Catawba County Schools Writing Plan

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Catawba County SchoolsWriting Plan

• Kindergarten

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Welcome

• Icebreaker activity
• Find Someone Who

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• Children can begin writing the first day they
  enter kindergarten and they can begin to learn to
  write in the same way they learned to talk.
• - Lucy Calkins

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Message from Lucy Calkins

• Dear Kindergarten Teacher,
• I know there is a world of difference between
  kindergartners and first graders and that you
  will be tempted to surmise that these units
  werent tailored
• for your little ones. I want you to know
  that my colleagues and I developed these units
  exactly for your very young children. I promise
  that if you trust enough to hang in there, the
  work your little ones do will astonish you and
  them and everyone who peeks into your classrooms.
  
• Sincerely,
• Lucy Calkins
• - The Nuts and Bolts of Teaching Writing, p.21

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Components of the Writing Plan

• NCSCOS Objectives
• Essential Questions
• Activities/Strategies
• Resources
• Assessment
• Rubric
• Writing Products
• Portfolios

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Kindergarten Writing Genres/Products
Writes name Alphabet Journals Labeling Poems Cloz
e Sentences
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Suggested Curricular Calendar

October (November) Launching the Writers Workshop Procedures/Writers Notebooks
November (December) Modeled, Interactive, Shared Writing Focus Names, Alphabet
December (January) Continue Modeled, Interactive/Shared Writing Continue Names, Alphabet
January (February) Modeled, Interactive/Shared Writing Focus Cloze Sentences, Labeling
February and March Modeled, Interactive/Shared Writing Continue Cloze Sentences, Labeling
April (May) Modeled, Interactive/Shared Writing Journals (unassisted), Poetry
May-June Continue previous skills
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Turn and Talk

1. Sit knee to knee.
2. Quickly choose who will go first.
3. Partner 1 talks.
4. Partner 2 talks.
5. Speaker speaks loudly and clearly.
6. Listener listens with a calm body.
7. Everyone takes responsibility for their own
   listening.

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What must the young writer be able to do when
he/she writes?

• Turn and talk

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The Writing Process

1. Prewriting
2. Drafting
3. Revising
4. Editing
5. Publishing

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Anatomy of Writers Workshop

• Connection
• Teaching (mini lessons)
• Active Engagement
• Link
• Writing
• Mid-workshop teaching point
• Confer
• After the Workshop Share

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Connection

• Links what has been done to what is expected to
  be learned in the present lesson
• May serve as a quick review of previous learning
• Explicitly name what will
• be taught/learned

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What do you need to know before planning a mini
lesson?

• What is easy for the writer to do?
• What is hard for the writer to do?
• What do you expect the writer to do ?
• What do you expect to do for the writer?
• -Linda Dorn, 2002

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Teach(Mini-lesson)

• Has a Clear Objective - Teaching Point
• States the Purpose Explicitly
• Teacher Models Demonstrate
• May Provide Guided Practice
• Explains and Gives Examples

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Active Engagement

• At the end of the mini-lesson students are given
  the opportunity to try-out the lesson through
  sharing with a partner
• At times students may watch other students trying
  something out

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Link

• Before sending student off to write
  independently, restate the teaching point and
  encourage students to use the skill taught in the
  mini-lesson in their ongoing work for the day.

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Writing Time

• Students write
• Teacher confers with individual students or small
  groups

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(Mid-workshop teaching point)

• Sometimes you will find it necessary to stop and
  teach/re-teach a concept/skill during the writing
  workshop- this will be necessary when you are
  seeing several children struggling with
• the same issues

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Conferring

• The teacher may meet with students individually.
• The teacher may meet with small groups of
  students with similar needs
• The teacher takes the time to record her
  compliment and teaching points

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ConferringThe Compliment

• The teacher looks for something that the student
  is trying to use in his/her writing.
• The teacher uses specific language to compliment,
  I am going
• to compliment you for.

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ConferringTeaching Points

• The teacher looks for what the student knows.
• The teacher looks for what the student needs to
  know next
• The teacher asks herself what is the most
  important thing that she can teach this student
  next?
• The teacher must decide
• how she is going to
• teach the child

Conferences are conversations, not interrogations
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Sharing

• Students return to same place that they were for
  the mini-lesson.
• The teacher may decide to restate the teaching
  point of the mini-lesson and share examples of
  student work.
• The teacher may decide to
• introduce a new writing
• behavior that was observed.
• Students are given opportunities
• to share their work

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Lesson OneBegin with the Whole

• We dont begin by breaking the process of
  writing down and asking children to do just one
  small part of the process. We believe it helps
  learners to have an image of the whole thing
  theyll be trying to do, even though it can feel
  ambitious to show them the whole thing and say
  Get started doing this
• -Lucy Calkins, 2005

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Writers Workshop Times

1. Gather on the carpet (2 minutes)
2. Mini lesson (7-10 minutes)
3. Write (25-35 minutes)
4. Confer (while students write)
5. Share (3-5 minutes)

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Lesson OneGather on the carpet

• Dont worry about assigning partners the first
  day.
• Designate an area for students to gather.

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Lesson OneSet the Purpose for Writers Workshop

• We are going to write books like the authors of
  the books we like to read.
• We will write songs like the ones we sing.
• We will write letters.
• We are all going to be
• authors.

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Why write?

• List all of the examples writing that people do
  on a daily basis
• Laws
• Emails
• What else?....

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Writing is all around us
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Lesson One Connection

• Explain that every day students will work in a
  writers workshop and that it will always begin
  with a meeting.
• Share that they will become writers.

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Lesson OneTeaching

• Show how you go about choosing a topic you know
  and care about.
• Think aloud. Highlight the kind of thinking that
  you hope the students will do.

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Lesson One Sketch

• Show how you are thinking about your story.
• Make your sketch simple.
• Show your whole idea and then separate it into
  parts.

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Lesson OneLabel the Sketch

• Label the parts that are important to the story.
• Expect students to try even if they do not know
  enough about graphophonics to do as
• the teacher does.

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bed
baby bear
Goldilocks
Illustration retrieved from www.jmeacham.com/
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Lesson OneThe teacher restates what she did in
the mini-lesson

• A writer thinks in his head about something he
  enjoyed or was important.
• Then he sketches it quickly.
• Then he labels the parts
• of the sketch that
• are important.

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Lesson OneActive Engagement

• Have students close their eyes.
• Have students think of something that they have
  done recently or something that they do often.
• After a moment, have students open their eyes and
  tell someone sitting
• next to them what they might
• write about (Turn and talk).

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Lesson OneMaking a Link

• Let students know that they will be thinking of
  something they know about or happened
• Students can write by sketching and writing

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Lesson OneThe Teacher Passes Out Paper

• Have paper ready.
• Have one sheet and one pencil for each student.
• Be prepared with a system
• to pass out paper quickly.

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Lesson One Practice

• Close your eyes, think of something that you
  would like to draw and write about.
• Turn and talk to someone about your story.
• Sketch your story.
• Label the important parts.

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Lesson OneThe teacher confers as students write

• Conferring is the heart of teaching writing.
• Students will learn to write for longer periods
  of time as they become more experienced.

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Lesson OneShare

• Options for sharing
• Authors Chair
• Partners
• Small Groups
• Authors Tea (parents)
• Writing Cafe
• Praise and celebrate

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Lesson OneDemonstrate How to Put Away Writing

• Tell students that everyday they will keep their
  work in a folder.
• For the first day, have a place that students can
  quickly put their folder
• Instruct students to
• come to the carpet.

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Lesson OneOn the Carpet-Celebrate

• Share one or two students work.
• It may not be necessary to highlight the entire
  work. Focus on the part that needs to be
  emulated.
• Make the students know
• that writers workshop
• is special.

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Turn and Talk

• Identify the key points to remember in this
  lesson.
• Why start with the whole lesson first?
• What happens in each part of the lesson?

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The Mini-Lesson, Lesson Two

• Focus on what happens in the mini-lesson.
• Today, and everyday, we will start the
  writers workshop with a mini-lesson. In a
  mini-lesson, I will remind you what we have been
  doing in writing and then I will tell you what
  well learn today.
• -Lucy Calkins, 2005

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Predictable Charts
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Creating Class Big Books from Predictable Charts
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Class books with Content focus
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Labeling
Interactive Writing Sharing the Pen
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Buzz Books
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More Buzzing
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• Here are some more Buzz Book topicsWhat did
  you eat for breakfast?How old are you?Will
  you stay home or go away for the holidays?Name
  some green things.What begins with T?Tell me
  a joke.Let's play hangman. (Use a student's
  name or sight word.)Tell me about the
  Pilgrims.Name something smelly.What can you
  see on a farm?Bears have....Let's write a
  story! (Teach story elements first.)Let's label
  the room.How do you make a sandwich?How do
  you get to the cafeteria? Give me the
  directions.Name something slippery.Name
  something sweet.If you had 100, what would you
  buy?Let's write!  
• (Use sentence patterns.)
• I am ____.  I can _____.
•  I see _____.The ___ is ____.  I like to
  _____.  
• The possibilities are endless!  
• Be creative..... and watch them write!

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Lesson TwoRevisit the Procedures of Writers
Workshop

• Remind student of what occurs in the mini lesson
• Have a students sample from Lesson One ready to
  share
• Celebrate

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Lesson Three-What Do You Do When You Think That
You Are Done?

• Students will work beyond when they first
  consider themselves finished.
• Students will add more to their picture or words
  or start a new picture.

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Confidence

• Recognize that it is scary to begin.
• Be prepared - have your materials on hand.
• Turn and Talk
• What are the things you fear
• most with beginning the
• Writers Workshop?

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Anchor Charts

• Aids teacher and students in remembering
  procedures and expectations
• Added to during the year

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Activity

• Break up into groups of 3-5
• Brainstorm a list of Launching Lessons titles
• Put them in order

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What materials/resources do I need to begin
Writing Workshop in my classroom?

• Student notebooks
• Student portfolios
• Writing Mini-offices
• Publishing Center

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Plan

• How will you launch Writers Workshop?
• What will you do to help others learn about this
  important unit?
• Turn and talk.

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Modeled Writing

• Teacher writes words, sentences
• Students watch and listen as teacher charts
  info.
• Teacher models thinking aloud as she writes

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Shared Writing
Predictable Charts Morning Messages
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Interactive Writing
Morning Messages Kinder Interactive
Writing JMeacham's Interactive Writing Pre-K
morning messages Meacham Morning Messages Buzz
Messages The K Crew Predictable Charts (example
of a cloze sentence)
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Mini- Offices
Teaching Heart www.vp.k12.mo.us/eschool/es/dfenwic
k/mini20office.htm Reagans Kinder
Bears JMeacham's Mini Offices Other useful
online resources Shape Book patterns
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• Questions ????
• How to I get access to the writing plan?
• What materials and resources will be provided?
• What about portfolios?
• How do I go about getting started?

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Portfolios

• Individual Writing Portfolios will be kept on
  each student
• At least one final product for each nine week
  will be selected for inclusion
• A variety of writing genres must be
• represented in the portfolio

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• Woulda Coulda Shoulda
• by Shel Silverstein
• All the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
• Layin in the sun,
• Talkin bout the things
• They woulda-coulda-shoulda done,
• But those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
• All ran away and hid
• From one little did.

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Be fruitful and multiply
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References

• Calkins, L., and L Memmelstein. 2003. Launching
  the Writing Workshop. Portsmouth, NH Heinemann.
• Dorn, L J, and C. Soffas. 2001. Scaffolding
  Young Writers A Writers Workshop Approach.
• USA Stenhouse.

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References

• Healy, J. 1994. Your Childs Growing Mind. New
  York, NY Doubleday.
• Ray, K W, and L Cleveland. 2004. About the
  Authors, Writing Workshop
• with Our Youngest Writers.
• Portsmouth, NH. Heinemann.

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Than you and Good Luck