Writers Workshop is a 45 minute block focusing on writing skills. Writers Workshop begins with a 5-10 minute mini-lesson covering one writing skill. After the mini-lesson, students are expected to use what was learned during the lesson in their piece of writing that they are working on. Students are expected to write independently for 20-25 minutes, while I work with students one on one. The last 10 minutes of our writing time are spent sharing what was written that day. Writing lessons will mainly focus on the six traits of writing: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. Modes of writing will include: personal narrative, constructed responses, friendly letter writing, opinion writing, research reports, writing instructions, and poetry.
Our First quarter writing focus will be Personal Narratives. The students are the stars of their own true stories. This will give them an opportunity to focus on themselves, using describing words, transition words, creating strong leads, using details to paint a picture and satisfying endings to wrap up their stories.
1st Quarter: Constructed Responses and Friendly Letters
2nd Quarter: Personal Narratives and Opinion Writing
3rd Quarter: Animal Research
4th Quarter: “How to”/Instructive Writing and Poetry