Program: Units of Study in Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing
By Lucy Calkins with Colleagues from the Reading and Writing Project
Publisher: Heinemann; Copyright 2013
Reading Workshop is an instructional program developed by Lucy Calkins and colleagues from the Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University that focuses on the strengths and needs of each individual reader. Teachers model reading behaviors and provide direct instruction on strategic reading. Students are given significant time to read, an opportunity to choose their reading selections, and time to talk and write about books and strategies.
Components of Reading Workshop
A session begins with the teacher providing a whole class mini lesson on a reading strategy or skill. Picture and chapter books are read as the teacher demonstrates the skill. Then students read self-selected, high-interest, level-appropriate books independently or with a partner, drawing on all their accumulating reading strategies including the new lesson’s skill. Readers respond in a notebook, in peer groups and during their teacher conference. The teacher also provides instruction in small strategy groups and in individual conferences to review progress and set individualized goals. Students will share with the whole class or in small groups their reading, oral and written responses, and book recommendations.
How will my child be assessed?
Reading workshop assessment is ongoing and varied. The teacher will closely monitor and assess your child’s progress through conversations, notes, and running records from student-teacher conferences and small group work. Rubrics will be used to assess your student’s fluency, comprehension, written response, and participation in workshop. Expect to see fewer worksheets coming home as this model provides authentic reading and writing opportunities.
Writing Workshop:
Program: Units of Study in Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing
By Lucy Calkins with Colleagues from the Reading and Writing Project
Publisher: Heinemann; Copyright 2013
ISBN: 978-0-325-04755-3
Our Writing Workshop program is a highly effective program that builds on the best practices and proven frameworks of the original Units of Study for Teaching Writing series by Lucy Calkins. Writing Workshop helps learners meet and exceed the Common Core State Standards. The idea behind Writing Workshop is simple: if we know from experience that a workshop approach to the teaching of writing works well for aspiring professional writers, why shouldn’t we use this approach in our classrooms? As in a professional writing workshop, each learner is a working author. The teacher is a writing professional and peer coach, guiding authors as they explore their craft at their own individual pace and skill level. Over time, authors learn to choose their own topics and to manage their own development as they work through a wide variety of writing projects in a sustained and self-directed way.
Writing is a craft; it can be empowering for students to learn how to become better writers. Writing should happen every day. Students in each grade write in different genres throughout the year. Students are not assigned to specific topics, but rather choose their own topics within the genre being taught.
Unit 1: (Sept./Oct.): “Lessons from the Masters: Improving Narrative Writing” under mentor authors
Unit 2: (Oct./Nov.): “Lab Reports and Science Books” informational
Unit 3: (Nov./Dec.): “Writing About Reading” opinion
Unit 4: (Jan./Feb.): “Poetry: Big Thoughts in Small Packages”
Writing Workshop is compiled of four units of study centered around narrative, informational, opinion, and poetry composition. Each unit of study contains 18-22 sequential sessions that walk learners step-by-step through the entire writing process from planning and drafting, to revising and editing, and eventually to publication. The learners will be engaged in mini lessons, conferences, and small-group work in a way that will help them replicate, and eventually personalize their writing.
In Writing Workshop classrooms, mini lessons are short and tightly focused on practical real-world issues. As in professional writing workshops, emphasis is placed on writing for an audience. Work is shared with the class, there will be peer conferencing and editing, and a diverse collection of work will accumulate in a writing folder and later in a portfolio. Elements of grammar will be taught as well as proper capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and other writing conventions. Writers will conference with the teacher individually, in pairs, or in small groups in order to receive feedback on their growth and to strategize goals. Teachers write with their learners and share their own work as well. The workshop setting encourages learners to think of themselves as writers, and to take their writing seriously. A “gradual release of responsibility” teaching method is employed, and students will show substantial growth over time! Their early works may not look “complete,” and that is expected. Teachers will evaluate student progress through writing samples and published pieces, and participation in strategy groups.