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The Power of Choice in the Writers Workshop

• Amie Pincumbe
• Lakeview Community Schools
• Emailpincumbea_at_lakeviewschools.net
• Lake Michigan Writing Project 2011

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Price of a pen 1.00 Price of a pad of paper
2.00 The power of choice to write what one
wantsPriceless

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Todays Agenda

• Group Anticipatory SetI have to write about
  what?

1100-1110 am

• Why Wont My Kids Write? Description of
  problem within my Writers Workshop

1110-1120 am
1120-1140am

• Prompting Choice in Narrative Writing
• Strategies used to generate topics to write

• Lets Go Shopping for Stories!
• Choosing a topic to write a personal narrative

1140-1200 am

• Share Time/ Wrap up with questions

1200-1215 pm
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Why Wont My Students Write?

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Classroom Observations

• Students having a hard time getting started
• Head down on desk
• Students writing a few sentences and then were
  finished
• Doodling in Writers Notebook
• Moaning about writing time
• No matter how creative I thought my lessons were
  they still were not producing quality samples

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In order for children
In order for children to learn to write and to
grow as writers, it is absolutely essential that
they are invested in their writing and they care
about writing well. Lucy Calkins

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How Can I Get my Students to Write ?

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Research Used

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• Lucy Calkins- Units of Study Writers Workshop
• Ralph Fletcher Teaching the Qualities of
  Writing

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• When children have opportunity and
  responsibility to choose their own subjects they
  are not only much more apt to be invested in
  their writing, they are also much more apt to be
  knowledgeable about their topics.
• Lucy Calkins

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Prompting Choice in Narrative Writing
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The Concept of student choice is believing that
the best , truest topics lie deep within each of
us. Ralph Fletcher
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Strategies to Generate Personal Narrative
Topics

• My Treasure Map of Stories
• My Authority List/ All About Me
• My Writers Notebook
• Shoebox of Stories Yet to be told

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My Treasure Map of Stories

• Think of a place where you have a lot of memories
  about or stories you could tell
• Draw a sketch of that place
• Then place a X on your sketch where a memory
  happened that you could tell or write about
• Lets give it a try!

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My Authority List/All About Me

• Take a few minutes and label
• a sheet of paper My Authority
• List
• Then list all of the things you
• know a lot about
• OR
• Draw a picture of yourself
• Then write words or short
• phrases about things you know
• a lot about
• Choose one of the strategies a
• and give it a try!

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My Writers Notebook
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Shoebox of Stories Yet to Be Told
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Lets Write!

• First choose a a topic from either your treasure
  map, Authority List or your All Abort Me page
• Circle it
• Then begin to write your personal narrative story
• You will have about 10 minutes

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Timeline to Teach Strategies for Narrative Writing
Timeline to Teach Strategies for Narrative
Writing
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Share Time

• Turn to a person sitting next to you
• First, describe what strategy you choose to use
• Then, read your personal narrative piece

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Wrap Up

• Important Things to Remember
• Giving students the choice in what they write is
  powerful!
• Teach students the strategies to help them
  develop topics to write about
• Personal Narrative Strategies
• My Treasure Map of Stories
• My Authority List/ All About Me
• Writers Notebook
• My Shoebox of Stories Yet to be Told

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You only learn to write better by
actually writing.Doris LessingIf you want to
get your students to actually writesimply give
them the power of choice.
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References