Middle School Language Arts

Creating Effective Mini Lessons for Writing Workshop

Linda Asaro
June 24, 2023

Middle school language arts teachers face such a tough challenge when teaching writing. You are tasked with devising units, teaching skills, motivating reluctant writers, and grading lengthy writing pieces. As a teacher with over 30 years experience, I have depended on reading and writing workshop to make my teaching not only effective, but enjoyable. The heart of writing workshop is the mini lesson. In this blog post, we will discuss how to create effective mini lessons for writing workshop.

blog post on mini lessons for writing workshop — Read here to create mini lessons that will engage your students and move their writing to the next level.

Blog Post Series – Part 4

In the first of the series, called “Why You Should Implement Writing Workshop in Middle School”, we talked about why this model of teaching is so effective for middle school students. It is well-planned, methodical, and allows for you to teach specific skills and to make time to conference with kids.

In the second of the series, called “Getting Started with Writing Workshop in Middle School“, we laid the ground work and started discussing the benefits of writing workshop, why I believe it is such a solid way of teaching writing for all middle school students, and the nuts and bolts of getting prepared to begin workshop.

In the third of the series, called “Plan Your Writing Workshop Unit in 4 Easy Steps“, we talked about creating units that are cohesive and how to plan for the year.

You might want to back track and read these posts if you haven’t already!

But First, a Freebie!

Before we begin, I want to make sure that you know to grab a very valuable freebie. I recently published a course on teaching writing workshop in middle school on a platform called teachable.com. In case you don’t know, teachable is a place to find courses on anything and everything. And, you can earn professional development hours by taking an online course in the comfort of your own home.

I am offering the first module, along with the workbook for this section, for free! This free offer will help you see if the course is right for you. I can tell you, though, the course is right for you if you need to teach writing workshop but either are new or need to re-vamp what you are doing.

Here is the link to grab your freebie!

Click here for more info on the course

writing workshop course for middle school teachers — Check out this full course and grab the first module for free!

Mini Lessons for Writing Workshop

Mini lessons are the heart of writing workshop, because this is when you directly teach skills that you want and need your students to know for a particular unit. Creating effective lessons will be crucial to move yours students along. Let’s dive in!

What Are Mini Lessons for Writing Workshop?

To begin, let’s consider exactly what a mini lesson is. They are short, direct teaching that will clearly explain skills. They should last 10-15 minutes, because the point of the workshop is to get kids writing, not just to talk about writing.

Mini lessons are led by the teacher and move at a quick pace. This is a time when you teach, and they listen. I would make that very, very clear to your students. I say to them, “I talk, you listen. You will have time at the end to share and ask questions. It is not time for stories and anecdotes, because I need you to grasp the skill that you will need to move your writing forward.”
Mini lessons should teach the skill that you want in an engaging, fast-paced manner.
Mini lessons give clear direction to the independent work portion of the writer’s workshop. This is crucial. Students will really be focusing on the one skill that you taught, so you need to be very explicit as to what you want them to do.

Components of Mini Lessons for Writing Workshop

As a second point, mini lessons should be consistent. If they have the same pattern and flow, it’s not only easier for kids to follow along, but it’s easier for you to create them.

Here is what each mini lesson should include:

Connect: Here you link what you have learned to where you are going in the lesson. Example: you might say, “When we last met we talked about how symbols are important in your narratives. Today we will continue to expand on your symbols.”
Teaching Objective: It is crucial to explicitly state to your students what you want them to learn. Example: “Today’s goal is to understand how your symbols might reveal your theme.”
Strategies: Here you will give kids a strategy or strategies to meet the objective. Example: “When crafting an effective lead, one way to do this is to write exactly what was going through the character’s mind during the climax of the story, and then flashback to the beginning.”
Engagement: This is where you want to show a real life example and then have students practice during the lesson. Use “turn and talk” here so that students use their skill in a partnership. Example: “Turn and talk to your partner about an important object in your life and what it might symbolize.”
Student Objective: This is very important; it’s where students are given their directions for their workshop time. Keep it brief and specific. It is always best to note that students should be doing this every time they read or write, not just in this lesson. Example: “Today in workshop, you will find objects that might symbolize something important. Then, you will decide how you can incorporate that into a theme for your narrative.”

By using these same steps each time you create mini lessons for writing workshop, you will get in a good pattern of teaching and kids will know what to expect.

I have a free template for creating mini lessons – click here for your copy!

Teaching Mini Lessons for Writing Workshop

Next, when you are ready to begin teaching, keep these points in mind:

You will first need to decide the method that you are delivering the lesson. I do suggest making slideshows, as you can attach to your digital learning platform. This way, kids can refer to them as needed. I project the lesson for kids to see.
When you begin, I highly recommend that you gather kids around you. I usually just say, “Let’s gather for our mini lesson.” They know to move their chairs to a particular place. Having movement is a good thing; it signals something important and that you want their full attention.
I recommend that kids gather with only their writer’s notebook and pencil. Having their computers is very distracting.
Keep your lesson fast-paced. Mini lessons should last 10-15 minutes, and this will take some practice on your part. This is NOT a time for kids to interject with their thoughts and anecdotes. The only time they will be talking is when you tell them to turn and talk.

Anchor Charts

Lastly, anchor charts are a place to record specific pieces of learning. They will later be used by students as a reference for their writing. Here are some points to consider:

As you go through the mini lessons, you will want to record information on an anchor chart.
I have done anchor charts on both large, chart paper as well as on a Google Document.
I do recommend that if you are doing your charts on paper that you also provide a digital copy so that kids have it to refer to throughout the year. I make a special folder on my Google Classroom for all of the lessons.
Do NOT just have a pre-made anchor chart. The idea is to create it with the students. However, you should definitely have an idea of your anchor chart and what it should include before beginning the lesson.

That’s it for now…but there’s more to come!

Finally, don’t forget to check in next week as we will be continuing with our mini series on writing workshop. We will be discussing exactly how you run the workshop in your classroom, so you don’t want to miss it!

And don’t forget to grab your free writing workshop lesson and workbook to see if my course is right for you. I will also link my full writing workshop units in case you are more interested in just having a full unit already planned at your disposal. These are month long units and include all the skills, mini lessons, discussion, mentor texts, and assessment pieces.