Writing Workshop
Mrs. Snare/ 8th grade English
2011-2012
Why do we practice writing?
The best way to think of why we practice writing is to think in terms of the goals we have for our
writing. This year, in English, we will focus on the following year-round goals:
1. We will practice writing in order to communicate effectively with others.
2. We will practice writing in order to express ourselves creatively.
3. We will practice writing in order to utilize effective writing skills.
4. We will practice writing in order to improve the way we articulate ourselves and to
increase others’ comprehension of our writing.
We will not address all these goals all the time, nor will we always have the same goals.
However, these will give us a good start on something to work towards as a class.
Why do we use Writing Workshop?
Writing Workshop emphasizes the concepts of individual choice and writing revision. In order to
become invested in writing, it is important that you have some say in the matter! Therefore,
much of what we do in Writing Workshop will be driven by what you chose to do, and what you
chose to write about. There will be class writings that are expected on a certain topic, but Writing
Workshop is a time for you to explore your own thoughts. We also will be working on taking our
writing through a process, and part of your Writing Workshop grade will be determined by how
much you develop your piece of writing.
So, how does this work?
Through the quarter, you will be earning a Writing Workshop grade.
Weekend Writings:
________ / 60
Final Completed Piece with revisions
________ / 25
Completion of Revision Process
________ / 15
Total:
__________ / 100
Weekend writings: Every week, you will be expected to write for at least 30 min outside of
school in your 3 subject notebook. I will check for evidence of these writings each Monday or
Tuesday (depending on when I see you) and there will a check sheet with the dates of the writing
checks listed. Weekend writings should be dated and titled at the top. The expectation is 30
min of writing for academic and 60 minutes for honors, but you may write for longer at any
time.
As part of the checklist, I will ask you to make goals for each week. It is my expectation that you
use this time to think seriously about what you want to accomplish with your writing and work
towards meeting these weekly goals. We will discuss examples in class. At the end of the
quarter, we will have a writing conference, and I will expect to see your weekly check sheet with
your goals.
What if I don’t have my weekend writing or I don’t meet my goal?
Two unmet goals guarantees you a resource pass for me to work on your writing. Because it is so
important to me that you write often and practice your skills, I will allow you to make up missed
writings for half credit. This make-up writing must be done before the day of our writing
conferences.
Weekend writings should be a continuation of what you are working on writing in class. If you
just finished drafting something, you should show evidence that you are brainstorming something
new. If it is something you are already working on, you should continue it. We will be starting a
piece of your choosing in class, and for the first quarter, you will need to work on that piece for
your weekend writings. If what you are working on is typed or is otherwise “loose”, and not in
your notebook, you should also use the notebook as your record of what you are doing towards
that piece. For instance, if you are working on a draft that is loose and not in your notebook, you
can write down that your weekend writing was “Typing my short story” for that week.
Final Completed Piece with Revisions: Once a quarter, based on your work at home, and any
time given for Writing Workshop in class, you will need to bring a piece of your own choice to
completion. By completion, I mean that it must have moved through some revision activities and
be ready to be “published.” This piece can be a non-fiction essay, a personal narrative essay
(such as a memoir) a short story, or poetry. Once we have our first weekend writing, I will
conference with you individually for you to tell me what you have chosen to work on. For the
rest of the quarter, you must then work on this piece. By the time of our end-of-quarter writing
conference, you must have a finished copy to show me.
Completion of Revision Process: In class, we will be exploring several strategies for revising
essays. These include, but are not limited to, sentence variety charts, sentence beginnings charts,
editing checklists, peer conference, and teacher conferences. I will expect you to show me
evidence of 3 different revision activities or strategies once a quarter. Once you learn the
techniques, you may choose what you use, but you must have used a minimum of 3 for this part
of Workshop.
What about all these materials we have?
There are four material components to Writing Workshop. They are:
1. Your 5 subject notebook: This is where you will keep all your outside writings, for
Writing Workshop and other assignments.
2. Your writing folder / portfolio: This is our in-class writing folder. All class writings,
finished drafts, and finished completed pieces are to be kept here.