ONE two-three: Writing Workshop

Mentor Texts

Many of my writing lessons involve the use of a mentor text. Mentor texts or anchor texts are books used as an example of good writing for students. The focus, when teaching using mentor texts is about writing craft and importance in writing.

This week the children learned about the use of metaphors and similes in their work. They wrote and illustrated lovely poems about their favorite colors inspired by Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O'Neil. They are displayed outside our classroom. Stop by and read them next time you are at Wickliffe.

We used the book All The Places to Love by Pat MacLauchlan to learn about the use of transitional words. The children used a graphic organizer to add transitional words and phrases to a writing piece about a special place in their lives.

We learned about creating a paragraph, beginning with a topic sentences and adding three supporting details. The children used the book Brave Norman as a model to write paragraphs about a special person or animal.

When children have completed the days writing assignment they make a writing choice. At this point I have introduced letter writing, story book writing and editing and typing journal entries on the computer as writing options.

Writing Workshop

Sharing Our Writing

This strategy provides a way for readers to share with each other the excitement of a particular moment in their own writing. Giving students time to share their work develops students concept of authorship. It emphasizes that their ideas are important and worthy of preservation and sharing. Sharing our writing provides an audience for hard work well done and a motivating force for children to write more in the future. As an active listening audience member, students develop listening and attention span skills.