Teaching Tools for the
Writing Workshop
Jim Brimeyer, Communications
Department,
Northeast Iowa Community College
2 Teach is
+ 2 Touch lives
4 Ever
SALUTE
to
administrators, teachers, and staff for
your dedication to your students’
success and for your focus on their
writing improvement.
The National Commission on Writing:
The Neglected “R”: The Need for a Writing
Revolution (April 2003)
“Writing today is not a frill for the few, but an
essential skill for the many.”
“American education will never realize its
potential as an engine of opportunity and
economic growth until a writing revolution puts
language and communication in their proper place
in the classroom. Writing, always time-consuming
for student and teacher, is today hard-pressed in
the American classroom. Of the three “Rs,”
writing is clearly the most neglected” (3).
The National Commission on Writing:
The Neglected “R”: The Need for a
writing Revolution (Apr. 2003)
Recommendations:
1.The amount of time students spend
writing should be at least doubled.
2.Writing should be assigned across the
curriculum and at all grade levels.
3.More out-of-school time should also be
used to encourage writing, and parents
should review students’ writing with them.
U.S. Department of Education
Teaching Elementary Students to be
Effective Writers –– 2012
“Students should develop an early
foundation in writing in order to communicate their
ideas effectively and efficiently—yet many
American students are not strong writers. In fact,
less than one-third of all students performed at
or above the ‘proficient’ level in writing on the
2007 National Assessment of Educational
Progress Writing Assessment” (6).
U.S. Department of Education
Teaching Elementary Students to be Effective
Writers –– 2012
Four Recommendations:
1.Provide daily time for students to write. Students
need dedicated instructional time—a minimum of one
hour a day—to learn and practice the skills and strategies
necessary to become effective writers.
2.Teach students to use the writing process for a
variety of purposes. Writer well requires that the writer
think carefully about the purpose for writing, plan what to
say, plan how to say it, and understand what the reader
needs to know.
cont.
3. Teach students to become fluent with handwriting,
spelling, sentence construction, typing, and word
processing. When these basic writing skills become
relatively effortless for students, they can focus less on
the mechanics of writing and more on developing and
communicating their ideas.
4. Create an engaged community of writers. Teachers
should create a supportive environment in their
classroom so that students are motivated to write well.
Teachers should provide opportunities for students to
collaborate with others, make decisions about what to
write and how to write about it, and receive constructive
feedback.
EVERYONE
CAN
WRITE!
Writing is a skill, a craft.
Writing improves with practice!
Teachers inspire;
students perspire!
Writing is hard work!
Teach the Writing
Workshop process.
Model for students.
• Learning to
Write
• Writing to Learn
The outline of the writers workshop for EARLY GRADES
might look like this:
1. Mini-Lesson 1 (5-10 min.) – explain topic
(narrative, explanation, opinion), model Prewrite Drawing
2. Status of the Class (2-3 min.) – explain behavioral
expectations:
No Talk, No Walk, No Touch
3. Individual Prewriting – draw picture (5-10 min.) &
Conferencing
4. Writing (15-20 min.) & Conferencing
5. Sharing (10 min.)
Mini-Lesson 1 -- Writing Assignment
(Prompt – Grade 3, 4, or 5?)
Identify: Audience, Purpose, Requirements
Mr. U. R. Elderly, age 86, lives at Stonehill
Care Center. He loves to receive mail from people
like you. The letters help to lift his spirits. Write a
minimum four-paragraph letter (3-4 sentences per
paragraph) to Mr. U. R. Elderly. In the letter, tell
him about yourself. Next focus your letter on Mr.
Elderly by wishing him well and offering your
support.
Provide rubric & student samples.
WRITING PROCESS
Drawing
 Plan
Prewrite
Slash Outline
Cluster
Fishbone
Free Write
Writer
(Internal) Focus
Formal Outline
 Draft
(20%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(80%)
 Revise: content, ideas, organization
(HOC Focus)
 Proofread/Edit
(LOC Focus)
 Share
Reader
(External) Focus
PREWRITING STRATEGIES
DRAWING
SLASH OUTLINE
Autobiography
birth
family
schooling
jobs
marriage
hobbies
future
plans
CLUSTER (MIND MAP)
FISHBONE
FREE WRITE (10 MINS.)
I need to fish for ideas for my autobiography. Start at birth. Born on July 19, 1947 in DBQ, IA
to Leon Brimeyer of North started at Dyersville Beckman in 1969. Then spent 25 years at
Wahlert HS. Then came Buenie and Grace Link of Balltown. Poor as a kid. Dad never made $20
thousand in his life. Dad deceased; Mom still living. Grew up no spent first 6 years in Buenie. Moved
to DBQ at age 7. Stuck! Stuck! Stuck! Stuck! Now attended Holy Ghost, Wahlert, and Loras.
Got MA in 76 and attended Iowa, Iowa State, UNI, Carleton for further studies. Love Iowa Writing
Project. Stuck! Stuck! Married to Kay with son Joe in Seattle and daughter Ellen in Cedar falls
with our granddaugther Mariah. Pause. Love teaching. I to NICC since then. Now what? I love to
read—mostly educational books, lots of Shakespeare. I enjoy walks—four miles a day. I enjoy golf—
when I play well!! I love music, especially playing piano. I have 4 minutes to go. In school,—grade
school—I had a early morning paper route. In HS—I delivered groceries for a corner market. In
college I played piano at Shakey’s & for our church and for weddings. I also wrote sports
department for the Telegraph herald and the Witness. I also reffed high school and college football
and basketball. I enjoy teaching and love the community college variety of students and ages. I love
to read such interesting and exciting topics in their essays. I learn more from students than I teach,
I suspect. Time up. I’m whipped.
Formal Outline
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
I. Birth
A. Mercy Hospital
B. Family
1. Leon Brimeyer
2. Grace Link
3. Brother—Rick
4. Kids—Joe and & Ellen
II. Education
A. Elementary—Buenie & Holy Ghost
B. Wahlert
C. College—Loras
D. Post-college—Loras, Iowa,
Iowa State, UNI, Carleton
III. Employment
A. Teen—newspaper carrier
B. Grocery delivery
C. College—music-Shakey's
D. TH sports writer, Ref FB &B
Writing Process
 DRAFT
(Writer Focus)
1ST Draft
Rough Draft
Discovery Draft
Down Draft (Get it Down!)
Sloppy Copy!
DO NOT WORRY ABOUT
CORRECTNESS AT THIS STAGE.
 REVISION (re-vision)
Reader
Focus:
Revise for HOC (Higher Order Concerns)
Content, Focus (thesis), Organization,
Development, Voice (tone), Title,
Opening, Closing.
 Proofreading/Editing
1. Use editors -- Read for
correctness.
2. Read aloud – extra senses
(iPod, iPad, cell phone).
3. Edit ESREVER.
• “Writing is rewriting what has been rewritten.”-Danziger, Elizabeth. Get to the Point. New York: Three Rivers,
2001. 195. Print.
-------------------------------• “It’s never perfect when I write it down the first
time, or the second time, or the fifth time. But it
gets better as I go over it and over it and over it.”
– Yolen, Jane. Writers INC: A Student Handbook for Writing & Learning.
Ed. Patrick Sebranic. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath. 1996. 33.
Print.
------------------------------• “There are days when the result is so bad that
no fewer than five revisions are required. In
contrast, when I’m greatly inspired, only four
revisions are needed.”
--John Kenneth Galbraith, Economist
WORKSHOP -- PEER RESPONSE
1.Peer Response is student-centered learning rather
than teacher-centered presenting.
2.Students write for a live audience (peers) other than
the teacher.
3.Students work at higher order thinking skills –
analysis, evaluation, synthesis.
4.Students learn from each other – aspects to adapt
and aspects to avoid.
5.Students build up each other’s writing confidence.
PURPOSE:
BUILD UP, not tear down,
WRITING AND WRITERS!
ORGANIZATING PEER RESPONSE WORKSHOP
1.Teacher assigns groups.
(3-4 students or partners).
good writer – average writer – below average writer
2.Switch groups for each major assignment, or
weekly, or bi-weekly—when necessary.
3.ALWAYS teach the procedure and model it
for students.
Sample Topic—Significant Event
Write a minimum four-page story about a significant event
in your life that has impacted your life, either changing you
in some way or teaching you an important lesson. Use vivid
details (imagery, figurative language) and dialogue to help
your readers see the event and its effect on you. You can
think of the effects in different ways: ways that you think or
behave differently now, ways that you perceive the incident
now, things that you have learned from this experience.
Most importantly, remember the focus of the essay: how
have you been changed or affected by what happened?
Above all, remember: you’ve gotta have heart in your
writing.
(Two student sample essays)
(Mini-lesson on mechanics of dialogue)
OPTION: Provide specific aspects to focus on.
1.What event is the writer relating? What point of view is used
and how effectively does it work?
2.What point or significance does the writer try to establish in
the piece?
3.Evaluate the author’s use of dialogue. How does it enhance
or detract from the story?
4.Has the writer included details, such as sense imagery and
figurative language. Do they enhance the writing? Why or why
not?
5.Analyze the effectiveness of the title, introduction, and
conclusion. How well do they support the topic?
6.Does the writer “have heart” in the essay? What specific
aspects of the piece support your response?
7.Explain the strengths of this essay. What improvements for
the piece would you suggest?
PEER RESPONSE PROCEDURE
Step 1 (3 - 4 minutes)
• WRITERS: Reflect in writing:
a) why you chose the topic,
audience, purpose;
b) strengths,
c) concerns.
• Teacher: Check in essays =
participation points
Step 2
• WRITER:
Share reflections with your
responders. READ your essay ALOUD.
PQSP (Bill Lyons, IWP)
RESPONDERS: PQS (PRAISE strengths,
QUESTION lack of clarity, SUGGEST
improvements)
Mark the paper (underline, highlight, note the
margins). React/respond to HOC issues
(Higher Order Concerns) – Content, Focus
(thesis), Organization, Development, Voice
(tone), Title, Opening, Closing.
(Joseph Trimmer)
Option: The following general leads may
serve as a basis for response.
1.I identify with ___________ in your writing
because _____________.
2.I like these aspects ____________ in your
writing because _______________.
3.The following aspects of your writing seem
unclear: ___________________.
4.I suggest these possibilities for improving
your piece of writing: _______________.
Step 3: After oral reading, responders gather
responses into two columns:
Minimum 3 -- Praise HOC Strengths
&
Minimum 2 -- HOC Suggestions.
Sign your name and the date under your two columns.
(Note: While responders compile reactions, writer
should revise and edit pages 3, 4, 5 of his/her essay.)
•Discuss responses with the
writer by alternating points with
your partners. PRAISE first.
•Responders: submit signed copies of responses to
teacher for evaluation and points earned.
•Writer: collect responses and revise your
writing using Track Changes.
TEACHER ALERT!
STUDENT COMMENTS
Based on “Significant Event” Peer
Response
GOOD, BAD, UGLY
Strengths – Bad & Ugly
Very good paper
Good story!
Not too many errors in spelling & punctuation
Good job!
Strengths--Good
• I relate to the essay because I played high
school basketball, too, and I was involved
in a nail-biter game like yours.
• Your catchy title makes me think about
what you would talk about in your story,
and it was right on target.
• Your dialogue adds life to the event and
brings the characters’ personalities to life.
• Your story makes me appreciate my family
more. I know I should tell them so.
STUDENT COMMENTS
Based on “Significant Event” Peer
Response
GOOD, BAD, UGLY
Suggestions—Bad & Ugly
Punctuation
Check for weak verbs
More senses
Can you reorganize the order of the paper? In
some parts, I felt scrambled.
Suggestions – Good
• Can you improve your introduction?
Possibly start with a quotation about
basketball by a famous player.
• Your story does not include much
dialogue. Can you get your characters to
speak to add more life to your story?
• Your story does not include a
significance—a so what. Can you add a
clear introduction or conclusion that tell
how the accident impacted your life or
what you learned from it?
Next Session
Step 4: POLISHING – EDITING
• WRITER & RESPONDERS:
Proofread/Edit for LOC issues (Lower Order
Concerns) – Sentence structure, Word
choices, Usage, Spelling, Punctuation.
Make corrections on the text.
• Sign your name and the date at the place you stop editing.
• Discuss your editing ideas with the writer.
• Writer: use Track Changes to revise/edit the
piece of writing.
Step 5
DEBRIEFING -- 3x5 notecard
a) Front – assess procedure
b) Back – revision plans
Step 6
a) Writer: Revise/Edit your essay via
Track Changes.
http://www.proofreadnow.com/Portals/42
679/docs/Level%202%20samples%20
V2.pdf
Variations of Response Strategies
1. Teacher-led -- small groups
2. Teacher—student one on one while
students are peer responding
3. Author’s Chair – large group
4. Pairs – share one copy
5. Silent/written response – exchange one copy
(write lists or full sentences)
6. Homework: students read and prepare
responses at home; share orally in school.
7. Full essay response to full essay
8. Exchange with another school’s same grade
WRITING CENTER RESPONSE
Holy Family has a built-in Writing Center.
•5th graders tutor 4th & 3rd graders
•4th graders tutor 2nd graders
•3rd graders tutor 1st graders
•2nd graders tutor kindergarteners
Teacher Response to Students’ Writing
•Teachers do NOT need to evaluate every
piece of student writing. But students
need to WRITE A LOT!
•If no revision will follow, do NOT spend
time writing a response. Research shows
students will not use it or even read it.
“Unless students do something with the
teacher’s comments—by making
revisions suggested—the teacher’s
commenting time is largely wasted.”
--Bean, John C. Engaging Ideas. San Francisco: Jossey –Bass,
1996. 235. Print.
“A teacher’s comments on a paper that
can’t be revised are nothing but an
autopsy report.”
--Schwartz, Mimi. Writer’s Craft, Teacher’s Art. Portsmouth, NH:
Boyton Cook, 1991.86. Print.
Teachers Supporting Student Writers
“When teachers do not praise students for what is good in
their writing, they can discourage students from wanting to
revise their writing and perhaps from wanting to write at
all.” --Speck, Bruce. Grading Students’ Classroom Writing.
Washington D.C.: ASHE-ERIC, 2000. 70. Print.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Paul Diederich, senior research associate for Educational
Testing Service, concluded from his research in evaluation
that ‘noticing and praising whatever a student does well
improves writing more than any kind or amount of
correction of what he or she does badly, and that is
especially important for the less able writers who need all
the encouragement they can get. The art of the teacher—at
its best—is the reinforcement of good things’.”
--Daiker, Donald. “Learning to Praise.” Writing and Response. Ed. Chris
Anson. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1989. 105. Print.
Teacher Response Strategies:
1.NO RED PENS!
2.NO WRITING FOR PUNISHMENT!
3.Make brief comments about HOC
issues in the left margin.
4. Place editing marks (LOC issues) in the right margin.
5. DO NOT highlight, identify, circle errors in the text.
When writers are required to find and fix errors, they
learn the concepts better and improve their
revising and editing skills.
Sidelight: At times, syntactical errors indicate growth as
a writer takes risks and tries new experiments.
Editing Marks
frg—fragment
RO—run-on
pt—punctuation
sp—spelling
wc--word choice
wv—weak verb
SV Agr—subject-verb agreement
PN Agr—pronoun-antecedent agreement
==str—parallel structure
case—pronoun case
vg—vague; be specific
sft—tense, person, number shift
MM—misplaced modifier
DM—dangling modifier
con—conciseness
adj-adv—adjective/adverb usage
cap—capitalization
Refer to Page
83
85
273
288
168
58
141
145
88
110
43
70
91
92
64
106
287
Diagnose and PRESCRIBE
MINI-LESSONS – syntax and usage
•Use examples gleaned from students’ writings.
•Students: keep a notebook of editing issues.
KEY POINT: Just because teachers cover a
concept in one grade does not mean students
have grasped the concept for future grades.
Editing issues must continually be diagnosed and
reinforced based on student writing.
WID – Writing in the Disciplines
Use Writing Workshop for writing assignments in:
Religion
History
Math
Art
Science
Social studies
Music
Physical Education
•All Subjects!
Strategies to create Purpose and
Audience and Showcase Writing
1.End of Year (semester) booklet
2.Subject newspapers – student editors
3.Portfolio for Parent-Teacher Conference
(student writes self-evaluation letter to parents—
”what I do well; what I need to improve on”)
4. E-Portfolio – end of year – student selects a
designated number of best writings and reflects on
each and on overall growth as a writer.
http://www.facewebsites.com/chrisnoel/
Writing Workshop – Youtube Resources
•Kindergarten -- Lucy Caulkins Writer’s Workshop (1:57)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBiOv-66IEE
•Kindergarten – Kid Writing Workshops Videos 1,2,3 (3:25)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMgeAf_A2YY
•Writer’s Workshop–Spanish Immersion--K-1 (14:50)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI2LBpCwyOE
•First Grade Writing Conferences: K-5 Common Core
Conferencing with Writestepwriting (10:03)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID26paV6E7U
•Watch and Learn: Writing -- 2nd grade (5:28)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UihXzj8rYes
• Common Core Writers Workshop for 2nd
Grade—Youtube (27:36)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42R_VtX4gHk
• Paragraph Song and Lesson—intro to writing
paragraphs (3:14)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivAvsXeJAqM
• 3rd & 4th Grades – Teaching Kids About Revising
(Writing Workshop Lesson) (5:55)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBKqgOvmJ8w
• 4th Grade Common Core Writing: Adding Detail
to Narrative with the 5 Ws, by WriteSteps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbcu18Ruv8Y&list=UU3j
YcphTJfomJKFt037YSig
• Precision Teaching: Writing
Conferences Student and Teacher
(9:26)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njLGV3dr
zRo
• Interactive Writing (7:47)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJaT8Eq
Y_Qo
E-Portfolios
• Digital Portfolios for Primary Students!
http://plpnetwork.com/2012/02/27/digitalportfolios-for-primary-students/
On-line Sources for Teaching Writing:
•The Neglected “R”: The Need for a writing
Revolution –The National Commission on Writing
(Apr. 2003)
http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/writingco
•Teaching Elementary Students to be Effective
Writers – U.S. Department of Education – 2012
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuide.aspx?sid=17.
•National Writing Project (NWP) website.
http://www.nwp.org/
•National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
website.
http://www.ncte.org/