to reflect and the thought struck me...where did Writer's Workshop go? When did I stop making it part of my daily routine? Then I realized - Modules! When the New York State Modules came to town, teaching creatively took a back seat. So many of us substituted what we used to do for what the State thought we should be teaching. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great lessons and topics within the Modules. But if we are are being honest, the Modules have stifled all of our creativity just a bit!

I decided to take a break from our regular instruction to go back to the basics. I told myself that I was going to take the 2 weeks before Christmas break to teach my kids how to love to write again. This is what I did...

GIFT OF A JOURNAL

I scrounged up writing journals so all of my students could have their very own place to create. Handing out the journals was like handing out blank canvases. They decorated them and couldn’t wait to fill them with their own words. It was like Christmas had come a few weeks early!

WATERMELON STORIES

Most kids write "watermelon stories". Big stories with many ideas in one huge punctuated paragraph. Their writing reminds me of a small child telling me what they did at school that day. Lots of run-ons, disorganization, and so many topics you can’t keep them straight. I wanted them to focus on one part of their watermelon idea, so I started painting the picture of the seed.

I gave the class a watermelon topic to focus on - an amusement park. For the class discussion, I knew that all of the students could have some background knowledge of a fair, water park, etc. to be able to reference. Then, I started describing some things (events, food, games, rides) that someone might experience at an amusement park. We started brainstorming our own ideas and I started taking their ideas and writing them all over an anchor chart. When I was finished I labeled them - "Seed Stories".

SEED STORIES

The next thing I had them do was to choose one seed idea or story from our chart. I told them that we weren’t going to write about the whole park (watermelon) but just one thing or idea (seed) from there. They quickly jumped into writing their seed stories. After 10-15 minutes I stopped them to have our first sharing session.

THE SHARE CHAIR

I moved the rocking chair to the front of the room so it could be the focus. This was now going to be our place for sharing. We worked on how the reader should be projecting with clear voices while the audience had their roles as listeners and respondents.

We focused on the protocols of be kind, be specific, be helpful and participate. These protocols were the foundation for everyone to feel comfortable and confident in sharing their innermost thoughts. We had become a writing community that had to support and help each other grow as writers.

DRAFTING

Their stories definitely described the rides and the food - but not the experience. I wanted the students to focus on just one seed story, but their voice wasn’t coming through.

The next day, I decided to explicitly teach how to bring the 5 senses into a writing piece. The best graphic organizers are the ones that kids can remember and create on their own. I love to trace my hand and transform it into an organizer that works!  So within each of my fingers I drew a quick image of an eye, an ear, a nose, a mouth, and a hand. This signaled to my kids that each finger was for a different sense. I referenced back to my seed story first draft and started to add details on the hand.

Student Organizer for the 5 Senses

From my organizer, I then pieced each detail into sentences that painted a picture of my experience. I showed them a side by side comparison of the two drafts, they couldn't believe they where from the same seed story. My seed story transformed into a snapshot of what I actually experienced. The students were amazed and motivated to try this majic on their own.

Before they started on their own, I explicitly told them I want to read about how and what they experienced in the seed story. As they started brainstorming on their organizers, I couldn’t believe how their ideas were exploding off the page. 

I wouldn't believe that such a simple activity coul dbring so much energy to a simple seed story. The differences in the first and second drafts of this student's story demonstrates the power of explicitly teaching about the five senses and how to convey those senses in a story. 

First Draft (L), Second Draft (R)

To read Part 2 of this blog (editing and revising) on Writer's Workshop, click here  ->  Writer's Workshop: Part 2