TWO WRITING TEACHERS

TWO WRITING TEACHERS

A meeting place for a world of reflective writers.

Structure: Writing Workshop Fundamentals

Writing Workshop Fundamentals Blog Series - August 2017 - #TWTBlog

This relates to writing workshop because we all program ourselves, and a lot of the time, we function best when our program coincides with our expectations. One of the critical aspects of a well running writing workshop is its predictability. That predictability provides clarity and structure for both teachers and students, offering a format for instruction and for paying attention and working.

A pie graph works well for me whenever I think about the component parts of a writing workshop. In most classrooms, the pie graph represents sixty minutes, but the graphic representation applies to longer and shorter workshops as well.

chart (1)

What are the Structural Components of a Writing Workshop?

The Minilesson

In general, minilessons should last approximately 10 minutes, and they should contain four distinct parts. Tomorrow, Stacey will elaborate even more on each part in her post about this important aspect of a writing workshop.

  • The Connection: Students learn why today’s instruction is important to them as writers, and they learn how it connects with what they have been learning and practicing.
  • The Teaching Point and Demonstration: The teacher states exactly what will be taught during the lesson. “Today I’m going to teach you” is a useful phrase to streamline instruction. This is the part of the lesson when the teacher shows students how to use a specific skill or strategy.
  • The Active Engagement: Students have a chance to practice what has just been taught or to share noticings about the lesson. They might also “turn and talk” about how they could use the strategy in their writing. They might even “stop and jot” in their writer’s notebook.
  • The Link: The teacher reiterates the teaching point, and students are challenged to include it into their repertoire of growing skills within their practice of writing.

Independent Writing Time

For about twenty minutes following the minilesson, students should be engaged in independent writing time. Mid-workshop interruptions offer students a shorter teaching point, and then students should have another segment of sustained independent writing time for a total of about 40 minutes within a 60 minute workshop. Early primary students may have shorter segments, working toward stamina and sustaining longer sessions.

During independent writing time, students should be working on their own writing, and they may very well be in different phases, focusing on a variety of goals. Yes, they should be trying out the skill from the minilesson, but they should be developing a growing repertoire of skills within genres and as writers. Independence and repertoire are important goals of writing workshops.

Conferring with individual students and/or partners and Small Group Work

Conferring and small group work target specific students and skills. Conferring especially is often called the heart of the workshop. A strong conference also has discernible components: a compliment, research on the part of the teacher, and a teaching point. Small group work at its best involves 4 students who are working on the same skill. They may be of different writing levels, but the teaching point pertains to the work all of them are doing.

Mid-workshop Interruption

It is difficult to sustain writing, and students are usually ready to handle a break in the action. Therefore, the mid-workshop interruption is just as it is described. Students usually stay at their desks, but the teacher folds in an additional teaching point that may or may not relate to the minilesson. The MWI could involve honoring a student, or it could relate to a skill that the teacher knows pertains to several students in the class.

Lucy Calkins emphasizes the importance of having students’ attention during the mid-workshop interruption, and a line she uses is “Writers, can I have your eyes?” She then waits for everyone to stop what they are doing and look at her. While we can all coin whatever phrase works in our own classroom, I have to say that Lucy’s is really effective!

Teaching Shares

Shares come at the end of the workshop. Like the mid-workshop interruptions, shares might be a time to honor students’ work, but these five minutes can also be a time to directly teach one more concept. Either way, shares should involve student work, and they should create a sense of closure for the day’s writing work.

Just like when I’m preparing for a run, when I’m preparing to give or to participate in any sort of lesson or presentation, it helps me to know how long it will be; that way I can pace myself. As your workshops become more and more predictable in terms of structure, I bet you’ll find that you engage and even empower your writers! Quick Tips

  • Use a timer! Hold yourself to a ten minute limit for a minilesson. If you find that you are going over, try to establish which part of the minilesson is taking too much time, and target your revision.
  • During independent writing time, challenge yourself to get to one individual conference, one partnership, and one small group. You won’t believe how many students you can reach.
  • Think of your mid-workshop interruption and share as teaching points and add bullets to the charts that are in progress.
  • Create charts with your students of what your role and responsibilities are, as well as what their roles and responsibilities should be. Refer to these charts as needed.
  • Google Forms is a fabulous resource for setting up record keeping systems. Consider using it as a tool when you are conferring with individual students or even more than one student at a time.
  • Try asking students to set a goal for themselves at the end of your mid-workshop interruption. Often, this helps focus them for the remaining minutes and provides a sense of purpose.
  • Veer from the classic minilesson structure with an inquiry lesson. Sometimes inquiry lessons take a little longer, but challenge yourself to not stray too far from the 10 minute time frame.

Link Roundup

Anna Cockerille writes about the components of a minilesson:   https://twowritingteachers.org/2015/09/13/teaching-writers-about-writing-workshop/

Beth Moore writes about routines:   https://twowritingteachers.org/2014/08/07/sharpen-your-workshop-routines-writing-centers-to-organize-all-your-materials/

Beth Moore writes about more than one way to teach a minilesson:   https://twowritingteachers.org/2014/08/21/there-are-more-ways-than-one-to-teach-a-minilesson/ Suggested Reading

  • The Art of Teaching Writing , New Edition by Lucy Calkins ( http://www.heinemann.com/products/08809.aspx )
  • The No-Nonsense Guide to Teaching Writing by Judy Davis and Sharon Hill http://www.heinemann.com/products/e00521.aspx
  • Writing Workshop by Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi http://www.heinemann.com/products/e00362.aspx

Giveaway Information

  • This giveaway is for a copy of  Renew! Become a Better — and More Authentic — Writing Teacher . Many thanks to  Stenhouse Publishers  for donating a copy for one reader. (If the winner has a U.S. address, you may choose a paper or eBook. If the winner has an international mailing address, then you will receive an eBook.)
  • For a chance to win this copy of  Renew! Become a Better — and More Authentic — Writing Teacher , please leave a comment about this or any blog post in this blog series by  Monday, August 7th at 5:00 p.m. EDT . Beth Moore will use a random number generator to pick the winner’s commenter number. His/her name will be announced in the ICYMI blog post for this series on  Tuesday, August 8th .
  • Please be sure to leave a valid e-mail address when you post your comment, so Beth can contact you to obtain your mailing address if you win.  From there, our contact at Stenhouse will ship your book out to you.  (NOTE: Your e-mail address will not be published online if you leave it in the e-mail field only.)
  • If you are the winner of the book, Beth will email you with the subject line of TWO WRITING TEACHERS – RENEW BOOK. Please respond to her e-mail with your mailing address  within five days  of receipt. Unfortunately, a new winner will be chosen if a response isn’t received  within five days  of the giveaway announcement.

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Published by Melanie Meehan

I am the Writing and Social Studies Coordinator in Simsbury, CT, and I love what I do. I get to write and inspire others to write! Additionally, I am the mom to four fabulous daughters and the wife of a great husband. View all posts by Melanie Meehan

40 thoughts on “ Structure: Writing Workshop Fundamentals ”

Thank you for such a succinct breakdown. I know many teachers in our district who would benefit from this resource as we launch workshop structures 7-8th grade.

This series is incredibly helpful as I plan to implement writing workshop for the first time in my 8th grade ELA classes. I’ve always struggled with teaching writing, but this series spells everything out to make planning much easier. Thanks so much!

This post is something I want to often go back to and reread. Thank you for sharing!

I will be using this workshop model. Thanks for the info.

Timers are such a fun tool. For a ten minute lesson, I like to have a student in the group set the timer for 8 minutes so then he can give me a two minute warning, and I can still end with a quick restated teaching point and link without taking up precious writing time!

Structure is everything . . . in our writing and in our writing workshops!

This is a great breakdown of the entire Workshop! Thank you for the post and the series!

Such important reminders, even for the most veteran teachers. Thank you!

This series is very timely as we are revving up to provide Writing Workshop PD across this coming school year. We see a great need for all of us to give writing the time every day it deserves. Too many times writing workshop is the thing that is taken off the schedule and we forget how writing is reciprocal to reading as well. Thanks and I am also looking forward to getting a copy of the book!

Great post on structure Melanie. I agree that predictability makes it all run better- for teachers and writers. Can’t remember where I saw this (probably here on TWT) but I love the idea of handing the timer to a student who then lets the teacher know at the ten minute mark that it’s time for writers to write. I haven’t used Google forms for record keeping, and am not aware that teachers at my school have either. Excited to explore the possibilities.

Thanks for another great post series on writing workshop, the reminders are so helpful!

This was a wonderful post. Our high school ELA Dept is adopting a reader/writer workshop model this year. Your posts are really helping me get my brain around how to manage this structure in my classes.

Thank you for breaking down your process!

Excellent blog – I’m going to send this to my colleagues as we are just starting to implement the writing series. I think it will be very helpful to them . Love the series & would love a copy of the book.

This is so helpful. I am looking forward to sharing with other teachers in my district. Thanks for putting this together in a way that everyone can utilize. Love you blog series. Would love to have a copy of the book. [email protected]

What a great blog series to run right before teachers are returning to the classroom! Thank you for the breakdown and explanation of each component. As a self-taught Workshop teacher, this is very helpful! : )

Interesting post. Have you given thought to the mid workshop break conditioning writers to not know what to do when attention flags? Wouldn’t lessons in self-monitoring and persistence be important components to facilitate independence and enable writers to refocus on their own? Students will learn what we teach.

Absolutely! This is a post I’ve been planning–you can even do minilessons on self-monitoring and workshop responsibilities. Reflection and metacognition are important for all of us–in more than just writing workshop.

Thanks Melanie. Sometimes following routines leads to undesirable outcomes and many of my recent readings have pointed to teaching students to self monitor and work through weakening attention. I appreciate the opportunity to bring these ideas forward.

So great strategies to incorporate while teaching English and French, students of all level at the CFL I run, here in Greece! The mid-interruption workshop is the ideal way to strengthen the feedback. Thanks for the fabulous post!!! Greetings to all, from Patras, Greece!

Thanks for sharing the breakdown of the timing portion of the workshop. I’ll have my kiddos for a 50 minute block, so I am thinking of adjusting the independent writing time.

Sometimes with our teachers who have shorter writing blocks, we break it down by percentages. It’s not perfect, but it helps reinforce the importance of independent writing time.

Great refresher to start the year!

Thank you for the streamlined, honest look at writer’s workshop! Your timing is impeccable as I begin to gather my own thoughts and start planning the new year’s writing path. Looking forward to reading and being inspired by more of your tips this week! [email protected]

I love this post. I plan to share it with my student teacher when discuss our launch for writing workshop this fall. As always, Two Writing Teachers is a wealth of knowledge.

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These are such great reminders of what workshop should look like. I will be referring all teachers to this series of posts this year.

My biggest take away was to try and conference w one student, 1 pair, and 1 mini group each day!

I really enjoyed reading your blog post STRUCTURE: WRITING WORKSHOP FUNDAMENTALS just now. Being new to using the Writing Workshop method, I found your post to be extremely helpful. I look forward to incorporating these fundamentals in my classroom this year as I seek to fully develop the Writing Workshop with my students. I really appreciate all of the resources you suggested in this blog post as well. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise with us.

I always have so much difficulty finding those two 20 minute segments for my kiddos to just write. I am determined to do better this year!! I must!!!! 🙂

Perfect timing for this series- thank you for all the reminders! I’m still challenged by keeping a 10 min mini-lesson! I’ll try a timer, the kids can help me.

I am really keen to use a writing workshop approach with my 12th graders. By this time they have fulfilled all of their formulaic writing standardized test requirements (sigh) and I think it’s necessary to do something to return joy to their reading and writing. They are preparing for college level writing and in my many discussions with English Comp professors, they all bemoan how derivative and cookie cutter incoming college freshmen writing is. I understand that much of English 101 is rhetoric based and I do focus my class upon that but I’d like to use a different method to inspire deeper engagement and promote more passionate and relevant writing. Is Writing Workshop capable of this? I think so! If you were to use WW with high school seniors during 46 minute long classes, what would it look like? How would you design it? Mentor texts? Creative non-fiction? Inquiry questions? Help! I have so many ideas but I’m overwhelmed with the actual implementation!

Read some of the other posts this week. Beth’s post about unit planning is important, and Stacey’s post today about minilessons might help you, as well. Mentor texts are a tool–you can even do a minilesson on how writers use them to inform and inspire their own writing. Inquiry questions are a different type of lesson that can add variety to your overall instruction. Start with what you’re going to teach–like a 5-6 week unit–and then explore the rest of the posts. Hope this helps.

Thanks! These are great ideas and I am combing through all the comments. It’s like a mini PD!!

Last year, I became more aware of timing and occasionally timed my lessons to be sure I wasn’t overdoing it with the “mini”! This is a great post as I get ready for back to school.

Thanks to this series, I’m starting to get excited about diving back into school and teaching my second year in fourth grade. I’m especially loving the Quick Tips sections!

I am excited to be trying out a writing workshop style of intervention with a group of 5th and 6th graders this year. I am starting at a new school where I will. E teaching K-6 which is a change since getting my Master’s when I focused on 6-12 students in SpEd. I need to find my routine in the time I have 35min x 2days and 40min x 2 days.

I enjoyed reading your blog post on writer’s workshops. Using a timer is something that I need to embrace as I often make mini lessons much longer than they need to be. Looks like I have a goal for this year. 🙂

I have found that students are extremely successful when using The Workshop Model. They are able to work at their individual levels, which enables all learners to make great strides.

Feeling a bit stressed that our writing time has been cut to 45 minutes a day…

I am definitely planning to use the workshop model. Thank you so much for this series.

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The Write Practice

Writing Workshop: Can a Writing Workshop Help You Become a Better Writer?

by Joe Bunting | 0 comments

How do you write beautiful, award-winning novels, memoirs, and short stories? One tried-and-true way is through a writing workshop, a program with other writers who can give encouragement, feedback, and support as you write, edit, and publish your writing.

Writing Workshop: Can a Writing Workshop Help You Become a Better Writer?

But maybe you don't know how to join a writing workshop, can't afford the steep admission fee a masters-level creative writing program costs, or you don't live near one.

That's where an online writing workshop like The Write Practice Pro can help in.

In this post, I’m going to share what a creative writing workshop is and how you can use it to improve your writing habits, get feedback on your creative writing, and go on to publish award-winning writing. Then we’ll talk about how to find a writing workshop, whether online or locally, and how to get the most out of it.

What Is a Creative Writing Workshop?

Writing workshop is a method of guiding people through the creative writing process with a focus on publishing and/or sharing their writing.

The Six Elements of a Writing Workshop

There are six parts to writing workshops:

  • Lessons on the creative writing process.
  • Structured time to plan your writing piece and brainstorm story ideas
  • Structured writing time
  • Getting feedback from editors/teachers and other students/writers
  • Revision time based on content/grammar/flow
  • Publishing or sharing

The Limitations of Most Creative Writing Workshops

In the past, creative writing workshops haven’t been accessible to everyone. Here’s why:

1. Location Dependent

Generally creative writing workshops are done in school settings, from a Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) creative writing program to a middle school creative writing unit.

For example, one of the most famous workshops is the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, which is in Iowa City, Iowa. Hundreds of award-winning novelists and memoirists have either graduated from or taught at this program, including Pulitzer Prize winners Marilyn Robinson, Michael Cunningham, John Cheever, and more.

The problem is if you’re going to participate, you need to be in a specific location, namely Iowa.

Iowa isn’t the only excellent creative writing program (Poets and Writers has a full list of MFA programs ), and there are low-residency programs, where you can go in-person for just a few weeks per semester. But all creative writing programs require you to be in a specific location for at least several weeks and often several years.

If you can’t move your life to Iowa or some other city with a program, that rules out the possibility of improving your writing through this method.

2. High Cost

The average cost at an MFA creative writing workshop for a single class is over $3,300. The total cost can be as low as $27,000 and up to $108,000. That’s a lot!

If you don’t have an extra $50k lying around (and if you do, call me!), participating in a creative writing workshop is probably not possible.

3. Lack of Focus on Publishing

Writers write for readers. One drawback of some creative writing workshops is they spend so much time focusing on writing for other writers, professors, and a handful of university-funded literary magazines that they forget who their real audience is.

Without a strong focus on publishing, a creative writing workshop can get lost in the weeds of craft that sounds good in theory but doesn’t serve readers.

Can Regular People Participate in Creative Writing Workshops? Yes, in 3 Ways

There is huge value to the creative writing workshop process for all writers and aspiring writers, regardless of whether they’re in a formal school setting or not.

The great news is that now anyone can participate in this process and use it to improve their writing and get published.

There are three main ways that people can get involved with creative writing workshops, apart from local school settings:

  • Local writing critique groups
  • Online writing classes
  • Online writing critique groups

Let’s look at two of those, local writing groups and online writing groups.

Pros and Cons of Local Writing Groups and How to Find Them

Local writing groups are groups of people interested in writing who meet regularly (often weekly) to critique each other’s chapters and short stories and talk about the writing process.

Sometimes these groups are filled with amateur writers working on their first books and pieces, but established writers often belong to writers’ groups too.

Famous examples of local writers’ groups include the Inklings , J.R.R Tolkien and C.S. Lewis’s writing group in Oxford; the Bloomsbury Group , Virginia Woolf and T.S. Eliot’s group in London; and the more informal Lost Generation , Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s group in Paris.

The benefit of local writers’ groups is that they give you a great chance to build relationships with other writers, and these writing friends can help you with more than just improving your chapters, but also how to get published and how to market your writing.

Here are some ways you can find a local writers’ groups:

  • Google for local writing groups in your area
  • Ask other writers you know locally if they are part of a group or know of groups
  • Create your own

The drawback of local writers’ groups is that these groups only provide one aspect of the creative writing workshop experience: feedback.

Getting good feedback might be a valuable part of becoming a published writer, but it’s certainly not the only part. Structured brainstorming, structured writing time (like deadlines), focusing on revision, publishing opportunities, and even lessons on creative writing are also important parts of growing as a writer.

On top of that, you might not connect with your local group (I never have!). You might not be a good fit in terms of career level, with people either far ahead of you or behind you.

Even worse, what if you don’t live in an area with a local writers’ group at all?

If a local writers’ group isn’t a good solution for you, how can you get the full creative writing workshop experience?

That’s where online creative writing workshops like The Write Practice Pro can help.

How an Online Writing Workshop Like The Write Practice Pro Works

There are several online writing workshops that overcome the hurdles we talked about above. One of the best groups is The Write Practice Pro.

The Write Practice Pro is an online creative writing workshop dedicated to helping you become a better writer, write award-winning books and short stories, and ultimately become a bestselling author.

Here’s how it can help you get the full creative writing workshop experience:

1. Lessons on the creative writing process

At The Write Practice, we believe everyone can become a great writer through deliberate practice, and one of the most important aspects of deliberate practice is solid lessons.

Through The Write Practice Pro, you can get daily writing lessons, writing prompts, and exercises to help you become a better writer. For example, click here for the top 100 creative writing lessons .

We also host regular writing courses , like 100 Day Book , where you can connect with a mentor who will walk you through the process of writing a first draft (or second draft) of a novel, memoir, or non-fiction book.

2. Planning your writing and brainstorming ideas

It can take hundreds of hours to write a book, sometimes even thousands. If you’re going to invest that time into the writing process, you want to make sure that you’re working on the right idea.

That’s why getting feedback on your idea, not just your actual writing, is so important.

In The Write Practice Pro, you can go to the Book Ideas group , share your idea, and get feedback from other writers on whether the idea works or not.

writers workshop elements

3. Structured writing time

As someone who struggles with structure, one thing I’ve learned is that if I don’t have structured writing time, I will never finish my writing! I’ve written over ten books, but I wouldn’t have finished any of them if I hadn’t leaned into structure.

The best way I know to build structure for writing is to create deadlines that I can actually keep, and in The Write Practice Pro, we have a sacred deadline that the whole community lives by. We call in The Write Practice Pro challenge:

writers workshop elements

Write one chapter, story, article, or poem per week by Friday at midnight.

If you’re in one of our writing classes, like 100 Day Book or Write to Publish, you follow this deadline. And if you’re in The Write Practice Pro, you follow it too.

Why? Because as writers, we need deadlines. Even more importantly, we need a community that will encourage us to hit the deadline even if we don’t want to.

4. Getting feedback, from editors and other writers

At The Write Practice, we believe everyone can become a great writer through deliberate practice, and one of the most important aspects of deliberate practice is feedback.

To grow as a writer you need feedback both from your peers (other writers) and from experts (an editor or teacher).

Why does feedback work? Because good writing is rewriting. But studies have shown that when you rewrite without feedback, you generally focus on surface-level edits like fixing grammatical errors and typos. However, if you get feedback, you’ll focus on content-level edits, like rewriting a section to make it more readable or restructuring the piece entirely.

The amazing thing that these studies have shown is that peer feedback is almost as effective as professional feedback. So as important as it is to get professional feedback, even feedback from writers at your same level will help you become a better writer.

Below I’ll share how to get peer and professional feedback on your writing on The Write Practice Pro.

How to Get Feedback on The Write Practice Pro

1. Start by going to The Write Practice Pro groups screen . The Write Practice Pro is organized into several different critiquing groups, including a group for short stories and a group for novels.

2. Follow the group for your piece. If you’ve written a short story or writing practice, click “Follow” next to the Writers Workshop: Short Stories group. If you’ve written a chapter of a novel, click “Follow” next to the Writers Workshop: Novels and Books group.

I’m writing a Pirate Story and so I’m going to be sharing in the Short Stories workshop .

writers workshop elements

3. Click to your group and then copy and paste your piece into the editor. Then click submit and wait for your piece to publish!

I copied and pasted my Pirate Story (from Pirate Ipsum ) into the Short Story Workshop below. Once the story is published, my story will be assigned to other writers and I can start to get feedback.

4. Complete your critiquing. Some groups in The Write Practice Pro, like the Short Story Workshop, pair you with other writers to critique. This is a great way to get to know the work of other writers and make new writer friends. Here’s what a match looks like:

writers workshop elements

Now, I will follow the links to those three stories, read them, and give feedback to the writer.

Other groups, like the Novel and Books Workshop, allow you to choose whom you will critique.

But all groups ask you to read and give feedback on three other pieces in your group before you can view the critiques on your own story (this requirement expires after fourteen days). That way everyone gets the feedback they need to improve their writing!

There are two ways to give feedback:

  • Critique the story as a whole, following our critiquing guidelines and using the Oreo Method .
  • Give inline feedback by highlighting text and clicking the comment icon. This is great for spotting typos, grammatical errors, or other inline issues.

After I finish my matched critiques, I will be able to view feedback on my own story.

5. Upgrade for Professional Editor Feedback. If you want a professional critique, click the “Upgrade” button (see screenshot below) and send your story to The Write Pro’s team of Story Grid certified editors for a content-based critique.

writers workshop elements

I want an editor’s feedback on Pirate Story, so I click the upgrade button. Then I’m taken to a page describing the kind of feedback I’ll receive and the cost, which is 1.5¢ per word.

I can also enter any special area of focus for the critique. After I click submit, a member of The Write Practice Pro’s team will follow up and I will receive my professional critique within one to three weeks.

5. Revisions Based on Content, Grammar, and Readability

After you get feedback, you need to edit your writing and revise it based on content, grammar, and readability.

Often this is the hardest part of the writing process, and I usually have my biggest struggles and moments of self-doubt during the revision process.

However, that’s why it’s so great to have an encouraging community of other writers. When you feel stuck, share your struggles with the community in The Write Practice Pro’s Café group. This is a great way to get tips and encouragement from the community.

writers workshop elements

6. Publishing or sharing

This is the end goal. As writers, we don’t just write . We share our writing with the world.

The Write Practice Pro makes it easy to publish. Through their partnership with Short Fiction Break literary magazine , you can publish your writing instantly on the website, sharing your writing with the world.

Here’s how it works:

How to Publish Your Writing on Short Fiction Break Literary Magazine

Note: publishing is currently only available for pieces posted in the Short Stories Workshop.

1. After your piece has been thoroughly edited, navigate to your writing piece on The Write Practice Pro . If you can’t find it, go to your profile and find your story in your feed.

writers workshop elements

When I click on my profile, I can easily find my story in my activity feed.

writers workshop elements

2. Click the “Publish” button beside the story title. Note that you must complete your three critiques before the “Publish” button will appear.

writers workshop elements

After you click Publish, a dialogue box will appear, asking if you agree to Short Fiction Break’s publishing guidelines and terms. When you confirm you’re ready to publish, you will see this message with a link to your story:

writers workshop elements

Here’s the story LIVE on Short Fiction Break:

writers workshop elements

That was easy! Maybe I should write a real story now!

Will the Writing Workshop Process Help You Become a Better Creative Writer?

So what’s the verdict? Will participating in the Writing Workshop process help your writing?

Yes! Even if you only participate in a local writers’ group and just get feedback, that feedback will help you become a better writer.

Even better, if you enroll in an MFA program or join an online writing workshop like The Write Practice Pro and go through all six steps of the workshopping process, you will become a better writer even faster.

One thing to remember, though: these workshops do not make the writing process easier. In fact, in some ways it will be harder, because you are growing in each step in the writing process.

After all, growth never comes without discomfort.

But if you follow the process and press in to that discomfort, you will become a better writer.

Ready to start the writing workshop process? Join The Write Practice Pro and get started now. Click to join The Write Practice Pro .

What is your favorite part of the writing workshop process? How has being part of a workshop helped you? Let me know in the comments .

Ready to practice the writing workshop process? Here’s a writing prompt to help:

Write about a writing critique group gone wrong. Maybe two of the members are dating and get into a massive fight. Maybe one member can’t take feedback and erupts in anger. Maybe the teacher is secretly gaslighting everyone.

Whatever your writing group gone wrong looks like, write about it for fifteen minutes . When your time is up, participate in the workshopping process by posting your practice in the comments section for feedback. And if you do post, please be sure to give feedback on at least three other pieces.

Happy writing!

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Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

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writers workshop elements

Getting Started With Writing Workshop: Grades K–6

Writing workshop can be an invigorating, creative, empowering opportunity to encourage students to become confident, capable writers! Unlike some instructional writing approaches, writing workshop for elementary students involves different forms of active participation from everyone in the classroom to be a success! Read on to learn about the principles and practices of writing workshop.

Teacher and children in classroom

Just starting out? Ready to establish a writing workshop in your classroom? Looking for ways to reenergize your current workshop approach?

writers workshop elements

What Is Writing Workshop? is a great place to find basics around structure and pedagogy and learn what a successful writing classroom looks and sounds like.

writers workshop elements

Building Your Workshop Classroom can help you maximize your physical space to embrace the basics for writing workshop success. Resources include tips for teaching writing workshop remotely or in a hybrid setting.

writers workshop elements

Establishing Your K–6 Writing Community Through Workshop addresses the importance of fostering a sense of shared respect in your writing workshop classroom. Links to powerful social-emotional learning (SEL) resources can help you create a community where all voices are heard and every opinion is welcome.

What Is Writing Workshop?

Writing workshop is built on a student-centered framework of explicit instruction, independent writing time, and opportunities for teachers and students to reflect on their writing journey into different genres and forms. Although curricula differ on daily execution, there are a few common elements to all writing workshop programs.

  • Three-part lesson plan
  • Sample texts for modeling/inspiration
  • Lots of time for writing and rewriting!

Are You Ready to Try Writing Workshop?

As with any curriculum, there are some things to consider when implementing writing workshop. What questions should you ask to get the most out of writing workshop experience?

writers workshop elements

Top 5 Questions Around Writing Workshop

1

What is the research behind writing workshop? Are there proven benefits of using a writing workshop approach for elementary students?

2

How does writing workshop differ from other approaches to writing instruction?

3

How much time does writing workshop take each day?

4

What are mentor texts, craft moves, and minilessons?

5

Why do teachers need to write in writing workshop and how do I get started?

Hear thought leaders address these common questions around writing workshop and more in the resources below!

What Is writing Workshop. Watch.

Learn about writing workshop—what it is, the parts of a lesson, and the minilesson structure—and compare it to other types of traditional writing instruction.

What Is writing Workshop. Download.

What IS Writing Workshop?

Compare characteristics of traditional writing instruction vs. a writing workshop approach using this side-by-side chart.

Why Writing Workshops Work. Instilling a Sence of Community and Confidence in Young Writers.

Why Writing Workshops Work

This historical look at the research behind writing workshop highlights how this approach instills a sense of confidence in young writers.

Building Your Elementary Workshop Classroom

The organization of your classroom plays an important role in setting your writing workshop up for success. An effective writing workshop session should last anywhere from 35–60 minutes—a sizable part of your daily instruction—so it’s worth the effort to create an environment that is conducive to writing! To create an atmosphere of engagement, creativity, and motivation for your writing workshop, embrace a bit of flexibility when it comes to where students choose to do their work. Think how comfort aids concentration and can help to build stamina for students’ extended writing work.

Get Physical: 5 Tips for Building a Successful Writing Workshop Space

1

Stake out a meeting area for mini-lesson instruction at the beginning of each lesson and sharing/reflecting at the end.

2

Carve out some comfy spots for individual student brainstorming, journaling, and writing.

3

Establish shared spaces for peer review and peer conferencing.

4

Designate tables as collaborative spots for small-group work.

5

Set up stations for housing sample texts, anchor charts or rubrics, and mentor texts.

Spaces for Conferring in K–6 Writing Workshop Classrooms

A successful writing workshop also includes a certain amount of friendly nudging in the form of conferring. As a teacher and key confer-er, consider what works best for you!

  • Do you prefer to have students come to your desk (or an established space) for 1:1 discussion?
  • Would you rather move around the classroom to “drop in” on students to provide feedback?

writers workshop elements

Once you’ve identified an approach and/or space, stick with it. Students benefit from clear expectations and routines; having established locations for specific parts of the daily lesson can be reassuring. See Conferences and Conferring During Writing Workshop for specific resources around conferences. You can generate positive expectations, routines, and relationships around writing workshop even if you’re not in the same physical space as your students. Check out tips for conducting writing workshop in remote and hybrid settings below.

The Write Environment. Watch

The “Write” Environment

Discover how to foster engagement, creativity, and motivation with your writing workshop class—and successfully adapt to any setting.

Jump Into Writing. Download.

Flexible Learning Teaching Tips

Download tips for teaching writing workshop online or in a hybrid setting based on the Jump Into Writing! workshop curriculum for grades 2–5.

Jump into Writing! Flexible Learning Teaching Tips.

Remote Learning Tips for Jump Into Writing!

Tips for implementing a remote or hybrid writing workshop three-part lesson—planning, preparing, and teaching—from Jump Into Writing!

writers workshop elements

Getting to Know Kids in Virtual/Hybrid Settings

Back-to-school ideas and suggestions for establishing a strong class culture whether you are learning in person or virtually.

Establishing Your Writing Community Through Workshop

In addition to configuring physical spaces for writing, conferring, and group work, you need to establish a sense of community for your students to feel comfortable during writing workshop. Key areas for student participation in writing workshop:

  • Expressing thoughts
  • Sharing writing pieces
  • Providing feedback

The basic nature of a writing workshop classroom requires that students and teachers interact in ways that are mindful of self-awareness, social responsibility, and decision making. When you establish a writing workshop in your classroom, you can prepare your students not only to be better communicators but also better classmates!

SEL and Writing Workshop

Using techniques grounded in social-emotional learning (SEL) in your writing workshop classroom is a great way to incorporate mindfulness and build positive expectations and experiences. The assets below provide thoughtful, actionable tips for applying SEL to writing workshop. Resources include a look at how SEL is integral to the design of Jump Into Writing! —Zaner-Bloser’s writing workshop curriculum for grades 2–5.

writers workshop elements

Building a Community of Writers

Learn about the importance of building and sustaining a successful community of writers, with a special emphasis on social-emotional learning.

writers workshop elements

CASEL Social-Emotional Learning

At-a-glance representation of how the five tenets of SEL fit within classrooms, schools, homes, and communities. (Adapted from CASEL)

Social-Emotional Learning in Jump Into Writing!

SEL in Jump Into Writing!

Examine how one writing workshop curriculum incorporates CASEL’s five SEL competencies throughout the program and across all grade levels.

writers workshop elements

How Do You Create a Community of Writers?

Hear what it means and what it takes to establish a writing community in your classroom.

Superkids Schools Conference. 2021 Connect and Inspire.

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writers workshop elements

Interested in learning more about Jump Into Writing! writing workshop curriculum for grades 2–5?

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Writing Workshop

Writing Workshop in a First Grade Classroom - How We Plan Our Stories

Writing Workshop in a First Grade Classroom - How We Plan Our Stories Director’s Cut

The teacher introduces her class to a new strategy they can use to help them plan out the events of their stories before they start writing

This version of the How We Plan Our Stories lesson for additional "look fors" and tips.

Writing Workshop is an instructional practice designed to help children become confident and capable writers. During Writing Workshop, children have time to work independently and with their peers. They engage in the writing process by selecting topics, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing their original work. They receive explicit instruction in the craft of writing from exploring genre, to organizing their pieces, to word choice, style, and mechanics.

The workshop structure encourages children to think of themselves as writers and take their writing seriously. It gives children the skills to express their important thoughts and celebrates the fact that their stories and ideas matter and are worth expressing.

Young Child Writing in Class

What is Writing Workshop?

Writing Workshop is an organizational framework for teaching writing. The framework consists of three components: the mini-lesson, work time, and share time . The Writing Workshop structure is an efficient and effective way to deliver writing instruction to meet the needs of all learners.

Each Writing Workshop session begins with a mini-lesson, during which you explicitly teach the children a specific writing skill or strategy over the course of five to 15 minutes. Use the mini-lesson to address the writing needs of your children as determined by your curriculum, state and local standards, and most importantly, formative assessment. Your conference notes and the children’s writing help you identify a primary literacy objective for the mini-lesson. During the mini-lesson, explain what you are teaching and how it will help the children become better writers. Model and demonstrate the use of the skill or strategy, thinking aloud throughout the process. Give the children a chance to try out the skill or strategy right there on the carpet.

The mini-lesson is immediately followed by work time, the component that is the heart of Writing Workshop and occupies its largest block of time. During work time, the children write – both independently and with partners. They apply what they’ve learned from the current and past mini-lessons to their writing. It is during work time that you can differentiate your writing instruction. To do this, conduct one-to-one writing conferences with children, taking careful notes throughout each conference. You might also work with small groups of children who have similar instructional needs in writing. Increase the amount of writing time as the children’s stamina increases.

Share time comes at the end of the workshop. During share time, two or three children share their writing with the class. Writing deserves an audience, and share time is one of the ways to provide it. The “authors” might show how they’ve applied the day’s mini lesson to their own writing. They might show what they’ve learned about writing or about themselves as writers. Usually only a few sentences will be shared, but sometimes a child will share a completed piece of writing. Share time is motivating for the children, and it provides peer models for them.

Why Writing Workshop?

Being a capable, confident writer is a necessary skill for children to be successful in school and in life. As they progress through the grades, they’ll need to write summaries, reports, critiques, and essays. To be functioning adults, they’ll need to write in both their working lives (e.g., letters, memoranda, and reports) and their daily lives outside of the workplace (e.g., shopping lists, emails, and notes). Through daily writing in a workshop, children can learn to effectively communicate in writing.

Writing Workshop is uniquely structured to help children develop positive attitudes about writing and progress as writers. Through writing, children have voice and agency – a way to express their ideas. This can be a deep source of satisfaction. The Writing Workshop structure provides manageable amounts of direct, explicit instruction that meets the developmental needs of our K-3 children: a lot of support, targeted feedback, and an audience for the children’s writing. Most importantly, the Writing Workshop gives children plenty of writing time. Children can only grow as writers if they have repeated practice and opportunities to write independently.

Child writing during Writing Workshop

Children are often eager to express their thoughts, ideas, and experiences. Sharing what we know and telling stories is an important part of learning and living in a community. Writing provides a suitable venue for children to share their thinking and ideas. As an additional bonus, writing helps children make sense of, clarify, and develop new learning and thinking. Our carefully planned lessons can facilitate children’s ability to have the voice that they crave. In a Writing Workshop, unlike in settings where K-3 children often copy the teacher’s writing, the children are the authors.

Finally, audience is a critical component of writing. That is, writing is meant to be read. An audience is often found for some of the children during work time, when pairs or small groups of children will read their writing to each other. But most of all, this is the primary focus of share time, the final component of the Writing Workshop. Each day during share time, two to three children have an opportunity to sit in the “author’s chair” and share what they’ve written with others. In classrooms not using the workshop model, the teacher is often the only one who is an audience for writing, sharply reducing the opportunities for children to read their writing to others. This turns writing into a “written assignment” rather than a true mode of communication.

Writing and Reading Connection

Writing and reading are reciprocal processes: reading affects writing, and writing affects reading.

When children read a lot, they become better writers. Each reading experience represents another encounter with writing, which builds knowledge of writing and helps children to understand what good writing looks like and sounds like. This in turn helps to make them more critical readers of their own writing. Reading books across genres helps children learn story grammar, narrative structures, and informational text structures. Then they apply this knowledge to their own writing. Favorite books that are read and reread become mentors for children’s writing.

Writing helps to build and develop reading skills. Our kindergarten and first grade children are actively involved in developing phonemic awareness and phonics skills. When they are working through the spelling of a word during their writing, often using developmental spelling, they are actively applying phonics skills. This has a powerful impact and is much more effective than isolated practice using worksheets. When children access the word wall to use a high frequency word in their writing, they are getting additional exposure to the word. The act of writing the word, which gets reinforced when they encounter it again while rereading their writing, helps the word become part of their sight word vocabulary.

Leverage the reading-writing connection in your read alouds, Reading and Writing Workshop mini-lessons, and shared writing. During read alouds, make a point of talking about the author’s craft and the characteristics of different genres. Draw children’s attention to word choice, style, and the structure of different texts you read and create together. Gradually build anchor charts to capture what you are discovering about writing together and connect the ideas you are learning about to children’s own writing. Highlight the efforts of children who are experimenting with different writing styles and genres during share time.

Find books to use in your mini-lessons to support children’s instructional needs in writing. For example, if your children are ready for a lesson in punctuation, read Yo! Yes? by Chris Raschka. If the children are overusing the same words in their writing, read aloud Come On Rain! by Karen Hesse. Explicitly teach children to chunk words for both reading and writing by using a book like One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root.

Collaboratively write a text with the children using the shared writing approach. You are doing the actual writing, but the children are contributing ideas and “helping” with the spelling and conventions to the extent of their abilities. Shared writing produces readable text for all children. Display the text of your completed shared writing lesson and encourage the children to read it when they “read the room.”

Different Types of Writing Instruction

The components of a balanced writing program include modeled writing, shared or interactive writing, guided writing, and independent writing. These four components are based on the principal of the gradual release of responsibility developed by Pearson and Gallagher in 1993.

During modeled writing, you are demonstrating how writing works. You write in front of the children, thinking aloud throughout the entire process. Be sure that all the children can see the writing. Modeled writing is likely to occur in mini-lessons and, of course, Message Time Plus. Shared writing is a practice in which the teacher and the children share the responsibility for writing a text. The children’s role is to verbalize the ideas in the text and to contribute to the spelling and writing conventions to the extent of their abilities. The teacher holds the pen and does the physical writing. The writing is usually done on chart paper and written large enough for all the children to see. The level of child responsibility in shared writing can be increased by employing interactive writing instead. Interactive writing follows the same structure as shared writing, except that the children and the teacher “share the pen.” The teacher selects individual children to come up to write a word or even a letter in the message. When shared writing or interactive writing is completed, the teacher and children usually do a shared reading of the text.

Child writing during Writing Workshop

Guided writing is a notable shift in teacher/child responsibility. In guided writing, the child “holds the pen” and is responsible for doing all of the writing. The teacher’s role is that of support. Teachers coach, scaffold, and support children while they are writing. Guided writing usually occurs during one-on-one writing conferences and small group writing sessions.

Finally, independent writing is when children apply all of the important lessons that we have taught them to their own writing. The teacher’s role in independent writing is just to supply time and resources for writing. Independent writing occurs during the work time component of Writing Workshop, in class writing centers, and during journal writing.

Reflect on Your Writing Workshop

Like any instructional practice, Writing Workshop will benefit from your reflection. Take some time to think about your current writing instruction. What are you doing that is effective? Where do you want to improve your practice?

Reflect on your Writing Workshop

Use this printable version to reflect on your current practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

My children don’t like to go back and revise their work. how do i help them improve their pieces.

Children who can write narratives with beginnings, middles, and ends (transitional writers) are ready to add revision to their writing process. Make sure children understand the difference between editing and revision. Explain that editing is about making sure a reader can understand the piece by reviewing the mechanics and conventions. Revising is about making a good piece of writing even stronger. Devote a number of mini-lessons to revision. Through shared writing, co-create a text. Spend two or three sessions revising it (better opener, vivid verbs, awesome adjectives, no tired words, etc.). Compare the first draft to the finished piece. Try devoting one workshop session a week to revision (Revision Wednesday?). For share time, pre-select children who made a special effort to revise their writing. Have them share the “before” and “after” of their pieces.

I model my writing for my children, and then they just copy what I wrote. How can I help them come up with their own ideas?

It’s normal for children to copy writing. It’s part of how they learn! As they gain confidence in their own abilities, and become eager to share their own ideas, they will branch out from the “safety” of copying. You can help children gain confidence by celebrating children’s attempts, showing interest in their lives, and encouraging them to use their own invented spelling.

You can also help children by having them brainstorm a list of topics and display it, so the children can refer to the list. Have the children “turn and talk” to tell their partners what they plan to write. Ask the children who exhibit exceptional difficulty coming up with ideas to stay on the rug for an extra minute or two. Check in with each of the children to make sure they have decided upon an idea. You might even ask them to tell the first sentence of their piece.

How does spelling and grammar instruction fit into Writing Workshop?

Writing Workshop lends itself to the teaching of spelling and grammar because these lessons are taught within the context of actual writing for an authentic purpose rather than through isolated skill practice. Identify which lessons your children need by examining their writing. Then teach mini-lessons to target and address the children’s instructional needs. Co-create anchor charts with the children to help them remember high utility grammar and spelling strategies and concepts. Teach children to use the resources in the room to check their spelling.

My children are still working on forming letters and writing their names. Can I still do Writing Workshop?

Absolutely! It sounds like your children are in the pre-emergent and emergent stages of writing. One of the things that helps them to grow as writers is many experiences with writing. In your mini-lessons and your daily Message Time Plus lessons, explicitly teach lessons like directionality, word boundaries, and matching sounds with symbols. Be sure to have individual-sized alphabet charts for the children to refer to while they are writing. Encourage them to draw a picture and label it. Many children will start out by labeling their picture with a single letter, but their labels will become more advanced over time. Have one-on-one conferences to zero in on individual needs. Don’t forget share time, an opportunity for the children to show each other what they have accomplished.

Do I need to review and grade everything that my children produce?

Looking at children’s writing is going to give you the information that you need to provide targeted instruction. So, although you don’t need to grade everything, you really do have to find a way to see as much of their writing as you can. Consider providing each child with a writing folder. Have the children keep all of their writing from Writing Workshop in their folders. Create a schedule that allows you to examine writing folders at regular intervals. The number of papers in a folder indicates the volume of writing that the child is producing. Select one piece to assess with a rubric. Be sure to share the rubric with the children, so they will know how they are being assessed. Using this method, you should be able to assess one piece of writing a week for each child. That is usually enough to document the children’s growth over time. You can also try asking the children to select one piece from their writing folders to submit for assessment. Clear out the writing folders after each unit or once a month. Make sure to preserve the pieces that you assessed with the rubric.

How do I manage independent writing time so that everyone is “on task”?

To ensure a productive independent writing time, the children must know the routines and procedures of Writing Workshop. Teach procedural lessons, practice and rehearse, and co-create anchor charts. Resist attempting conferences or convening small writing groups until the children know the routines. You must also be aware of the children’s stamina for writing. This is simple to assess. Have them write, and note the starting time. When they become distracted, begin looking around, or start asking to go to the drinking fountain, they’ve reached their limit. Note how long they were able to write. Be assured that their stamina will increase over time. Nevertheless, the amount of time you allocate for independent writing must always be appropriate for their current level of stamina for writing. Walk around between conferences to be aware of what is happening. Make adjustments and offer options for children who need extra support. Finally, have the children self-assess and make goals or plans for improving their productivity during independent writing time.

What do I do with children when I meet with them one-on-one in a writing conference?

The architecture of the writing conference is research, decide, compliment, teach (Calkins, 2006). During the research part of the conference, you will need to find out what the writer needs. This can be discovered by having the child read their writing to you and have a conversation with the child. Then find something to compliment (i.e., point out something that the child is doing well) and decide what you are going to teach. Remember to teach only one thing. Try to find a concept that the child has partially mastered, and teach that concept. Close the conference by reiterating the teaching point and linking it to the child’s ongoing work.

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It is really a great way to interact with the children and share what we think about the stories…..The workshop structure encourages children to think of themselves as writers and take their writing seriously. It gives children the skills to express their important thoughts and celebrates the fact that their stories and ideas matter and are worth expressing. This is so true and I enjoyed using these methods to help me to teach them…..Thank you so much Cli3 and my coaches for their instruction and hard work to help our school, community and class!

Angelique Darcy-McGuire 

I teach Language Arts/Writing to EVERY student in our K-6 school (including ELL and SPED) and I am constricted to only one 40 minute period every 4 days with each classroom. I am seeking ways to most effectively implement the philosophies outlined in the CLI research which will best serve the students I teach. I am open to suggestions. I am also interested to see if anyone else has a position such as mine. Thanks so much.

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Letter Review

How to Run a Creative Writing Workshop or Class

writers workshop elements

Whether it’s fiction , poetry, plays, or screenplays, all writers can benefit from a creative writing workshop. So how do you run one, or organise one with your friends and colleagues? 

I’ve taught, or run, creative writing workshops at university level, and I’m going to share what I’ve learned with you below.

The Technical Elements of Running a Creative Writing Workshop

Creative writing workshops can be any size you like. I’ve taught them to up to twenty students, and I’ve heard that they get a little unmanageable beyond that size.

Remember that for each additional member of the group, you will get more feedback , but you will also have less time to workshop each student’s work!

You can run a workshop in a formal class setting , such as at a high school, or university. You can also set up a creative writing workshop with your friends and colleagues / peers. They are organised in a similar way. 

Each week or session ask a certain number of writers to submit work for the group to read and provide feedback on.

The writers should submit their work at least one week before the workshop to give the class time to read and to think about feedback.

When a student’s work is being workshopped, all writers should be encouraged to provide some comments to create an atmosphere of sharing. Nobody wants to feel that they are giving more to the group than they are getting out of it. 

Create a Supportive, Positive, and Judgement Free Environment for Creative Writing Workshops

First of all, you want the students to feel totally safe to reveal their work to the group. Creative writing can be a very vulnerable experience, because the writer may be drawing on their own experience of life (they have to to some extent, right?). 

When people reveal their creative writing they often feel like they are revealing a part of who they are, or a little bit of their soul. So remember to always be encouraging, because self expression is a valuable and fragile thing! 

Remember to advise everyone to always start with a complement and end with one. Start by identifying what you like about the work, and what is working. 

Then move to comments that may be harder for the writer to hear i.e. harsher criticism . Then make sure to end on something positive as well! 

Remember that each person in a workshop will be there for a different reason and hoping to get something different from the experience.

Some very nervous students may be trying to build confidence, some very confident ones will be seeking the harshest criticisms they can find to test their writing in a cauldron of fire. 

Make sure to think about what the writer wants, and needs , and stay sensitive to the fact that every writer is different. 

Students are ready to hear different things at different times. If you sense the student isn’t ready for your super hot truth bomb, consider not dropping it on them, or giving them a little taste and letting them know they can approach you for further comments if they like. 

Remember There is no Right or Wrong in Creative Writing  

Ultimately, all assessment of writing , without a rubric, comes down to a matter of taste. Don’t’ tell writers that they are wrong, or that there is a better way of doing things. 

This is subtle, but suggest that they consider doing things in a slightly different way, if you believe their writing would benefit from experimentation in that direction.

Also direct the writer to what other authorities have said about creative writing. You might want to mention Heminway’s Iceberg theory for instance. 

Basically, just try to move away from the idea that there’s only one way of doing things, and find a happy existence in the gray zone!! 

Try to Help the Writer Achieve Their Own Goals, Not Yours

If the writer wants to writer Fast and the Furious Ten, then help them to do that. Don’t try to get them to write Hamlet 2. 

Another way of saying this is don’t try to get them to abandon their project and work on a better one. Try to see what they are striving to achieve and help them to achieve it. 

How do you Assess Creative Writing in a Formal Environment? 

If there is no right or wrong in creative writing , then how do you formally assess it, and give it a mark? 

Often in creative writing classes there will be a course component. The essay that accompanies that component will often form the majority or a significant amount of the final mark for the course , so most of the marks often do not come from the creative work itself.

If you do two rounds of feedback for your student, for example a workshop, followed by a submission of a final work for marking at the end of the the course, then the final mark can be derived largely from how well the writer has engaged with the comments of the workshop.

There is always a subjective element in marking creative writing . This is why it is generally preferable for the person marking the submission at the university level to have had some success as a creative writer .

Don’t worry at all though if you are leading a creative writing workshop at the school level and have not had work published yourself.

Writers at this level are generally not seeking publication yet, and are still being exposed to writing concepts that are foundational.

Try to guide your students to a better understanding of the core principles of writing like showing and not telling.

Creative writing courses will often provide a rubric which outlines exactly what is being assessed in the creative submission. This reduces the subject element involved in marking, because the marker is assessing how well you can perform a technical creative writing task, such as ‘creating subtext.’ 

Another way to reduce the subjective element of assessing creative work is to assess how well the creative submission embodies the lessons taught as part of the critical component of the course. 

When assessing creative writing it is also possible to assess the work according the criteria established by the writer themselves.

For instance, if a poet has submitted work written as a sonnet, you might want to assess how effectively they have utilised the poetic rules applicable for the sonnet form they have chosen. 

Creative Writing Workshops Should be Fun!

Creative writing should be fun. Don’t buy into the whole suffer for your art thing. If you don’t enjoy writing go do something you do enjoy. Life is short.

So make sure if you are running a workshop to make it fun for everyone involved, and I hope you have fun too 🙂

InspireFirst: Teaching You How to Be a Better Writer

How to Run a Writing Workshop

how to run a writing workshop, laptop on table

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Participating in a writing workshop can be one of the most rewarding, and frightening, experiences of your writing career. A writer’s workshop is a chance for authors to learn from each other through receiving and giving critiques. A successful writer’s workshop will provide a supportive environment for developing one’s skills. This article explores how to run a writing workshop and make it a success.

What is a writing workshop?

A writer’s workshop is a collaborative environment where participants have a chance to create one or several pieces of work on a theme. The participants then get to critique others on their work and have their writing critiqued, too. One of the challenges of a writer’s workshop is that writers are told not to take the comments personally, but that is a difficult challenge for many because we are always intimately connected to the work we produce. A good writer’s workshop facilitator will make sure that all criticism is taken in the right way and in a way that encourages growth in the craft.

Why should I hold a workshop?

Writer’s workshops help create an environment where writers can see their work through a reader’s eyes. The reason for holding one might seem to be to help others, but the facilitator will often gain as much as everyone else when it comes to practical ways to improve their work. Usually, one thinks about creative writing when they think about a workshop, but you can hold a workshop for any other type of writers, such as bloggers, copywriters, nonfiction writers, or any other niche.

One of the challenges that almost any writer faces is that we tend to work in a vacuum. We create our work, publish it, and then wait to see if anyone buys it, clicks on it, or shares it. If our pieces are not performing the way we would like, or if we simply want to get better at what we do, we often lack insight into why our piece worked or did not work.

A writer’s workshop gives you a rare chance to get to see your work as your audience does. What’s more, they are a tool for fostering community among writers of the same type of work. You can share secrets, tips, challenges, and a few laughs. Receiving this type of honest criticism and feedback of your work can be intimidating, but knowing that everyone else in the room has the same feeling can help to ease the process a bit. After a few times, it becomes easy.

Components and Frameworks

Most writing workshops seem to follow a similar framework and structure. Here are some examples of how to run a writing workshop. The first thing you need is a list of good prompts that will challenge participants and help them grow. Some workshops for authors have participants submit something they are already working on, such as a short story or chapter of a book. In the latter case, you need to give participants lead time to prepare the work.

When it comes time for the workshop to begin, you can open by letting your audience know why you have something valuable to contribute. You do not have to be a best-selling author or anything of the sort. All you need to do is simply state your credentials, such as the number of years you have been writing or how many works you have written. It is not necessary to rattle off a long list of degrees and certifications because, in the writing business, it is your work that counts.

The second tip for your workshop is to make sure you establish clear goals and have some type of introduction that lets your audience know what to expect. Of course, you will want to start out with the information that you have learned from your writing career, but be sure to break it up with visuals and short activities. Your audience wants to do more than hear you talk or look at a wall of words in front of them. Make it engaging, and get to the meat of the workshop, which is the writing and feedback.

Participating and Engaging

The most important component of the workshop is the ability of participants to ask questions and engage with each other. It is not a lecture, so you should encourage interaction with you and with other participants. When it comes time for critique, it should be obvious that people should be nice and provide helpful advice, but this is not always a skill that everyone has mastered. One pro tip is that if you hear someone stating something in a way that is not helpful or that might be hurtful, you can try to rephrase the key points of what they have to say and restate it in a way that is positive and affirming.

As a facilitator, you should also participate as much as possible by sharing your own work and inviting critique. Also remember to keep sharing tips, from how to find a literary agent to how a thesaurus can improve your writing . Another tip: if it seems like the person giving the critique missed the point, don’t be afraid to break in and ask the author what his or her intent was in the piece. This can clear up quite a bit of confusion on everyone’s part.

One of the most common challenges new writers face is a lack of variety in their work. Our speech patterns are developed from early childhood, and our old habits can be our worst pitfall as a writer. If you feel like you are just rehashing the same ideas and structure, a writing workshop can help break you out of your daily grind.

Online Version

You might be thinking, is it possible to have an online writing workshop? If you know how to run a writing workshop, the answer to this is absolutely. People do it all the time. In today’s world, it is entirely possible to have a successful writing workshop online using web conferencing software. Webinar software can help you create an experience that is just as engaging, if not more so, than holding it in a physical location.

Participants can join from the comfort of their own homes, and this can encourage participation. This takes away the element of reading your work in an unfamiliar environment to a room full of strangers. Also, you can screen share and add visuals that might take more technical skill when you are using standard audio-visual equipment. A webinar workshop can add depth to the experience that face-to-face workshops might not be able to do. You still get peer feedback, only participants can work from the space where they do most of their work, which means they are more likely to transfer the skills learned into their daily writing practice.

Wrapping it Up

Now, you know how to run a writing workshop and make it a success. Writing workshops can be a lot of fun if you approach them with the right attitude. Learning to take helpful criticism is humbling, but it also offers the greatest opportunity for growth and mentorship. If you have been writing for some time, there is no reason why you should not plan to hold a writing workshop, either in person or as a webinar.

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What Is Writing Workshop?

An essential part of the responsive classroom.

What Is Writing Workshop?

If you’re new to teaching writing, you may have heard discussion about writing workshop but not be entirely sure about what it is or how to use it in your classroom. WeAreTeachers is here with the answer.

What is writing workshop?

Writing workshop is a student-centered framework for teaching writing that is based on the idea that students learn to write best when they write frequently, for extended periods of time, on topics of their own choosing. 

To develop skills as a writer, students need three things: ownership of their own writing, guidance from an experienced writer, and support from a community of fellow learners. The writing workshop framework meets these needs and streamlines instruction in order to meet the most important objective: giving kids time to write. The workshop setting supports children in taking their writing seriously and viewing themselves as writers. 

The four main components of writing workshop are the mini-lesson, status of the class, writing/conferring time, and sharing. There is not a prescribed time limit for each component, rather they are meant to be flexible and determined by students’ needs on any given day. 

1. Mini-lesson (5 – 15 minutes)

This is the teacher-directed portion of writing workshop. Mini-lessons should be assessment-based, explicit instruction. They should be brief and focused on a single, narrowly defined topic that all writers can implement regardless of skill level. According to writing guru Lucy Calkins , mini-lessons are a time to “gather the whole class in the meeting area to raise a concern, explore an issue, model a technique, or reinforce a strategy.” 

Sources for mini-lessons can come from many places. Many teachers follow the scope and sequence of a prepared curriculum or use the state or national standards as a guide. Ideally, topics for mini-lessons come from your observations as you conference with your students and become aware of their needs. 

The four parts of a mini-lesson:

  • Connection (activating students’ prior knowledge)
  • Teaching (presentation of the actual skill or topic)
  • Active engagement (giving students time for supported practice of the skill)
  • Link (helping students figure out how the topic pertains to their individual writing piece).

For a helpful description of the mini-lesson process, read Writing Workshop Fundamentals by Two Writing Teachers.

2. Status update (3 – 5 minutes)

Meant to be a quick check-in, status update is a way to find out where your students are in the writing process— pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, evaluating, or publishing.

Status of the class doesn’t have to happen every day and it needn’t take up much class time. It can be a quick verbal check-in or “whip” around the classroom. Or you may want to use a clip chart, notebook, or a magnet chart.

what is writer's workshop

SOURCE: Polka Dots and Pencils

Another great idea is to use a pocket chart. Students show which step they are on by putting the appropriately colored card in their pocket.  

what is writer's workshop

SOURCE: Teaching My Friends

Status update lets you as the teacher evaluate how your students are progressing. It also creates accountability for the students and motivates your community of learners.

3. Writing (20 – 45 minutes)  

The majority of writing workshop is devoted to simply giving students time to write. During this time, teachers can either be modeling the process by working on their own writing or conferencing with individual students. In all reality, the majority of your time will be observing and helping students. A good goal during a typical week of writing workshop is to aim to work individually with every student in the class at least once.  

Remember, the main priority of conferencing is to listen, not to talk. But to prompt your students to share their progress with you, here are a few questions to ask from Teaching That Makes Sense . 

What is Writer's Workshop?

Once your students get the hang of what a helpful conference looks and feels like, they can use peer conferencing to help one another. 

4. Sharing (5–15 minutes)

It can be tempting, when time is running short, to skip this last element of writing workshop, but don’t!  It can be the most instructionally valuable part of the class, other than the writing time itself. When students grow comfortable seeing themselves as part of a writing community, they are willing to take more risks and dive deeper into the process. In addition, kids often get their best ideas and are most influenced by one another. 

Some tips to keep sharing time manageable: 

  • For whole-class sharing, keep a running list of who has shared and when, and h ave students share only a portion of their writing—maybe what they consider their best work, or a part they need help with.
  • Let students share in pairs—one reads aloud and one listens. 
  • Have students swap work and read silently to themselves. 

At first the concept of writing workshop may seem overwhelming. But once you establish your routine, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to implement. Because writing workshop gives students so much time to write, their writing skills will improve dramatically. And hopefully, being part of such a dynamic writing community will instill in your students a lifelong love for writing.

Got any hot tips for using writing workshop in your classroom? We’d love to hear about them in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

Plus, check out 5 Peer Conferencing Strategies that Actually Work .

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Creating a Writers’ Workshop: An Evolved Model

Would-be writers pack laptops, blank notebooks, or worn journals filled with handwritten musings into their luggage to travel away from home, sometimes thousands of miles, to learn how to best get words down on paper or to organize what they’ve already written.

Trained wordsmiths, engaged writing teachers, or professional word seekers imagine occupying a space for themselves and with other weary word travelers to work on or teach writing.

A writers’ workshop is in order.

So, what does it take to create a writers’ workshop? It takes more than mimicking the Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) courses experienced by grad students. Seasoned workshop organizers lean on their years of training, months of planning, a keen awareness of the market, and selfless energy as key ingredients to running a successful writers’ workshop.

Writers’ workshop, by definition, is a way to teach writing through writing. It is a moniker for instruction at all levels of writing acquisition. Even teachers at the elementary school level use “writers’ workshops” as a method to teach writing fluency, using repeated exposure to writing and its elements through exercises, practice, and feedback.

This is the way many adults choose to engage with and learn about writing too. More and more, those adults are not necessarily writers by trade, yet they harbor stories they want to tell. The growing market of interested writers, who are invested adult learners, has spawned a number of various writers’ workshop offerings, intentional gatherings of like-minded creative people with a desire to work on the craft of their art.

According to Amy Margolis, director of The Iowa Summer Writing Festival , an acclaimed writers’ workshop program that has been in operation for thirty-two years at the University of Iowa, “The workshop model was initially from visual/ arts crafts workshops.”

The writers’ workshop model seems to have undergone a process in evolution, however.

Amy, who has been with the Summer Writing Festival for twenty-seven years, notes the progression of their program since its inception.

When the program first started, the classes were structured more like mini-MFA writing workshops. she explains, “It was assumed that writers would have something under way and the structure of the learning experience was to share work in progress with a group of people who were kindred. The goal was to receive feedback on that work and return to your burrow and continue either revising or developing.”

A participant in the Iowa Summer Writing Festival reads her manuscript aloud.

A participant in the Iowa Summer Writing Festival reads her manuscript aloud.

Many MFA classes are structured that way, where works in progress are offered and critiqued. The classes operate around a feedback model that can be quite intense. Work is presented to the group and the writer, often asked to remain silent, listens to the dissection of his/her writing.

The Summer Festival currently employs approximately 70 instructors and provides programming in the form of 130 course offerings for approximately 1100 writers during the months of June and July. The program has grown and morphed over the years, tailoring the various offerings to reflect the strengths of the instructors as well as the needs of the attendees. Very few of the courses look like mini-MFA workshops anymore. The Festival discovered that those who attended weekend-long or week-long workshops were coming with a different level of preparedness and they often had different goals.

Amy explains, “It was a limited approach to teaching creative writing at all levels. There are some problems with walking into a workshop, shining a bright, white light on the work with intense scrutiny. If you have everyone jump on it, it can be hard. The traditional workshop model has its place…in grad programs. It can be very effective when pages are at a certain point.”

Mimi Herman and John Yewell, founders and operators of Writeaways , a destination writers’ workshop that operates in Italy, France, and North Carolina, agree that the MFA style of feedback does not work for emerging adult writers who are not necessarily seeking a degree or a career in writing.

They say, “the standard workshop model assumes that we are all perfect readers who have read each piece thoroughly (rather than skimming it the night before) and that the reader understands the work better than the writer, so any criticism a workshop member makes about a piece must be legitimate. It also robs the group of the opportunity to form positive bonds and work together collegially to advance each other’s work.”

Both Writeaways and the Summer Writing Festival have employed different tactics to address the desires of the adult learners who come to them for instruction. They are invested in creating a compassionate community that constructively approaches works in progress or works created over the course of the week or weekend.

For the Iowa Summer Writing Festival it is about fostering a community, encouraging networking and getting hands moving across the page.

University of Iowa's Summer Writing Festival now uses a community-style writing workshop model.

University of Iowa’s Summer Writing Festival now uses an evolved community-style writing workshop model.

Amy explains, now workshops are “aimed at adults who are not always getting what they want in their private lives (with regard to writing) and they have other jobs. They are not getting close, careful feedback, not much support and they are not maybe among those like them. When they come they’re coming for community, access to one another, to their people, and for training.”

For Writeaways it is also about fostering the community of like-minded creatives. Participants in the Writeaways programs are generally fans of travel, good food and wine, and they want to expand their knowledge and craftsmanship of writing.

John and Mimi say, “Our business model combines complete pampering in exotic locations with a rigorous approach to writing and critiquing.” They pride themselves on personalizing the experience for their participants, helping them to identify a manageable weeklong writing project that can be tackled over the course of the workshop.

John explains further, “On the first day of the workshop we enter into a verbal agreement. We want to make sure we are all pulling on the same rope.” Readers have the job of helping to identify blind spots and writers have the job of being open to the suggestions. “They have to be open to ideas and then we discuss, and sometimes debate in a collegial manner. It is quite rigorous.”

Mimi explains, “Even before the verbal agreement we ask each participant to bring a sample of 300 words from a writer whose writing they admire. They read their piece and explain why they chose it. We discuss the piece. It helps to set the tone of the landscape. It helps us to get to know who they are and what matters to them as writers.”

Writeaways fosters a community of like-minded creatives. Participants are generally fans of travel, good food and wine, and they want to expand their knowledge and craftsmanship of writing.

Writeaways fosters a community of like-minded creatives. Participants are generally fans of travel, good food and wine, and they want to expand their knowledge and craftsmanship of writing. Photo courtesy Liz Pena.

Running an effective workshop requires good planning and solid instruction. Workshops like the Summer Writing Festival can offer a wide range of talented instructors with a variety of backgrounds and approaches. For smaller workshops like Writeaways, the uniqueness of the programming includes the powerful combination of John and Mimi’s complementary teaching styles, which adds to the intimacy of the experience.

John and Mimi’s tagteam approach to instruction has proven very valuable to the attendees of their workshops.

Mimi says, “I think it is helpful for writers to hear us disagree.  They hear what John thinks and that I think something different. They see that there is no one way to write.” They begin to see that they can take John’s advice or Mimi’s advice or a combination of the two. Mimi continues, “It expands their vision of their own writing.”

In keeping with the theme of multiple options, John and Mimi have also started to offer “build-your-own” Writeaways. Essentially, small groups of writers can determine where in the world they would like to connect and what sort of workshop they would like to experience. John and Mimi make the arrangements and then join the participants to facilitate the workshop they envision.

The growing list of workshop opportunities is a good thing for both aspiring writers and those who want to and are capable of facilitating a workshop for them.

The Summer Writing Festival offers every level of workshop and interested writers indeed have options. Amy acknowledges, however, that The University of Iowa no longer holds the corner on the market for creative writing instruction, and workshop offerings will likely only continue to expand.

Because more and more people are getting high-level degrees in writing, workshops have expanded worldwide, creating communities for writers who desire them. Amy says, “the micro-writing communities all over the land are a gift and an example of progress.”

It is left up to writers to decide what sort of experience will benefit them the most. Whether it is travel to a workshop, or deciding to offer a workshop right where they are, the options are as limitless as their imaginations.

Tips to Build Your Own Writers’ Workshop

1. Attend workshops.

Participating in a number of different workshops will help you to identify what sort of workshop you might want to build.

2. Create a business plan for logistics.

  • What space do you have to host the workshop?
  • How will you feed and lodge the participants?
  • What time of year do you plan to operate?
  • What is your budget?
  • What can the market bear for your price to attend?
  • How many attendees will make the workshop feasible?
  • If you have a travel component, do you know the area and/or the language well?
  • What connections do you have for a destination workshop scenario?

3. Identify your level of expertise.

  • Do you have the credentials to be the instructor, or will you need to employ the help of a qualified instructor?
  • Do you plan to bring in a resident author to help with the instruction?

4. Decide your goals for the workshop.

  • What sort of community do you want to foster?
  • Do you want to gather professional writers with the goal of publication?
  • Do you want novice writers who are looking for guidance on pieces they have yet to share with anyone?
  • Is there an element of writing you want to explore for a week?

5. Decide your level of critique/conversation/class.

  • Do you want participants to present prepared pieces or will you offer generative classes?

6. Plan your curriculum.

  • Set up the week or weekend with organized programming. What do you want participants to learn or experience by the end of their time together?

7. Create a marketing plan.

  • How will you advertise for your workshop? Word of mouth, social media, advertisement?

Have you hosted or attended a meaningful writers’ workshop that made a difference for you as a writer? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Iowa Summer Writing Festival Web:  IowaSummerWritingFestival.org Facebook: /IowaSummerWritingFestival Twitter:  @ISWFestival

University of Iowa Writers Workshop (MFA program):  @IowaWritersWksp

Writeaways  Web:  Writeaways.com Facebook:  /Writeawaysinfo Twitter:  @Writeawaysinfo

Feature photo: Mimi Herman consults with writers Heather and Megan at a Writeaways workshop. Photo by Gary O’Brien.

Meagan Frank is a novelist, mom, coach, and senior writer for  Books Make a Difference . She is seeking agent representation for her second nonfiction book, about navigating youth sports.  Contact Meagan .

This article was first published July 2018.  

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Mimi Herman consults with writers Heather and Megan at a writers' workshop. Photo by Gary O'Brien.

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The Writing Workshop: A Valuable Tool for Differentiation and Formative Assessment (Guest Blog)

Editor's Note: Author, Jennifer Sharpe, is Director of Secondary Education for Nash-Rocky Mount Schools and Associate Director/K-12 Liaison for the Tar River Writing Project (TRWP) at East Carolina University.

Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen. - Willa Cather

Coaching through the Fear

Students often come to a writing task with infinite stories to tell and examples to share, but equally infinite fear of not writing "correctly." It is this fear that prevents them from exploring with language and finding their own voice in their writing. It is this fear that we English teachers must help students negotiate in order not only to write, but also to compose with sophistication, style, and ease.

Writing instruction is just like teaching any other skill; it takes practice, false starts, mistakes, collaboration, adjustment, coaching, and more practice that finally leads to speed, endurance, and agility. We know coaching is an effective practice for learning; writing workshop applies the coaching model to writing instruction with the writer's notebook ( daybook ) being at the heart of the student's writing life. The writer's notebook is a place to generate ideas, explore thinking, and play with language. It is a safe space where writing can be incomplete without the judgment of the red pen (or green, or purple, or pink as the case may be). Often when working through an idea or reflecting on their understanding, students need that space to be right or wrong or to write through confusion to understanding. The writer's notebook is an integral part of the writer's daily life.

The Writing Workshop Encourages Differentiation

The writer's workshop advocates a fundamental framework: we should think of students as writers who read and compose daily. The model encourages flexibility and differentiation in product, processes, content, and environment.

Differentiation also occurs during the writing conference. Studying mentor texts together, playing and practicing with language, sharing and discussing, and revising are all elements of coaching, and are opportunities for the teacher to provide encouragement and praise. Students may already have mastered the content, but we have to help them think out loud on paper with their own voices.

Formative Assessment

The elements of writing workshop are all means of formative assessment where we are supporting the development of the writer, not simply delivering content. When we model our own writing, we are sharing our processes and showing that we value the writing we are asking our students to do. Before conducting mini-lessons , we have already informally assessed and determined the need to review a particular feature or convention of writing. When we use mentor texts , we are helping students to expand their repertoire of language structures. When we share and respond to writing--peer-to-peer in small writing groups, peer-to-peer in partner response, or teacher-to-student in individual writing conferences--we are assessing and immediately using that assessment to improve writing for a particular content, purpose, and audience. As a result, we time-crunched teachers need not take home stacks and stacks of papers to grade. Meanwhile, students generate stacks and stacks of writing that supports the development of content ideas and writing "muscles."

Often, teachers do not adopt the workshop model because of two questions: 1) how do you teach grammar in writing workshop, and 2) how do you manage a writing workshop class? The answer to both will depend on your students' needs. The framework allows many possibilities for differentiation. After the teacher assesses needs, for example, a mini-lesson on a given grammatical principle might be the only grammar instruction needed outside of the writing conference. Classroom management will be easier once a routine is established and students become motivated to write in their writer's notebooks. They will come to see themselves as a community of writers.

Transform your students' English/Language Arts learning experiences by inviting students to act like, think like, and become writers. The writing workshop offers an umbrella under which differentiated instruction, formative assessment, and composition theory coincide in pedagogy designed to develop students' critical literacy. The approach aligns with Vygotsky's claim, "What a child can do today with assistance, she will be able to do by herself tomorrow."

Author, Jennifer Sharpe, is Director of Secondary Education for Nash-Rocky Mount Schools and Associate Director/K-12 Liaison for the Tar River Writing Project (TRWP) at East Carolina University.

Writers.com

Creative writing workshops can take your writing to the next level. The chance to experiment with your writing in a community is invaluable, and getting live feedback on your work will propel you through your writing career.

That said, there are plenty of writing workshops where writers get less than what they bargained for. Finding the right group of writers to workshop with is a slow process—no different than dating or finding a therapist. Where can you find the best online writing workshops for you?

Consider this your go-to guide for navigating the internet of adult writing workshops. We’ll talk about different workshopping models and how they might work for you, and we’ll also look at how to get the most from your fiction, nonfiction, and poetry writing workshops.

But first, we ought to define this particularly nebulous aspect of creative writing education. What is a writing workshop?

Looking for the best online writing workshops?

If you’re looking for the best online writing workshops, look no further. Writers.com has been running online creative writing workshops since 1995. View our upcoming calendar to view the best writing workshops for you!

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What is a Writing Workshop?

People use the phrase “writing workshop” differently in different contexts, although it’s a rather vague term that writers use inconsistently. Here are some common ways you might see the term used:

  • Online , a workshop is a complete writing course, including both lecture materials and opportunities for feedback from fellow students.
  • In universities and MFA programs , a workshop is the aspect of a writing workshop where students give feedback to one another to improve their writing overall.
  • At some online writing schools , a workshop is specifically a single-day Zoom-based workshop.

That said, “writing workshop” is a rather nebulous term that has a lot of applications. A workshop is any space where writers come to grow as writers. In short, a writing workshop is an open-ended term that describes different styles of creative writing education.

What is a writing workshop? An open-ended term that describes different styles of creative writing education.

For the purposes of this article, we are addressing multi-week online writing classes, as well as single-day webinars that have a workshopping component. Basically, we’re looking at any type of online learning space where students share their work, receive feedback, build new craft skills, and engage with a writing community.

Here’s what online writing workshops might look like, as well as tips for finding the best ones!

12 Things to Look For In the Best Online Creative Writing Workshops

Are you thinking about enrolling in a creative writing workshop? The best online writing workshops have these 12 things in common:

1. The Best Online Writing Workshops Have Well Respected Teachers

At most online writing schools, the instructor is the person who sets the syllabus, writes the workshop, and gives feedback to students. As a result, a good writing teacher makes all the difference in online writing workshops.

You want to be excited to learn from an instructor.

In addition to being a great writer and teacher, a great workshop instructor will be community-oriented, empathetic, and capable of tailoring their teaching to your writing needs.

Before you enroll in a writing workshop, do some research on the writer teaching it. Most professional writers and teachers will have a website, where you can peruse their work, degrees, and teaching history.

Some questions you might ask:

  • Does the instructor have a terminal degree? (M.A., M.F.A., Ph.D., etc.)
  • What do prior students say about this instructor?
  • Does the instructor have a significant publication history?

On terminal degrees—they’re not necessary for running good creative writing workshops. But, they do indicate a certain level of craft training and teaching experience. Many terminal degree programs require students to learn how to teach creative writing. While you don’t need an M.F.A or Ph.D. to publish or teach writing, they certainly help.

Most importantly: are you excited about this instructor’s work? Do you like it? Do you connect with it? You want to be excited to learn from an instructor. They’re not just teaching craft, they’re teaching you their approach to crafting good writing.

2. The Best Online Writing Workshops Have a Clear Description

Enrolling in creative writing workshops involves a certain level of trust. If you haven’t taken a class with the organization before, you might not know how they run their classes or what you’ll get out of working with them. Writing programs should honor their side of the bargain by telling you exactly what you’ll get from their writing workshops.

Writing programs should honor their side of the bargain by telling you exactly what you’ll get from their writing workshops.

The descriptions for online writing workshops should tell you the following:

  • What will you learn and write during the workshop?
  • Who’s teaching the workshop, and what have they accomplished?
  • How will your time be spent while taking the workshop?
  • Who is this for? At what stage of your writing should you be in?

It helps to know what you’re looking for from your workshop. If you have certain goals in mind or ways you want to grow as a writer, be clear about these goals, and don’t spend money on workshops that simply won’t fit your needs. (That said, it can also be fun to enroll in random workshops and learn new writing skills—you’d be surprised what you’ll learn from a class that has nothing to do with your projects.)

If the description of the writing workshop aligns with your goals and needs, it should be a good fit. And, if you’re on the fence, it never hurts to ask the program administrators before you enroll. They’ll be glad to hear from you!

3. The Best Online Writing Workshops Prioritize the Student

Creative writing workshops place your experience front and center. The goal of a workshop is to expand your learning, work, and writing journey. If a writing course doesn’t promise to uplift your writing life, why would you take it?

If a writing course doesn’t promise to uplift your writing life, why would you take it?

A good writing school will acknowledge the risk involved in taking an adult writing workshop. Since online schools can’t confer college credit, and since you probably haven’t interacted with the workshop instructor before, you’re spending your time and money on a program that you haven’t used before.

So, why wouldn’t that school prioritize you ? You want to be confident that your writing, your creativity, and your time will be valued, otherwise you’re wasting your money on an experience you hardly learned from.

Check to see if the program itself has a student promise before you enroll in their writing workshops. If it doesn’t seem like the school will center your learning and growth as a writer, don’t take the risk—there are plenty of other schools to choose from.

prioritizing the student in adult writing workshops

4. The Best Online Writing Workshops Give Constructive Feedback

The feedback you receive in creative writing workshops will often prove the most valuable aspect of the course. Because most workshops are run by writers with Masters or Doctoral degrees, they’ve spent a fair amount of time giving and receiving feedback in competitive and community settings. As a result, they know a ton about the craft skills that make for good literature, and they know how to transmit those skills to their students.

Most importantly, a good writing instructor will tell you what you’re doing well in your writing.

The feedback you receive in online writing workshops will vary by the scope of the workshops and the backgrounds of the instructors. You might receive feedback on:

  • Where the writing is effective
  • Word choice that isn’t clear to the reader
  • Ideas that can be expanded or shortened
  • Sentences that are too long or too short
  • Corrections in spelling and grammar
  • Opportunities to improve the writing structure
  • Feedback related to the elements of fiction , nonfiction, or poetry

Most importantly, a good writing instructor will tell you what you’re doing well in your writing. When you write a really great simile , have well developed characters , or find a moment of deep insight, your instructor will highlight this.

While it’s good to know what needs to be improved, writers can’t begin to improve until they also know what works in their poems and stories. This is how you build a foundation for good writing: start with what works, and sculpt from there. Writing workshops are the best spaces to build this foundation!

5. The Best Online Writing Workshops Focus on Craft

The best online writing workshops are centered around the craft of writing. Unlike English and composition classes, which focus on grammar, literacy, and the mechanics of language, creative writing workshops look at using these mechanics to write compelling, effective stories. And, in a writing workshop, you don’t just use the rules, you get to break them!

In a writing workshop, you don’t just use the rules, you get to break them.

The craft elements you focus on will vary based on the kind of course you’re in. If you’re taking poetry writing workshops, for example, you’ll focus on employing effective literary devices and studying different forms of poetry .

Likewise, in novel writing workshops, you might study elements like plot , point of view , and the art of storytelling .

Good writing workshops will break down great literature into the components that make it great, allowing you to read like a writer and employ these craft skills in your own work. And, learning the craft of creative writing helps you with everyday tasks, like sending emails or expanding your vocabulary.

6. The Best Online Writing Workshops Respect Your Creativity

The workshop is a space of unfettered creativity. Writers get to share their ideas, their experiences, and their creative, collaborative minds in the same space, making workshops the place to experiment with ideas. Of course, this is only possible if the workshop respects your creative authority.

We don’t “earn” the title of “writer,” we simply are writers, and a good writing course will uphold your integrity and creative vision, no matter where you are in your writing journey.

What does respect for your creative authority mean? It means that no one judges, criticizes, or condemns you for your writing and ideas. The best writing workshops will:

  • Help you explore your ideas, rather than impose ideas upon you.
  • Teach you the ropes of writing craft without telling you what to write.
  • Show you what you’re already doing well in your work.
  • Point out opportunities where the writing can be expanded, restructured, or clarified—in ways that help you carry out your creative vision.

Most importantly, this is true no matter how “new” you are to creative writing workshops . Whether you’ve submitted the first poem you’ve ever written or your thousandth, you deserve the same level of respect as everyone else in the room. We don’t “earn” the title of “writer,” we simply are writers, and a good writing course will uphold your integrity and creative vision, no matter where you are in your writing journey.

In a writing workshop, you may encounter many different ideas, but you also encounter the freedom to accept or reject those ideas. It’s your writing. You get the final say!

7. The Best Online Writing Workshops Create Community

What is a writing workshop without community? Writing can be a lonely practice, but a writing community makes all the difference. The best creative writing workshops foster a sense of community. In fact, many writers have come away from our courses with friends and writing partnerships that last for years and years!

A writing community can give you the motivation to create, the license to experiment, and the potential to learn even more about the craft of writing.

A writing community can give you the motivation to create, the license to experiment, and the potential to learn even more about the craft of writing. Because we all have very different literary backgrounds, we all have studied different authors and elements of the writing craft. When we write in a community, we naturally share what we’ve learned with one another, creating a culture of growth and inspiration.

Additionally, a strong writing community creates valuable feedback. When you write alongside people who know and enjoy your work, it is much easier to give and receive feedback, especially when these writers know what you’re trying to accomplish.

Many well-known authors throughout history have been a part of valuable writing communities, such as The Beat Poets, Stratford-on-Odeon, and these famous writing groups . Writing doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and when you enroll in community-oriented online writing workshops, you foster the kinds of relationships and connections that can sustain your literary career.

community in creative writing workshops

8. The Best Online Writing Workshops Motivate You to Write

Because writing is often solitary, it can be hard to motivate yourself to get work done. Taking online writing workshops pushes you to put words on the page.

Sometimes, the biggest barrier is beginning, but creative writing workshops will spark your writing practice.

For one thing, these classes cost money, and when you’re spending money to write and learn about writing, you’re more likely to actually write and learn about writing.

But, it’s not just the monetary transaction that motivates writers in adult writing workshops. Your course might provide you with:

  • Creative writing prompts
  • Daily journaling assignments
  • Helpful revisions
  • Inspirational readings
  • Ideas to combat writer’s block
  • Different approaches to writing

Some writing workshops are even designed to motivate you, such as our class Write Your Novel! The Workshop With Jack . Sometimes, the biggest barrier is beginning, but creative writing workshops will spark your writing practice.

9. The Best Online Writing Workshops Jumpstart a Writing Habit

Because writing workshops require you to submit work every week, students will have to set up a consistent writing practice in order to meet these deadlines. Not only does this prepare you for your life as a published author (where deadlines are less flexible), but this also helps you master a key aspect of the writing life: a consistent writing habit.

To make the most of creative writing workshops, try to find time to write every day.

Writing every day isn’t just good advice, it’s essential to building a writing life. Writers who want to build careers out of their work, or at the very least publish books some day, will have to dedicate time every day to their work. When you engage with language each day, you build the skills necessary to write good books, and you also keep yourself creatively motivated. This is true especially for the days that are hardest to write on.

Of course, most of us lead very busy lives. How do we steal time as artists? Here are some ideas:

  • Write with your morning coffee.
  • Keep a journal on your phone during work and lunch breaks.
  • Write on your commute to and from work. If you’re driving, keep an audio journal, where you write by speaking into your phone’s recorder.
  • Write on your phone while running on the treadmill.
  • Put pen to paper while taking a bath.
  • Journal for 15 minutes before you go to bed.

These ideas won’t work for everyone, and it all depends on your schedule and lifestyle. Nonetheless, to make the most of creative writing workshops, try to find time to write every day. It’s best to write at the same time every day, but if your schedule doesn’t allow this, sneak time wherever you can. Balancing a career, a family, and a writing life isn’t easy, but when the work calls, you’ll find time to answer!

10. The Best Online Writing Workshops Broaden Your Literary Horizons

As writers, it’s important for us to know our literary history. Now, this doesn’t mean you need to read every piece of classic literature to start writing—in fact, many books published in the 19th century could never be published today.

If you want to publish your own work some day, it’s important to know what else is being published today.

But it does mean knowing the craft skills that went into both classic and contemporary books. It especially means having a sense of the contemporary literary zeitgeist. If you want to publish your own work some day, it’s important to know what else is being published today.

The best creative writing workshops broaden your literary horizons. When you read classic literature, you get a sense of the foundations of contemporary writing, and the ways that writers before us expanded the possibilities of literature as a whole. When you read contemporary literature, you get a sense of today’s publishing landscape and what people are looking for in the writings of today.

(If you plan to publish books by querying literary agents , reading contemporary work is crucial, because you need to have good comps in your query letter. Comps are books that have been published recently and are similar, in some ways, to your own.)

Now, this doesn’t mean you need to write like other authors. In fact, far from it. It’s better that you learn to write like yourself , because your most valuable asset as a writer is your voice. But, when you expand your literary horizons, you engage with literature and make decisions on what you do and don’t want to do in your work.

What do you like to read? What do you want to never read again? The more you read, the more you hone your own voice as a writer. Great writing workshops introduce you to literature that provokes these kinds of questions.

11. The Best Online Writing Workshops Provide a Creative Outlet

One of the best reasons to take online writing workshops is that they give you an outlet for feelings and creativity.

Writing workshops are a great supplement to a healthy writer’s life.

This is the result of the various reasons listed above for taking writing classes. By building community, creating a writing practice, and engaging with literature, you inevitably nourish your creativity. In doing so, you nurture a healthy space to explore your ideas and emotions—an essential aspect of any writer’s life.

Now, even the best online writing workshops can’t replace the benefits of therapy. We’re not saying you should ditch your therapist for a Writers.com class. But we are saying that writing workshops are a great supplement to a healthy writer’s life, because they create safe spaces for you to experiment with your work and explore your emotions freely on the page.

This is true even for writers of genre fiction or persona poetry. It’s true for participants in fiction writing workshops and memoir writing workshops. We gravitate to writing in part for its emotional release, and a great online class in creative writing will nurture this release. Between the prompts, community, and writing habits that a creative writing workshop fosters, you’re sure to come away from your workshop with renewed emotional health.

what is a writing workshop?

12. The Best Online Writing Workshops Provide Next Steps

The best creative writing workshops are the beginning of your writing life, not the end. When your workshop ends, you should come away with new ideas for writing, new publication opportunities to pursue, and new friends and mentors to nurture your writing journey.

The best creative writing workshops are the beginning of your writing life, not the end.

Throughout the workshop, you’ll find new opportunities for continuous growth. You might find a list of literary journals to submit to, new readings to stimulate your writing, further creative writing workshops to attend, or simply the emails and social media accounts of students you really enjoyed working with.

If you’re ready to move on to the next level of your writing, your instructor will provide you with next steps. And, if you want to learn more outside of the classroom, contact the instructor about this. We’re always excited by writers who want to keep learning and learning!

The Best Online Writing Workshops

Of course, we’re partial to our own workshops at Writers.com . Since 1995 we’ve offered the best fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and book writing workshops around the internet, inspiring thousands of writers to embark on their writing journeys, find their voices, and get published.

We offer both single-day webinars and multi-week workshops in all genres, and also offer opportunities for private coaching with our instructors. If you’re looking for the best, you’ve already found it. Drop us a line if you have any questions!

Check out our full schedule of upcoming classes here.

In addition to Writers.com, here are some online writing workshops that we’ve found offer fantastic creative writing education:

  • Loft Literary
  • Brooklyn Poets
  • Creative Nonfiction

In Creative Writing Workshops…

You get to find great literature, meet fellow scribblers, build a writing habit, and, most importantly, take your writing journey to the next level. Why wait? Enroll in an online writing workshop today!

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  • F.A.Q.s & Support

Layers of Learning

Family-Style Homeschooling

Writer’s Workshop Curriculum Guide

Layers of Learning’s Writer’s Workshop isn’t just a curriculum; it’s a mindset. It’s a lifestyle that will change writing from a chore to a joy as your whole family grows as writers together, family-school style.

To get you started on the right foot in this new mindset, we invite you to read the Writer’s Workshop Guidebook . It is written specifically for the parent or writing mentor. It will give you a clear picture of what Writer’s Workshop looks like and set you up for success.

After many, many years of teaching writing in this style, we share our best tips and an overall picture of what has worked well in our homeschools and co-ops, as well as provide detailed instructions for setting up a Writer’s Workshop and getting started with the units successfully.

Writer's Workshop Guidebook: How to Create a Writer's Workshop - PDF

Nine Genre Units In One Reusable Program

The Writer’s Workshop program is divided into units based on different genres of writing including poetry, fanciful stories, report & essays, and so on.

Writer’s Workshop is sold two ways: as individual PDF units and as a single volume that includes all nine of the units.

Writer's Workshop equals nine writing unit

Each genre unit is intended to last for about a month in your homeschool. You will pick and choose the parts you want to do, then be able to reuse it in subsequent years by choosing other exercises and writing projects from the same genre. Each unit can be used again and again in your family.

You can buy the entire program in one volume. Choose between a digital PDF download or a printed paperback version –>

Writer's Workshop: A Family Style Writing Program - PDF

Or Buy the Units One by One

Each unit included in the Writer’s Workshop program can also be purchased individually as PDFs. Here is what is included:

Writer’s Workshop Jump Start

We recommend using this at the beginning of each school year. It’s full of short writing exercises that are meant to spur on ideas and get kids in a creative, thoughtful groove. It also teaches the writing process and helps writers get settled into their Writer’s Notebooks.

Writer's Workshop Jump Start - PDF

Sentences, Paragraphs, & Narrations

This unit will get writers off on the right foot to crafting strong sentences and organized paragraphs. All of the content in it can be directly applied to what you’re learning about in other school subjects, so if you’ve been hoping to create greater unity between writing instruction and history, geography, science, and art, this is a great place to start. Along with learning how to write narrations, kids will learn how to write for tests.

Sentences, Paragraphs, & Narrations - PDF

Descriptions & Instructions

In this unit, you’ll get into the meat of what makes writing powerfully captivating. By using exact language, strong verbs, and sprinkling in figurative language, young writers will be able to capture interest in new ways. In addition, they will practice writing with precision.

Descriptions & Instructions - PDF

Fanciful Stories

Fairy tales, superhero stories, fables, tall tales, and every other imaginary story falls into this really fun unit. Besides learning the structure and elements of a story, writers will also focus on surprising the audience and weaving in a theme, all through the lens of fiction.

Fanciful Stories - PDF

Together, you will read and write poetry and play with words. Both formula poems and free verse will accompany your study of poetry terms, vivid language, and painting a picture with words.

Poetry - PDF

True Stories

The flipside to Fanciful Stories, in True Stories you’ll learn biographies, autobiographies, articles, and personal narratives, You’ll also create an All About Me book and learn to journal about your life more effectively.

True Stories - PDF

Reports & Essays

This unit will sharpen your skills as a serious writer. You will both research and share your own ideas as you learn to share the true things you know about. You’ll explore everything from animal reports to the ever-valuable five-paragraph essay and master what it takes to share true information in an organized way.

Reports & Essays - PDF

The Letter genre actually covers a lot more than just friendly letters. You’ll learn how to write and send e-mail, create a resume, fill out forms, and write a letter to the editor, among other valuable correspondence skills.

Letters - PDF

Persuasive Writing

The art of persuasion will be practiced through lots of forms in this unit, from convincing your parents to let you stay up late to writing a full-blown persuasive essay. You’ll learn the tricks to writing in a convincing, memorable way.

Persuasive Writing - PDF

Research Paper

The Research Paper unit is the only one that is written specifically for teens. This step-by-step guide will teach teens how to write a full-blown research paper, one bit at a time.

Research Paper is sold only as a PDF and is not included in the single volume Writer’s Workshop.

Research Paper - PDF

Inside Each Unit

Writer's Workshop Jump Start sample pages

Within each unit , you will find exercises – short writing assignments that help you develop specific writing skills. None of the exercises will be graded. They are practice. Most of these will be kept within a Journal that is personal to each writer. Creativity and freedom of expression are hallmarks of a successful Writer’s Workshop.

Mini-Lessons

Accompanying the exercises, there are sidebars within each unit that share mini-lessons, short daily lessons to help teach grammar, punctuation, the writing process, genre skills, and more. Mentors are also encouraged to be an active member of the Writer’s Workshop, noticing skills that need to be taught and tailoring the program to help growing writers. In addition, within the Layers of Learning catalog , you can click on the unit you are using and have access to more links, the unit’s YouTube playlist, and the continually-growing Writer’s Workshop Pinterest board.

Project Ideas Banks

During the course of each unit , one project will be chosen and the writer will take that one piece all of the way through the writing process – prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Every unit includes idea banks to spur on ideas and keep pens to paper. The monthly project will be the only graded writing, and its evaluation includes a rubric that addresses specific skills learned within the unit.

Every single Writer’s Workshop unit also includes a printable pack full of printables used within the exercises and mini-lessons, as well as printable idea banks and rubrics.

Word Work is a spelling and vocabulary program for 6 years old to 18 years old. It is also a constant companion to all of the other units.

Word Work includes:

  • spelling lists
  • vocabulary lists
  • spelling activity ideas
  • worksheets to use with any spelling list

It is sold only as a digital PDF download.

You will begin each day with a short session of mastering words, including both spelling and vocabulary.

Word Work allows kids to master the words that will be their medium for sharing the ideas they have.

Word Work - PDF

The Goal of Writer’s Workshop

writers workshop elements

Writing in our homeschool happens in short bursts throughout our day.  We use it to show what we know and add our own ideas and contributions to the world’s body of knowledge.  Writing is empowering! Rather than getting caught up in mechanics and mundane exercises, we focus on ideas first. We use writing to communicate, to share a part of ourselves and our ideas.

Process Over Product

As we write, we focus on the process, not just the product.  Writer’s Workshop Jump Start will help kids practice the writing process, which they will continue to use as they write.

  • pre-writing

Just to be clear, these steps don’t all happen in a day, and sometimes they don’t all happen in a week. I teach mini-lessons just about every day. We write in our writer’s notebooks until we have something we want to turn into more.  Sometimes this happens spontaneously (like my son’s series of Super Monkey books about a superhero monkey who saves the world from a variety of evil-doers).  Sometimes it happens because I assign something; “Okay young authors, your biography is due on Friday. . . no more dawdling!”)

The kids write, wherever they are at in the process, until we are ready to move on to something else.  Then they just put it away and pick up where they left off the next day.

Some Quick Tips

Open creativity is awesome, but we’re also believers in providing clear direction.  There’s nothing worse than being told to write anything at all when no ideas seem to come.  Some kids will come up with their own ideas, but you should also have assignments, story starters, fun ideas, and specific directions on hand for those writers who don’t come up with topics and ideas well on their own.  The Writer’s Workshop units are a go-to source of inspiration for those tidbits of fun.

The physical act of writing can be quite a chore for some kids.  Don’t take the burden away entirely, because the way they will build writing endurance is by writing.  At the same time, you can lighten the burden. For example, taking a story all the way through the writing process can involve three or more re-writes. Have kids do it once, but then you can pitch in and type up the story.  With little ones, you may even do some of their writing on the first draft to help them get their ideas down, but don’t ever take over and do all the writing if you want them to grow as writers.

Pre-writing is an important first step in the writing process.  Talking about ideas, drawing a picture, creating a character sketch, or making a web or outline can make an overwhelming assignment manageable.  A fun pre-writing activity is a great mini-lesson with each new genre you start .

Intersperse writing assignments with authentic writing experiences. Kids can write to grandparents, penpals, people in the community, companies, authors, and politicians. They can write shopping lists and to-do lists, or send e-mail .  Consider submitting essays to essay contests, writing online book reviews, or keeping a family scrapbook.

Every day is different and variety is key.  Sometimes we’re quietly writing at desks.  Sometimes we’re outside listing as many things as we can see in our yard together.  You may find me typing up a story with a kid at my side as we talk about how to make the writing better.  You may see us all sitting together writing a collective story, with Mom as the scribe .  Sometimes we’re reading silly poems together.  We could be playing a game about nouns or watching Grammar Rock videos.  We’re always reading, writing, and talking about writing. In the messy process (and about an hour a day), we become better writers by doing Writer’s Workshop.

We Hope You’ll Join Us!

Writer's Workshop Icon

We write all throughout our day, whether we’re writing what we learned about an artist, explaining a math concept in a journal entry, writing up an experiment, or creating a passage in our world explorer journals. Our Writer’s Workshop gives us the flexibility to write about anything we have big ideas about.  As we master the writing process and learn how to be better writers, we get to use those skills to better share the ideas we have. Through Writer’s Workshop, we grow! We hope you’ll join us in creating a Writer’s Workshop in your homeschool. We can’t wait to see the ways you grow too!

Writer’s Workshop in a Podcast

writers workshop elements

Want to hear Karen and Michelle chat about Writer’s Workshop? Listen in on their Writer’s Workshop podcast episode . Michelle picked Karen’s brain a bit about how Writer’s Workshop came about and what it looks like in her homeschool.

16 thoughts on “Writer’s Workshop Curriculum Guide”

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Excellent job Layers of Learning. These ideas will work wonderfully with my Deaf students. Writing is a major challenge for them but these strategies and fun activities are just what they need. Thanks.

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Hi Michelle!

How can I get access to this guide?

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You’ll find the complete Guidebook in the Writer’s Workshop section of the Layers of Learning catalog. https://layers-of-learning.com/shop/writers-workshop/digital-pdf/guidebook-how-to-create-a-writers-workshop/

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is there a plan to put out curriculum guides for the other genres?

Yes! The other guides will be coming out over the next year.

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My children have never had formal Grammer. Do you suggest a Grammer supplement for my oldest, a 6/7th grader? Something that starts from the beginning but will get her up to speed.

Maranda, You don’t necessarily have to do formal grammar. Writer’s Workshop style is to teach “mini lessons” which include grammar and writing skills. The mini lessons are tailored by you to what your children need to learn. There are sidebars with lesson ideas all through the Writer’s Workshop program. But if you are feeling unsure about grammar rules yourself and unable to spot where and how corrections need to be made in your children’s work, then we recommend purchasing a simple inexpensive grammar workbook and going through it as a family, not necessarily doing the whole workbook, but using it as the “mini lessons” until you all feel up to speed. Something like English & Grammar 6 would be appropriate for the whole family to work on together.

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Hi, my son is in second grade and I’m looking for a writing program for him and this looks great! Do I also need a separate Language Arts curriculum? Also, is this all meant to be done in one year? Or how do I go about pacing it? Thanks!

You don’t need a separate Langauge Arts curriculum. You will want to track what he’s reading, but this includes the writing, grammar, and spelling (if you use the Word Work component). Each unit is intended to be used for a month of instruction, so you’ll purchase one unit per month. There is a lot more there than you will have time to do within the month, but it is intended to be used again the following year, with you choosing new exercises the next time around. Hope that helps!

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How does she Writer’s workshop compare to Brave Writer?

Personally, we have not used Brave Writer, but this would be a great question to ask within the Layers of Learning Facebook Group. There are a number of families there who have used both. From their descriptions, the lifestyle is the same, but the process is different. Writer’s Workshop has more specific prompts and daily writing suggestions to help kids get creative juices flowing.

Thank you for your reply !

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Is there a version of this for high school-aged kids? If not what would you recommend?

There are activities included in Writer’s Workshop for high schoolers. You’ll find a variety of things for all ages in every single unit. One unit, The Research Paper, is specifically for high school-aged kids.

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I am homeschooling gr1, 3,5,6. Will this work across the grade? I need only one resource for the whole family or are there consumables I need to buy for each child??

Writer’s Workshop is for your whole family. You will find ideas and resources in there for kids ages 6-18. It comes with a Printable Pack that includes the consumable printables. You will need to print them as needed for your kids, but you only need to purchase one Writer’s Workshop and can print as many as you need for your family.

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Shared Teaching

Systematic Teaching for First and Second Grade

5 Writing Workshop Mini Lessons That Shouldn’t Be Skipped

January 12, 2022 | Leave a Comment

5 writing workshop mini lessons you shouldn't skip title page

No matter what time of the year writing workshop starts, these are 5 writing workshop mini lessons that shouldn’t be skipped! I find that doing these lessons will start my workshop on the right foot and help students know all about my expectations.

Writing Workshop Mini Lesson #1: The Components of Writer’s Workshop

Before introducing the writer’s workshop model, plan out the pieces you’ll be using in your workshop. I modified my workshop slightly from the traditional model so that it skips the daily check in. 

Each day I cover a mini whole class lesson, independent writing time, and share time. My first mini lesson when I am starting writer’s workshop is to teach my class about each component. Sometimes it may be necessary to break it apart in several lessons (especially if you want to really focus on the dos and don’ts of each section).

I like to take my time and explicitly teach the roles of a student and the teacher (like in the Daily 5 process ). Going over exactly what I want it to look like helps minimize off task behaviors at the start.  Likewise, it’s important not to skip the step of what it shouldn’t look like. Not only do students find it pretty funny when they see off task behaviors modeled, but it really sticks in their memories.

Writing Workshop Mini Lesson #2: Writer’s Workshop Materials

The next important writing workshop mini lesson is teaching about the writer’s workshop materials and their appropriate uses. In my class we call these writing tools. This may feel like a silly lesson to teach but it’s important to teach expectations for using their supplies.

Things to consider when planning this lesson:

  • Will students be allowed to color pictures heavily during each writing block?
  • Will students be using pencils or pens for their writing?
  • Will students use notebooks or folders to store their pieces?
  • Where will they keep their daily materials?
  • Where will they keep their revising and editing pens?
  • Will they need highlighters?
  • Will they be using loose leaf paper or a notebook? Spiral or composition?

My Writing Tools Set Up

Each answer to these questions will help you plan what to say during your lesson. For example, in my class students are only allowed to color pictures during the publishing phase. I chose this rule because we only have 45 minutes and it’s more important for them to be writing than working on coloring. This year I have chosen to use pencils for daily writing but most years I use pen. Writing in pen keeps students from agonizing over writing and erasing the same words.

Notebooks or Folders?

Students are provided a blue three-prong plastic folders with several page protectors. Inside the page protectors they are given an alphabet chart, blends and digraphs, and common rimes chart. I left one blank page protector that gets filled with their writing goals tracker once goals are created. They are also given a very slender bound notebook that we use for planning out our writing. This notebook is thin enough to be kept inside their folder along with any loose leaf writing papers.

Writing Tools Storage

Just like with the first mini lesson we are discussing dos and don’ts of handling the workshop materials and where they should be stored. This year with social distancing guidelines each student keeps their own folder in their desk. In prior years students turned in their folders at the end of each writing block and one student passed out their group’s folders.

I have a series of three metal bins (meant to be flower pots) that keep my black, blue, and red writing pens. Even though I have black pens I don’t often have students use them to write this year. Having them write in pen saves me from sharpening a ton of pencils each day. Since editing (red pens) and revising (blue pens) only happen every few weeks, I prefer to keep the pens out of their desks and on my writing center table. Unfortunately this year the table is not used except to hold my writing center cards and letter templates as well as my pen selection.

Writing Workshop Mini Lesson #3: Building Writing Stamina

My students now know what writer’s workshop should look like and how to use the tools appropriately. This means it is time for them to practice building up their writing stamina. Although this isn’t going to be a one and done type of writing mini lesson, it is an important one.

Just as readers need to build up their reading stamina, I feel the same is true for writers. My class seems to do really well with writing the whole time during independent practice, but if you are lucky enough to have a nice long writing block you will want to make sure you build up their practice time. 

Many years ago I used to have a good hour for my writer’s workshop. During those days I would have a second mini-lesson in the middle of our writing time. This way I could address immediate things I was seeing about sentence structure or punctuation. It was also another way to address what was going well with students applying the day’s lesson. Don’t be afraid to break up your writing block like this if you notice students getting squirrely halfway through.

When students work with a writing partner, they can also increase their stamina. It naturally takes longer to work on a writing piece when both partners need to share and work together. This brings me to the next mini lesson.

Writing Workshop Mini Lesson #4: Working with a Partner

I like to establish my writer’s workshop routines before I have students begin working with a partner. Once routines have been established then I’ll add writing partners into the mix. If I do it too early I might have some classroom management issues .

When planning your writing mini lesson, establish what you want partners to do. Will students have partners during independent writing time? Will students only be using partners when revising and editing?

Plan to provide several mini lessons on how to work with a partner. Now that students have had a lot of schooling impacted by Covid, it’s important to teach them the basics of how to work appropriately with each other. This might include things like sentence stems for questions to ask and how to respond, what help looks like (i.e. not doing everything for their partner but guiding them), and how to be a good listener.

Writing Workshop Mini Lesson #5: Compliments and Questions for Share Time

Share time is the last component of writer’s workshop and it’s the one I feel is the most important. Students get to see and hear examples of their peers’ writing. Many teachers use an author’s chair specifically for the purpose of this daily share time. I do not have space in my classroom so I just have students stand at the front of the room.

These one or two mini lessons should cover very similar topics as having a writing partner. In fact, many of the expectations for partners crossover to share time which makes it a perfect place to review and reinforce what students should do.

My share time is usually about 5 minutes tops since I only have a total of 45 minutes. If you have a little longer, pick mini lessons to teach about how to choose which partner goes first and how to offer specific feedback. I like to think of writing partners like mini coaches. They should be giving their partner suggestions for improvement but also a positive comment.

What are your go-to mini lessons when establishing your writer’s workshop?

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Not as Easy as You Think: Re-evaluating the Workshop Model

Oindrila mukherjee | february 2015.

Oindrila Mukherjee

In his book,   Teaching Poetry Writing: A Five Canon Approach , Tom C. Hunley says that the workshop method “functions more as a convenience for the instructors than as a vehicle for meeting the needs of students. The traditional workshop model of teaching undergraduate poetry writing has gone virtually unquestioned for the past seventy years…” (2) He goes on to dismiss the “typical creative writing teacher who simply has students read their drafts aloud and then leads full-class discussions about these student texts.” Hunley assumes that we as teachers never question our methods or the efficacy of the workshop model for different levels of writers, and suggests that we are all lazy instructors who don’t bother with syllabi, grading rubrics, exercises, and so on, a charge that is both false and reductive. However, I do agree with Hunley that not enough attention is paid to teacher training and pedagogical theory in MFA programs. During my time teaching creative writing in various genres at the undergraduate level for the past twelve and a half years, I have encountered a number of challenges that may sound familiar to many instructors. Here I will acknowledge some of the problems that the workshop model can produce in a class of beginning writers, and discuss some solutions I have found in dealing with these. While I have had the good fortune to teach multi-genre introductory classes, as well as fiction, nonfiction and playwriting workshops, in this essay I will focus mainly on fiction-writing classes. However, most of the principles discussed below can easily be transferred to other genres.

Janet Burroway, in   Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft , says that the workshop model “represents a democratization of both the material for college study and its teaching.” (16) Many of us instructors ask our students to sit in a circle during workshop, to emphasize this   democratization   by rupturing any hierarchy in the classroom. When I sit in a circle with my students, I’m signaling equality. The students are graded on their class participation, i.e. their oral responses during workshop. This means they offer feedback to the writer as much as, if not more than, I do. I have often had the experience where the writer agrees with some of the students in class who praise her work more or who see something there that I do not. The latter, of course, can be a wonderful moment of discovery for the teacher. On the other hand, when the writers submit revised manuscripts along with self-reflection essays at the end of the semester, they sometimes write that they chose to revise— or not revise— based on the other students’ comments rather than mine. This degree of democratization would be absurd in any other discipline where the feedback cannot be interpreted as being so subjective. It would seem obvious to many that beginning writers lack the experience or the knowledge of craft or the wide expanse of reading to be better critics of each other’s work than I am. Surely, there is a reason I am the instructor, and therefore my opinions should count for more than those of the writer’s peers.

I frontload the semester with lectures on craft. For instance, we spend one or two classes discussing point of view, looking at examples of each point of view, and completing short exercises to practice different points of view. We do the same with setting, dialogue, and other elements of craft. In some classes, depending on the level, I assign a textbook like Burroway’s   Writing Fiction   to use as a reference tool for the fundamentals of craft. As Hunley says, students must be “armed with an arsenal of invention strategies, conversant about form and structure, capable of identifying and writing in a variety of styles.” (3) It is essential to have a strong familiarity with the elements of craft in a particular genre, with the vocabulary of the genre, and with a variety of published examples. If students come into class having mainly read fantasy and other genre fiction, how can they be expected to provide adequate feedback in a literary fiction workshop? Furthermore, if I spend the first half of the semester trying to create this familiarity, then the next step is to apply the principles to the texts produced by students. This becomes as much a test for the readers in the circle as for the writers.

I also require writers to come up with detailed revision plans (whether or not they are required to produce a revised draft at the end of the semester,) where they must explain and justify their choices. This assignment forces them to think more carefully about their decisions, and also renders irrelevant whom the critiques came from, students or me. The writer must examine her decisions and make a case for them in terms of craft, plot, theme, and intentionality, and in doing so, her focus turns towards the story rather than towards the critics.

Often beginning writers are too polite in workshop and hesitate to be critical. Compared to them I sometimes feel like a monster. Every semester, on the first day of my advanced fiction class, I ask my students what, if anything, frustrated them about the workshop model in previous classes, and someone always says that he did not get enough critical feedback because other students were too nice.

It must be kept in mind that a primary goal of workshops is to enable students to be strong critical readers, not merely kind and supportive ones.  

I teach in a unique writing department at Grand Valley, which is not part of English or any other discipline. The curriculum combines creative and professional writing courses, which include the usual workshops for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. But it also offers a Consulting with Writers class and a Working with Manuscripts class. The university’s Writing Center hires writing consultants from among our majors. For any kind of consulting work with writers or any kind of editorial work, it is important for students to learn to be honest and insightful readers. Also, reading other people’s texts and identifying common problems therein is very helpful in figuring out weaknesses in one’s own text, thereby making workshop usually more useful for the readers than for the writer.

Teaching creative writing to beginning students is one of the most challenging tasks in all of pedagogy because of the subjectivity that most students think the discipline involves. They often arrive in introductory creative writing classes expecting to:

a. Have fun, because the class is “creative,” which means minimum effort and maximum experimentation and talent. b. Receive an easy A because they have been writing for years and their high school teachers and friends have told them they are good at it.

Beginning writers are even more fragile than the rest of us— if that were possible!— and can get easily discouraged by criticism and overwhelmed by feedback. We have all had that experience of walking out of a workshop in a daze, not wanting to ever write another word. This process can be brutal and bruising to the young writer’s psyche. I vehemently deny the idea therefore that the workshop experience can be “easy” for beginning writers. On the contrary it can clearly be traumatic. In   Writing Fiction , Burroway says “The atmosphere in such a group (the college workshop) is intense and personal in a way that other college classes are not; it must be so since a major text of the course is also the raw efforts of its participants.” (16)

Anna Leahy points out in her essay “Creativity, Caring, and the Easy A: Rethinking the Self-Esteem in Creative Writing Pedagogy” that “self esteem (is) a hidden guiding principle in our pedagogy.” (56) Negotiating this issue of self esteem has been the hardest challenge for me personally as a teacher. When we first transition from our own graduate workshops to teaching undergraduate classes, many of us are in MFA or Ph.D mode, which means we tend to overwhelm writers with overzealous feedback about every single weakness in the text.

Frank Conroy says in his essay “The Writer’s Workshop,” (80) that he warns all his students at Iowa at the beginning of workshopping that he “will search out every weakness in the prose that (he) can…” and “(he) will tear the prose apart until (he gets) prose sufficiently strong that it does not tear.” This approach does not work with most beginning writers and can lead to not only completely alienating them from writing but also to poor course evaluations and a corresponding lack of self esteem for the instructor.

I always highlight the strengths of each text or each writer – sometimes a particular draft may be really poor and have no strengths but the writer may have some pattern that is commendable. This could be a single image, or an idea that’s nascent in the story, or the writer’s self-deprecating sense of humor in conversations, which could be put to use in his writing, and so on. If nothing else, I try to analyze the intentionality and comment on the complexity of the situation or the dramatic possibility in the backstory. There is always   something   good that could come out of this draft. Once I understand this, it is my task to make the other students understand it. Their letters to the author and discussions must begin with applause too. Speaking of letters, I ask students not to use the first person when writing them. They cannot say “I liked” or “I think.” This makes the tone less personal and more objective.

I also end each workshop by asking readers to make three specific suggestions for revision, to try and sum up the entire discussion and provide some definite direction to the writer.

And finally, I always allow the writer to use one redirection during workshop where she can steer the conversation toward or away from a particular topic. The idea is to create the impression that we are all trying to help her, not be punitive, that this is all ultimately for her benefit, and that we are at her service.

Leahy quotes Jane Smiley: “…every teacher in every creative writing class has to spend a fair amount of time, sometimes most of her time, showing students how to become teachable, that is how to listen to what others are saying about their stories and how not to resist but to receive.” (59) This may be, ultimately, the most valuable lesson that any creative writing class can impart. To this end, it may even be useful to assign readings such as the essay Hunley mentions in his Introduction, “Criticism – The Art of Give and Take,” by Phyllis Gebauer, where she discusses how to handle workshop feedback. But while Hunley seems to believe that the workshop model does not “merit all of this stressful preparation,” I see no reason why some of this preparation cannot be a constructive element in a workshop-style class.  

There are often too many students in undergraduate classes, as many as 25, a fact that makes workshops unwieldy and rushed. No matter how much time is devoted to discussing a single story, it seldom seems to be enough, with students wanting to talk more. I have at times had a class spend as much as forty minutes on one story, and at the end a few students were left disappointed at not having their full say. The conversation can feel compressed or superficial or simply overwhelming because of the breakneck speed at which all the feedback is coming at the writer.

Instructors should consider restricting discussion to specific points, which may be predetermined before the class period, or introduced during workshop. It is advisable to follow a clear structure, and to stop after a specified time period,   no matter what . Every assignment does not have to be work-shopped. It’s better to have one complete workshop for each student than multiple rushed ones. Other submissions can be work-shopped in small groups, or discussed in individual conferences with the instructor, or critiqued online as Hunley suggests. 

In conclusion, I want to point out that Hunley’s allegation that workshops are “too easy” for instructors is irrelevant for the following reasons. First, it takes considerable skill to direct a workshop well, to ensure   a.   that everyone gets an equal opportunity to participate,   b.   that all important elements of the text are addressed,   c.   that the tone is constructive, not cruel. It is important for the instructor to participate enough but not too much, and to be a good facilitator. Second, the really important question is whether or not workshops are   effective . I do not have any problem with an instructor taking the “easiest” way out if that also happens to be the best way to make students better writers.

However, I do agree that the “traditional” workshop method, which, according to Hunley’s definition is a class where the writers merely talk about the submission with no supplementary tools or readings or lesson, is extremely limited in its usefulness for beginning writers. I am a firm believer in combining workshops with other methods in creative writing courses for undergraduates. To this end I prefer calling them classes or courses rather than workshops. Sometimes, I have had students complain about “not workshopping yet” in week three of the semester, because the class is called a workshop and that’s what they expected or wanted. There is a problem with over-reliance on workshops. Also, from my own experience in graduate programs, whether MFA or PhD, I know that workshops are not   always   helpful. Therefore, I do a few things to make them more useful and also less monotonous.

Beginning students are in need of prompts to get their creative juices flowing, invention exercises to generate ideas for stories/plays/essays/poems. Indeed, across all levels of undergraduate classes, I have found that students enjoy and want these prompts for brief in-class writing exercises. They also require lessons on craft, combined with selected readings that illustrate the craft elements. They need lectures and advice on how to use those elements. Workshops can be effective only if they follow these other methods.

I myself am a very active participant in workshops. I like to insert a few prompts and lectures on craft, as well as discussions of published readings into my workshops. Here are a few methods I’ve employed to make the workshop more useful for beginning writers:

Elements to Use in Combination with Workshop

  • Assign a craft essay (I use many essays from   The Writer’s Chronicle   archives) and ask students to apply it in the workshop. E.g. Ask students to read “Odds on Ends” by Molly Giles ( The Writer’s Chronicle , February 2010), an essay on how to end short stories, and ask them to apply what they have learned from the reading to the student stories under discussion.
  • Deliver a brief lecture (with examples) on specific craft elements that recur either in all stories being workshopped on a particular day or frequently over the semester. E.g. Lecture on how the use of the first person can limit writers from “showing” us the character fully. This may be supplemented with a reading such as “Too Much of Moi” by Chris Mazza ( The Writer’s Chronicle , October/November 2009).
  • Make connections between published stories that were assigned earlier in the semester and the student stories being workshopped.
  • Give writing prompts based on the stories submitted to workshop. Here are some examples of prompts that can be used during workshop as a brief writing break:
Write a new first line for the story. It could come from elsewhere in the story itself or be a new sentence, but it should introduce the central conflict sooner, cut unnecessary exposition, and be a stronger hook for the reader. Write a new last paragraph for the story, to make the ending more complicated, less “easy,” not happy but bittersweet at best. Write a paragraph anywhere in the story from the point of view of a different character. Convert a summary into a one-page scene. Rewrite a page of existing dialogue between two characters using subtext so that the characters never say what they mean. Create backstory for a minor character to make him more complex and interesting.

Oindrila Mukherjee teaches creative writing at Grand Valley State University. She has a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing from the University of Houston. She is currently working on a  novel and a collection of stories.   @oinkness

  • Burroway, Janet, Stuckey-French, Elizabeth and Stuckey-French, Ned.   Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft , 8 th   ed: New York: Longman, 2011.
  • Conroy, Frank. “The Writer’s Workshop.” In   On Writing Short Stories , edited by Tom Bailey, pp 80 - 89. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
  • Hunley, Tom C.   Teaching Poetry Writing: A Five Canon Approach . Cleveland: Multilingual Matters Limited, 2007.
  • Leahy, Anne.   “ Creativity, Caring, and The Easy “A”: Rethinking the Role of Self-Esteem in Creative Writing Pedagogy.” In   Can It Really Be Taught? Resisting Lore in Creative Writing Pedagogy , edited by Ritter Kelly and Vanderslice Stephanie, pp 55 – 66. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook, 2007.

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Pros and Cons of Writer’s Workshop in Elementary and Middle School

Understanding Writer's Workshop

State Standards, Standardized Tests, State Writing Assessments, and… Writer’s Workshop ?

In the real world of state standards and standardized tests, it can be a little difficult for teachers to get their minds around the purpose and methodology of Writer’s Workshop. For as long as I have been teaching, there has been a continuing push towards making teachers more and more accountable for student achievement.

With Writer’s Workshop, the educational system still holds teachers accountable for results, but the system also asks teachers to take a leap of faith into the world of flexibility. In short, teachers are asked to believe that Writer’s Workshop is the best way to get the results that EVERYONE wants.

Product vs. Process

Writer’s Workshop focuses on the process of writing. Although I use many elements of Writer’s Workshop, I am reluctant to say that I use Writer’s Workshop. I am reluctant because I know that in the end we will always evaluate a piece of writing as a product. Put simply, grades and writing assessments focus on product. Even the Six Traits of Writing model is an evaluative tool that focuses on product, not process.

That being said, when students develop an effective writing process, they are more likely to be able to develop an effective writing product. In other words, I doubt there are ANY writers who are able to get it right on the first try CONSISTENTLY . Writing IS a process, and we don’t need a Writer’s Workshop to make it so. However, understanding Writer’s Workshop is an effective way to understand how to teach writing. It ensures that students learn to write by actually writing, and it ensures that students use the entire writing process regularly.

What is Writer’s Workshop?

Briefly, here are the components of Writer’s Workshop:

1. Mini-lesson (5-15 minutes) – This consists of direct instruction along with a quick practice exercise.

2. Status of the Class (2-3 minutes) – As students begin work on their individual writing projects, the teacher quickly monitors the status of each student. Where is each student in his or her writing project? How will each student be spending his or her writing time?

3. Writing and Conferencing (25- 40 minutes) – Students write, and the teacher can either write or conference with students. The teacher may conference with individual students or with small groups of students. Writer’s Workshop theory encourages teachers to spend at least some workshop time writing themselves to model what authors do.

4. Sharing (5-10 minutes) – There are a variety of ways to share. Author’s chair, peer editing, and reading to at least one other student are popular and effective methods.

Using the Writing Process in Writer’s Workshop

It is important to note that the entire Writer’s Workshop process incorporates the entire Writing Process. Here is a very simple version of the writing process outlined for you:

1. Prewriting 2. Drafting 3. Revising 4. Proofreading 5. Publishing

The actual writing process is not a straight line. In fact, the actual writing process is recursive—i.e., round and round. As Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) said, “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” Leonardo da Vinci would have understood the recursive writing process. Besides a pure recursive model, there are additional models of the writing process that more accurately reflect the true writing process. Still, the five-step model outlined above is “the classic version” and one that is easy for students to grasp. Essentially, students will be implementing this writing process during Writer’s Workshop.

pencil and paper

Using the Six Traits of Writing in Writer’s Workshop

The Six Traits of Writing is primarily an evaluative tool. However, it is also a teaching tool and a discussion tool. As such, the Six Traits of Writing model has become an almost natural component of Writer’s Workshop.

The Six Traits of Effective Writing are:

1. Ideas 2. Organization 3. Voice 4. Word Choice 5. Sentence Fluency 6. Conventions

Let’s Use More and More Workshops in Teaching!

How important is Writer’s Workshop in creating fantastic writers? The proponents suggest that it is indispensable in creating life-long writers and student writers who can truly write. But before we go hog-wild on Writer’s Workshop, here are some additional workshops where the proponents propose a dire need for the workshop method.

• Reader’s Workshop – Your students will develop independence in reading and become lifelong readers outside of the classroom. Your students will conference with peers and teachers, and yet the focus is always on becoming independent learners. Reader’s Workshop will become the favorite part of your students’ day!

• Independent Work Time (IWT) – Students must have a time each day where they work productively in groups while the teacher meets the needs of individual students. Teachers also need a time where they can challenge advanced students and give support to struggling students—and the Independent Work Time Workshop is the method you should use!

• Math Workshop – Meet the needs of your children! Boring textbooks leave behind the students who can’t keep up, and too much hands-on math ensures that all your students will fall behind. We have the perfect solution. It’s Math Workshop! We have uniquely found the right balance!

I think you will find that a “workshop theory” exists for every single subject you teach. While teachers can create structure out of workshops, workshops are not intended to be as structured as an actual curriculum , or even as structured as a well-thought-out and well-designed teacher plan. Too much indirect instruction and too little direct instruction does not work for most students.

The Truth About Writer’s Workshop

The truth about Writer’s Workshop is that teachers have used workshop strategies for years and years without a lot of the rhetoric associated with Writer’s Workshop. Teachers use many workshop strategies across the curriculum to:

• differentiate instruction • scaffold instruction • meet students’ needs.

People get carried away with philosophies, or “isms.” As all teachers know, a new philosophy or “ism” is always waiting just around the corner. As a rule, it is fine when a teacher (as opposed to an administrator) gets carried away with a philosophy, as eventually, the teacher will make the philosophy work. The teacher will become an expert at implementing that particular methodology and will get results with his or her students.

I’ve heard workshop teachers talk in a way that had me thinking they spent a great amount of time in the classroom singing “Kumbaya.” Upon entering their classrooms, I see that these teachers are strict taskmasters. In short, the talk sounds unstructured and haphazard, but the implementation with these teachers is strong, organized, and determined.

In short, a teacher can make most any philosophy work if the teacher is willing to put in the time and effort to master the philosophy. Ideally, the teacher will master the philosophy outside of the classroom on his or her own time so that they don’t waste a great deal of student classroom time experimenting with the philosophy. Teachers do experiment, but a classroom is not a laboratory. Classroom time is valuable and limited!

Philosophies and Out of Touch Administrators, Politicians, and Professional Development Gurus

Does bilingual education work? Well, some people thought it would work even though the teachers were not bilingual. If the teachers are not bilingual, how can you have bilingual education? Certain people believed in the philosophy so much that they were willing to gamble with students’ education and ignore the fact that there were not enough teachers qualified to implement the philosophy. The end result was disastrous. That’s the danger of a philosophy.

Having Writer’s Workshop forced upon a teacher is much like having bilingual education forced upon a teacher. Please note, every teacher can learn a great deal about teaching writing from learning about the Writer’s Workshop. However, for most teachers, it will take a considerable amount of time and practice to make the Writer’s Workshop the best methodology for teaching writing. Some teachers will eventually be able to make it work; some will never be able to make it work. Some students will respond to it; some won’t.

Unfortunately, many decision-makers, researchers, and professional development gurus have not been in the classroom in many years, and many have never been in the classroom. Personally, I use many aspects of Writer’s Workshop, but I also know that I must use my time wisely! I am responsible for getting results. There is not enough time in the day for workshop after workshop, while still teaching the curriculum and meeting state standards and preparing students for the upcoming standardized test. But once again, it’s great to know about all these theories and strategies so that we may continue to grow as teachers!

A Note on Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay

As I mentioned earlier, a good writing process is likely to lead to a good writing product. Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay focuses on both process and product. It’s intended to get results FAST, but even more important, it’s intended to get results in a way that leaves elementary school students and struggling middle school writers saying, “I really get it! I can’t even read what I was writing before!”

All of the Writer’s Workshop strategies work better when student see themselves as writers, not because they have been told they are writers, but because they read their own writing and it makes so much logical sense that they KNOW they are writers. They know they are communicating important ideas in a way that others will understand and enjoy! Check out the writing curriculum on the homepage!

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Writing workshop 2024 planning (draft)

Hi all, Happy and strong 2024! As we step into the new year, it’s a time of reflection and anticipation.

I’d love to share some reflection and ideas about documentation workshop across a wider group.

[Edited] Background Docs workshop post in Magazine in Aug 2023 Community Blog post in Dec 2023

Reflection of Docs workshop in 2023

Follow-up with attendees after the event is difficult.

We need to get results from Lime Survey carried out in December 2023. ( @jflory7 can you help?) [Edit: received, thanks. Responses seem helpful. We will continue post-event survey.]

Continue post-event survey all year round, so viewers of recording can share feedback.

Change of video conference tool

2023: Jitsi ( https://meet.jit.si/ )

2024: Jitsi in Matrix Docs room.

Follow up with attendees are easier with Fedora Matrix room than JItsi public instance. We can use Jitsi in Matrix with little introduction for all Matrix users (Element client to use built-in Jitsi widget).

Target audience

You use Free and Open Source software run on Linux desktop and/or server to get the job done

You love to document tools, features, and how-to guides, which require care and maintenance to ensure technical accuracy and conformance to documentation style guide

You are interested in Docs toolchain

2024 workshop topics: if there are suggestions from LimeSurvey, we will review them.

Create new articles

Working with multiple repos: Example ( Writing Docs with Kate - Fedora Magazine )

How to test docs

Review process: Good review and bad review

Code-rich documents: convention and code comments (mainly Bash commands and scripts)

Release notes: 2 to 3 sessions

Presenters and co-host

One presenter (main host) per workshop to keep consistency in a session. Co-host is welcome to help out presenter and attendees.

Note: We will wait for LimeSurvey results and more feedback from Fedora community by 2024-01-16T00:00:00Z

If you want to volunteer for a main presenter of a workshop topic, discuss about repo/document pages and scenario in advance with the organizer - Hank Lee.

Following up with updates about the Docs workshop in 2024,

Time Workshop will be held on the last Thursday of each month at 1200 UTC (Jan, Mar, May, Jul) and 1900 UTC (Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug).

How to join Element/Matrix Video call

  • Go to Fedora Documentation Room Room link: https://chat.fedoraproject.org/#/room/#docs:fedoraproject.org

You’ll need a Matrix network account to join the workshop live and to interact with host and participants.

If you don’t already have an account you can create one via Element’s Create Account page. Element offers free desktop or mobile apps to join the workshop. Element also offers a web app that allows you to join from your browser.

  • Click green Join Conference button on Jitsi widget. See image down below.

Workshop host/moderator will toggle video call option on before the workshop.

Screenshot_20240107_114344

is this on Fedora Calendar?

January/February workshop is updated.

Writing workshop Jan 25 - Onboading

2024-01-25T12:00:00Z → 2024-01-25T12:30:00Z

Advanced techniques for editing and contributing to Fedora Docs - Feb 22 by Justin Flory

2024-02-22T20:00:00Z → 2024-02-22T21:00:00Z

If someone wants to participate with many of Fedora’s teams and the community, the best experience is to sign up for a Matrix account with a Fedora account. This automatically adds someone into the Fedora space, where they can find all the Fedora chat rooms:

I have a conflict so I can’t make that one, but I hope to hear how it goes!

There are Matrix.org users in Documentation chat room, so I thought we don’t need to limit users of fedota.im.

I made some changes to curriculum.

  • Onboarding: how we work session with too much screen sharing (2023), Q&A focused interactive session (2024)
  • Demo and writing session: presentation was too long. Writing session cut short and not followed upon (2023), keep 40-minutes writing session (2024)
  • Tool: web browser only (2023), Git forge agnostic process (2024)

I had to send it out for audiences early.

I include 12 UTC for people in Asia Pacific time zones.

It is not required and anyone can use a Matrix account from any homeserver. However, if someone intends to participate with many Fedora teams and the broader community, and also does not yet have an account, the best way to go is with a Fedora homeserver account because it automatically adds you as a member to the Fedora space on Matrix.

I’m with you on that. I rephrased it with the following. WDYT?

Fedora Documentation Room is open to a Matrix account from any homeserver. If you are new to the Fedora Project and don’t have a Matrix account, we recommend you to create a Fedora Account and connect it with Matrix Account for best experience. Using a Matrix account with Fedora space (Fedora Chat) will make navigation of Fedora rooms easier and help access to Fedora tools such as Pagure (Git forge), Weblate (Translation), Fedocal (team calendar), and Discourse (discussion forum).

Fedora Account: link

Fedora Chat: link

Click ‘Continue with your Fedora Account’

Element offers free desktop or mobile apps to join the workshop. Element also offers a web app that allows you to join from your browser.

[Edited Jan 10]

Agenda (draft)

Please leave your comments if you want to take a part as a main presenter or moderator.

Note) If you’re sharing screen as presenter, join meeting using a Matrix-Element web app from Chromium/Chrome browser.

Hi guys, I’m back after some challenges at the start of the year. Three questions:

Regarding onboarding, so far we were a team of two (Hank and I), which went very well and we were able to gain experience so that the events got better and better. Should things be different now?

With regard to “advanced techniques …”, is there a content plan for this? Will it be compatible with our contributor documentation? Or should we update the documentation?

Regarding “How to test …” What do you mean by test here? On the tool side, we have local preview (still in need of improvement) and possibly vale. Anything else in the quiver?

:pray:

My idea about changes is;

I believe one presenter (main host) per workshop can keep consistency in a session. Co-host is welcome to help out presenter and attendees. So there is no change really. I put down my name for January and April. You are more than welcome to accompany me.

:slight_smile:

Test documentation: I mean a basic quality control stuff before one pushes changes to main branch or remote fork for PR review. No, there are no new tools I consider. Local preview script, spell checker and style guide (whether Vale or other method to ensure style guide is met), that’s it.

Check the latest scheduler that supersedes this draft.

I shared this on Matrix as well, but sharing the speaker outline for today’s workshop here too:

Introduction :

  • About presenter.
  • Overview of the purpose of the workshop, what will be covered, and what will not be covered.
  • Quick introduction of all the tools needed to follow along “at home.”

Topic 1: Working from the CLI

  • Detail 1: Navigating the terminal, installing pre-requisites, setting up a “writer environment”, git feature branching workflow
  • Detail 2: Editing content and working with AsciiDoc
  • Detail 3: Previewing changes before proposing them (i.e. container builds, AsciiDoc browser extension)

Topic 2: Pagure workflow

  • Detail 1: Pushing a feature branch to Pagure, opening a Pull Request, leaving a review.

Topic 3: GitLab workflow

  • Detail 1: Pushing a feature branch to GitLab, opening a Merge Request, leaving a review.

Topic 4: Adding a new Fedora Docs site

  • Detail 1: Introduction to the docs-fp-o builder repository and how the Fedora Docs site gets built.
  • Detail 2: Making changes to Antora configuration file to add a new docs repository.

Conclusion :

  • Brief overview of what was covered in the workshop.
  • Where to find links and resources.
  • Q&A, time allowing.

Thanks for sharing. Much better readable as the image preview on Matrix. By the way, I’m still wondering how to join the Video session. Looking forward.

Related Topics

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Generative AI for Chinese Studies – Introductory Workshop

Digital China Initiative is organizing two workshops on how to apply generative AI for Chinese studies. The first workshop, on 23 Feb 2024, will introduce basic GenAI concepts, writing prompts, and examples of domain-specific tasks (language learning, data extraction, etc.). Limited to 45 attendees.

Harvard University's Asia-Related Resources

Harvard University enjoys a wealth of resources across regions and disciplines supporting the study of Asia, including the centers & institutes, departments & degree programs, and libraries & collections listed below. For additional details on these and other resources, including people, events, courses, and publications, please visit the "Explore Asia at Harvard" feature on this site.

IMAGES

  1. These writers workshop anchor charts are a huge timesaver for teachers

    writers workshop elements

  2. What Does Writer's Workshop Look Like: Infographic

    writers workshop elements

  3. 38 Writers workshop routines ideas

    writers workshop elements

  4. Realistic Fiction Elements Students refer to anchor chart during writer

    writers workshop elements

  5. Launching Writer’s Workshop in the Primary Classroom

    writers workshop elements

  6. Setting up Writer's Workshop

    writers workshop elements

COMMENTS

  1. 3 Components of Writer's Workshop: A Great Overview

    1. Do a Mini-Lesson. The components of writer's workshop begins with the mini-lesson. A mini-lesson is a short introductory lesson - usually no more than 15 minutes- that introduces the skill or strategy that you want students to apply during independent writing.

  2. Structure: Writing Workshop Fundamentals

    What are the Structural Components of a Writing Workshop? The Minilesson In general, minilessons should last approximately 10 minutes, and they should contain four distinct parts. Tomorrow, Stacey will elaborate even more on each part in her post about this important aspect of a writing workshop.

  3. Writing Workshop: Can a Workshop Help You Become a Better Writer?

    The Six Elements of a Writing Workshop There are six parts to writing workshops: Lessons on the creative writing process. Structured time to plan your writing piece and brainstorm story ideas Structured writing time Getting feedback from editors/teachers and other students/writers Revision time based on content/grammar/flow Publishing or sharing

  4. How to Workshop Creative Writing

    The Iowa Writers' Workshop is one of the most prestigious writing programs in the United States, having produced dozens of Pulitzer winners, National Book Award finalists, and poet laureates. It also developed the standard writing workshop model for universities, specifically under the directorship of poet Paul Engle.

  5. Getting Started With Writing Workshop K-6

    Although curricula differ on daily execution, there are a few common elements to all writing workshop programs. Three-part lesson plan Sample texts for modeling/inspiration Lots of time for writing and rewriting! Are You Ready to Try Writing Workshop? As with any curriculum, there are some things to consider when implementing writing workshop.

  6. Writing Workshop > Overview

    The framework consists of three components: the mini-lesson, work time, and share time. The Writing Workshop structure is an efficient and effective way to deliver writing instruction to meet the needs of all learners.

  7. How to Run a Creative Writing Workshop or Class

    You can run a workshop in a formal class setting, such as at a high school, or university. You can also set up a creative writing workshop with your friends and colleagues / peers. They are organised in a similar way. Each week or session ask a certain number of writers to submit work for the group to read and provide feedback on.

  8. What is Writer's Workshop?

    The major components of writer's workshop are: Mini-lesson (10-15 minutes) Writing Time (20-30 minutes) Share Time (5-10 minutes) Mini-Lesson Time For the mini-lesson, the teacher is offering direct instruction to the whole class on a specific writing skill.

  9. How to Run a Writing Workshop: a Guide for Writers

    A writer's workshop is a collaborative environment where participants have a chance to create one or several pieces of work on a theme. The participants then get to critique others on their work and have their writing critiqued, too.

  10. How to Choose your Workshop

    The Writer's Center offers workshops at our building in Bethesda (just outside DC) and online via Zoom and the asynchronous discussion board platform, Wet Ink. ... Beginner-level workshops introduce you to the basic elements of the craft of writing. You'll take your first steps to creating stories, poems, essays, novels, and more!

  11. What Is Writing Workshop and How Do I Use It in the Classroom?

    The four main components of writing workshop are the mini-lesson, status of the class, writing/conferring time, and sharing. There is not a prescribed time limit for each component, rather they are meant to be flexible and determined by students' needs on any given day. 1. Mini-lesson (5 - 15 minutes)

  12. What is Writer's Workshop?

    Writer's Workshop is a framework for teaching writing that puts students at the the center. It revolves around the idea that students learn best when they are provided with opportunities to write frequently, for extended periods of time, on topics of their own choosing. Writer's Workshop facilitates a love of writing.

  13. The Writing Workshop and Its Variations

    Workshop smaller elements: Workshop titles, abstracts, openers, figures, and tables for all papers in the class. Circulate the papers themselves prior to the workshop or prepare dedicated handouts for the smaller items—all the titles in one document, all the abstracts in another. ... Writer-run workshop: Have students run their own draft ...

  14. Creating a Writers' Workshop: An Evolved Model

    Writers' workshop, by definition, is a way to teach writing through writing. It is a moniker for instruction at all levels of writing acquisition. Even teachers at the elementary school level use "writers' workshops" as a method to teach writing fluency, using repeated exposure to writing and its elements through exercises, practice ...

  15. The Writing Workshop: A Valuable Tool for Differentiation ...

    The writing workshop is a valuable framework in which differentiated instruction, formative assessment, and composition theory can develop students' critical literacy. ... Studying mentor texts together, playing and practicing with language, sharing and discussing, and revising are all elements of coaching, and are opportunities for the teacher ...

  16. The Best Online Writing Workshops

    1. The Best Online Writing Workshops Have Well Respected Teachers At most online writing schools, the instructor is the person who sets the syllabus, writes the workshop, and gives feedback to students. As a result, a good writing teacher makes all the difference in online writing workshops.

  17. Writer's Workshop Curriculum Guide

    The Writer's Workshop program is divided into units based on different genres of writing including poetry, fanciful stories, report & essays, and so on. Writer's Workshop is sold two ways: as individual PDF units and as a single volume that includes all nine of the units. Writer's Workshop includes all nine Writer's Workshop units.

  18. PDF Workshop Guide for Creative Writing

    Do you want to learn the basics of creative writing and how to run a successful workshop? This pdf document provides a comprehensive guide for aspiring writers, covering topics such as genre, structure, character, dialogue, feedback, and revision. Whether you are interested in fiction, poetry, or screenwriting, this guide will help you hone your craft and share your work with others.

  19. Scribophile: The writing group and online writing workshop for serious

    Improve your writing,at any skill level. Our writing group welcomes writers of all skill levels — from beginners to published authors, and every writer in between. Each critique you receive on your manuscript is a fresh perspective for you to incorporate. Our bustling writing forums feature writers discussing the craft twenty-four hours a day.

  20. 5 Writing Workshop Mini Lessons That Shouldn't Be Skipped

    Writing Workshop Mini Lesson #1: The Components of Writer's Workshop Before introducing the writer's workshop model, plan out the pieces you'll be using in your workshop. I modified my workshop slightly from the traditional model so that it skips the daily check in.

  21. Association of Writers & Writing Programs

    Oindrila Mukherjee | February 2015 . CITATIONS. In his book, Teaching Poetry Writing: A Five Canon Approach, Tom C. Hunley says that the workshop method "functions more as a convenience for the instructors than as a vehicle for meeting the needs of students.The traditional workshop model of teaching undergraduate poetry writing has gone virtually unquestioned for the past seventy years…"

  22. Pros and Cons of Writer's Workshop in Elementary and Middle School

    Although I use many elements of Writer's Workshop, I am reluctant to say that I use Writer's Workshop. I am reluctant because I know that in the end we will always evaluate a piece of writing as a product. Put simply, grades and writing assessments focus on product. Even the Six Traits of Writing model is an evaluative tool that focuses on ...

  23. Creative Writing: Memoir Writing

    Take your skills to new heights with our Creative Writing Workshop! Learn the structure of a memoir, elements, and also read examples and excerpts of memoirs. We will also work on creating our own short memoirs. Audience: Adults.

  24. Developing Writers: A Workshop for High School Teachers

    A video workshop for high school teachers; 8 one-hour video programs, workshop guide, and website. Developing Writers: A Workshop for High School Teachers presents practical and philosophical advice for teaching writing, while examining issues every teacher faces — such as high-stakes assessments and dealing with differently abled students.Eight video programs feature teachers in diverse ...

  25. Writing workshop 2024 planning (draft)

    Element offers free desktop or mobile apps to join the workshop. Element also offers a web app that allows you to join from your browser. Click green Join Conference button on Jitsi widget. See image down below. Workshop host/moderator will toggle video call option on before the workshop.

  26. Generative AI for Chinese Studies

    Fri, Feb 23 2024, 4 - 5:30pm. View all events. Digital China Initiative is organizing two workshops on how to apply generative AI for Chinese studies. The first workshop, on 23 Feb 2024, will introduce basic GenAI concepts, writing prompts, and examples of domain-specific tasks (language learning, data extraction, etc.). Limited to 45 attendees.