For the Love of Writing

One part of Writing Workshop that many of us have failed to follow through on is the sharing portion usually held at the end of the workshop.  Many times we’re in such a rush to get on to the next subject that we leave it off.  Some students are relieved while others are disappointed.  There were times I have to admit when I didn’t like the sharing section.  I started teaching writing by letting everybody who wanted to share read what they had written.  That was a disaster as it took forever(!) and some read the same 6 sentences each day.  Then I tried assigning students a day to share.  That worked fine except some students didn’t want to share, and I felt like we weren’t getting as much learning as we could out of that time.  Here’s how I changed sharing time to make it more beneficial for all of us.

• I read what was to be shared. Lucy Calkins taught me this.  When the teacher reads, everyone can hear.  She reads fluently and is modeling for her students. Also, this eliminates the shy child from having to read in front of her classmates.
• Either the student or I chose which part of the writing to read. Most of the time the whole piece of writing doesn’t have to be read, especially with older children who write longer pieces.  Also, you’re using this time to teach, so you’re reading something you want to point out that’s well done.
• Every week every child’s writing was highlighted in some way. With both creative and struggling writers, sometimes all I would read would be a sentence from their work.  This way my students saw the power a sentence could hold.  Think about sentences from books, movies, or songs that are powerful to you.  You can make your students’ work come alive in much the same way.
• Some days at the beginning of the workshop I read a line or two from every student.  If I had read through all of the pieces the night before, I marked in some way what I wanted to emphasize from each child’s work.  It was so much fun the next day to see their faces light up when their work was read.  It reinforced the idea that everyone is a writer.
• When a piece of writing was completely finished, I offered the writer a chance to read it to the class. This worked really well for upper grade students who tend to write more.  It was a chance for them to share how their pieces came together.

Sharing is an important part of Writing Workshop.  All authors want at least some, if not all, of their writing to be heard by an audience.  Let’s offer our young writers the same opportunity!