Passion, Purpose & Intent:
Envisioning Units of Study in
Writer’s Workshop
Tasha A. Thomas
Director,
Spartanburg Writing Project
What is your Vision?
“Good writing starts with
passion of purpose.”
-Katie Wood Ray
Envision Your/Your
Students’ Writing
1. What do you want to write? OR
What do you want your students
to write?
2. What have you/your students
read (or might you read) that is
like what you want to write?
• Writing moves toward vision from
intention
• You must write with a clear vision of the
thing you are making.
• In order to do so, you need to immerse
yourself in good writing that has the
characteristics of what you hope to
produce
• Keep track of what you “notice” as you
read
• Build your finished piece by “borrowing
from the larger world of writing”
(Ray, 37)
Envision Your Writers’
Workshop
As Teachers of Writing We Must:
• Help students develop intentions as writers
• Help students develop a vision for the kind of
writing that will serve their intentions
• Give students the opportunity to explore craft
and live like writers
• An effective WW will address:
–
–
–
–
Interests of the writers
Needs of the writers
State and local standards
Rigor and challenge
» (see Study Driven, page 92)
What stands in the way
of realizing your vision?
• TIME
– To plan
– To collaborate
– To write
• Too many resources
• The know-how
According to Katie Wood Ray
How do we
solve these
dilemmas?
One Answer:
INTEGRATION
• Use an inquiry stance to integrate your
reading/writing/content studies
• Design units of study that encompass
several areas of the curriculum and pull
from several resources so that
students have the benefit of
meaningful reading, writing and revision
EVERY DAY
Step I:
Understanding the Framework
Essential Question #1:
What will students read
that is like what we
want them to write?
The Framework
1. Gathering Mentor Texts
– Samples of the kinds of writing students will do
2. Setting the Stage
– Students are given expectations, deadlines, etc.
3. Immersion (Getting the Big Picture)
– Read and get to know the texts (reading strategies)
4. Close Study (Delving Deep into Craft and Style)
– Revisit the texts with the central question: “What did
we notice about how these texts are written?”
– Teacher will model how to use the mentor text to
influence writing
5. Writing Under the Influence
– Finish pieces of writing that show the influence of the
study
(Study Driven, page 19)
Step II:
Determining Your Focus
Essential Question #2:
What will students be
expected to produce?
Envisioning the Product
• Genre Study
– Memoir, Literary Nonfiction, Feature articles,
etc.)
• Author Study
– Cynthia Rylant, Laura Numeroff, Gary Soto,
etc.)
• Process Study
– Revision, Using Punctuation. in Interesting
Ways
**These are reciprocal. An author study can also
lead to genre studies and vice versa.
One School’s Vision:
Inman Elementary, 3rd Grade
• Study Possibilities for Memoir Unit
• As you plan your own individual units,
pull from multiple resources (i.e.
Calkins’ Units of Study)
Step III:
Envisioning Units of Study
Throughout the Year
Essential Question #3
Which genres integrate
naturally with content
area units of study?
What to Study
• As the teacher, you must establish the
purpose for each unit of study.
• “Set the Stage” for meaningful reading
and writing with clear expectations
• Create a balance of genre study and time
for student driven inquiry
• Plan to study something that fascinates
you as a teacher, and your enthusiasm will
rub off on your students.
Determining when to teach
what and for how long …
• Which genres appeal to you? Appeal
to your students?
• Consider both process and product.
• Consider which units of study
naturally integrate with technologybased products like digital stories,
web pages, podcasts, online research,
etc.
Refer to Chapter 12 in The Writing
Workshop (page 137-138) and Section 3
in Study Driven (page 189)
One School’s Vision:
Clifdale Elementary, 5th Grade
August
2 weeks
What is a writer’s notebook? Sparking Seed Ideas
September
2 weeks
3 weeks
Memoir
Realistic Fiction / Book Reviews / Book Blog
October
2 weeks
2 weeks
Informative Practical How to Writing
ABC texts
November
1 week
2 ½ weeks
List Feature Articles
Feature Articles (sports / science)
December
3 weeks
Crafting Family Stories into Literature
January
2 weeks
2 weeks
WWII Historical Fiction
Feature Articles from History (True Stories)
February
2 weeks
1 ½ weeks
Literary nonfiction / Ecosystem unit
Integrated Podcast and Art Project
March
3 weeks
Poetry (1 week Connection between Poetry and Songs)
Poetry (2 weeks Free Verse / some form poetry)
Possible chap book
April
2 weeks
2 weeks
Revision Process Study
(2 revised, copy-edited pieces due for 5th grade anthology)
Multigenre Study (1 piece changed to 2 new genres) *Photostory
May
2 weeks
2 weeks
Genre Study of Prompt Writing (PASS Practice)
Publishing and Preparing Portfolios (Self Assessment)
*Anthology Announcement / Portfolio Parties
Study Possibilities
•Memoir
•Short Stories of Realistic
Fiction
•Historical Fiction
•True Stories from History /
Historical Narrative
•Crafting Family Stories into
Literature
•Poetry
•Essays
•Feature Articles and Literary
Nonfiction
•Practical How to Writing
•Informative How to Writing
•Advice Writing
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Feature Articles Based on
Interviews
List Articles
Biographical Sketches and
Profiles
Editorials, Commentary, and All
Things Op-Ed
ABC Texts
Reviews
News Reporting
Photo Essay
Slice of Life Writing
Topical Writing
Survey of Different Kinds of
Writing in the World
Multigenre Writing
Study Driven , Section 3
My Challenge to You
For Today
• Review the list of KWR study possibilities
with grade level colleagues
• Determine which ones would fit well within
your existing curriculum
• Brainstorm a list of study possibilities for
your grade level including:
– Genre studies
– Author studies
– Process studies (the “how” of writing)
• ***Begin to think about how you can devote
more time to developing young writers by
integrating reading, writing and other content
material
“People who write well know
how their writing fits into the
world of written texts.”
-Katie Wood Ray