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TP: Generating Ideas- Think of Important People
TP: Planning - Storyboarding

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cailin@erinkentconsulting.com

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A Writing Conference: Teaching a Student to Write for Audience (3-5)

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3rd Grade Narrative Example

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6th personal narratives conferring practice 

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Compliment & Teach- 3-5 Narrative Writing

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colleen@erinkentconsulting.com

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The Classroom Essentials Series

A foundational guide to the principles, practices, structure, and daily routines of Writing Workshop.

*How can I get started with writing workshop, or refine my workshop?
*What are the essential elements of a writing workshop?
*How can I create daily structures and routines that support writers?

In this foundational guide, Katherine Bomer and Corinne Arens describe the elegant simplicity of a Writing Workshop focused on just three essentials-time, choice, and response. Based on the research-based belief that children learn to write best when we provide a predictable, daily structure for writing, Katherine and Corinne introduce teachers to the rituals and routines of writing workshop and suggest ways to take small, incremental steps toward implementing them. Shared from the viewpoint of two veteran educators who understand the issues and obstacles teachers face day to day, A Teacher's Guide to Writing Workshop Essentials also serves as a refresher for experienced workshop teachers looking for a chance to refocus, clarify, and extend the work in their practice. If your teaching has become more complicated and more focused on curriculum than on the writers sitting in front of you, if you're not sure what your students really need to support them as writers, or if you're just not sure how to get started with Writing Workshop, this guide is for you.

(click any section below to continue reading)

Contents

Part One: Writing Workshop Essentials
Writing Workshop Structure

Part Two: Time
Working In Time
What Students Do in the Writing "Bubble of Time"
What Teachers Do in the Writing "Bubble of Time"
Predictable Time Matters
Work That Extend Across Time
Protecting Writing Workshop Time
Benefits of Breaking Out of the "Bubble"
Writing Workshop and Multilingual Students

Part Three: Choice
Understanding Decision Making
Choice Matters
Possibilities for Maximizing Student Choice
Starting with Choice Right From the Start
Writing Workshop and Multilingual Students

Part Four: Response
Response Matters
Structures and Routines for Daily Response
Teaching Students About the Give and Take of Response
Extending Response Beyond the Walls of the Classroom
Writing Workshop and Multilingual Students

Part Five: Time, Choice, and Response Across a School Year
What You Will Likely See Early in the Year
What You Will Likely See as the Year Progresses
"I'm the Kind of Writer Who..."

Companion Resources

Related PD Services

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A Teacher's Guide to Writing Workshop Essentials: Time, Choice, Response

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A foundational guide to the principles, practices, structure, and daily routines of Writing Workshop. - Heinemann

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Skill Progressions, J. Serravallo

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Strategies and lessons for teaching writing in Kindergarten through elementary to seventh grade with differentiation and inquiry. Complete guide with ideas for small group guided, shared, and interactive writing. Improve engagement and independence though social support and teacher feedback.

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Introduction
A Very Brief Introduction to Principles, Research, and Theory, and How to Use This Book
The idea for a book of writing strategies exists many times over. This one is possible only because of the great books that have come before it. There are books suggesting writing strategies meant for professional writers and college students, such as those by Noah Lukeman, Roy Peter Clark, and Janet Burroway, among others. There are countless examples of excellent compilations of writing strategies in books written for teachers of writing, such as Fletcher and Portalupi's Craft Lessons Series, Barry Lane's After "The End" (1993), Carl Anderson's Strategic Writing Conferences series (2008-2009), Donald Graves' many books, Katie Wood Ray's Wondrous Words (1999) and other titles, Katherine Bomer's books, Georgia Heard's books, Nancie Atwell's In the Middle (2014) and other resources, Lucy Calkins' Units of Study series, and many more. My aim in this book is to offer my favorite, most useful collection of strategies that span all aspects of the writing process, all genres and modes of writing, and that will work well with students in grades K-8. I want to offer you a little bit of everything. I streamlined the language and examples, and I present the strategies in a format that is organized so that the busy teacher can find just the right strategy at just the right moment. Of course, you'll elaborate on the streamlined language and make it your own.

But wait-before you dive in, I'm so glad you're taking the time to spend a few moments with this "Getting Started" introduction. In this introduction, you'll gain a helpful overview of the thinking that undergirds this book's ideas as well as an overview of its organization. You'll learn about strategies and all the aspects that I chose to include to elaborate on them-mentor texts, prompts, lesson language, teaching tips, and more. You'll learn how to navigate the pages of the book so you can find what you're looking for quickly and easily, for this is not a read-every-single-page kind of book (unless you want it to be). You'll get a quick crash course on some important terminology and concepts that will help you use this book to its fullest- thoughts about writing as a process, and modes and genres of writing, for example. And finally, you'll learn how to adapt what's in the book to fit your students' writing time in the classroom, no matter what form that time takes.
Click here to download more of the introduction of this book.
Goal 1: Composing with Pictures

Strategy Go back to your picture(s). Point to the part or picture that teaches something important about your topic. Touch or turn to the next part. Tell what new fact about your topic this part of the picture or this page teaches.

Lesson Language If I wrote or drew to teach, then when I read my writing back I'm going to make it sound like a teaching book. I'm going to tell my reader the facts I wrote about. Let me show you. I drew a picture of a big T. rex. I know a lot about them so I added a lot of details in my picture. I'm going to touch one part and teach what that part says. "The T. rex had very large jaws with big sharp teeth." Now I'm going to touch a new part and teach what that part says. "The T. rex had very short arms. It would only run using its hind legs."

Goal 2: Engagement - Independence, Increasing Volume, and Developing a Writing Identity

Strategy First, identify the problem you're having. Then, check the spot in the room, a resource, or a friend that might help you solve the problem. Try a solution. If it doesn't work, try something else.

Teaching Tip This strategy, like "Use the Room" that appears earlier in this chapter, assumes that there are things in the room that can be helpful, and that you've taught children how to use them. For example, in a primary classroom a word wall may help a writer to spell high-frequency words. If you've introduced and used mentor texts, then having these available for children to reference on their own could help them. Sometimes the problem might be that they need to work in a new spot in the room because of the amount of distractions at their current spot. Brainstorm possible problems with your students, and come up with a list of resources and solutions. Or, this strategy can be like a culmination of past teaching from this and other chapters.

Goal 3: Generating and Collecting Ideas

Strategy Decide on a new place to visit. Go there with no more than a notebook and a set of listening ears and observing eyes. Let yourself pick up on conversation and details of the person. Jot down what you observe, and also what you imagine, about the people you see.

Teaching Tip This strategy will take you outside of the classroom, so it would work well as a whole-class lesson followed by a field trip, or as a suggestion to a student, group, or class for independent writing outside of the school day.

Goal 4: Focus/Meaning

Strategy Think about a memory and all the events that are part of that memory. Think about what's important about that memory, or the big idea the memory leaves you with. Identify the one part of the memory that feels the most important. Write some ideas about what's important about it, and why it's important. Try to write just that one smaller part of the larger moment. Tell it bit by bit.

Teaching Tip The amount a writer will be able to reflect on the overall significance of a small moment will depend on her maturity level and experience with writing. For younger children, you may want to suggest choosing a small moment that will make a good story, rather than one imbued with a deep or heavy significance, or simply encourage them to narrow down the window of time

Goal 5: Organization and Structure

Strategy Before beginning to draft, visualize the shape of what you're going to make. Create some sort of quick visual, in pictures or in words, to represent the overarching structure. As you write, check back to see where you are in your plan.

Teaching Tip This is going to be most helpful after students have learned a variety of ways to structure their pieces and have been introduced to a variety of graphic organizers that would help them to organize, or shape, the information into a structure.

Goal 6: Elaboration

Strategy Think about the subtopics for which you'll want to collect information. Write each of your subtopics as a heading on a notebook or booklet page. As you find new information for your topic, think, "What page in my notebook should this go on? Which subtopic does it provide details for?"

Lesson Language I just found this interesting fact: Ballerinas really wear out their shoes. Many go through as many as 2-3 pairs per week! I'm going to look across the pages of my booklet to see where this would best fit. Would it belong in the section called "Types of Ballet Positions?" No, that's not about the positions. Would it go in the section called "Famous Ballets?" No. "What Ballerinas Wear?" Well, I do talk about pointe shoes in this section, so it might be cool to add this fact about how many pairs of pointe shoes the average ballerina needs. I'll keep the fact here.

Goal 7: Word Choice

Strategy Find all the action verbs in your piece. Focus on any that you think aren't as clear, precise, or exact as they could be. List several options for what might replace that word (use a thesaurus if you need it!). Choose the word that best matches your meaning.

Teaching Tip For this strategy to work, children will need to understand what an action verb is, so identification of verbs is a first step in this strategy. Many teachers weave in some instruction during other balanced literacy components such as word study, read-aloud, and/or shared reading. You could also plan to teach direct minilessons to the class or small groups for those who do not understand parts of speech.

Goal 8: Conventions - Spelling and Letter Formation

Strategy When trying to spell a word, try to visualize where you've seen it written and how you've seen it written before. It may help to close your eyes. Then, in a margin or on a piece of scrap paper, write how you think it's spelled. Try it a second or maybe even third way. Look back at what you've written and ask yourself, "Which of these tries looks right to me?"

Prompts

Check off the parts that look right to you.

Write the word as you think you've seen it before.

Which parts look right? Which part looks off?

Do you think there are some letters missing?

What part of that word is tricky for you?

The part you're trying to spell is also in the word _______. Does that help?

Goal 9: Conventions - Grammar and Punctuation

Strategy Find two sentences that talk about the same topic. Think about the relationship between those sentences. Choose a connector word and try combining the sentences into one. Reread and decide if you like the combined way or original way better.

Lesson Language Here's one spot in my draft where I have two sentences that I
think go well together. I wrote: "A dog is something that can keep you company. A dog
can cheer you up." What's the relationship between those two sentences? They both have
to do with something that is positive about owning a dog, so I think they are related. I'm
adding more information on. I'll try using and to combine those sentences: "A dog can
keep you company and cheer you up." Here's another spot: "I would love to have a dog.
My mom won't let me have a dog." What's the relationship between those two sentences?
The second sentence gives more information that feels in contrast to the first. I'll combine
them with however: "I would like to have a dog, however my mom won't let me." The
new sentence I made seems clearer and more to the point.

Goal 10: Collaborating with Writing Partners and Clubs

Strategy Talk with your partner about your goals (for the writing period, for the week, and/or for writing work to take place at home, and so on). Discuss together how you might get that work done. Write the goal, and make the promise...then check in with your partner soon.

Teaching Tip Reflect on your own life and goals you've set out to accomplish. Now think about how successful you've been and whether or not you made your goals public ahead of time. I know that when I share my goals with my partner, my friends, my colleagues, my editor, I am more likely to get things done. The built-in accountability, the opportunity to celebrate together, the lifeline of support in case something does not go according to plan-these are invaluable.

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Writing Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo.

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Collection of strategies that span all aspects of the writing process, all genres and modes of writing, and that will work well with students in grades K-8. Organized so the busy teacher can find just the right strategy at just the right moment.

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Skill Progressions, TCRWP

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"These assessment tools make progress in writing as transparent, concrete, and obtainable as possible and put ownership for this progress into the hands of learners, allowing students and teachers to work toward a very clear image of what good writing entails."
-Lucy Calkins, Writing Pathways
Lucy Calkins' groundbreaking performance assessments offer instructional tools to support continuous assessment, timely feedback, and clear goals tied to learning progressions that have been aligned with world-class standards. Originally published as part of the bestselling Units of Study in Opinion/Argument, Information, and Narrative Writing, grades K-8, Writing Pathways is ideal for writing workshop, but suitable for any writing instruction context or curriculum.

This practical guide includes:

Learning progressions for opinion/argument, information, and narrative writing, which map the specific benchmarks students will master for every grade level

On-demand writing prompts that support schoolwide performance assessment

Student checklists to help students set goals and integrate crucial self-assessment into their work

Rubrics to support individual teachers and professional learning communities as they evaluate mastery and plan instruction within and across grade levels

Student writing samples that illustrate different ways students have exemplified standards and highlight essential features of each writing genre

Annotated exemplar pieces of writing on the same topic for every grade level that highlight the traits you can expect to see at each level of the learning progressions.

Who needs Writing Pathways?

Educators who are not yet ready to implement the full Units of Study curriculum can use Writing Pathways to get started with Lucy Calkins' proven approach to writing assessment and instruction.

Coaches and administrators who are supporting implementation of Lucy Calkins' Units of Study will find Writing Pathways to be an ideal resource to guide their work.

Who doesn't need Writing Pathways?

The content in this stand-alone edition is the same as in the previous editions found in Lucy Calkins' Units of Study (K-5 and 6-8 are combined in this new edition). Teachers who have the Units of Study do not need this new edition.
For more information, visit UnitsofStudy.com.

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"These assessment tools make progress in writing as transparent, concrete, and obtainable as possible and put ownership for this progress into the hands

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PYP Minilesson Lesson Planning Sheet - Intro to WS 2022 K-2

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Your Research-based Guide to Developing Skilled Readers. 300+ strategies with learning progressions support 13 reading goals, with each strategy cross-linked to skills, teacher tips, prompts, research, and reading levels—everything from fluency to literary analysis.

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1. Getting Your Classroom Conferring-Ready
What Is Conferring? Why Confer?
But . . . What Is the Rest of the Class Doing?
Spotlight on Emergent Bilinguals: Tips for Book Selections
Preparing an Environment for Conferring
What Are the Types of Conferences I'll Read About in This Book?
Mentor Spotlight: Richard Allington

2. Understanding What Readers Know and Need
Aligning Goals, Skills, Assessments, and Questions
Spotlight on Emergent Bilinguals: Assessment
How Do I Confer with a Reader When I Don't Know the Book?
Assessment Conferences: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: An Assessment Conference Example
Finding a Goal
Take It to Your Classroom
Mentor Spotlight: Marie Clay

3. Setting Goals
Deciding on a Goal Together
Spotlight on Emergent Bilinguals: Goal Setting
Preparing for a Goal-Setting Conference
Goal-Setting Conferences: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: A Goal-Setting Conference Example
Making Goals Visible
A Close-Up Look at Guided Inquiry
Take It to Your Classroom
Mentor Spotlight: John Hattie

4. Noticing and Naming Strengths
The Anatomy of an Effective Compliment
Spotlight on Emergent Bilinguals: Supporting Growing Language Skills
Compliment Conferences: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: A Compliment Conference Example
Take It to Your Classroom
Mentor Spotlight: Peter Johnston

5. Teaching Strategies to Individuals and Groups
Building on Strengths
Spotlight on Emergent Bilinguals: Building on Strengths
Providing Feedback and Coaching Readers
Research-Compliment-Teach Conferences: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: A Research-Compliment-Teach Conference Example
Coaching Conferences: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: A Coaching Conference Example
Strategy Lessons: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: Strategy Lesson Examples
Take It to Your Classroom
Mentor Spotlight: Lucy Calkins

6. Supporting Conversation and Collaboration
Partnerships and Clubs in the Classroom
Spotlight on Emergent Bilinguals: Leveraging Talk Time
Partnership Conferences with Young Readers: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: A Partnership Conference Example
Teaching Talk (Speaking and Listening)
Partnerships and Book Club Conferences for Conversation: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: A Book Club Conference Example
Take It to Your Classroom
Mentor Spotlight: Ellin Keene

7. Planning and Managing Conferring Time
Planning Your Conferring Time
Which Conference Type Do I Choose?
Balancing Individual Goals and Class Goals
Note-Taking
Take It to Your Classroom

Online Resources: Videos
Grade 1: Ian (Assessment Conference)
Grade 5: Gavin (Goal-Setting Conference)
Grade 8: Justin (Compliment Conference)
Grade 2: Lucas (Research-Compliment-Teach Conference)
Grade K: Ana (Coaching Conference)
Grade K: Group of students (Strategy Lesson)
Grade 8: Group of students (Strategy Lesson)
Grade K: Gabbie and Ashley (Partnership/Book Club Conference)

In this book, you'll read about the different types of student conferences. The book is organized in the order you're most likely to use the conference types as you get started. Assessment conferences will help you get to know your readers, and then once you do, meeting with them in Goal-Setting Conferences helps you establish goals. As soon as everyone has goals, you can offer positive feedback (Compliment Conferences) and support those goals with strategies (Coaching and Research-Compliment- Teach Conferences). Once you start noticing patterns in what your students need, it makes sense to work efficiently and pull small-group Strategy Lessons (Teaching In a Group). Once that feels solid, you might shift your attention to conferring during the conversation and collaboration time (Partnership and Club Conferences). In the final chapter, Jen offers advice for how to use each type of conference with purpose and at a time that will be most helpful to you.

"I love that this book includes blank resources, like notetaking charts, that teachers can use. The combination of transcripts, charts, table tents, and annotated examples makes me feel like I have what I need to be successful in this work."-Lori Yoshizaki, 4th Grade Teacher
"The videos are SO valuable.Not only the video examples of conferences but the talking points in the book to highlight Jen's moves. It's so helpful to have her notes from each conference as well."-Jennifer Conley, Instructional Coach
"I believe that the reason why teachers don't confer during reading workshop is because they don't know how to manage all the pieces. Jen gives clear directions on how to set things up from start to finish, and information on how to manage everything."-Lisa Aker, Assistant Professor in Literacy

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A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences

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"If you are a reading teacher, a curriculum coach, or a school leader, order a copy of A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences right now. It is a must-have

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Seeing the workshop structure was super clear. I want to see what the conferencing looks like as well as the small group work.

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Gots: seeing modeling of a mini lesson very clear and helpful, organization and structure of reading/writing.. wants: thinking about time to meet with all students, seeing reading mini lessons and connections to reading groups/book clubs

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Gots: seeing modeling of a mini lesson very clear and helpful, organization and structure of reading/writing.. wants: thinking about time to meet with all students, seeing reading mini lessons and connections to reading groups/book clubs

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Great example of the mini-lesson process... thank you Caitlin for a great first day of learning. Exactly what I needed to begin to get my head around the structure and some of the strategies that have worked. Looking forward to the next two days! ~ Shane :) 

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Great example of the mini-lesson process... thank you Caitlin for a great first day of learning. Exactly what I needed to begin to get my head around the structure and some of the strategies that have worked. Looking forward to the next two days! ~ Shane :) 

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I got that conferencing is more important than the mini lesson. I would love to see what the conferencing looks like.

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It was nice to see how lessons were broken down and the overall structure.
I would like to know more about strategies to use when setting up this structure in the classroom.

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I learned that different pacing is really helpful in the mini-lessons - keeping the connection and link part short, but spending time demonstrating what students are going to do.

I am wondering what kind of feedback is given during the active engagement. Is it just a reassurance? What do we do if students are struggling with the teaching point in that active engagement part?

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Got - great overview of mini-lessons with lots of great examples of what it looks like
Want - more creative examples of the "active engagement" step of mini-lesosns

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Thank you for making the PYP connections. We are not a PYP school, but teachers that do come to our school struggle with Workshop. We are not a PYP school, so are not making those connections for them. I am keen to support these teachers in embracing Workshop so any tips and hints with this would be great - keep it coming

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I can better visualize how to do Workshop with 7th graders after today's session. Also, the planning template was very helpful. I'm interested in learning more about how to manage writers at different paces when it comes to end of unit assessing and reporting (grades and report cards).

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I noticed that the minilesson presented was very clear and easy to apply in the Arabic classroom.
Trying to write a mini-lesson the first time, was not that difficult!

I wonder how differentiation is applied during the reader's and writer's workshops.

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Great to hear about experiences from other teachers and Caitlin.

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Great to hear about experiences from other teachers and Caitlin.

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Some classroom management strategies would be helpful! (32 students!!)

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Chelsea's Gots - Students' Autonomy of Learning

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Chelsea's Gots - Students' Autonomy of Learning

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I really enjoyed the reminder that students' learning should also be assessed by themselves via the book club's self-checklist. It makes them pause to look at their learning for the day, and how successful it was or where improvement is needed. Also stepping back from the mindset that every group "should" be working on the same task, whereas spacing the groups to have more time to give individual feedback is a far better system.

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Gots
2/3 of the students are able able to understand the lesson.
Model of the mini lesson
Different approach and strategies to teach.
book clubs

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Gots- The structure and timescale of workshops
Wants- More clarity on different activities of smaller independent groups as the learning progresses

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Gots - Various classroom examples
Wants - More PYP related elements regarding the workshop model
*Question: Is active engagement a crucial part of mini-lesson? Or could it be incorporated into student work time?

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Thank you Cailin. It was an enriching and informative session. Model of Mini Lesson is something I can implement in my classes. Looking forward to understand and dive deeper into conferencing.

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Becoming a better reader & writer... not learning "about" reading & writing

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Becoming a better reader & writer... not learning "about" reading & writing

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So much of this is about philosophy. Not a "how-to-do-this" sort of thing. Very important for Ts to have the proper mindset. Good stuff!

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Gots:

- I really appreciated the lesson simulation. The lesson was clear and concise. I'm a more of a visual learner so this helped me a lot.

- I have more of an understanding of what should be accomplished in and out of the workshops. Such as the teaching point, work time, and conferencing during the workshop and word study outside of workshop.

- A quick work at lesson planning. Getting down to the bones of what lessons look like was really helpful.

Wants:
- I want more of a breakdown and help planning how to conference and work to support students during their work time.

- I want examples and resources of giving students choice during workshops.

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Got:
- Clear modeling of the writing workshop architecture
Want:
- Breakdown of conferencing time: idea of when to engage with small groups or 1:1
Question:
- During modeling, are students allowed to follow along and get a head start?

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Gots: Clearer understanding of the sturucture and lesson delivery of the workshops.

Wants: I will use your template for mini-lesson delivery next year until mastery. Thanks

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3rd Grade: Open Genre
4th Grade: Personal Narrative

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GOTS: having an overall view of what workshop is about and how it takes place in the classroom is great. It seems to be useful and a great strategy for the students.
WANTS: I would love to have more information on the steps that take place when having conferences with students. These students are usually the ones struggling, specifically because of the language differences. What do we, as teachers, do in these scenarios to differentiate instructions for them?
Also, how to develop the lesson with students who finish faster than others? what kind of strategy should a teacher develop prior to the lesson in order for these students not to interrupt the conference happening with other students?

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Gots- The resources for dispays were really useful and how conferencing and the small group play out.

Wants- How are partnerships decided and how long are 2 students paired for?

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How can we best support our EAL students in the small groups and in the workshop model in general?

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Loved seeing how conferencing is structured! Would like to see the process of grouping small groups.

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How do you decide how to group the students at the beginning of the year?

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Writer's workshop & technology (commenting on Google docs, for example) -- feedback and conferencing/conversations w students that is "live", versus done outside of class time.

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The perfectionism idea has an impact on some students, and they are struggling to put things down. What are some strategies to change their mindset? What are some resources for parents to understand the workshop model?

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Looking forward to use different conferencing models in the new school.

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How should you determine reading/writing partners?
Should students choose their reading/writing work places, or should teachers choose?
How can you encourage kids to flash draft?
Planning the conferencing and small group for two weeks and having notes/checklists to use.

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I wonder how to integrate Reading and Writing Workshop with the other benchmarks and curriculum for social studies that is a part of humanities at our school.

I really enjoyed the anecdotal notes templates and conference/group models. I also really enjoyed the idea of Unit 0: Launching Writing Workshop--teaching routines. I also really like the "forever stance" language used while coaching.

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Are there any hard rules to follow when preparing our kids for a year of workshops? or do we just get a feel  for  the kids we have for the year and  then plan accordingly

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do you think the conference is working with a big group of students?

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do you think the conference is working with a big group of students?

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any resources or tips that would work for online classes?

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Thank you Caitlin (think i called you 'Erin' earlier... oops)... today helped me to start to get my head around the organization required to vary my classroom (pair, group, conferencing, etc...) a great reminder of how to plan my lessons and give targeted, uplifting feedback to students. :)

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Got - Structure, examples, and resources of how small groups operate during WW.
Got - Ideas of how I may want to establish WW in the first few weeks of school. I liked the idea of having a writing center, writing tools, making a plan, setting up a spot before WW for efficient transitions and student success.

Want - A little more elaboration of the pros and cons of having a full week of conferences/small groups compared to conferences/small groups staggered throughout the week.

Want - How should midworkshops work? Wouldn't that disrupt the "independent writing" time?

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Intro to Workshop - Course Reflection - Google Jamboard

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The version of the browser you are using is no longer supported. Please upgrade to a supported browser. Dismiss

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Writing process and suggested resources to use as mentor texts

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Writing process and suggested resources to use as mentor texts

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Got - Strategies for depended writing, tips active engagement, and the whole writing process.

Got-Fantastic ideas on how a librarian can support teachers by curating mentor text, using the same language that is used in the workshop model to support students to choose.

Wants - Looking for suggested resources that I can recommend as mentor text for k-5

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The Classroom Essentials Series

Writing conferences are a way to help both you and your students find joy in the writing process. And too, conferences can help you provide one-on-one instruction that covers a wide range of writing skills and strategies.

How can I get started with conferring or improve my conferences?
How can I fit conferences into my busy writing workshop schedule?
How can conferences help me meet the diverse needs of student writers?

Helping students become better writers is what writing conferences are all about.In A Teacher's Guide to Writing Conferences, Carl Anderson explains the underlying principles and reasons for conferring with students, and how to make writing conferences a part of your daily routine. With clear and accessible language, Carl guides you through the three main parts of a writing conference, and shows you the teaching moves and intentional language that can be used in each one. He helps you understand:
* how to get started with conferring, or improve your existing conferences
* how to use conferences to meet the diverse needs of your student writers
* how to fit conferences into your busy writing workshop schedule.
More than 25 videos bring the content to life, while Teacher Tips, Q&A's, and Recommended Reading lists provide everything you need to help you become a better writing teacher.

(click any section below to continue reading)

Contents

Part One: What Is a Writing Conference?
My First Writing Conference Was a Disaster
Writing Conferences Happen in Writing Workshop
What Is a Writing Conference?
Why Confer?
Part Two: Start by Discovering What the Student is Doing as a Writer
Invite Students to Talk About Their Writing
What Will Students Talk About?
Five Scenarios That Happen After You Ask, "How's It Going?"
Try It Yourself: Studying Your Conferring
Part Three: Assess and Decide What to Teach
Recognizing Patterns Is the Key to Good Decision-Making
Writing Patterns and Teaching Points
Try It Yourself: Building Your Knowledge of Writing Patterns and Teaching Points
Part Four: Then Teach Powerfully
Move One: Give Feedback
Move Two: Deliver a Teaching Point
Move Three: Coach
Move Four: Link to Independent Work
Studying the Four Teaching Moves in a Transcript of a Conference
Try It Yourself: Improving Your Conference Teaching

Companion Resources

Reviews

"With the videos included in this book, learning does not stop on the last page of the book. The art of teaching is taking something and creating a wonderful lesson that brings the learning to life. This is what the videos do for the book."-Lesley Miller, Director of Title I and Literacy, Frankfort, IN

"Carl does an excellent job of showing all the possibilities when conferring with writers. His teaching point library is probably the highlight of this book for veteran teachers. Excellent!"-Jill Hatcher, Literacy Coach

"This would have been invaluable to me in my first years of teaching. Not just the text, but as a way that teachers can talk to students, in ways that move the learning forward."-Tia Frahm, Assistant Professor

"I struggle with writing conferences, and this book was filled with helpful problem solvers. The many strategies offered quick and useful tools to support my teaching and the young writers in my classroom."-- Tiffany Jewell, Montessori Teacher

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