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Writing Time:
During a writing workshop, writing time is the part of the workshop where students can practice the new skills they just learned in the lesson. Writing time is best if it is 20-40 minutes in length. In third and fourth grade, students still struggle slightly with what they should write about. Having a short brainstorming session, or talking with a peer to get their ideas flowing usually helps eliminate writers block. In writing time, students in these grades focus on creating lead sentences for each paragraph, as well as the structure of the plot of the story they are creating. During this session, students can write on regular note paper while skipping lines for revising and editing. Students should focus on mechanics and the fluency of their story. During writing time, time is set aside for conferencing, whether it be with the teacher or another classmate. During conferencing, third and fourth grade students should focus on trying to expand their story with details. Students should proofread and begin to revise their work. They should look to correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. As demonstrated in the picture, a visual of the writing process would be helpful for a teacher to have around the room where student writing takes place. This visual can keep students on track and remind them of what the process should look like if they get stuck. Writing time is an extremely important part of the writing workshop because it motivates students to grow, develop, and appreciate their writing.

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Read Aloud:
I NTERESTING DESCRIPTION OF THE VALUE OF READING ONE'S WORK ALOUD BUT THAT IS NOT REALLY WHAT WE MEAN BY THIS COMPONENT.  IT'S PRIMARILY THE TEACHER READING ALOUD A MENTOR TEXT.
Reading aloud is a very important step in a writing workshop. Reading aloud can be very beneficial when editing a draft. While seeing a paper with your eyes and also listening to it, we are more likely to remember what is being said, and we are more likely to hear mistakes. After students have been given time to write, they should read their work aloud to help them revise. Having students read their work aloud is a good way for them to listen to what they wrote and find mistakes. When you read aloud, it is easier to hear if your writing flows and it helps identify if you need to make changes. Sometimes students stare at a paper for so long that they think what they are writing flows and makes sense, but when they read it aloud they can hear mistakes they did not originally see. Reading aloud will also help them find errors inside their writing. They will be able to spot small grammatical errors, spelling errors, or they can hear if a paragraph gets off topic and needs to be organized differently. Students should also be given the opportunity to read their writing aloud to the class or to small groups. This will give them the sense of writing to an audience, and it will it help them become better listeners. Teachers should read aloud to the class examples of good writing and bad writing so that students understand the difference between what is clunky and what flows nicely. These examples can be from authors, something the teacher wrote, or even something that one of the students wrote (anonymously). Reading aloud is an important part of the writing workshop because it allows students to hear what they are writing and to have their ears catch mistakes that their eyes cannot find.

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Sharing:
Sharing is a way to wrap up the writing workshop and give the students an opportunity to share with the class the things they have been working on. Some teachers have a designated author’s chair for the students to sit in while sharing and others simply have the students stand up and share their work. The students should have the choice as to when they share. It is important not to pressure the students into sharing their personal stories with the class. As a teacher, you should make sure every student does share something with the class at some point in the year. As part of the sharing process, the students should focus on their fluency and expression when reading their work to the class. Following the students sharing their piece to the class, the audience should have a chance to respond. When allowing the students to respond to their classmates work, the goal should be to praise the writer, not bring them down. Sharing allows the class to engage in each other’s stories and also gain ideas for future works.  Another form of sharing is by using small groups. The students can then share their work with one or two other classmates. This gives the students more time to share their writing piece and talk about what the students liked about their work. This component in the writing process is important to build the students as writers by giving them compliments after they share. Shared writing also develops the students speaking skills and allows them to practice speaking in front of their class with emotion.

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Reading:

In the writing workshop, students’ reading skills can be developed. This can happen when students are reading over their own stories. They can practice sounding out words and not skipping any parts of their work. Students can develop their reading skills by reading over the assignment or goal of what their teacher wants them to accomplish in this time. Also, if the teacher is reading a book as part of the writing workshop lesson, students can follow along, this will also help develop their reading skills. Any part of the writing workshop can develop reading skills. Students will pick up on unfamiliar words or be able to recognize common words and be able to utilize them in their writing. Reading over a partner's work can allow students to practice reading new words and identifying words they do not know by using context clues to figure it out.

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Speaking:
Students’ speaking skills can be developed during the writing workshop in different ways. During read-alouds or mini-lessons, students can practice speaking by asking or answering questions. During the writing workshop, students can also discuss with their peers or with their teacher about new ideas for stories. During conferencing, students can practice speaking by sharing their story with their peers or teacher and will then receive constructive criticism back from each. They can also practice speaking by giving their peers feedback. After students' stories are completed, they can practice their speaking skills by presenting to the class. They can practice talking at a moderate pace and pronouncing words loud and clear. Having multiple opportunities for students to speak in class is extremely beneficial for their development. It allows them to be more comfortable speaking in front of others and also sounding more confident with what they are saying.

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Mini Lesson:
Mini lessons are used to review topics that students may have struggled with within a large group lesson. They are typically 15-20 minutes long and gives teachers the ability to look at the student's work while also giving them a chance ask questions about the topic. Mini lessons are normally taught at the beginning of writing workshops and offer direct information about what students need to be successful. This is a perfect opportunity for teachers to bring in excerpts of their own work to show to the students to give them a different look into becoming a successful writer. Mini lessons typically fall into the categories of procedural lessons, writer’s craft, and developing different skills. Procedural lessons include different routines within the writer's workshop such as behavior during mini lessons, what to do after you finish your writing, and how to give feedback to a peer. The writer’s craft mini lessons include techniques to opening and closing a piece, the ability to match the topic with the purpose and audience, and how to include voice into your writing piece. The last category that mini lessons normally fall into is the development of writing skills. These skills include the use of graphic organizers, grammar skills, and utilizing transitions throughout your writing piece. Students then use all of the information they receive from the mini lessons, and apply it to the next steps of the writers workshop.

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Uploaded by Dorothy Cotton on 2014-02-20.

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Listening:
Listening is essential when communicating with students throughout writers workshops. The students need to be attentive and listen to what the teacher has to say during workshops. It is important for students to understand what the teacher is saying and have the ability to apply what they were taught to their workshop. Giving students specific instruction before beginning the writers workshop is a good way to outline what is expected. Also, providing students with first hand experiences and giving them the opportunity to hear personal stories and examples of writing is a good way to keep the students interested. Students love to hear stories from teachers personal lives and also enjoy being able to relate to them. Having an open field of communication is key to becoming a better writer. Not only is it important for students to listen, but also for teachers to listen to their students. Students just learning about the writing process may have questions or concerns about the writing process and it is important that teachers hear and understand the problem to be able to find a solution. Peers listening to each other is also a great learning experience for new writers. Giving students the opportunity to listen to each other's work can help give students ideas and inspire more creative writing.

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Writing:
Writing is the most important part of writers workshops. Giving students the ability to write down their ideas and begin to construct a story is the main goal of a writers workshop. It is important that students understand and have the ability to take feedback. Giving students the opportunity to write down all of their ideas and then giving suggestions is a great way to communicate. The beginning stages of writing are vulnerable for young students so leaving comments and suggestions for them to reevaluate their work is an easy way to communicate back to the student. Also, having an open communication system where students can write down their questions and ask for help on their work  is a great way to enhance communication within a writer's workshops. In addition to teacher review, peer review is also a great way to receive feedback. Giving the students the ability to read another student's work and write down comments helps the student who wrote the piece, and also helps the other student to begin to learn to identify problem areas and inspire more creativity.
An example of a graphic organizer students may use to begin their writing piece is...

Hamburger: the idea that the student fills out the hamburger as a prewriting exercise and then gives it to the teacher to review. The teacher then can use that prewriting paper as a way to communicate back to the students and give them feedback about their topic and information they are planning on including in their writing.

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Viewing:

HOW ARE STUDENTS DEVELOPING THEIR VIEWING SKILLS IN A WW?

Viewing is an important way to communicate with the students during a writing workshop. As a teacher, you have roughly 25 - 30 students in your class and it is your job to keep them all on task during the writing workshop. Posters can be used throughout the classroom that designate how much time should be spent on each step of the writing process. When the students see that they should only spend 5 minutes with a partner, they can keep track of how long they have been working and move to the next step on their own. As a teacher, you can also put steps on the board for students to follow as you are working one-on-one with students. Not only does this tell them specifically what they should be doing, it will limit the amount of questions you receive while you’re working with a student. Posters and writing on the board are useful ways to help the students stay on task during the writing workshop and allow for more things to get done.

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Visually Representing:
Visually representing allows students to express their ideas through images. They can use photographs, illustrations, videos, or digital media. The images are used to convey an idea to others, and usually come with written or spoken words. Teachers can use visual representations to enhance student writing. The teacher can also have students draw a picture of an event in their life and when they finish drawing, they can write about what is happening in that picture. Another activity the teacher could do is put a picture on the board and have the students write about their interpretation of that picture. Lastly, the teacher can have students tell a story through pictures and then explain it either through spoken or written word. There are many different ways that teachers can incorporate this in writing. Visually representing is a good way to make writing exciting and interesting. It is also a good way to make their writing about things happening in the real world.

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A writing workshop gives the teacher an opportunity to see what students are struggling with most and to help them either in groups or individually. It allows the teacher to focus on the individual needs of each writer. Overall, the students could be writing about the same topic, but the teacher can tell individual students in their conferences what they should focus on in their writing. For the students that are struggling, the teacher can plan mini-lessons to help them in a smaller group setting and then apply it to the rest of the class. The teacher can read books that are relevant to the students’ lives and then have them write about what they heard. This will help students who struggle with finding a place to start their writing. The teacher can have a individual conferences with these students to help guide them down the right path to start and continue their writing. The writing workshop allows the teacher to maneuver around the room and keep people on task. This also gives the teacher an opportunity to stop at students’ desks that need more instruction. Writing workshops allow all students to feel included even if the teacher spends more individualized time with a few students.

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Audio Clip

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Please input the description about the movie

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Portfolio:
One way to assess third and fourth grade students over the course of the school year is by using portfolios. Portfolios are used to save students' work over the year that represent their learning, development, and accomplishments. These can be used to show parents at conferencing or to show off students work at back to school nights and other occasions. Portfolios contain students’ work that demonstrates their grade level expectations and how they are comparing to the standards. Students' writing can be assessed by seeing progress in their stories, spelling, creativity, and other aspects of writing from the beginning of the year, to the end.

6+1 Writing Trait:
Many teachers use this as a way to assess their students writing. This is a rubric style system that includes six different categories that teachers look for when reviewing students' work. Teachers are looking for ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. Teachers have the opportunity to set their own standards and stress what they feel is most important within each category. This is a great way to assess young writers over the school year because the rubric will stay the same and you will be able to see how their writing has changed. Keeping these rubrics and giving students guidelines to follow will help to see their personal improvement overtime and how they have grown as writers.

WHAT YOU ARE DESCRIBING ABOVE IS A RUBRIC; BELOW YOU ALSO DESCRIBE A RUBRIC (PART OF THIS IS ABOUT ASSESSING SPEAKING NOT WRITING)

Rubric:
As a teacher of a third through fifth grade class, you can use a speaking rubric to assesses the skills your students need when speaking in a formal setting. Through a rubric, the teacher can observe the student presenting and then decide how well the student followed the criteria listed on the rubric. The categories included in a rubric can be content, language, organization, delivery and visual aids.  The rubric can be used not only to give the teacher a grade sheet, but can also be an aid to the students when preparing for a presentation. The students know exactly what they need to do in order to do well on the presentation. Rubrics can also be used with a students' writing for the same purpose. The students know what they need to include before turning their paper in and the teacher can justify why the student received a certain grade based on the boxes of the rubric. Rubrics can be used in a variety of ways to help the grading process.