The State of My Readers-Writers Workshop
CLASS
STRUCTURE
I divide my class into three sections, as
follows:
·
15 minutes of independent reading
time. Students enter the room, rearrange
the desks as their class decided upon, and settle into reading their
self-selected novel.
·
20 minutes of direct instruction.
This may be modeling a reading strategy, modeling writing, lecturing on a new
topic, or reviewing the expectations of an assignment. My co-teachers and I may
ask questions and engage the class at this time, but often it is direct
instruction, and sometimes only lasts ten or fifteen minutes. There are days,
however, when we spend a bit more time depending on the content, but this
happens on average less than once every week.
·
45 minutes of readers-writers
workshop, where students work on their various assignments and I can conference
with students to provide clarifications and feedback.
I had asked students in each class to redesign
the classroom layout after about six weeks of running this model so students
would know how our physical environment may assist our process. I, personally,
would not begin the year by having students arrange the room, but I have
enjoyed this process and ownership once students knew how class would run each
day.
INDEPENDENT
READING AND OUR CLASSROOM LIBRARY
At the very start of the semester, I
provided a full day for students to peruse books in our classroom library and
the school library. I have not read all of the young adult books in my room,
but I have familiarized
myself with their content or genre to best recommend stories to students.
Favorites
as of late have included the following (in no particular order):
·
Red Rising series by Pierce
Brown
·
Wolf by Wolf duology by Ryan
Graudin
·
All American Boys, the Ghost series, and Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
·
Survival Colony 9 duology by Joshua
David Bellin
·
Simon vs. the Homo
Sapiens Agenda by
Becky Albertalli
·
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
·
One of Us is Lying
by
Karen M. McManus
·
Turtles All the
Way Down,
The Fault in Our Stars, and Paper Towns by John Green
·
Booked and The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
As
Department Chair, I was able to budget $200 per English teacher to spend on
Amazon.com this past school year (and I submitted the same budget request for
this year). This has helped build our classroom libraries (since our school
library funding is minimal). Rather than order more class sets of texts, we
opted for this route. I know this is not possible for all schools, but any
focus on individual classroom libraries does increase student reading since the
books are right there.
I
do not yet have a great system for checking out books. We tried using a Google
Form, but I was not on top of the consistency. I think I may go back to a
standard pen-and-paper list next to our
book rack where students can write their name and the book title, along with
the date it was taken out and the date returned.
Also,
I ask my students to read at least one novel every twenty calendar days. When
they take a new book, they also complete the bookmark (shown below). Some
students will read faster, but many students are proud that they are “ahead of
schedule” (since most books over twenty days may only require ten pages a day,
and with fifteen minutes each day already in class, students exceed their
goals: bonus!). Students submit the bookmark to me upon completion, and select
a new book.
For
my Honors classes, we asked them to post a brief review (“You’d like this book
if you like…”) on Padlet, but I have not been consistent in ensuring everyone
posts. However, students are beginning to casually recommend books to one
another! I will need a better system moving forward.
There
is no final project or task with each novel; read one novel, then begin
another.
MINI-LESSONS
When
I teach “skills” (analyzing setting, characters, and so forth), I will model
reading with a mentor text (often a classic) and then (the next day) model my
written response (typed in real-time and projected and/or posted on Google
Classroom) before asking students to analyze their text. I was much more
explicit and consistent with this approach at the start of the semester. As the
semester continues, my mini-lessons include grammar clarifications and reviews
of how to craft strong claims in analysis paragraphs. I still model, but not as
often as I did in the beginning
of the semester.
These
mini-lessons may also include some content: an overview of Greco-Roman
mythology, an introduction to propaganda techniques, and so on.
READERS-WRITERS
WORKSHOP
Amy
Rasmussen (@amyrass) does this much better than I do (see her blog post “So
You Don’t Think Workshop Works? 5 Reasons You are Wrong”), but my goal here
to is showcase my process on getting to where I am.
My
45 minutes of workshop provides students time in class to read and write—and
I’ve been increasing collaboration (earlier in the semester, it was silent
workshop time, but it was starting to creep me out).
Each
of my students has a Google Doc Daily Agenda/Work-log where they enumerate what
that hope to accomplish that day. We have been working on sub-dividing tasks
and also returning to the list to specify what we actually accomplished. This
is an on-going process in touching base with students and showing them how to
sub-divide and reflect.
Workshop
includes the following:
·
Students
will work at least ten minutes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on our
vocabulary program, Membean.com
·
Students
can work on a few diagnostic assessments or lessons (all formative) on
GrammarFlip.com
·
Students
will work on any of our writing assignments (sometimes balancing two or three
over the course of a few days with staggered deadlines).
·
Some
students use this time to continue reading, but I do step in if a student is
using reading to avoid writing or producing.
I
initially thought I could hold mini-conferences with five students a day. I
have since decided two a day would suffice. I can still touch base with many
more, a meaningful but conversation would need more time. I sometimes will have
a discussion with more than two per day, but other days include spot-checks and
two full conferences. I leave conference notes in their agenda, and we can
discuss whatever the student would like: a past assignment to revise, a current
assignment that is causing confusion, or they can talk with me about their
independent reading novel.
FEEDBACK AND
SCORING
I
originally started leaving assignment-specific notes next to each learning
target for that unit in the student’s work log. This proved very time-intensive
and required a lot of navigating. As of late, I have shifted to just leaving comments
next to each student’s daily agenda.
In
the future, I will probably list the learning targets for the unit and ask
students to add what assignment aligns to that standard, when it is due, and
record their score on it.
I
also finally created a checklist feedback rubric for written assignments that I
mentioned earlier. Rather than leaving descriptive feedback, I had been just
scoring assignments, and then discussing writing with students during
workshop—they could call me over to review an assignment before editing it, or
I would bring it up during our conferences. All written assignments can be
revised, especially since I am no longer copy-editing. My revised rubric has a
list of writing skills with descriptions, and I plan to check at least one
aspect the student did well, and one aspect a student should focus on in the
future (or for their revision). It looks a bit intimidating, so I still have to
see how it works once I implement it!
Grade
|
Analysis Criteria
|
Your Score
|
A
|
·
Claim is clear,
complete, and specific.
·
Citations are accurate
and relevant to the claim.
·
Claim and citation are
clearly and effectively cemented through analysis.
|
|
B
|
·
Claim is partially
clear, complete, and specific.
·
Citations are somewhat
accurate and relevant to the claim.
·
Claim and citation are
cemented through analysis.
|
|
C
|
·
Claim is present but
not fully focused.
·
Citations are minimally
utilized.
·
Claim and citation are
minimally cemented.
|
|
D
|
·
Claim relates
minimally to the task.
·
Citations are lacking.
·
Claim and citation are
poorly cemented.
|
|
F
|
·
The response is
unfocused or contains insufficient information to demonstrate comprehension.
|
|
You’re Doing Well
Here
|
Concept
|
Work to Improve
on This
|
Claim:
·
An
effective claim opens the paragraph and directly addresses what you are
writing about.
·
An
effective claim does not use general words like “good,” “bad,” or
“important.” Claims take a stance or argue a point.
·
Claims
can sometimes be strengthened when they begin with an introductory clause
(“Although…,” “While…,” etc.)
|
||
Evidence and
Citations:
·
If
you are analyzing a piece of literature, you should be able to provide
word-for-word text from the source in your own writing.
·
Effective
evidence matches the argument of your claim (and is a good example of your
claim).
|
||
Formatting Quotes:
·
Quotes
should be introduced in your writing (they should not be their own sentence).
For example, you may write:
o In the story, the
character “jumped off the bridge.”
·
If
you are including a page number, that appears in parentheses at the end of
the quote:
o The character is
described as “mischievous” (32).
|
||
Cement and
Analysis:
·
True
analysis includes what we can call “cement”: How does the
quote/evidence/citation attach to your claim? Strong analysis will include at
least one (though more may be needed) sentence explaining how that quote
proves the claim.
·
A
statement like “This proves the claim” is not cement. Strong analysis
discusses specific parts of the quote and explores the results of the
example: what effect does that evidence have on the characters, story, or
understanding?
|
||
Conclusion
Sentence:
·
A
conclusion sentence should not begin with “This is why…” or “These are…”
·
A
strong conclusion sentence explores the effect
of the information in the article, or suggests what might happen if
another argument was taken. Rather than just being a final sentence, a
conclusion should do something new with the information explored in the
paragraph (or transition to your next paragraph in a longer essay).
|
||
Listing:
·
Effective
lists use a comma after each item, with a coordinating conjunction (often the
word “and”) before the last item.
o
Example:
Nicola was taking English, Earth Science, History, and Pool first semester.
|
||
Compound Sentences:
·
Compound
sentences link two full sentences. A comma is added after the first sentence
(to replace the period), and then a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor,
but, or, yet, so) is added. Use compound sentences to mix up your sentence
structures.
o
Example:
I wanted to go to the movies, but my grandmother wouldn’t let me.
·
Avoid
comma splices: these are when two sentences are combined only with a comma.
To fix these, simply add the coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but,
or, yet, so).
|
||
Introductory
Clauses:
·
When
beginning your sentence with a subordinating conjunction (After, Although,
When, While, Before, Because, If, Since), be sure you finish the opening
clause with a comma. The words after the comma should be a full sentence on
their own.
o Example: Because
I hate clowns, I never go to the circus.
|
||
Appositives:
·
Appositives
are when we rename a noun. To do this, a comma is added after the noun, then
the noun is renamed or clarified, then another comma is added before the
sentence continues. Appositives help clarify the people and things in
sentences.
o Example: My
teacher, Mr. Emmanuele, is weird.
|
||
Semi-Colons:
·
Semi-colons
are used to link to full sentences. They are effectively used when a full
sentence is both before and after a semi-colon. However, the second sentence
does not need to begin with a capital letter. Semi-colons show that there is
some connection between the two sentences, sometimes even a cause-and-effect
structure.
o Example: I ate
blue taffy; my tongue is now blue.
·
Semi-colons
can also be used in lists. If at least one item in the list uses a comma, we
can no longer use commas to separate each item. Instead, use semi-colons
after each item in the list.
o Example: The
Avengers include Iron Man; Bruce Banner, the Hulk; and Captain America.
|
||
Active and
Passive Voice:
·
Active
voice creates sentences where the person or thing doing the action is very
clear. Usually these sentence begin with a noun followed by a verb.
o Example: Monsters
made noises in the trees. (This is active because we know that the monsters
are the ones making the noise.)
·
Passive
voice hides the person doing the action. Usually, we see sentences with the
word “was” or “were.” If we can add the goofy phrase “by zombies” at the end
of the sentence, there is a good chance the sentence is in passive voice.
o Example: Noises
were heard from the trees. (This is passive because we don’t know who is
making the noises.)
|
||
Parallel
Structure:
·
Parallel
structure ensures that all verbs or phrases in the sentence are in the same
form, especially in a list.
o
Example:
The thief ran, dashed, jumped, and careened out of sight.
o
Example:
The thief ran over the fence, up the wall, across the roof, then down the
tree.
|
||
Colons:
·
One
use of a colon is to introduce a list. However, a full sentence must appear
before a colon in this use.
o Example: I ate
way too much for lunch: a sandwich, fries, a bag of chips, and apple, and
candy.
·
A
second use of colon is to introduce a new big idea. In this construction, a
full sentence must appear both before and after the colon. However, the
second sentence does not need to begin with a capital letter. Here, the colon
is like a spotlight on the second sentence.
o My grandfather
always gave me good advice: treat others the way you want to be treated.
|
Moving
ahead, I’d love to create some instructional videos (follow @EastonA1 and Andrew Easton’s blog for high-quality teacher-produced
individualized learning videos!) to link to the rubric (since I drop it into
Google Docs) to re-teach students on certain stylistic or grammatical moves.
COMMUNICATION HOME
We
had begun e-mailing
home every Wednesday, but I just shifted to e-mailing every other
Wednesday. This process is awesome, but requires instruction and refinement. As
we strengthen our daily agendas—and now that students will have items checked
off in every rubric of what they did well and what to focus on next
time—students will have more to reflect on. I remind students that these
e-mails home are as much for them as their parents. I also plan to begin responding
to e-mails, especially to give some shout-outs and to note any missing
assignments or concerns as they arise. I have received many positive responses
from parents, and expanding the connection between home and school has proven
fruitful.
WHAT NEXT?
For those interested in implementing any
of these procedures, I encourage you to read my blog from the start to see my
thoughts, implementations, changes, hesitations, progression, and frustrations.
Everyone who does any of these steps will tell you it can be a process.
However, I began in November with my first semester (intensified-block)
students and ran it for a month or so until the end of the semester (and it
looked very different with all assignments provided up-front). Then, in
mid-January, I implemented this from
the start for second semester on
Day 1. Jumping in has been the best process, but I did spend almost a year
reading and thinking and bouncing ideas.
Comments
Post a Comment