FIRST GRADE WRITING
WORKSHOP –
UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF MATT
GLOVER
July 25, 2012
MATT GLOVER
Early childhood educator and principal
 Co-authored Already Ready: Nurturing Writers in
Preschool and Kindergarten with Katie Wood Ray
 Authored Engaging Young Writers: PreschoolGrade 1
 Consulted for Parkway with Early Childhood and
Kindergarten – Study Group/Action Team

December 2010 – all EC and K invited
 March 2011 – snow day make-up with two teachers
(K and SSD/ESOL) per school
 January 2012 – full day with ALL Kindergarten
teachers

BIG IDEAS FOR NURTURING YOUNG
WRITERS

Image of Self as a Writer

Honoring Approximations

Nudging vs. Pushing

Stages of Word Making Development

Composition Dimensions

Vision - Importance of Making Books

Reading Like a Writer
BIG IDEAS FOR NURTURING YOUNG
WRITERS

Image of Self as a Writer

Honoring Approximations

Nudging vs. Pushing

Stages of Word Making Development

Composition Dimensions

Vision - Importance of Making Books

Reading Like a Writer
AGENDA

Composition Dimensions

Nudging vs. Pushing

Reading Like a Writer
STARTING WITH STUDENT WORK:
LETTING OUR CHILDREN LEAD US


Imagine you are conferring with Max. He is
writing “The Day I Got Cricket.”
Using the small sticky notes on your table, record
THREE possible teaching points, each on its
OWN sticky note.
AFFINITY MAPPING
IN SILENCE put all sticky notes on chart paper.
 REMAINING SILENT organize the teaching
points into “natural” categories.
 Then place the sticky notes on the chart paper in
neat columns.
 Discuss the categories and come up with a name
for each one.

BALANCING COMPOSITION AND
CONVENTION
COMPOSITION
 Thinking-Realm
 Planning out the book,
what to include, what
to leave out, and how
to write the book
 More difficult to see
and support

CONVENTION
 Spelling, letter
formation,
conventions, and
mechanics
 Word-Making Realm
 Easy to work on
because they are so
evident

PROFESSIONAL READING:
FROM
ALREADY READY BY RAY & GLOVER
 Composition
Dimensions
1s – Understandings About Texts (58-73)
 2s – Understandings About Process (73-79)
 3s – Understandings About What it Means to
Be a Writer (79-83)

 Jigsaw
Read and record 3-4 most important points (MIPs)
from your section.
 Gather in like-numbered groups and come to
consensus on what will be shared.
 Regroup in mixed groups of 1, 2, 3’s to share new
learning.

TAKE-AWAYS ABOUT COMPOSITION
DIMENSIONS
It is developmental and continues throughout our
lives.
 Is the book about something?
 Is the book focused?
 Is the book organized-list book vs. storybook?
 Does the child read the book the same way each
time?
 Is the child intentional about what is being
represented on the page? (with craft as well)
 Does the child engage in revising?
 Is the child showing stamina when he/she writes?

MATT’S MESSAGE REGARDING
“COMPOSITION”
Composition is a WHOLE way of thinking
 He equates “writing” to words and “composition”
to “putting words and pictures together to make
meaning”
 Honors both actions children may be taking
during writing workshop

writing words
 illustrating


May not sound natural to use the word, but what
matters is the meaning behind it, the message
related to supporting children in their
illustrations, too.
DRAWING IS COMPOSING
Drawing is an essential component of a young
child’s composition.
 “Drawing the pictures” is not a reward to be
saved until the “real work” of “writing” is done.
 Drawing IS “writing!”

Honoring the child’s history of writing as a
Kindergartner will be essential in getting to know
them as a writer.
NUDGING VS. PUSHING
Conferring with Writers
CONFERRING
Supporting both composition and convention
 The difference between nudging and pushing
 Integrating mentor texts

COMPOSITION-MAKING BOOKS

Storybooks


List books


Earthquake
Feelings
Nonfiction

Shapes
COMPOSITION-GENERATING IDEAS
Conferring is NOT the best time to generate
topics
 Planting seeds all day, every day
 “You could make a book about that!”

NUDGING VS. PUSHING
 “When
working side-by-side with young
writers, teachers want to nudge
development along, not push it or force it.
The goal of the teaching, in addition to
moving development forward, is to leave
children with energy and enthusiasm for
the whole idea of making books.”
~ Ray and Glover
IT’S A FINE LINE…
Watch for verbal cues and body language.
 Make sure the child is happy and comfortable
with the interaction.
 If the child seems frustrated by the questions you
are asking or the suggestions being made, the
line has most likely been crossed.

ANTICIPATING THE BOUNDARY

Knowing your children
Their interaction styles
 Their learning styles

Assessing what they already know and can do
 Taking them the next step

READING LIKE A WRITER
Using Mentor Texts
MY MAMA HAD A DANCING HEART
BY
LIBBA MOORE GRAY
STACK OF MENTOR TEXTS
My Mama Had a Dancing Heart by Libba Moore
Gray
 Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs by Tomie
dePaola
 The Honey Makers by Gail Gibbons
 Grandma’s Records by Eric Velasquez
 A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
 The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
 The Gardener by Sarah Stewart
 Stone Soup by Heather Forest
 So Much by Trish Cooke
 Frog, Where are You? By Mercer Mayer

TIME TO DISCOVER, COLLECT, AND
REFLECT
Explore the texts at your table.
 Find the texts that you can collect and use as
mentor texts for the upcoming school year.
 What are the teaching points that each book has?
 Did you select books with balance? Do you have
books that model both conventions and
composition?

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS
MENTOR TEXTS?



OF
A text used to teach about or demonstrate an aspect of writer’s
craft
The best ones can be used numerous times throughout the
year to demonstrate many different craft moves.
Most mentor text mini-lessons fall into one of three categories:
Idea: the text inspires the writer to create an original idea
based on one from the text.
 Structure: the text presents on organizational structure that
the writer tries to emulate using original ideas.
 Written Craft: the author’s writing style, ways with words, or
sentence structure inspires the writer to try out these
techniques.


Remember - we are teaching a particular strategy or craft
move – we are not teaching the book.