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Writing workshops main focus is writing!

There are many benefits that come from writing. It can alleviate stress, encourage students to be more productive, demonstrate communicating with clarity, as well as help students focus.

Writing workshops allow students to explore these benefits.

Process:

A writing workshop usually starts with an introductory lesson on a key concept of writing.

Then, the students can go through the writing process while still practicing the concept they went over in the introductory lesson.

The students can gain perspective by having peer reviews as well as one-on-one time with the teacher.

After revising and editing their piece to incorporate the feedback they received, the student can do a self-evaluation and self-reflection on their progress.

Writing workshop is a tie dedicated for students to gain and practice skills that will allow them to revise and publish a piece of writing while ultimately developing as good writers.

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TeacherVision (2002) included that Donald Graves, in A Fresh Look at Writing (1994), states:

"If students are not engaged in writing at least four days out of five, and for a period of thirty-five to forty minutes, beginning in first grade, they will have little opportunity to learn to think through the medium of writing. Three days a week are not sufficient. There are too many gaps between the starting and stopping of writing for this schedule to be effective. Only students of exceptional ability, who can fill the gaps with their own initiative and thinking, can survive such poor learning conditions."

In writing workshop students can work at their own pace. As the year progresses, the writing workshop matures and so do the students as writers.

Students might be looking at other pieces they have done previously. This could include drawings or lists. The students can expand on their ideas while integrating curriculum based writing concepts.

In writing workshop, the student is not rushed by looming deadlines. Instead, they can take their time and learn from their peers as well as their teacher.

Teachers also start off with mini lessons to show the students how to incorporate a specific element into their writing.

Another important aspect of a writing workshop is a writing conference. Conferences allow the teacher to sit down with a student to meet his or her individual needs. By meeting one-on-one, the teacher can properly analyze a student's work. After reading their work and asking open-ended questions about the piece, the teacher can compliment the student on what he or she did really well in their writing as well as a next teaching step. The teacher can then properly teach the concept he or she would like to see in the student's writing.

Writing workshops can instill confidence in the young writers. By working towards a personal goal set through conferences, the student will feel successful.

An open environment is the ultimate result of writing workshops. Having peer reviews and incorporating peer feedback into class discussions, the students will see that feedback is not an attack on their writing. It is to build a different perspective on writing.

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More and more students are coming from poverty, do not speak English as their native language, and have disabilities.

Those students who are falling in the cracks of the system could benefit from writing workshops immensely.

The on-on-one time allows the teacher to be completely focused on that student and their individualized needs. This will lead to a more achievable and thought out goal set for the child. As a result, the student will feel that they have been set up for success.

Having group discussions and peer reviews will show the student that he or she is supported by the class.

Writing workshops are build on a fundamental system. The approach is focused on the basic skills. Repeated instruction on the writing concepts will benefit the student.

Although writing workshops are based on a fundamental framework, the students process and product are flexible. As teachers, we understand that all students are different and will succeed in different ways.

Showing mentor texts allow the students to see a a set example of the concept being discussed.

Class discussions allow the students to practice the English language on their own time without being accessed on the verbal aspect of communicating.

Writing workshops will give the students confidence in their abilities as a writer.

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0:00 / 0:15•Watch full video

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Integrating Issues of Social Justice into Writer's Workshop

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Integrating Issues of Social Justice into Writer's Workshop

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"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."                                                                                                                  -Nelson Mandela
"The teacher who thinks 'correctly' transmits to the students the beauty of our way of existing in the world as historical beings, capable of intervening in and knowing this world."
-Paulo Freire
So, what does this mean?
It means that education is an important agent for change in our society.  And that we, as teachers, should raise awareness in our students of their ability to intervene in the world's issues, promote change, and prepare them to be productive members in society.

By incorporating issues of social justice into Writer's Workshop, we strive towards multiple goals. Some are...

to provide students with an early step into social activism by encouraging them to research and write about issues that are of concern to them.

learn to recognize real-world problems and critically engage in these issues.

to compose their pieces while improving their writing skills.

learn that writing serves various purposes.

But, how can this be done?
Award-winning teacher, Lily Diamond shares ways in which she integrates issues of social justice during Writer's Workshop:

She begins the year with personal narratives to build a sense of community and reflect on the students' most meaningful moments

In teaching that their work is meaningful and purposeful, she claims that students become more engaged and invested

To build that sense of purpose, she then integrates themes of social justice across both fiction and nonfiction writing; emphasizing the power of writing as a way to make one's voice heard, and ultimately as a means to change the world

During the persuasive writing unit, students select their own topics to research and generate debatable about a chosen issue

They research and develop evidence to defend their initiative and determine an audience for their argument in order to implement change

One student in her class wrote to the Nepalese government:

Dear Bidhya Devi Bhandari,

I am writing this letter to inform you that climbers and Sherpas are                      dying because of little training from climbing other mountains and lack of experience. More than 300 people have died climbing Mount Everest and more are dying as you read this letter. Climbing Mount Everest is dangerous and I am writing this letter to prove it.

Throughout this writing process, students develop critical thinking skills, develop their own persuasive voice, and position themselves as active learners and citizens.

When asked to reflect on their progress and growth at the end of the school year, one student responded "This year I learned that in writing I get to be me."

Evidently, integrating issues of social justice into Writer's Workshop has the potential to build students' confidence in themselves as writers so that they may communicate their unique ideas and actively intervene in our world's issues.

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1. Assess Center. (n.d.). Teaching writing to diverse student populations. Retrieved December 6, 2017, from Reading Rockets website: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/ teaching-writing-diverse-student-populations

2. Diamond, L. (2016, October 11). Writing to change the world: teaching social justice through writers workshop. Retrieved December 6, 2017, from Mahb website: https://mahb.stanford.edu/blog/ writing-change-world/

3. Finley, T. (2010, October 23). The writing workshop: a valuable tool for differentiation and formative assessment. Retrieved December 6, 2017, from Edutopia website: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/writing-workshop-differentiated-instruction-formative-assessment

4. J, S. (2013, August 2). Freedom writers best scene [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=126&v=kSlLdItWdhE

5. Sáez, F. (n.d.). 10 benefits that writing gives you. Retrieved December 6, 2017, from Facile Things website: https://facilethings.com/blog/en/benefits-of-writing

6. SanBdoCitySchools. (2016, June 9). Differentiating instruction through writer’s workshop [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=113&v=09SaYA3rCPk

7. Spandel, V. (2011). Creating young writers: using the six traits to enrich writing process in primary classrooms (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

8. Writing workshop. (2000). Retrieved December 6, 2017, from TeacherVision website:  https://www.teachervision.com/writing-workshop