Writer's Workshop

I love personal narrative writing because it's such a great way to get to know students on a personal level. Kids love writing about themselves, so this is a great unit to use at the beginning of year to build writing stamina!

"My students are loving the personal narrative writing units of study!! I can’t believe their enthusiasm for writing and most students are writing across several pages. Even my struggling writers are connecting and working hard! I can’t wait for their finished, published pieces" -Jennifer, Out of This World Literacy

"My students are loving the personal narrative writing units of study!! I can’t believe their enthusiasm for writing and most students are writing across several pages. Even my struggling writers are connecting and working hard! I can’t wait for their finished, published pieces" -Jennifer, Out of This World Literacy

"My students are loving the personal narrative writing units of study!! I can’t believe their enthusiasm for writing and most students are writing across several pages. Even my struggling writers are connecting and working hard! I can’t wait for their finished, published pieces" -Jennifer, Out of This World Literacy

"My students are loving the personal narrative writing units of study!! I can’t believe their enthusiasm for writing and most students are writing across several pages. Even my struggling writers are connecting and working hard! I can’t wait for their finished, published pieces" -Jennifer, Out of This World Literacy

Back when I first started teaching writing I really didn't know what I was doing. I used to have the class all write about the same topic. I knew I wanted to make their writing more personal, but I didn't really know how to make that happen. When I was in graduate school I started to learn new strategies for teaching writing, and that's when everything changed! My post-graduate degree helped me take the new writing skills and turn them into effective mini lessons. Check out more…

You are not alone if your students struggle to write for longer than 5 minutes. Check out this blog post for helpful tips on how you can start building their writing stamina today!

Part of teaching students to find just right books is helping them learn when is the right time to abandon a book. Check out this mini lesson statement and student responses to why readers give up on books.

It's pretty simple really. Give them all a chance to make a list of things that are important to them. You can start them out by modeling this skill. Make your own list of things that are important to you. Share your list with the class. Then create a class list of things that are important to your community. Finally, ask students to make their own lists in their writer's notebooks. Celebrate that everyone is a writer in your room!!

It's so important that students write about things that actually matter to them. Help students find their writing territories by: 1. Making lists 2. Circling 1 item from the list that is most important to the writer. 3. Write about that one thing in detail (either in paragraph form, making another list, timeline, etc) After several lists and writing from the lists have been completed, students can start to see patterns and find their writing territories!

Getting every student writing can be a challenge, especially if they are reluctant writers. Writing just happens to be my FAVORITE subject to teach because I get to know my students and their passions through their writing. I hope this lesson helps you and your students get started with writing, planting seeds, and building writing stamina! You can find reading and writing units by clicking the image.

Out of This World Literacy members enjoy instant access to every literacy curriculum they could ever need for the entire year. All the lessons are prepped and ready to go! Simply make your schedule and cover the standards in reading, writing, language, spelling, and vocabulary each day. Check it out!!

Check out this blog post for how to set up your writer's notebooks so that learning can last ALL YEAR long and not just one day. :)

"We talked about planting seeds and how not every seed will grow but that writers often write their "seeds" down to explore what they could write about at a later time. We generated a list of ideas that writers could write about. Then I had students go back to their desks during independent practice and choose 3 topics and make lists under those topics....each on a separate page in their WNB." Erica, Out of This World Literacy Member

"We discussed how writer's use different strategies when they prewrite. I also used Ralph Fletcher's book on WNB to help students brainstorm different ideas. It fit perfectly with the read aloud that I used from Jen's resource, 'Mr. Fletcher Teaches Kids How to Write'. After the mini lesson, students went back to their seats and I had them practice making a web and a diagram with two different topics. They loved it! The sharing part is always the best!" -Erica, OOTWL Member

"We're almost halfway through the launch unit. My students L😍VE writing in their notebooks. Many of them say it’s their favorite part of our day. It’s such a calm and relaxing time in our day. Even my most rambunctious kiddos are focused (most of the time 😉). There are lots of sighs and whines when I give them a warning to wrap up. They want to keep writing! I wish we had more time in our day to let them read and write as long as their little hearts desire! ♥️" -Rachel OOTWL Member