Writers Workshop

Writers' Workshop is launched in September in grades 1-5 and in January in Kindergarten.They are listed below in no particular order. Modify the mentor texts and language in the lessons as necessary for your grade level.

Grades K-2
Starting the Writing Workshop
Writers decorate their Writers' Workshop folders.
Good writers spell the best they can...and then move on.
Good writers respect other writers.
Good writers understand the rules of Writers' Workshop.
Good writers know what writers write!
Good writers know why writers write!
Good writers confer.
Good writers create a heart map.
Good writers create a memory chain.
Good writers carry on independently.

Grades 3-5

What is Writers' Workshop? (3-5)

Good writing is decision making. (3-5)

Good writers map their hearts to find topics that matter. (3)

Good writers generate ideas. (Part I) (3)

Good writers generate ideas. (Part II) (3)

Good writers rehearse for writing by storytelling. (3-5)

Good writers establish routines. (Part I) (3-5)

Good writers establish routines. (Part II) (3-5)

Good writers recognize the qualities of good writing. (Part I) (3-5

Good writers recognize the qualities of good writing. (Part II) (3-5)

Good writers recognize the qualities of good writing. (Part III) (3-5)

Good writers know the writer's job in a conference. (3-5)

Good writers choose a seed idea. (3-5)

Good writers use timelines as tools for planning stories. (3-5)

Good writers generate ideas. (Part I) (4-5)

Good writers generate ideas. (Part II) (4-5)

Good writers create timelines for developing stories. (3-5)

Good writers write from inside a memory. (3-5)

Good writers spell the best they can and then move on. (3)

Good writers organize their thoughts in paragraphs. (3)

Good writers write in passages of thought. (4-5)

What is revising? (3-5)

What is editing? (3-5)

Good writers revise leads? (4-5)

Good writers revise endings. (4-5)

Good writers revise to develop the heart of a story. (3)

Good writers revise to develop the heart of a story. (4-5)

Good writers review capitalization rules. (3)

Good writers review punctuation rules. (3)

Good writers review capitalization and punctuation rules. (4-5)

Good writers use the editing checklist. (4-5)

Good writers know the writing process. (3-5)

Introduction to Writer's Notebook (3-5)

Personal Narrative and Raising the Quality of Narrative Writing

It is suggested that the personal narrative unit begin in October in grades 1-5 and in February in Kindergarten. The sample lessons below will help you begin to build a logical sequence of focus lessons that transition writers for from the launch to more in-depth writing experiences. These lessons correspond to those in the unit trajectories. They are listed below in no particular order. Modify the mentor texts and language in the lessons as necessary for your grade level.

Grades K-2

Good writers reveal their internal stories.

Good writers understand a "small moment" story.

Good writers can discover one small moment.

Good writers establish long-term partnerships.

Good writers use an inverted triangle to find a writing topic.

Small moments anchor chart

Grades 3-5

Good writers add scenes from the past and future. (3-5)

Good writers use yesterday's revisions as today's standard practice.(3-5)

Good writers bring forth the story arc. (3-5)

Good writers edit using the power of commas. (3-5)

Good writers end their stories. (3-5)