Summer Literacy and Mathematics Professional Learning
June 5-9, 2017
Day 2: Making the Most of Conferring in Writing Workshop
Lisa Eickholdt (@LisaEickholdt)
The Writing Strategies Book- Jennifer Serravallo
Slide Presentation- Launch Unit Generating Ideas
Marsha’s Notes:
The heart of teaching is during the conference
YOU ARE THE BOSS OF YOUR OWN WRITING!
Complement Stems
- I notice you…I see you’re the kind of writer who…
- That’s important because….
- Every time you write you can…and it will…
“What are you working on as a writer?” What have you learned in mini-lessons that you’re working on as a writer? Goal- follow the child’s lead!
When you’re done, you’ve just begun!
Use mentor texts and anchor charts so that your teaching will STICK! A compliment conference will validate their use of the teaching point.
Writing Pathways has all of the grade level writing samples. Copy them and put them in student writing folders. Spend 3 days immersing in the genre before you teach.
Open Genre Unit? Allow the kids to choose their own genre of writing for a few weeks. Ralph Fletcher- Joy Write
Idea Generating Strategies are great launch units at the beginning of the year
Resources for Anchor Charts
https://chartchums.wordpress.com/tag/charts/
Writing Conference with Harold and Amanda
Providing and then Withholding Scaffolding to Support one Child’s Early Understanding of Narrative Structure (K-2) from TC Reading and Writing Project on Vimeo.
Typically confer with 4 students per session
Teaching Moves During a Conference
Craft- how do you make your writing more interesting?
Process
Goals and Habits
Pg 30- Learning From Classmates- Eickholdt
Meaning/Focus
Structure CUPCAKE
Elaboration/Details
Craft FROSTING/SPRINKLES
Conventions
Writing is like a cupcake…Frosting & sprinkles are craft and convention but meaning, structure, and elaboration is the cupcake
Touch and write across the pages…oral rehearsal is key
Step 1: Immersion (study the genre that you’ll be teaching, think, plan, sketch and label, write, reread and revise, reread and edit)- use mentor texts from old students
Before revision, vision!
Stop being a hunter of errors and look for the beauty of the content!
Carl Anderson- Assessing Writers
Don’t write the watermelon, write the seed- Calkins
Focus
- Narrow the Timespan- seed- slice of time
- Angling Writing- so what? Why are you writing this?- each page has an angle about one focus…My Sister is a Daredevil, My Brother is my Best Friend
Elaboration
- Inside Story- tell me what you’re thinking and feeling/Flash forward and Flash back
- Exploding Moment- the most volume of writing should be about the focus
- Add in Talking, Thinking, and Specific Body Actions- bring character to life by making them talk
Structure and Organization
- Excluding extraneous events (impacts focus)
- Including important events (impacts elaboration)
- Planning
Timelines- Action and Reaction
Break writing into paragraphs using PATS:
- Place
- Action
- Time
- Speaker
Express Lane Editing– Video (Jeff Anderson)
Video Resources on Conferring
Conference with Joshua (from Mark Overmeyer: How Can I Support You?)
A Writing Conference: Teaching a Student to Write for Audience (3-5)
Assessment-Based Conferring to Raise the Level of Narrative Writing (3-5)
Conference with Bella (from Patrick Allen: What Are You Thinking? Conferring in Reader’s Workshop)
Research-Decide-Teach conference Reading