Running an Effective Writing Workshop

Read here for tips to get your writing workshop up and running.

This is the fifth part of a mini-series on writing workshop in middle school.

Running an effective writing workshop will, undoubtedly, help your students move along in their writing, but it is so much more. When your workshop is running smoothly, kids enjoy it. They are collaborating, doing their best thinking, and getting important feedback from you. Not only that, you begin to enjoy it as well.

Teaching writing is unquestionably the most difficult aspect of teaching language arts. You have to plan units, teach skills, get kids motivated to write, and grade them. But when your workshop is in place, it runs itself, and it frees you up to enjoy the process.

But how do you get to that place where it becomes a bit easier and you see results? Read on for tips on how to do this in your middle school classroom.

Read here for tips to get your writing workshop up and running.

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.

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Setting Expectations for Running an Effective Writing Workshop

Before you begin your first writer’s workshop, it is crucial to explicitly state the expectations of students so that they know what to expect and what their role is. I advise that you take about 15 minutes to clearly go over all of these expectations, and then post them in the room and on their digital learning platform.

Treat this like you would any lesson; gather kids and tell them that your goal is to go over what you expect from them during writing workshop, and what they can expect from you and themselves.

Kids should be clear on these points:

Let students know what materials to bring each day.
As we stated in a previous blog, let students know that during mini-lessons, you talk, and they listen. This is NOT the time for anecdotes and discussions. They will get to talk during the “turn and talk” portion, and have time for questions at the end.
Let students know that you will be very clear with assignments and due dates. Decide on your late policy now.

Movement and focus is crucial. Let kids know exactly where they will sit during the mini-lesson and during the workshop portion.
Students need to know that they will be working with a partner throughout the unit.
Let students know up front that partnerships are not always perfect, but it is expected that they work well together and help each other when needed.
Tell students that during the workshop portion (this is the time when they get to work on their writing pieces), you expect them to write. You know writing is hard, but you also expect them to get something down so that when you begin conferencing (more to come on that soon), you have a starting point.
Let kids know that during sharing time (more on that to come), sometimes kids share personal information. That information should stay IN the classroom.

The Mini Lesson

We have already been through most of the important components of the mini lessons in our last blog post, but here are some reminders.

Important concepts:

Keep it brief…10-15 minutes is your goal. This will take practice!

The mini lessons that you designed should each have a teaching goal that is explicitly stated. Be sure that your students are clear on this.

Again…during the mini lesson, YOU talk, they LISTEN. Hold all questions until the end. It’s fine to share out a little bit of your turn and talk, but do this very sparingly.

Be sure that the last thing you tell kids is a clear direction as to what to do as they go off to write. I like to then ask if there are questions and get kids to work. I usually have them spread out around the room with their partner.

Running an effective writing workshop: Workshop Time

Workshop time is when kids are working on their writing pieces and you are circulating and conferencing.

Here are the basics:

Again, your students should be very clear on the expectations as you gave them directions at the end of the mini lesson.

I like to give kids a few minutes to settle, then do a quick “walk around” to be sure if they are on task.

Then, I begin conferencing (more to come next).

It’s ok and even a good idea at times to interrupt the class to re-state an important point. I would not, however, stop class to go over directions again; kids need to look at the directions again if they are unclear.

The amount of time you have for this will depend on your schedule, but 30 minutes is a good goal.

Conferencing

Conferencing is a big topic, and it will have it’s own blog. In fact, conferencing is one of the main components that really differentiates writing workshop from say, just assigning an essay.

Brief overview of conferencing:

Conferencing is a crucial component of the workshop!

Conferencing is a way to meet with kids individually or in small groups on skills or problems in their writing.

It is also a time for kids to get general feedback on their piece.

Conferencing has to be planned and intentional or you will see that you waste a lot of time.

Conferencing can be brief or more extended, depending on your goal.

More to come in our next blog post!

Sharing

This is a step that many skip due to time constraints. I know it’s difficult to perfectly orchestrate a workshop model, but try to fit this in…kids need it to see what others are doing and many really like to share.

Keep in mind when sharing:

Gather kids back together for this. Then, we share as a group.

I would pick one, specific item to share. I would try to make it related to the day’s teaching goal. For example, if the goal was to use dialogue, have students share out their best example of dialogue.

You can then close up the lesson, reminding students of the teaching goal and repeating any directions for homework.

That’s a lot of info!

Take heart. Running an effective writing workshop takes time and practice. If you are feeling overwhelmed, it’s normal. If this is new to you or you need more help, my course will help. I go over everything with you (there are video components) and the workbook takes you step-by-step so that you will be all set.

Not enough time to read? Try the Podcast!

I recently started a Podcast for middle school language arts teachers. Check it out!