Above is one more photo I'd like to share with you from my recent visit to a 2nd grade Writing Workshop in action. Consultant Renee Houser from Growing Educators, who was working with students, tacked up this poster. The set-up routine gets young writers ready, puts them in the right mind-set, and helps them focus on what they will be working on. I love the way this routine sets the expectation that serious writing will be taking place in this session!
Here's more from Renee Houser's hand-out:
Create rituals and routines around notebook work
such as: * At the beginning of every writer's workshop, have students edit at least one entry as they sit and wait
for classmates to settle in the meeting area before the mini-lesson begins.
* Interrupt students in the middle of the independent work time and challenge them to accomplish a 'quick edit' (you might want to focus each quick edit for something specific each time such as: end marks, capitalization, word wall words, etc.).
* Provide time for students to reflect on their own note-booking. Perhaps they share their reflections and goals with their partners. Example: I date each entry. I fill the page margin to margin with my writing. I use my writing notebook only for writing. I tend to use ____ as a strategy because ____ .
* Building time during a 1:1 conference to invite students to share their notebook work and goals.
* Establishing some non-negotiables for notebooks such as: All entries are dated. Writing should be from margin to margin, etc.
Next, I will be blogging on one of my favorite subjects:
Book-making with beginning readers and writers. Stay tuned!
