What is Writers’ Workshop?

Writers’ Workshop is a format that provides the structure to support children learning to write.  The workshop is designed for use with grades K-5 and is designed for 60 minutes a day.  Activities are designed to teach youngsters what good writers do to help them learn to write The learn to generate writing using self-selected topics, work with others to revise and refine their writing, as well as practice author’s craft, skills, grammar, and conventions.  Predictable rituals and routines structure the workshop to provide consistent expectations.  There are four genres of writing taught within the Writers’ Workshop: Informational/ Report, Narrative, Procedural, and Response to Literature.

What does the class period look like during Writer’ Workshop?

The Writers’ Workshop contains three parts: an Opening, a Work Session, and a Closing.

• During the Opening, the teacher teaches a 5-10 minute mini-lesson that brings the entire class together as a whole group for a single writing focus.
• During the 40-45 minute Work Session the students go through the writing process: plan, draft, confer, revise, edit, and publish.
• The 5-10 minute Closing brings the students back together to share in the Author’s Chair what they have learned as writers.