K-5 Writing Units of Study Training

September 13, 2013Presentation Link: http://nwgaresa.com/resources/

BREAKS

LUNCH

LOT

Housekeeping Reminders

TCRWP NUGGETS as we begin…

• A “think tank” for the past 30 years that is committed to continually researching and improving their practices.

• Project staff that “stand on each other’s shoulders” each Thursday to study together and gain shared knowledge.

• Long-lasting partners with schools in the US and the world (500 schools now to 25,000 overall).

• Staff development organization founded and directed by Lucy Calkins (also Professor of Children’s Literature, Teachers College, Columbia University).

Introductory ActivityTable Talk about Writers Workshop

(5 min.)

Pig Trail

FreewayPaved

Gravel

Activity: 4 Corners

• Instruction: Choose the corner that best fits your current belief. Discuss and select a person in the group to report out.

• I believe that children need to learn to read first.• I believe that children need to learn to write first.• I believe there is not an empirical order to the

acquisition of reading and writing.• This thinking is new to me so I am not sure I know what

I believe and would like to know more.

Research Base

•Writing to Read •Write First!

Recommendations

• Have students write about the texts they read.

• Teach students the writing skills and processes that go into creating text.

• Increase how much students write.

Yellow HANDOUTFunded by Carnegie Corporation Advancing Literacy

Writing First! by Peter Elbow (5-7 min.)

• At your table, read the article and find “why’s” for the author’s belief statement that “children need to learn to write first.”

• TTYP to compare your findings and prepare to share as a whole group.

Yellow HANDOUT

Instructional Shifts: CCGPS (ELA)

• Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction and informational texts

• Reading and writing grounded in evidence from text

• Regular practice with complex text and its academic vocabulary

Shift 1: Content and Nonfiction

What the Student Does . . . What the Teacher Does . . .

•Become better readers by building background knowledge.

• See the text itself as a source of evidence (what did it say vs. what did it not say?)

• Apply strategies to reading informational text (using details to make key points and summarize).

• Shift identity: “I teach reading.”

• Treat the text itself as a source of evidence.

• Teach students to write about evidence from the text.

• Ask: “How do you know? Why do you think that? Show me in the text where you see evidence for your opinion.”

Shift 2: Evidence (Reading and Writing)

What the Student Does . . . What the Teacher Does . . .

• Go back to text to find evidence to support their argument in a thoughtful, careful, precise way.

• Create own judgments and become scholars, rather than witnesses of the text.

• Begin to generate own informational texts.

• Facilitate evidence based conversations with students, dependent on the text.

• Provide students the opportunity to read the text more deeply and write from multiple sources about a single topic.

•Give students permission to start having their own reactions and drawing their own connections.

Shift 3: Practice and LanguageWhat the Student Does . . . What the Teacher Does . . .

• Be persistent despite challenges when reading; good readers tolerate frustration.

•Spend more time learning words across “webs” and associating words with others instead of learning individual, isolated vocabulary words.

• Give students less to read and let them re-read.

• Provide experience with complex texts.

• Engage students in rigorous conversation.

• Provide scaffolding.

• Be strategic about the kind of vocabulary you’re developing and figure out which words fall into which categories (tier 2 vs. tier 3).

Navigating and Using the Series KIT FOCUS

A Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop

Workshop Model (its architecture) and Management System

Writing Pathways Assessment System and Learning Progressions

Four Common Core-aligned Units Methods and Principles Affecting Classroom

If…Then…Curriculum: Assessment-based Instruction

Differentiation with 5-7 Alternate and Additional Units

CD-ROM Additional Resources: sample student writing, reproducible checklists, units, web links

Unit 1

Resources (301 files)Assets (+ 14 folders)

CD-ROM Folders

Digging Into the Materials(Take 15…)

• How is the material organized?

• What do you like?• What features will

(already do) assist you in teaching?

Writing: Bottom Line Conditions

• Writing needs to be taught like any other basic skill, with explicit instruction and ample opportunity for practice.

• Children deserve to write for real purposes, to write the kinds of texts that they see in the world and to write for an audience of readers.

• Writers write to put meaning on a page. Children invest themselves in their writing when they choose topics that are important to them.

Kit Source: A Guide to the Common Core Writing WorkshopChapter 3 – p. 23

Writing:Bottom Line Conditions

• Children deserve to be explicitly taught how to write.

• Children deserve the opportunity and instruction to cycle through the writing process.

• To write well, children need opportunities to read and to hear texts read, and to read as writers.

• Children need clear goals and frequent feedback.

Understandings…Digging Deeper

• Teach the WRITER, not the WRITING.• Study and emulate REAL writers.• Teach kids to EXPLODE the moment.• Keep multiple pieces of writing “in progress”

(flash drafts).

• Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Understandings…Digging Deeper

• Start each year with Narrative Writing.• Teach students the power of VOLUME and

INDEPENDENCE.• Write with students.• Write for REAL purposes.• Don’t expect significant impact unless writing

is a SCHOOLWIDE PRIORITY.

Whole Group Discussion

Big Ideas…Critical Nature of Writing

Instructional Shifts…CCGPS

What do you think?

Reflection Activity: Take a few…(5 min.)

• Create a timeline of memorable points from your life…as a WRITER!

• Using phrases or key words, place the + points above the line and – points below the line.

Now write…(5 min.)

• Using your timeline, choose one + or - point from your timeline and begin a personal narrative piece of writing.

• Quick Talk with a Partner – Write – Pair/Share• EXPLODE the moment!

Be a Ski Instructor! Let the children see you

as an author as well.* DOING* Enthusiasm* Language (failure/strengths)* Tools Writing Workshop The Essential Guide

By Fletcher & Portalupi page 4

Importance of the Teacher’s WNB“Write with Students”

Let’s take a peek inside a teacher’s writing notebook…

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZE3_j6a59w

Approaches to Writing Activity

• Instructions: Read about the three approaches listed below. Then remove graphic organizer from handout (last page) and do individually for a “turn and talk partner” discussion at tables. Volunteers to share out.

– “free to be me” approach– “assigned task” approach– “demonstrate, scaffold,

release to write” approach

Pink HANDOUT

DSR Emphasis

• Helps students develop repertoire of skills for each stage of the writing process:– Demonstrate process writers use depending on

type of writing studied– Scaffold students to practice steps in the process– Release students for independently using

repertoire of strategies by writing without support• Provides opportunities for differentiation.

Harvesting Info to DifferentiateWriting Pathways, Chapter 4

• Collect baseline data (on demand assessments) to study where students are and where they need to go.

• Have norming meetings to assess student work and use what is learned to inform teaching.

• Adjust teaching based on data and know that minilessons are “already multilevel.”

• Teach responsively to address problems (conferring and small group instruction).

The Writing Process (3-5 min.) • On a sticky note, create YOUR visual of the

writing process. • Then table share.• Prepare to whole group share.

The Writing Process (3-5)

• Rehearsal/Prewriting• Drafting• Revision• Editing• Publishing• Celebrating

Kit Source: A Guide to the Common Core Writing WorkshopChapter 4 – pp. 32-37

Rehearsal and The Writing Process

• Vary approach by genre and focus:– Literary (read with questions in mind)– Narrative (think of a person, place, or thing)

• Teach strategies for generating ideas.• Weigh possible structures:– Narrative: mentally replay event and capture initial

action or dialogue– Informational: tour guide of topics with overview to

help readers anticipate where tour will lead• Can become writing recycled from revision.

Drafting and The Writing Process

• Is an “early” product.• Is less strategic.• Is “playing in clay, not inscribing in marble.”• Impacts powerful writing when “full of one’s

subject and keeping one’s eye on that subject.”

• Is a trial effort and when written quickly, fosters a writer’s willingness to revise.

Revision and The Writing Process• Is an “improved” product.• Means to “resee and reconsider” through

various lenses. • Look at writer’s goals.• Look for qualities (from studying a mentor text)

brought into writing.• Note: Not much productive revision in grade 3

but by grade 5 students mull over questions and use graphic organizers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBKqgOvmJ8wRevision Video Link:

Editing and The Writing Process

• Is a “final” product.• Is done along the way via minilessons, mid-

workshop teachings, share sessions, and homework assignments.

Publishing and The Writing Process

• Calls for decision making by teacher– Am I a copy editor making all corrections?– PRO: easier for others to read– CON: not a reflection on writer’s independence • Reminder: Put “next-to-final draft” in portfolio

Teaching Channel Video Clip: “Making Students into Better Writers”https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/improving-student-writing

Celebrating and The Writing Process

• Make public by spotlighting– Gallery Walk– Small Group Fridays (students as teaching experts)

• Use precise and specific compliments

CAN YOU THINK OF OTHER EXAMPLES?

The Writing Cycle

“I want children to plan and draft their writing, anticipating the day they’ll revise it and, better yet, anticipating the day they’ll send the text out into

the world. …I look for indications that the version of the writing process that I imagine for them matches what they can do with only a little support. I want to see that children are productive, engaged, and

purposeful throughout the entire process.”

Lucy CalkinsA Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop, Intermediate Grades, p. 37

Writing Pathways: Assessment Tools“a powerfully practical resource”

• 13 chapters about the Assessment System (important guidance)

• On-Demand Assessment Prompts

• Writing Checklists• Student Writing Samples

• Learning Progressions

Speaking of Learning Progressions… An Activity

• Refer to pp. 178-181 in Writing Pathways (Grades K-5) from your kit (also as a handout) z .

• At your table, read the sample student writing and use the Narrative Learning Progression Chart (handout or in Writing Pathways’ book) to:– assess the student’s writing development– Answer the question: “How are learning progressions

different from scope and sequence documents?” • Prepare to share with table partners.

Narrative LP Chart/Sample Student Writing Handout

Why learning progressions?

“What students are expected to know and be able to do at a given grade and content area describes

learning horizontally. Learning progressions, on the other hand, describe learning vertically and show a

sequence along which students can move from beginning learner to advanced learner. Consequently,

student learning is viewed as a progression along a path that connects knowledge, concepts, and skills or

the big ideas—the essence of concepts/processes.”

Bellwood-Antis School District Bellwood, PAhttp://www.blwd.k12.pa.us/district_info/curriculum/Shared%20Documents/SAS%20Resources/SAS%20Learning%20Progressions_6-02-10%20(2).docx.

As compared to Scope and Sequence• Scope is defined as “a clearly stated set of K-12 learning objectives that reflects local, state, and national expectations. Sequence is the order in which those objectives are taught.” (Nichols, Shidaker, Johnson, & Singer, 2006)

•Often scope and sequence will provide information as to what students should master at each grade for a given content area; however, scope and sequence charts do not always provide information designed to help teachers understand where students are in their learning relative to the curricular aim or goal. •In addition scope and sequence charts may not always be organized in such a way that teachers can clearly visualize the intersections along the road to learning.

LP Continued . . . Take Home

• Information (pp. 124-127)• Opinion(pp. 82-85)

Kit Source: Writing Pathways (Grades K-5), Performance Assessments and Learning Progressions

http://vimeo.com/55951746

LUNCH

Provisioning a Writing Workshop“Routines and Rituals”

Dedicated Writing Time Four days a week for 45-60 min.

Room Arrangements Meeting Area : “Huddles” on the rug for mini-lessons (with

chart paper and anchor charts) Work Area (writing and conferring):

• Teacher teaching (10 min.)• Students writing (40 min.)• Supports “long stretches of writing” by students; movement among each

other to confer; tables forgo chairs; clustering to leave space; partners sitting beside each other

Writing Center: Resources (i.e., books on writing well, grammar guides, dictionaries, thesauruses)

A Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop, Chapter 5

Provisioning a Writing Workshop (cont.)

Materials Notebooks: vary and leave choice to children, steer away

from spirals (“required” feel), personalize (collages) Folders and Paper: 2-pocket for storing materials, first

half of unit writing in notebook and second half on draft paper, use one side of paper only, white lined paper, after celebration clean out folder for next unit study

Writing Utensils: pens but have pencils around and toolboxes to replenish on tables, date work and have stamps on hand, post-it notes, colored pens, staples, stapler, tape

Provisioning – Materials (cont.) Partners: not ability based,

designate Partner 1 and Partner 2 (or Buddy 1 and Buddy 2) as audience for each other’s work, new partner at start of new unit

Exemplar Texts: “Writers need to read widely, deeply, ravenously, and closely.” Read aloud can be used for

dozens of minilessons.

Word Walls: encourages spelling correctly, add 5 new words each week, can be moved on/off, source of phonetic lessons

Charts: anchor charts (teaching points), one day charts, make with students, use big skill or goal as “heading” names, use visuals, keep charts current and up for reference by students

The Architecture of the MiniLesson

• Connection• Teaching• Active Engagement • Link

“…intervals (10 minutes long) for explicit, brief instruction in skills and strategies that then become part of a writer’s ongoing repertoire to be drawn on as needed.” (Guide, Chapter 7, p. 60-61)

VIDEO (MiniLesson)Grade Level Link

K http://vimeo.com/55954401 (K-2 on spelling patterns) or

http://vimeo.com/55951305 (K-2 on small group closure)

1-2 http://vimeo.com/55954401 (K-2 on spelling patterns) or

http://vimeo.com/55951305 (K-2 on small group closure)

3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKY_7AhnS3o (Narrative)

4-5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKY_7AhnS3o (Narrative)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCA0EY_8lhU (Informational)

CONNECTION: What did you notice?

Connection (The MiniLesson)• Rally the students for the lesson.• Recruit students to recall work that they have done prior to this

lesson, which provides context for the lesson.• Share tiny excerpts of student work and vignettes from working

with students.• Share a story that becomes a metaphor for the lesson. • End with a CLEAR Teaching Point:

– “what” (content) and “how” (strategy)– Example: Today we are going to talk about…

• Apply cautionary advice:– Avoid barrage of questions to students– Avoid assigning (i.e., “Today I want you to do…”)

TEACHING: What did you notice?

Teaching (The MiniLesson)• Demonstration

– Sequentially structured like a “how to text” or “step-by-step process”– “Write/Think” in real time– Used in 80% of minilessons

• Guided Practice– Walk through a process so coaching allows students to do same without

support• Explanation/Example

– State strategy and show example– Use Mentor Texts/Read Alouds

• Inquiry– Starts with question– Use in studying example of good work– Use in contrasting effective and ineffective examples

ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT: What did you notice?

Active Engagement (The MiniLesson)

• Must be 100%.• Give students chance to practice what’s taught.• Be specific about what students are trying out.• Make sure prompts are simple:

– What happened first?– What do you see?

• Encourage students to do both (speak and listen) in “turn and talk.”

• Avoid predictable problems:– Teacher: the minilesson becomes a maxilesson– Student: the real work doesn’t get done

LINK:: What did you notice?

Link (The MiniLesson)

• Is shortest part–Reiterates teaching point– Links to previous learning–Refers students to their toolkit of strategies

(use anchor chart)– Time to release students with “off you go”

Management System

“Who doesn’t have trouble with classroom management? How could it not be tricky to build an environment in which 20 or 30 youngsters each

pursues his or her own important project as a writer, working within the confines of a small

room, each needing his or her own mix of silence and collaboration, time and deadlines, resources,

and one another?”

Managing the Minilesson

• Convening for . . . attention getting signal, countdown with compliment as transition (up to 3 min.)

• Management during. . .– Connection: invitation to talk– Demonstration: imagine in own minds as they “watch”– Active Engagement: have write in the air, turn and talk with partner– Note: Conduct explicit teaching about expectations

(students knowing “their jobs”)

• Sending students off . . . with variations like disperse one cluster at a time, have start writing on rug, or assign writing spots where students return to write.

Architecture of the Conference

• TYPES–Individual• Aim for 3 a day

(4-5 min. each)

–Small Groups • Varies• Improvise based

on student signals

Refer to Chapter 8, pp. 70-72 in Guide.

VIDEO (Conference)Grade Level Link

K http://vimeo.com/55954402 (K-2) or

http://vimeo.com/55951305 (K-2)

1-2 http://vimeo.com/55954402 (K-2) or

http://vimeo.com/55951305 (K-2)

3 http://vimeo.com/55966096 (3-5)

4-5 http://vimeo.com/55966096 (3-5) or

http://vimeo.com/55966102 (5-8)

The Architecture of a Conference

• Research• Decide• Teach• Link

Green HANDOUT

Research (The Conference)

• Begin with an open ended question to invite the student to talk.

• Look at the student’s writing to gain a deeper understanding.

• Learn what the student as writer plans to do next.• Help the child articulate and explain his or her

intentions.• Make sure to pursue more than one line of

questioning.

Decide (The Conference)

• Choose one teaching point that will help the writer become better.

• Teach every student to become someone who has intentions for his or her writing, assesses, sets a course, and acts deliberately.

• Try to rally the child to take on a new intention and then equip the child to realize that intention.

• Teach toward growth always—and eventual independence.

Teach (The Conference)

• Follow the architecture of a minilesson– Connect: Be explicit.– Teach: Use one of four methods.– Active Involvement: Nudge student to begin.– Jot conferring notes as you go.

• Teach and coach, reducing the scaffolding as you work together.

Link (The Conference)

• Step back and name what the writer has done that can be replicated in the draft and another piece of writing.

• Clarify the work the writer still needs to do.• Repeat the teaching point.• Make sure the writer leaves wanting to write.

Unwrapping the Units (Vertical)

• Looking at expectations for student writers across the K-5 Continuum

White Handout (Partial Unit Table of Contents)

Bend I or “part” of unit’s

instructional pathway

Bend I

“Although it is entirely reasonable to plan a detour in your unit of study, I want to advise you against stretching out a unit to longer than six weeks. That is, if you do bring some supportive instruction into a unit, lop off the last bend. Always, the most sophisticated work in a unit is what comes in

the final stretch. Youngsters need to be finished with a chunk of work and to have the chance to get a fresh start on some new work.”

Writing Pathways, Chapter 4, p. 34

Narrative Writing: Unit 1 Bends Grade 4 Grade 5

Collect and develop ideas with focus on characters’ external and internal traits.

Revisit narrative writing(draw on repertoire of strategies).

Use story arc with scenes that show character, plot, and setting changes over the course of a story.

Choose seed idea to take through the writing process.

Develop, plan, and produce an independent fiction project.

Begin anew with a third personal narrative.

Unwrapping the Unit (Grade Level)Activity

• Take a look at the first unit of your grade level for the following:

❸… ❷...❶• As a table group, identify your 3-2-1’s and have a

volunteer jot these down to share.

a-ha moments or new learning points of validation question or concern

Web Resources to Support the K-5 Writing Units of Study

• Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (Check Facebook and Twitter for latest updates/webinars.)– http://readingandwritingproject.com/

• Heinemann– http://www.heinemann.com/authors/430.aspx

• National Writing Project– http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource_topic/teaching_w

riting• ReadWriteThink

– http://www.readwritethink.org/• Teaching Channel

– https://www.teachingchannel.org

Needs Assessment/EvaluationNEEDS ASSESSMENT: Topics for Future Training Sessions

Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study for Teaching Writing

Based on the first training session, review the list of topics below and place checks by those you would like additional professional learning and support for in the future.

Topics

Priority/ Need (Place check in column.)

Orientation to Materials (kits with guides/units and CD-ROM)

Management System (routines and rituals)

Architecture of the Minilesson (connection, teaching, active engagement, link)

Kinds of Teaching (demonstration, guided practice, examples, inquiry)

Types of Writing (information, opinion, narrative) Type: ______________________

Differentiation (individuals/small groups/ELLs)

Student Checklists for Reflection

Scoring Rubrics to Evaluate Student Writing

Student Conferences

Charts

Learning Progressions

Assessments

Other:

Top 3 Priorities: ____________________________ _______________________________ _________________________________ (from above) 1st 2nd 3rd

Blue Handout