Writer's Workshop: Pre-writing and Drafting

This week we started setting up writer's workshop in our classroom.

I love writer's workshop when it is all set up because the kids are really able to work at their own level and their own pace to create stories, however I always forget how much time it takes to get them used to the routines and set up the procedures!

First I introduced the idea of writer's workshop. Each student got a writer's workshop notebook and we talked about 5 page narratives. The idea here is that they think of something that has happened to them that they could write 5 pages about. We practiced thinking of an idea using our fingers to help us stretch it out to 5 pages, then shared our ideas with our friends.  After sharing, I had each of the kids record their thinking on a brainstorming page in their notebook.  The prewriting step looks something like this:
Next we talked about drafting. We discussed how authors do not just write their ideas one time and then publish, but that there are a lot more steps involved. We talked about how the first step is to get your ideas on paper. They do not have to be perfect, and you might want to add more later, but first you have to get your initial ideas down.  We looked back at our prewriting page and took some time to start drafting the first page of our books.  I told the kids to strive for 3 to 5 sentences on each page, but this can be adapted for kids so that it is on level with their individual writing ability.
We spent a couple days working on drafting our ideas and having some time to catch up before moving to the next step. Not everyone was ready to go on just yet, so we took some time to play catch up.  Students who had finished drafting their first page spent some time writing in their treasure book. Our treasure book is sort of like a diary where students can record their "treasures" or important things that happen to them.

Next week we will be talking about revising to make our writing more exciting and detailed, as well as editing and publishing. After that, students will be able to move at their own pace to complete their stories. Lot's of exciting things ahead! I'll have pictures to post as we begin publishing pages next week.