Writing Workshop
With so much emphasis on reading, writing instruction is often forgotten. Certainly, teachers are asking students to write about what they read, but literary response is only one genre of writing. We need to take the time to teach the craft of writing.
Douglas Reeves identified an emphasis on writing as one of the major characteristics of successful schools. Writing workshop provides us with the space necessary to emphasize writing.
Douglas Reeves identified an emphasis on writing as one of the major characteristics of successful schools. Writing workshop provides us with the space necessary to emphasize writing.
Writing Territories
One way to launch your writing notebook is to invite students to generate topics that are personally meaningful. Nancie Atwell calls this strategy, "Writing Territories."
After creating a list of Writing Territories (and having ongoing opportunities to add to them), students will need to work on developing their topics. There are many strategies for "kneading ideas." These strategies include writing from a list, 3x3, and heart mapping. The strategy outlined in the Prezi below is called idea mapping or webbing.