Writing Center and Writing Workshop

Sometimes it's really difficult for students to get started. All writers have experienced writer's block like the two characters in the picture to the left. The Writing Center in the classroom is to encourage students to conquer any blocks they may have. Students will find all the materials they need to be writers in the writing center: pens, pencils, and markers; papers of all colors, shapes and sizes; a topic box for writing ideas; and a dictionary and thesaurus. Students can write down topic ideas at any time and place them in the topic box. When a child is struggling to choose a topic, they have the opportunity to choose three papers from the idea box and select one of these for their writing topic. Supplies for publishing such as computers, construction paper, and scissors can also be found in the writing center.

Writer's workshop is the time each week students will have for writing. By the end of the year, writer's workshop will last for 30 to 40 minutes everyday. During this time everyone in the classroom, including myself, will be writing. The three parts to writer's workshop in our classroom are a minilesson, writing time, and sharing time. The minilesson will last for 5 - 10 minutes. The teacher will teach one of the skills of writing to the students. The majority of the writer's workshop time is spent writing. During writing time, students may choose what they want to write about. Students will be at many different stages in the writing process during this time. Some may be just beginning the prewriting stage while others are choosing what piece they will be publishing. The final part of writing workshop is the sharing time. This is the most important time because it is when students can share their message -- their reason for writing. Students will be invited to come to the author's chair where they will read what they have written and receive feedback from their classmates. The students choose whether or not they want to participate in the author's chair.