Writing Workshop

Everyday the students are writers in our classroom.  Not only do they have the choice to work on writing during our Daily 5 Block, but we also write during Writing Workshop.  Our Writing Workshop starts out with a mini-lesson where I model writing for the students or introduce a skill for them to work on in their own writing.  The students then have quiet writing time to go back to an old story, begin a new story, or think about a new topic.  During this time I am able to go around and conference with writers about their individual stories.  We conference about a variety of things: what to write about, details to add, how to spell words, and other conventions of writing.  Last week each student received a little dictionary to keep in the writing binder.  The students are finding these the be very useful!  They are constantly flipping through them looking for words to use in their writing!  After the quiet writing time, there is the chance for writers to get together with a partner or small group to share their writing.  We end with Authors' Chair.  During this time individual students have the opportunity to share a story with the class and take questions and comments about it.