Writing Workshop

     Last week's discussion on writing conferences was perfectly timed for me--our class started writer's workshop and conferences the very next day.  We had been conferencing with the kids the past two weeks or so in reader's workshop, and although they seemed very willing to work with us, their enthusiasm in reader's workshop was nothing compared to writer's workshop.  My class of twenty-three first graders worked on writing in complete silence for thirty straight minutes on day one--amazing!  My students were instructed to write about something that has happened to them--a vacation, a special event, a funny moment.  After receiving instructions, the kids went straight to work.  I had never seen the work so diligently before.  It was clear that they are so excited to become "authors."  They drew pictures, wrote sentences, and eagerly raised their hands to show off their creations.  We had writer's workshop three times after that last week, and it's becoming my favorite subject of the day.
     The conferencing with the kids was pretty straightforward this week.  The two main teaching points we addressed were making your pictures match your story and to tell the full story, or, more simply, add details.  A lot of the conferencing consisted of us asking them "And then what happened???" or more pointed questions like "How did that make you feel? Excited? Nervous?"  Rather than being shy about answering, the kids were very eager to fill the gaps in their writing with extra details.  They loved sharing their stories on paper.  On my morning message one day last week, I asked the students to check off which subject had been their favorite the day before, and fifteen out of twenty-three students chose writer's workshop.  I'm so glad that writer's workshop has been such a hit in our classroom, and I can't wait to see the results of my students' efforts as they improve over the course of the year.