Building Strong, Passionate & Skillful Writers through

a Workshop Approach (Grades 3 – 8)

Vicki Vinton

vvintontmap@gmail.com

NESA Fall Training Institute November 8 – 10, 2019

Riffa Views International School Manama, Bahrain

Vicki Vinton is a literacy consultant and writer. Her books include Dynamic Teaching for Deeper Reading: Shifting to a Problem-Based Approach (2017), What Readers Really Do: Teaching the Process of Meaning Making (2012), and The Power of Grammar: Unconventional Approaches to the Conventions of Language (2005). She is also the voice behind the literacy blog To Make a Prairie.

Vinton 2 Writing Survey

Adapted from Nancie Atwell’s In the Middle

Name _________________________________________ Date _______________ 1. Are you a writer? _____________

(If your answer is YES, answer question 2a. If your answer is NO, answer 2b)

2a. How did you learn to write? 2b. How do people learn to write?

3. Why do people write? List as many reasons as you can think of.

4. What does someone have to do or know in order to write well?

5. What kinds of writing do you like to write? 6. How do you decide what you’ll write about? Where do your ideas come from?

7. What kinds of response help you most as a write?

8. In general, how do you feel about what you write?

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Cambourne's Conditions of Learning: A Model of Learning as it Applies to Literacy

Learners need to be immersed in text of all kinds.

Immersion

Learners need to receive many demonstrations of how texts are constructed and used.

Demonstration

Expectations of those to whom learners are bonded are powerful coercers of learners' behaviors. "We achieve what we expect to achieve; we fail if we expect to fail; we are more likely to engage with demonstrations of those whom we regard as significant and who hold high expectations for us.

Expectations

Probability of

engagement is increased if these conditions are also optimally present.

Learners need to make their own decisions about when, how, and what "bits" to learn in any learning task. Learners who lose the ability to make decisions are disempowered.

Responsibility

Learners need time and opportunity to use, employ, and practice their developing control in functional, realistic, and non-artificial ways.

Employment

Learners must be free to approximate the desired model - "mistakes" are essential for learning to occur.

Approximations

Learners must receive feedback from exchanges with more knowledgeable others. Response must be relevant, appropriate, timely, readily available, and non-threatening, with no strings attached.

Response

From: Cambourne, Brian. (1995) "Toward an Educationally Relevant Theory of Literacy Learning: Twenty Years of Inquiry". The Reading Teacher, Vol. 49, No. 3.

Engagement

Engagement occurs when learners are convinced that: 1. they are potential

doers or performers of these demonstrations;

2. engaging with these demonstrations will further the purposes of their lives;

3. they can engage and try to emulate without fear of physical or psychological hurt if their attempts are not fully correct.

Helping learners to make these decisions constitutes the artistic dimensions of teaching. It is difficult for teachers who dislike children.

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Assigning versus Teaching Writing

When writing is assigned . . .

When writing is taught . . .

Students are asked to write on the teacher’s topics or prompts. The teacher is frequently the audience, and the purpose is to complete the task. Students are given a deadline for completion. Most of the teacher’s time is spent correcting & grading papers. Students are asked to analyze, compare, describe, narrate, and review without being offered strategies for the work. Students are not always aware of significant improvements in their writing. Students are required to rewrite—in some cases. But rewriting is usually limited to correcting grammar, usage, etc. Students are often required to write without much forethought. Students and teachers are both often bored by what students write.

Students have opportunities to write about topics that matter to them. Students consider and decide who their audience and what their purpose is. Students are given a process for completion. Most of the teacher’s time is spent teaching writing skills & strategies in class. Students are given models, mentors & strategies to guide each step in the writing process. Students reflect on growth—or lack of it—in specific writing skills. Students are encouraged to revise, edit & improve before publication or submission Students have time to consider what they might want to write through brainstorming, freewriting, discussion or other pre-writing activities Students & teachers are excited about what students write & make efforts to display & publish it.

Adapted from the National Writing Project’s book Because Writing Matters.

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Writing Workshop Time Breakdown

10 – 15 minutes Mini-Lesson Possibilities

Direct instruction with teacher modeling, which can consist of: o Teacher sharing work she’s written o Teacher writing in front of students about his topic o Teacher sharing mentor text (and may try out craft move) o Teacher engaging in shared writing (where she uses student

ideas to write a sentence/paragraph/piece) Inquiry-based instruction with active student engagement

(may take more time because students are doing more of the work) 20 – 40 minutes Workshop Possibilities

o Students work on their writing independently based on where they are in the process

o Students all try out the mini-lesson o Students give or get feedback from other students or their

writing buddy) o Students study mentor texts for inspiration and/or

reminders o Teacher confers with individual students o Teacher facilitates targeted small group work o If needed, teacher interrupts students to clarify a

misunderstanding, share a sample of student work, and/or offer additional instruction

5 – 10 minutes Share Possibilities

o Students share their work and receive feedback (Content & Craft Shares)

o Students discuss/share/reflect on what worked, what didn’t, how and why (Process & Progress Shares)

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The Architecture of a Mini-Lesson

• Connection – Gives students an overview of what is to come and explains how this mini-lesson connects to and supports the ongoing work of the unit.

• Teaching Point – Offers students a clear, explicit teaching point that

articulates something (e.g., a craft move, a strategy for a particular stage of the writing process) that writers know or do AND why.

• Demonstration & Active Engagement – With direct instruction, the

teacher models the teaching point through the teacher’s own writing, the writing or idea of a student, or a mentor text then asks students to try the thinking on or reflect on what they noticed the teacher doing. With inquiry, the teacher invites the students to ‘have a go’ without explicitly modeling first, then notices and names what the students have done.

• Link – Connects the mini-lesson to the ongoing work of the day’s

workshop and the students’ lives as writers. (Depending on where students are in the writing process, you may or may not explicitly ask them to practice the day’s mini-lesson during the workshop time.)

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The Writing Process

• Pre-writing (sometimes known as Collecting, Gathering, or Brainstorming) o Where students generate entries in their writer’s notebooks and/or

brainstorm possible ideas for writing o Can be undertaken after an immersion experience where students

are exposed to the particular genre of writing they’ll be studying over the course of a unit

• Choosing, Developing & Planning o Where writers pick an idea or entry that they want to explore and

develop in more detail and develop o At this point in the process, writers may also try out ways to plan

their writing (such as timelines, storyboards, mapping, boxes and bullets & outlining)

• Drafting

o Where the writer moves out of the notebook and begins to write for readers (often on loose-leaf paper), using and emulating craft moves seen in other writers and mentor texts

• Revision

o Where the writer assesses their draft and considers different ways to more powerfully engage and effect their reader (often through peer feedback)

• Editing o Where the writer looks carefully at their spelling, grammar, and

punctuation and corrects what’s needed prior to publication

• Publishing o Where the writer publishes their final revised piece and formally

shares it with readers as part of a celebration

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Components of a Direct Instruction Mini-Lesson

Template for Planning Connection Teaching Point Demonstration Active Engagement Link

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Components of a Mini-Lesson

Template for Planning CONNECTION: For the last few days, we’ve been exploring how writers get their ideas—like brainstorming times they first learned to do something—and how they use their notebooks to generate, explore and develop them. Today we’re going to look at another strategy writers use to come up with ideas. TEACHING POINT: Writers know that they if they wait for ideas or inspiration to come, they might be waiting a long, long time, so sometimes they just start writing even if they’re not sure they have anything to write about. Writers call this free-writing, and when they free-write, they try to let their minds and their pencils jump from one thought or idea to another without judgment. You can free write about anything, though if you’re going to be writing a personal narrative, you might free-write specifically about memories you have about a particular time in your life. DEMONSTRATION: I’m going to show you what I mean by free-writing about when I was in 6th grade. Again, I’m going to try to get whatever I remember down, without worrying about whether it’s a good idea. And I’m not going to try to tell a whole story, instead I’m going to let my mind jump from one memory to another. ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT: I’m going to ask you now to do this, too. But before we start, I’m going to have you talk to a partner for a minute about what you remember from a time in your life, just to warm up and get your memories in gear. [I could have also asked the students to turn to a partner and talk about what they saw me do. Hopefully they would have noted some uncertainty, indecision and different ideas emerging as I let what I wrote lead me to new thoughts and ideas.] LINK: I believe that free-writing is one of the best and most basic tools that writers have to come up with ideas, so today I’d like everyone to try it. And afterwards we’ll share what we came up with and what it felt like to free-write.

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The Inquiry Process (based on and adapted from Diane Snowball’s Spelling K-8)

1. State the focus of the inquiry, relating it to what you have noticed about the student’s writing needs (for example, the need to think about verb tense or commas).

2. Use the class reading materials to find and list examples of the inquiry topic.

3. Have the student’s find further examples from material they read independently and add those to the list.

4. Invite students to notice ways to categorize the examples to see what can be learned from them (for example, writers can write dialogue with the tag at the beginning, the middle or the end of the sentence – or not use one at all). Students can then continue to find further examples and place them in appropriate groups.

5. Invite students to form hypotheses based on their examples, to verbalize and write about their understanding, and to reflect on how their new understanding can be applied to their own writing.

6. Demonstrate how to use the new knowledge during writing workshop and conferences – or let the students have a go at it, modeling only if they seem to need it.

Vinton 11 The Architecture of a Writing Conference

Research the Writer, Not the Writing (i.e., avoid directly asking students to tell you what they’re writing about)

ASK: • Is there something you’re trying to do or work on as a

writer? • Is there something in particular 7you’d like help with? • Where are you in the process? • Is there a part of your piece or process you really like?

Compliment Name something the writer’s doing & explain how that’s

connected to the work of reading & why it’s important.

Research How the Writer is Making Meaning

• Ask the student to read aloud all or part of what he’s working on or ask if you can read it yourself.

• If needed, ask the student to explain what she’s trying to accomplish with the piece or why her topic is important.

• If needed, ask the student to show you how he developed his topic or idea and/or planned out the piece

• Use the “Specific Research Questions We Can Ask in Writing Well Conferences” handout

Decide & Teach Based on your research, decide whether to focus on students process or the quality of the work and offer a specific teaching point that the student could use.

Research Student’s Under-standing of the Teaching

Ask the student to write down or tell you in his own words what you’ve just suggested she do and, if necessary, clarify or reteach.

Agree on a Plan/Link Once you’re sure the student has understood your teaching agree on a plan for him to practice/pursue the teaching point.

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From Carl Anderson. Assessing Writers, 2005, Heinemann

Vinton 13 Different Ways of Writing in a Notebook:

Some Ideas for Mini-Lessons

• Take time to “notice” little things in everyday life and jot them down

• Free write about a particular person, place or time in your life

• Use personal artifacts to generate ideas

• Record “snatches of talk” (conversations) that the he/she was a part of or overheard

• Lists things

• Record unforgettable stories/moments

• Enter his/her own fierce wonderings

• Collect odd facts that he/she finds (and explore why they’re fascinating)

• Use old entries in his/her writer’s notebook to spark new entry ideas

• Practice closely observing something—a room, an object, a person

• Reflect and explore thoughts on things in the world—e.g., current events, history, scientific discoveries, social media, pop culture

• Reflect and think about social issues, such as injustice, unfairness, inequality, etc.

• Daydream on paper

• Do a Quick Write from a text

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Writer’s Name: _____________________________________ Reader’s Name: ____________________________________

Reader Feedback

Every writer needs a reader to see if they hit the mark. Share your persuasive essay with at least one reader and have them answer these questions. Read their responses carefully and from their comments revise your essay to make it even better.

1. Were you sure what was the writer trying to persuade you of in his lead? If not, can you make a suggestion about how to make it clearer?

2. Did the reasons make sense to you—that is, did they help explain why you should or shouldn’t do what the writer was trying to persuade you to do?

3. Did the examples and evidence the writer gave for each reason connect to the reason in a way that made sense? If not, could you suggest how to revise that?

4. Did the writer include some solutions or calls to action in the body or lead of their essay? If so, can you point them out to the writer so they could move that to their conclusion.

5. Were there specific words or information you didn’t completely understand? If so, point them out to the writer and ask him or her to paraphrase, use another word, or define the word(s) you didn’t understand.

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“The Man with the Shell” By Madeline L., San Antonio, TX

From Teen Ink Nine years ago around Christmas, I was on a Captiva Island beach at sunrise. It was the kind of sunrise when the sky slowly fades to light and you don’t notice until it has actually happened. I was there, five years old, and crouched low, scraping my fingers through the sand. I was immersed with the false hope of finding a treasure larger than the tiny shell fragments that littered the shore. A man jogged along the waves in my direction. When he came near me, he slowed to a walk. I didn’t notice him until he was almost standing over me. Too young to be shy of strangers, I pushed myself up from the ground. It was then that I saw what he was holding in his hands. There, perfectly intact, was a beautiful cream-colored conch shell, glowing a pale orange from its small cavern. He smiled as I stared in amazement, and then, to my shock, handed it to me. I held it before me like a diamond, not believing my eyes. How did he know? "I think this one has your name on it," he said, and then continued his run down the beach. I do not remember his voice, his clothes or even his face, but I do still have the seashell, and the greatest lesson I’ve ever learned. The whole flight home I held it in my hand as I thought about his act of kindness. Now the shell sits on my bedside table, not as bright and big as it was, because a lot of things have changed, but it is still there, a quiet reminder that there is goodness in the world. You see, that man saved me. He saved my belief in the kindness of people, he saved my belief that one can find what means something in life. I could focus on the bad things that have happened to me: the day I found out my dad had cancer, or the day we returned home to find our windows smashed and house robbed. Those moments define me as much as the good, but that’s not what the man with the shell taught me. I see my shell every day, and every time I know that I can get through that day because no matter what, there are good things in my life. In the end, all that we have is what we have done for others. The shell is important to me, as important as another man who returned to the plane to give me my lost jacket, as important as the little girl who asked me to dance on the subway train, as important as me giving my stuffed animal to my neighbor who was moving. In such a cold and cynical world, kindness matters. I know that making a difference in someone’s life, no matter how big or small, is what truly matters, and that is worth all the treasure in the world.

Vinton 17 Be Brave, Be Strong (Grade 4)

Thump. Thump. My heart was pounding. My grandma was driving me to the show. I was so excited! My whole body was quivering with anticipation. We made it to the parking lot of the YMCA and got out. Down the stairs we went, straight to the dressing room. We reached the bottom of the stairs and opened the door. Silence. I couldn’t hear a single voice. It was so quiet that I could almost hear my own breath.

Where was everyone? Then all of a sudden, I noticed that the TV was on. The TV shows us what’s happening on the stage. Laura the director and Tim the choreographer are on the TV looking at the audience from the stage. They talk to the audience for a little, and I put on my costume. Then, I glance over and hear them say, “I hope you enjoy the show!”

“Oh no!” I said, “I’m in the first scene!”

The curtains open, and I’m not the stage. My head was spinning in circles, I kept repeating to myself, Katie you’re on, you’re on! You’ve got to move faster! But it was too late. The show had already begun, and I was still getting ready. I tried to hold back the tears, but one slipped away. My grandma was trying to comfort me, but it wasn’t working. One of the helping moms suggested that I went on for “Hard knock life”, but I refused. But then, I felt this sudden urge to get on the stage. It was like my second home. I turned to the mom and said, “I’ll do it. I climbed the stairs to the stage and waited behind the curtains. When the lights dimmed, I slipped on the stage and got into position. The rest of the show went great. I was so happy that I had been able to perform in the show.

This little moment pushed my bravery up the scale. It matters to me because I never thought that I would be able to do it. My feelings for the stage swept me up and told me that I’m braver than I think, and with that, it pushed me out of the curtains and made me stand tall on that stage and shove my embarrassment out of the way. Disappointment tried to curl me up in a ball, but I punched it out of the way and fought for bravery.

We live in a world where mistakes control your everyday life. Some are good, some are bad. It was a mistake that my mom messed up the time of the show. But it’s OK. I don’t think I would’ve ever done that if it hadn’t been for the mistake. In such a mistake-controlled universe, you need to try not to let fear and embarrassment stop you from doing what you love.

It’s been a year since the musical and I still haven’t forgotten what it taught me. I think now, I’m a bit braver than I was a year ago. My passion for theatre boosted up my confidence and told me that I’m brave and I’m strong. Everyone should believe in themselves and stand tall even in the toughest moments.