Writer's Workshop

WOO! HOO!
I had an exciting hour this morning in a first grade classroom.  Mrs. Aalber's first graders began writer's workshop and I was invited to help and observe.

Each first grader wrote a "small moment" story about something they did over the weekend or throughout the summer.  All 18 students thought of their idea, sketched a picture and wrote several sentences.  The students were trying to use spaces, spelling simple "word wall" words correctly (not all but many) and asking "can I write more? or can I keep going?"   These things are not simple skills!  Mrs. Aalbers and I were beyond thrilled and excited.

You might wonder why such excitement??........  Last year at South Side we implemented a new writing curriculum K-3, Lucy Calkin's Units of Primary Writing.  This program has children writing everyday to build stamina and  to learn writing skills that real authors use.  Our young writers learn real writing skills that they will use throughout their entire school careers.  The workshop usually last about 45 minutes - 60 minutes.  If a teacher had to cancel writing due to special activities or an early dismissal the kids would actually whine and beg to write.  We loved hearing this!  Although as I write this I don't want to mislead anyone- our first year had many frustrations and we spent hours studying together and learning how to be better writers ourselves.

So now a year later.... I saw the hard work of our Kindergarten teachers and students pay off.  The students are writers and it will be exciting to see how much more they grow this year.  Well done Kindergarten teachers!

It will be a fun year to watch the writers at all grade levels as they continue Units of Primary Writing and as the 4th & 5th graders begin the program at the middle school.  It will be a challenging year for the upper grades but I hope they discover we are sending motivated and skilled writers from South!

Happy Writing-Ronna