I have twenty-five to thirty favorite picture and chapter books that I turn to when I want to teach a young writer about the craft of writing. I keep them in front of my flipchart in my grandfathers suitcase. When I choose a book to include in my mentor texts I might look to see if it has one of three kinds of tensions: Person vs Person, Person vs Self and Person vs Nature. It may be a good book to demonstrate leads. It might work to discuss with my young writers how a story needs certain elements to be a good story. I’ve created a template to use to help me look at the potential of each candidate for my texts.
Writer’s Workshop is a teaching technique that invites students to write by making the process a meaningful part of the classroom curriculum. Ideally students are introduced to the process of writing in the early elementary grades and write daily through varied activities.
In Writer’s Workshop, Upper Elementary students organize thoughts to create a story or write about a given topic and develop it into an understandable narrative with a voice and focus that present Continue reading »
IUSWP is a local site of the National Writing Project. There are five NWP sites in Indiana. The Indiana University Southeast Writing Project site has the unique distinction of being the only NWP local site south of the Indianapolis, IN area. The mission of the National Writing Project (NWP) is to improve the teaching of writing and improve learning in the nation’s schools. Through its professional development model, the National Writing Project recognizes the primary importance of teacher knowledge, expertise, and leadership. Ann Lieberman and Diane R. Wood in their article The National Writing Project write,” The National Writing Project’s distinctive social practices and networks create the learning communities that teachers need. Compelling descriptions of how teachers learn and studies of the organizational settings that facilitate professional learning have pointed to new ways to improve the professional development of teachers (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993; Darling-Hammond, 1993; Fishman & McCarthy, 2000; Hargreaves, 1994; McLaughlin & Talbert, 1993). These findings make it more apparent than ever that the old workshop delivery model for teachers must give way to vibrant and ongoing professional learning communities where teachers generate, as well as gain, knowledge. The National Writing Project believes Continue reading »
