WEBVTT 00:00:02.120 --> 00:00:05.580 Welcome to Writer’s Workshop Every Day. 00:00:05.580 --> 00:00:12.580 My name is Angela Sorrell, and I teach fifth-grade English language arts and math at Fall Creek 00:00:13.650 --> 00:00:16.360 Elementary in Yadkin County, North Carolina. 00:00:16.360 --> 00:00:19.689 My name is Beth Scott, and I teach first grade. 00:00:19.689 --> 00:00:24.050 I’m at Fall Creek Elementary in Yadkin County, North Carolina. 00:00:24.050 --> 00:00:30.259 Sorrell: I absolutely think it is of the utmost importance to have students to write every 00:00:30.259 --> 00:00:34.600 day, because the more you write the better you get. 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:37.760 They need the practice on a daily basis. 00:00:37.760 --> 00:00:38.839 They need the routine. 00:00:38.839 --> 00:00:44.649 They need to know that tomorrow I’m going to pick up and carry on with what I stopped 00:00:44.649 --> 00:00:46.420 doing yesterday. 00:00:46.420 --> 00:00:51.070 I tell them at the very beginning of the year when I introduce Writer’s Workshop, “We 00:00:51.070 --> 00:00:55.329 are going to write every day, and writing time is sacred. 00:00:55.329 --> 00:01:00.489 We are going to practice strategies that I’m going to show you using mentor text. 00:01:00.489 --> 00:01:05.250 I’m going to do my own writing and put myself on the line for you.” 00:01:05.250 --> 00:01:08.640 We make time for it every day, and it is sacred time. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:15.410 They know when Ms. Sorrell turns the music on and I dim the lights, that is writing time. 00:01:15.410 --> 00:01:20.050 There is nothing that is going to interrupt writing time. 00:01:20.050 --> 00:01:23.890 At Fall Creek, we do Writer’s Workshop every day. 00:01:23.890 --> 00:01:29.720 We begin our lessons with usually a read-aloud, using a mentor text, 00:01:29.720 --> 00:01:31.530 and I share that with the students. 00:01:31.530 --> 00:01:38.110 And then from the mentor text, I model to them what I would like for them to do, and 00:01:38.110 --> 00:01:44.000 I usually write a story, a personal story, about myself or my family or something that 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:45.710 I have a connection to. 00:01:45.710 --> 00:01:51.100 And then from there, after modeling to them, they will go and independently begin their 00:01:51.100 --> 00:01:52.480 writing time. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:56.080 They can go anywhere in the room where they feel comfortable writing, if it’s at their 00:01:56.080 --> 00:01:58.670 desk or at a table or in the floor, wherever. 00:01:58.670 --> 00:02:02.340 They go and do that for about 30 to 35 minutes. 00:02:02.340 --> 00:02:07.420 And then after they do their independent writing, we go into share time, where they share with 00:02:07.420 --> 00:02:12.700 a buddy or they may share with me, and then we put that away, and then the next day we 00:02:12.700 --> 00:02:16.989 pick that back up and continue that process. 00:02:18.089 --> 00:02:26.030 When we are working on specific strategies, I try to model in my writer’s notebook exactly 00:02:26.030 --> 00:02:31.430 the strategy that I’m looking for the children to show me in their writing. 00:02:31.430 --> 00:02:37.269 And I let them help me do it, and so they walk me through it. 00:02:37.269 --> 00:02:42.319 I put it in my notebook for them to see, you know, using the document camera they see what 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:43.879 I’m doing. 00:02:43.879 --> 00:02:47.499 And then I encourage them, “Okay, you’ve helped me. 00:02:47.499 --> 00:02:53.900 You’ve seen my writing and how I utilize the strategy. 00:02:53.900 --> 00:02:56.340 Now I want you to try it. 00:02:56.340 --> 00:03:03.340 And today in Writer’s Workshop, we are working on creating a memoir. 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:08.590 Structure is our topic. 00:03:08.590 --> 00:03:11.700 How are you going to structure your memoir?” 00:03:11.700 --> 00:03:18.700 And I showed them where I had brainstormed in my writer’s notebook, and then I reminded 00:03:20.299 --> 00:03:26.299 them, “You need to go now to your writing spot and decide what structure you want to 00:03:26.299 --> 00:03:28.709 use, and then collect your memories.” 00:03:28.709 --> 00:03:33.180 And so that’s the way I kind of make sure that they’re using the strategies that we 00:03:33.180 --> 00:03:37.379 talk about every day in Writer’s Workshop. 00:03:37.379 --> 00:03:42.449 We take the students through the process, and they know what 00:03:42.449 --> 00:03:43.709 the final product is going to look like. 00:03:43.709 --> 00:03:47.889 It’s not going to be just, “Okay, my teacher told me to write this, so this is what I wrote.” 00:03:47.889 --> 00:03:52.169 It’s going to be something that they want to write and something that they can continue 00:03:52.169 --> 00:03:56.650 to write on because we do Writer’s Workshop every day, every teacher at our school. 00:03:56.650 --> 00:04:01.709 It’s from grade level to grade level to grade level, and it’s just a continuum. 00:04:01.709 --> 00:04:06.739 And the students know that, and they know that when they get finished in first grade, 00:04:06.739 --> 00:04:09.820 they’re going to get to second grade, and they’re going to pick up, 00:04:09.820 --> 00:04:10.790 and it’s not going to change. 00:04:10.790 --> 00:04:13.489 It’s still going to be writing time, it’s still going to be Writer’s Workshop, you’re 00:04:13.489 --> 00:04:15.540 still going to do it every day. 00:04:15.540 --> 00:04:21.738 And the quality of writing that we’re getting now, it’s like night and day. 00:04:21.738 --> 00:04:28.030 It is important for students to have an opportunity to write every day to find their voice, to 00:04:28.030 --> 00:04:34.870 put their thoughts, their feelings, their imagination onto paper. 00:04:34.870 --> 00:04:39.340 And I think it’s equally important for them to realize that they have an audience and 00:04:39.340 --> 00:04:42.449 someone that cares about what they have to say. 00:04:42.449 --> 00:04:47.030 And Writer’s Workshop allows for both of those things, because there’s always an 00:04:47.030 --> 00:04:53.960 audience and there’s always an opportunity to put your voice onto paper. 00:04:53.960 --> 00:04:58.639 To learn more about Writer’s Workshop, please explore the additional resources on the Doing 00:04:58.639 --> 00:04:59.849 What Works website.