TRAILBLAZERS
PUSD Writing Project - Volume 1 Issue 7 - September 28, 2015
Writing Workshop September Goals
- To launch your narrative unit of study.
- To plan and implement 10-15 minute minilessons that include these 5 components: Connection, Teaching Point, Teach, Active Engagement, Link
- To establish clear Writing Workshop rules and expectations during the minilesson, independent writing, and sharing to ensure all of your students are actively engaged.
Shout Outs
Sixth Graders Share & Respond
Second Graders Learn About Powerful Endings
A Seventh Grade Publishing Party
Using Your Own Writing to Demonstrate
A Growing Classroom Library
Writer's Notebook Dos and Don'ts
Trailblazer Principals Visit Jamie's Old School AMLA...And You Will Get to this Year, Too!
Growing Ourselves as Teacher Leaders
Anchor Charts Across A Reading Unit of Study
Writing Conference Anecdotal Notes
Classroom LIbrary Check-Out System
Writing Stamina Anchor Chart
A Mentor Text Teacher Bookshelf
This first grade teacher has a bookshelf just for mentor texts so they are easily accessible during minilessons and when she wants to use them in a writing conference. Students can also refer to these during writing time. She knows that the best writing teachers our kids have are the authors of the books they're reading!
Check Out These AMLA Classroom Libraries!
Online Food for Thought
Writing Minilesson Tips
Minilesson: (7-12 minutes)
Whole-class instruction: 80% will be right at their level; 20% high/low, will need differentiation later
Make sure it stays short, otherwise students lose their necessary writing time
Includes active engagement BEFORE sending kids off to write
Inside the MINILESSON:
CONNECTION:
- Engage the students - funny stories OR simply, “We’ve been working on…. Today I’m going to teach you….”
Name the teaching point
TEACH: Modes of Instruction
Demonstration: Writing in “real time” as you think aloud about your process as a writer
Explain an Example: Put up a piece of mentor text, study together, create vision
Inquiry: Very powerful method, not used for everything (Ex. “What is a good way for an author to introduce stories?”)
Guided Practice/Coaching: Teacher does, student does; teacher/student together, then student does, teacher watches
If kids don’t get it, ask yourself, “Have I demonstrated this?”
ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT:
Important for students to try out the skill before they get off the rug - helps you plan for who might need additional support during work time
100% of kids are involved
Ways to Do It: turn/talk, jot/write, think, role play, gesture, read, highlight
Model hard things, practice easier things - Have them continue what you’ve started or start a part of their own writing
LINK:
Reiterate the teaching point, remind them of the strategies they could use, revisit/review anchor chart, and “Off you go!”
Work Time: (30 minutes)
Students can have writing spots around the room or work at desks - what’s important is LOTS of writing time
Conferring 1:1 teaching (5-7 minutes each)
Small-group instruction: Compliments, get kids started, teach common skill/strategy that is needed
Mid-Workshop Teaching Points
More frequent in beginning of year
Lots of building stamina
Reinforce good behaviors and give students more strategies to keep them going
As stamina builds they can occur less frequently
Can also be a continuation of the minilesson (another teaching point)
SHARE (5 minutes)
Use time to spotlight the good work students did during writing time
Another opportunity to teach - NOTICE and NAME the work kids are doing with the ultimate goal that students will be able to articulate what they are doing as writers (metacognition)
Websites & Blogs Worth Following
- Two Writing Teachers - https://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/
- Nerdy Book Club - https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/
- Read Write Think (NCTE) - http://www.readwritethink.org/
- Chart Chums - https://chartchums.wordpress.com/
- Choice Literacy (some free and some paid here) - https://www.choiceliteracy.com/
- There's a Book for That - http://thereisabookforthat.com/
- Teachers Write - http://www.katemessner.com/teachers-write/
- Read Write Reflect - http://readwriteandreflect.blogspot.com/
- Watch. Connect. Read. - http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/
- A Teaching Life - https://ateachinglifedotcom.wordpress.com/
- The Goddess of YA Literature - http://professornana.livejournal.com/
- Kid Lit Frenzy - http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/
- TC Reading & Writing Project - http://readingandwritingproject.org/resources
- Growing Educators - http://growingeducators.com/events/
- Heinemann - http://www.heinemann.com/blog/
- Stenhouse - http://blog.stenhouse.com/
- Scholastic - http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-ideas
Columbia University's Teachers College Reading & Writing Project has a collection of classroom videos on Vimeo that take you inside reading and writing workshops at various grade levels. Check them out here: https://vimeo.com/tcrwp/albums
Books You Won't Want to Miss
In! Over! And ON! (The Farm)
by Ethan Long
It’s time for fun on the farm with the Geisel Award-winning author of Up, Tall, and High!
Why is Pig inside Chicken’s coop? How many animal friends can fit on top of a tractor?
Lift the flaps to find out in three easy-to-read stories that will take readers all over the farm!
Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods
by Hal Johnson; Illustrated by Tom Mead
Grades: 5 to 9
Just for kids, twenty bone-chilling tales about the most dangerous fantastical beasts in American folklore. Meet the Snoligoster, who feeds on the shadows of its victims. The Hodag, like a spiny-backed bull-horned rhinoceros. The Hoop Snake, which can chase prey at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour and then, with one sting of its tail, cause it to turn purple, swell up, and die.
Rhythm Ride: A Road Trip Through the Motown Sound
Berry Gordy began Motown in 1959 with an $800 loan from his family. He converted the garage of a residential house into a studio and recruited teenagers from the neighborhood-like Smokey Robinson, Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Diana Ross-to sing for his new label. Meanwhile, the country was on the brink of a cultural revolution, and one of the most powerful agents of change in the following decade would be this group of young black performers from urban Detroit. From Berry Gordy and his remarkable vision to the Civil Rights movement, from the behind-the-scenes musicians, choreographers, and song writers to the most famous recording artists of the century, Andrea Davis Pinkney takes readers on a Rhythm Ride through the story of Motown.
Mark Your Calendars!
These labs will be held on the B Mondays listed below from 2:00 to 3:30 P.M. at McKInley TK-8 School of the Arts. Attendance is voluntary. Goodies will be given away at each lab to those who participate. Let's keep the energy alive!
#1 September 21, 2015 ~ Architecture of a Minilesson / Immersion
#2 October 19, 2015 ~ Writing Conferences
#3 November 16, 2015 ~ Student Work & Resource Share
#4 January 25, 2016 ~ Qualities of Writing/Mentor Texts
#5 February 29, 2016 ~ TBD
#6 April 18, 2016 ~ Student Work & Resource Share
Trailblazer Writing Lab #2
- We will meet in Room 109 - enter through the main school entrance on Oak Knoll, turn left on the main hall, room 109 is the first room on your right
- We will have yummy treats AND give away BOOKS!!!
Monday, Oct 19, 2015, 02:00 PM
McKinley School, South Oak Knoll Avenue, Pasadena, CA, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Teacher Appreciation Night at Vroman's Bookstore
- A special performance by children’s singer/songwriter and teaching artist Emily Arrow will kick off the night, followed by her tips for how to bring music and songwriting into your classroom.
- Then, their knowledgeable staff will recommend great new books for your classroom discussions and libraries and share some services they offer to teachers, as well as information on this year’s Young Readers League.
- They’ll have snacks and beverages, plus a bunch of goodies (including books!) to give away.
- You’ll also receive a 20% off coupon to use for any personal shopping that night.
Thursday, Oct 8, 2015, 05:30 PM
695 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91101
Alyson Beecher
Email: beecher.alyson@pusd.us
Website: http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com
Location: Pasadena Unified School District, South Hudson Avenue, Pasadena, CA, United States
Phone: 626-644-1642
Twitter: @alybee930