The purposes of writing
There are a variety of instructional purposes for guiding children in writing. They are to inform, to instruct, to respond, to narrate and to persuade. With the purposes in mind, a teacher's goal should be to expose students to more than just the personal narrative during their Writer's workshop time. We live in non-fiction worlds, and exposure to text types that support those non-fiction tasks seems logical.Within each text purpose, there are specific text features that students will need to examine in mentor text and then use themselves in their own independent work. See chart below.
yearly schedule
Here is a SAMPLE of a yearly schedule that includes the purposes of writing. Note that the schedule illustrates non-fiction text types, and is not focused on story writing to any great degree. Exposure to story writing is expected and valuable however it should not dominate our writing programs. Rather, on a daily basis we use non-fiction text types such as book and movie reviews, we respond to and state opinions such as in editorials, we send emails ,write Christmas letters, create reports at work, draw maps and diagrams, conduct experiments,and write procedures such as recipes etc. Without adequate examination and instruction on these NON-FICTION writing forms, students will not be proficient.
This sample schedule provides a long range plan for teachers to introduce the purposes and suggested text types. They are extracted from the Alberta POS for grades 4-6, and can be used across the curriculum. The suggested format for presenting these writing purposes and text forms is through Writer's Workshop.
This sample schedule provides a long range plan for teachers to introduce the purposes and suggested text types. They are extracted from the Alberta POS for grades 4-6, and can be used across the curriculum. The suggested format for presenting these writing purposes and text forms is through Writer's Workshop.
what is writer's workshop?
Writer's Workshop is a heavily researched approach to writing. It is simply, the author's process.Process writing includes thinking,planning, drafting, revising, editing and publishing. In the educational classroom context, teachers instruct students during short mini-lessons on the craft and structure of writing, allow time for students to write and apply strategies while the teacher confers with individual students, and then concludes with a sharing session. The format is typically a 10 minute mini-lesson by the teacher, followed by independent writing time ( 30-45 min) followed by sharing for approximately 5 min.
To the right below, are the roles and responsibilities of both teacher and student during Writer's Workshop.
To the right below, are the roles and responsibilities of both teacher and student during Writer's Workshop.
Writer's Workshop is a format through which students learn the writing craft through teacher mini-lessons and modeled writing, followed by independent practice, revision, editing and possible publishing of their work. A teacher can focus on Fictional or Non-fictional writing during this time. Writer's workshop should be a regular feature of every elementary classroom. There is also a need for quick, more independent writing work that occurs in LA and also in content-area work, such as writing a science observation, story problems in math, a timeline in history etc. Students need exposure to many types of writing and as mentioned previously with a purpose in mind. If a teacher has a well-planned, exciting and engaging format for introducing her students to the writing form, she is off to a good start. The process looks something like this;
Select the purpose; All students need a purpose for writing. The purpose stems from the writer's desire to record thoughts and ideas on a topic, and through interests and experiences. Once the purpose is known, the writer determines the best vehicle for expressing that thought or idea. This is the text type. This would be the format such as a letter, an essay, a poster, a fictional narrative, or report for example. See non-fiction text types and purposes on the non-fiction page under the Writing tab.
Finally, the writing of the piece involves several steps which comprise the writer's Workshop. After the text type is modeled to the students for its structure, specialized language or purpose, they begin the composition using planning, composing, revising, editing and publishing.
Writing requires time and planning on the part of the teacher. A year-long writing plan ensures that purposes and text types ( grade dependent) are addressed and time to write each day in workshop or quick write endeavors is essential.
Select the purpose; All students need a purpose for writing. The purpose stems from the writer's desire to record thoughts and ideas on a topic, and through interests and experiences. Once the purpose is known, the writer determines the best vehicle for expressing that thought or idea. This is the text type. This would be the format such as a letter, an essay, a poster, a fictional narrative, or report for example. See non-fiction text types and purposes on the non-fiction page under the Writing tab.
Finally, the writing of the piece involves several steps which comprise the writer's Workshop. After the text type is modeled to the students for its structure, specialized language or purpose, they begin the composition using planning, composing, revising, editing and publishing.
Writing requires time and planning on the part of the teacher. A year-long writing plan ensures that purposes and text types ( grade dependent) are addressed and time to write each day in workshop or quick write endeavors is essential.
more writing anchor charts for grades 4-6
Anchor charts help promote certain types of thinking:
- routine charts promote organized thinking and problem solving
- repertoire charts promote flexible, yet tenacious, thinking
- process charts promote strategic thinking
- exemplar charts teach that thinkers look to models and analyze them
- concept charts promote the idea that thinking is grown and revised over time