Writing Workshop Architecture Assessment Mentor Texts and Charts Sample Lessons
by Component
Sample Lessons
by Genre

 

Teaching Writing “Many of the great innovations in teaching writing came from bold young teachers … who tested out a startling proposition – what happens if we treat even our youngest children as authors.” -Thomas Newkirk, Children Want to Write

How to Use This Module

This module explores a writing workshop approach to writing instruction in the primary grades. The initial sections (Writing Workshop, Architecture, Assessment, Mentor Texts, and Charts) provide information about the basic aspects of leading a successful workshop. The video clips in the two sets of sample lessons bring this information alive as it is practiced in kindergarten, first, and second-grade classrooms at Springfield Elementary School in Greenwood, South Carolina.

The Sample Lessons by Component section provides video clips that break down each component of a writing workshop (mini-lesson, workshop, share) into its own distinct parts. Links are given back to the Architecture section as you view these clips, as well as to possible questions for discussion. The Sample Lessons by Genre present mini-lessons in their entirety to support students in creating their own informative, narrative, and opinion pieces.