Planning writing lessons for your writing workshop units sounds easy, but there is so much to consider. Teaching writing in middle school is the hardest component of teaching language arts. Many new teachers find themselves ill-equipped to handle the demands of coming up with writing lessons, units, grading, and motivating reluctant writers. Even seasoned teachers can find this difficult.
Writing workshop really is the way to go. Although it requires some work up front, once your writing lessons and units are planned, the workshop runs itself. This blog post will explain how to plan your writing workshop lessons and units in 4 easy steps. Let’s dive in!
Blog Post Series – Part 3
This is the third blog in a series that I’ve created on Writing Workshop. 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.
You might want to backtrack and read blog posts 1 and 2 if you haven’t already!
But First, a Freebie to Help with Your Writing Lessons and Units
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
From Writing Lessons to Units: Decide Your First Unit Topic
Your first unit might be something your district dictates to you, or you may have some say in what you would like to teach first. I was lucky in that I was allowed to plan my year and decide on which units to teach because I was in charge of writing the curriculum for my grade level.
If you have that autonomy, I highly recommend starting with a personal narrative. I say that for several reasons. First, it is a fantastic way to get to know your students at the beginning of the year. Second, it is an easier unit for students as it is based on their own experiences. And third, it is an easier writing experience because they are not bogged down with essay format, text evidence, citations, and such.
As I go through this blog, I will be referencing personal narratives, but know that you can certainly use this information for creating any unit that you need or want to teach.
Steps to Plan Your Writing Lessons and Units
Here is what you need to do to get that first unit up and running. I am going to lay this out for you in a four-point plan:
- Choosing a Benchmark Piece
- Creating Your Partnerships
- Selecting a Mentor Text
- Choosing Writing Lessons and Skills to be Taught
As a heads up, I also alternate my teaching between reading and writing units. I highly recommend doing this, and suggest that you do the reading unit first. This really helps you to have lots of examples for kids to see. So, my first unit is actually a reading unit, and I do a deep study of character. I choose books that are in first person so that it will match the personal narrative format of writing.
BTW, I lay this all out for you in my online course, and help you plan it out so that you are set for the year.
Step 1 to Plan Your Writing Workshop Unit: Benchmark Assessment
Before you begin your unit, you will find it very useful to have a piece of writing that helps you determine your student’s writing level.
Cold Write
Before I begin my personal narrative unit, I have the students do a quick, “cold write” about an event in their life. I give them a few directions and a certain amount of time. The directions might include something like, “Be sure to include dialogue, sensory details, and focus on one small moment in your life.” This way, I have a rough idea of where they are. It is also helpful if you need to document the progress of your students’ work in each unit.
Rubric
You will need a rubric to score them. It is ok to pick a few areas and score them very roughly. You might have something like this in place already in your district. If not, I would pick about 5 areas of focus (examples: mechanics, use of dialogue, length of writing, having a plot, having a good lead, having a clear ending, etc.).
Make Scoring Simple
For each of these areas of focus, you can score them easily on a scale of 0-3 or 0-5. Something simple like 1 is below grade level, 2 is on grade level, and 3 is above grade level works well. I would create a grid, print it out, and score their work. Then you can save it until the end of the unit.
We also do this in my course, and we keep it nice and simple. You don’t need to be bogged down with a pre-assessment; you just need a glimpse into what kids can already do.
Step 2 to Plan Your Writing Workshop Unit: Create Partnerships
- Using your data from your benchmark piece, give each student a partner.
- It is up to you as to how you do this; there is no exact science.
- Some teachers (myself included) like to place a higher achiever with a lower achiever (I hate these terms…using them for lack of a better way to explain). Some teachers like to partner kids with similar abilities.
- You also have to consider more than just their scores. As teachers, we know which kids will complement each other intuitively. We have to take behavior, interests, and general attitudes into account.
- Suggestion: If you have a student who is constantly absent, it might be good to make that student into a trio.
- Whatever you do, be sure to let kids know that this is not optional and that they will be partners throughout the unit.
- From there, you can set up your seating. Sit partners either next to each other or across from each other. I personally have tables of 4 students, so then you can put partners with another set of partners to create a table. Obviously, do what works best for you!
Step 3 to Plan Your Writing Workshop Unit: Select a Mentor Text
Selecting a mentor text for this unit is going to be crucial. Here are some points to keep in mind when selecting a mentor text:
- The mentor text should be in the same genre as your unit. A personal narrative, for example, should be a short story with a clear problem, strong character, and a great ending. Note: Even though personal narratives will be based on a true event from a student’s life, it is perfectly fine to use a piece of fiction for this (aka a narrative).
- The mentor text should be short enough to read in a sitting.
- You should absolutely plan on reading this out loud! Read it through once, just to read. Then, plan on a bit of discussion. Your discussion can be very basic. Examples: “What did you think?” “What parts of the story resonated with you?” “Did you like the ending?” “Which character did you connect with the most?”
- It is ok to do some type of follow-up assignment, but keep it to a minimum. You don’t want to kill a great story with a whole worksheet of questions. I would consider doing a “fun” activity for the mentor text, such as interactive stations where kids review plot, character traits, etc.
- Be sure students have copies of this text. You can do digital, printable, or both.
- As the year goes on, be sure to choose mentor texts that include characters from varied ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, ability levels, etc. as possible.
Some of my favorite mentor texts for narratives:
- “Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara
- “A Letter from the Fringe” by Joan Bauer
- “The Jacket” by Gary Soto
- “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan
Step 4 to Plan Your Writing Workshop Unit: Select Writing Lessons and Skills
Point four is our last point and it’s a biggie, and that is choosing the writing lessons and skills to teach your unit.
This is a huge, crucial step in planning your unit. Here are some things to keep in mind when selecting your writing lessons and skills:
- Look at your district’s curriculum. Are there certain skills that need to be taught in certain units? Are there certain skills that must be addressed but there is no timeline? This is the first place to look.
- If there is no district guidance, you have to see what skills have been taught so far, where your kids are now, and what fits naturally into your unit. For example, the skills taught in a personal narrative are going to be very different than the skills taught in a unit on writing a feature article.
- Also note that when you pick a skill, you can come back to it again in another unit. I teach theme constantly through reading and writing; there are definitely skills that need to be taught and extended upon in future lessons.
| Examples of Skills for Fiction Writing | Examples of Skills for Nonfiction Writing |
| character traits | citations |
| plotline | text evidence |
| climax | text structure |
| symbolism | text features |
It’s A Lot…But You’ve Got This!
That was a lot of information! There is a lot to consider when getting started with writing workshop, but if you just follow along step-by-step, I promise it is not too complicated.
Not enough time to read? Try the Podcast!
I recently started a Podcast for middle school language arts teachers. Check it out!
Be sure to check in for my next blog post, where we will be continuing with our mini-series on writing workshop. We will be discussing creating clear, succinct mini-lessons. Mini-lessons are the heart of your workshop, 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.
Wishing you and your students all the best!
-Linda A. “All in One Middle School“
Helpful Links
Join the All in One Middle School Membership!
Free Writing Workshop “Getting Started” Module 1
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One-on-One Coaching for Observations and Lessons
Teaching Writing Workshop Course
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