Breathing Life Into Essays
Writing in Writer’s Workshop
*Adapted for middle school students from Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study
Growing Essay Ideas
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Today I want to teach you that when we
collect the stuff of our lives in our
notebooks, that stuff doesn’t come with
ideas attached.
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If we are going to make something out of
the stuff of our lives, we need not only to
collect it, we also need to grow ideas
around it.
Growing Essay Ideas
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To be sure that our entries begin with our
observations and end with our thoughts,
we can do one of two things: We can push
ourselves to shift between observing and
saying, “and the thought I have about this
is…”
Or, we can write in two columns, one for
what we see, hear, and notice and the
other for what we think.
Growing Essay Ideas

I am like many of you. I often begin my
entries by writing what I see or hear in the
world around me. But I know that to get a
good seed idea for an essay, it is important
for me to shift from seeing (or hearing or
noticing or remembering) to thinking. I
have two ways to push myself to go from
noticing to thinking.
Growing Essay Ideas

One thing I do a lot is this:
After I put the stuff in my life onto the
page, I turn a corner in my writing. I do
this by almost forcing myself to write, “and
the idea I have about that is…”
Growing Essay Ideas

I don’t always use those exact words. I
might instead write “This makes me
realize…” or “This reminds me of…” Either
way though, I give myself an assignment
to switch gears so that I stop recording
what is actually there in life and begin
instead to record my thoughts about what I
noticed.
Growing Ideas

I’m going to do this right now. I’ll
begin and describe something I
notice. After I describe for a few
sentences, will you coach me by
saying “And the idea I have about
this is…” Then, I’ll try to have an idea
(at that very second, right in front of
you).
Growing Ideas

I was looking at the boys’ fish tank. I
saw there was was some fine, hairy
green stuff growing on the pebbles on
the tank floor. It’s practically
invisible, but it waves a bit as fish
swim by, and when it does that, you
can see it.
Growing Ideas

An idea I have about this:
I am wondering if this green stuff is good
for the fish. I know we sprinkle fish food
into the tank, but I wonder if fish also eat
the stuff that grows in their tanks. How do
they know what to eat and what not to
eat? It’s interesting how animals have
ways to take care of themselves.“
Growing Essay Ideas
Let’s take Itsy again…
Internal Story
The Essay

I told you my small seed story about Itsy
peeing on my bed…Well, my husband’s side
of the bed. I told you what happened in
this story, but more importantly, I told you
my response to what happened in this
story. Now I can also show you my
response by writing what I observed and
telling you an idea I have about it…
Itsy…
I watched as Itsy ran out of the bedroom, jumped on the couch, and
maneuvered her way to the top of the fluffy pillow. I heard my
husband yelling “Itsy, you are a bad, bad dog!” Yes, Itsy had done
something bad again. It did not really matter what she had done, but
it made me wonder how much she really understands. I mean, I think
Itsy is very smart, and I wonder how much she processes. For
instance, the time she peed on my husband’s side of the bed, was just
after he made her get down off the bed and not the cat. It seemed so
retaliatory! Also, on that occasion, she snuck right under the down
comforter and peed, so that it was unnoticed until we hopped into
bed. Was this intentional? Or sometimes, she will go through my
briefcase and the only remnant of her being there is the left over
papers from the pack of gum she chewed, or the stick from a lolly
pop. Most everything else is undisturbed. Probably the strangest
behavior, that proves she is smarter than my husband thinks, is that
she will put herself in “time-out” when she had been bad. Itsy will
literally put herself in her crate and closes the door if she has been
bad, as if to punish herself before we can. My husband calls this her
“sin bin”, and if we cannot find Itsy we look there first! I think Itsy is
smarter than most dogs, or at least, smarter than my husband thinks.
‘
The Essay
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Another system I sometimes use is
that I gather observations and
information on the left-hand side of
my notebook and then use the right
side as a place to think about what
I’ve written. The chart could look
something like this:
The Essay
What I Notice
What it Makes Me think
The girls sit together showing
off their lunches together
I used to show off my lunch,
Why are kids so competitive?
It is not fair to kids whose
parents have less money. Or
to kids with moms who won’t
buy sugary foods.
Teachers talking during the
staff development while the
presenter is talking.
I wonder how they would feel if
they were the person up there
presenting. I hate standing in
front of teachers when they
don’t listen. It is rude and
distracting. They don’t let their
students do this, so why do
they do it?
The Essay
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Writers, today I showed you two ways in
which we can give those bits the attention
they deserve. It is important not only to
collect entries in our notebooks, but also to
collect and to think. Writers have
strategies for doing both. Sometimes,
after we put the stuff of our lives onto the
page, we then write a phrase like” The idea
I have about this…” to spark a thought.
And sometimes, we use the white space on
the left-hand side of our notebooks as an
invitation to mull, to grow ideas.
The Essay
For the essay, you may start with
a subject--a person, place, or thing-that matters to you, but this time
don’t list small moments; rather list
ideas related to the subject. Take
one of those ideas and write about it.
Studying Mentor
Texts
Sometimes I study mentor texts, thinking
“How has this author written the story of
what she was thinking and feeling? I ask,
“What has she done that I could do also?”
Let’s look at our mentor text, “Eleven” and
notice what Sandra Cisneros has done.
“ELEVEN”
I move my red sweater to the corner of my desk
with my ruler, I move my pencil and books and
eraser as far away from it as possible. I even
move my chair a little to the right.
Not mine, not mine, not mine.
In my head, I’m thinking how long till lunchtime,
how long till I can take the red sweater and throw
it over the schoolyard fence, or leave it hanging
on a parking meter, or bunch it up into a little ball
and toss it in the alley.
Except when math period ends Mrs. Price says
loud and in front of everybody, “Now, Rachel…”
Mentor Texts
You’ll see examples as you read. I
recently read a chapter book called Olive’s
Ocean, by Kevin Henkes. One small
chapter in this book tells how the main
character, Martha, was standing outside
the airport (since she was going to her
grandma’s at the beach),with her mom,
dad, and brother, Vince, waiting for the
shuttle bus to take them to the car rental
place, and then she was jostled while
boarding the bus.
Olive’s Ocean
That’s all that happened on
the outside in this chapter.
But, meanwhile, things were
happening inside of Olive.
Let’s listen to this part of the
chapter.
Olive’s Ocean
She begins by describing the glittery
feeling she has when she is en route to
summer vacation at the beach with her
grandmother, whom she calls Godbee.
With your partner, look at the copy I gave
you. Later, you and your partner will find
the external and internal events in this
story.
Internal Story
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Today, at the start of the lesson, I
suggested that our lives are made up of
not only what happens to us but also our
responses to what happens to us.
As writers, this means that we pause in our
actions and ask “What was I thinking?” We
offer our readers clues to reveal our
thoughts and feelings. This is especially
true in the heart of our stories.
Homework
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Tonight for homework, your job is to reread your draft and find the heart of your
story, Re-read each part of the narrative
and ask “What was I thinking/feeling?”
Check that you give clues that reveal your
thoughts and feelings. If you haven’t
included clues that reveal your thoughts
and feelings, you will need to add some
tonight.
Qualities of Good
Personal Narratives
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Write a little seed story; don’t write all
about a giant watermelon story.
Zoom in so you tell the most important
parts of the story.
Include true, exact details from the movie
you have in your mind.
Stay inside your own point of view. This
will help you write with true and exact
details.
Make sure stories tell not just what
happens, but also the response to
what happens.