Writing Workshop: Instruction & Assessment for Grades K–6
Writing workshop is the place where real writing happens—students spend a good amount of time with pencil/pen to paper crafting pieces. But it’s not just writing for writing’s sake or creative storytelling. The workshop “learning while doing” approach uses the tools and techniques that teach the skills elementary students need to become successful writers across all genres.
What Does K–6 Writing Workshop Instruction Look Like?
Writing workshop instruction uses written pieces such as mentor texts to model good writing practice and covers all elements of the writing process.
Writing workshop also teaches K–6 students to be proficient in the different modes of writing
- Narrative
- Opinion
- Informational
and to use writerly techniques and tools.
Finally, writing workshop instruction includes plenty of opportunities for teacher and student assessment.
So…How Do You Actually Go About Teaching With a Writing Workshop Approach?
The following sections help to break writing workshop instruction down and demonstrate that adopting a writing workshop approach for K–6 is not only practical (builds a foundation for good communication skills) but also empowering!
Mentor Texts explores the importance of exemplar text for writing workshop, including how to use mentor texts in your lessons, the role they play in establishing a welcoming classroom community, and why they can help students become risk-takers in their writing.
Grammar and Conventions examines how workshop balances instruction on the “rules” around writing with opportunities to craft original pieces and practice self-expression.
What Are Craft Moves? introduces a writing workshop term for something you already do in your own writing—apply different techniques to enrich and inform writing style.
Assessment covers an extremely important—and sometimes misunderstood—element of writing workshop. Watch a three-part video conversation to learn how efficient and effective writing assessment within workshop can be.
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Mentor Texts in K–6 Writing Workshop
The importance of mentor texts for good writing workshop instruction cannot be understated. You could say that they are the workhorses of workshop!
8 Ways Mentor Texts Are Working Hard in Writing Workshop
Introducing students to different genres
Demonstrating “quiet” moments
Creating a shared experience
Speaking to a student’s reality
Inspiring ideas and writing topics
Modeling craft moves
Providing examples for structure and technique
Instilling appreciation for the art of writing
A good mentor text can be referred to over and over in a workshop classroom. They serve as the foundation for teaching students to first read like writers, then write like readers.
Picture This—Why Picture Books For Mentor Texts?
Picture books often make wonderful mentor texts. They cross different genres and present content and ideas in digestible portions. At first glance, picture books might seem too “young” for students in upper elementary grades, but in fact they provide excellent models for aspiring writers!
- Shorter stories encourage a focused plot.
- Fewer words require authors to be conscious of word choice.
- Many picture books contain striking illustrations that add depth to the text.
Selection of mentor texts included in Jump Into Writing! curriculum.
Mentor Texts, SEL, and Building a K–6 Classroom Community
Creating a classroom community where all students feel comfortable expressing their opinions, feelings—and especially their writing!—is integral to the success of writing workshop. It is important for students to feel respected and recognized, and that their experiences and voices are valued and heard.
Mentor texts represent an excellent opportunity to introduce a diverse range of characters, stories, truths, experiences, and realities into the classroom. Students may see themselves reflected in a narrative, or find their interests piqued by an opinion piece or an alphabet book! Increased exposure to different voices doesn’t just help students expand their horizons as writers; it also can help to increase empathy and openness toward others.
Mentor texts can also help teachers set behavioral expectations for different parts of writing workshop lesson.
- During the minilesson, while teachers read or instruct from the mentor text, students learn to listen quietly and think about applications to their own writing.
- Peer conferencing can be an opportunity for students to return to texts to talk about a writer’s specific technique and share their thoughts—encouraging good communication skills.
- Independent writing is time for students to focus on their work and themselves. As they progress through lessons, they will build stamina as writers and develop good concentration and critical-thinking and writing skills. Ultimately, they’re gaining confidence in their abilities to express themselves and establish a unique voice!
You can find more resources around SEL and building a writing workshop community in Establishing Your Writing Community Through Workshop.
Additionally, the assets below provide thoughtful, actionable tips for further exploring the role of mentor texts in writing workshop instruction. Resources include a look at how mentor texts center instruction in Jump Into Writing!—Zaner-Bloser’s writing workshop curriculum for grades 2–5.
Creating Successful Writers with Mentor Texts
This webinar considers what makes a good mentor text, why they’re important, when to use, and how to incorporate into your writing lessons.
Hallmarks of Good Mentor Texts
Handy download lists characteristics to look for when selecting mentor texts that are accessible and relatable for all students.
Jump Into Writing! Meet Your Mentor Texts!
Take a comprehensive look at the role that mentor texts play in Jump Into Writing! and view a list of the titles included at each grade.
Grammar and Conventions in K–6 Writing Workshop
Students don’t just learn to write in writing workshop—with the right instruction they can learn to write well. Many teachers in upper grades find that by the time students arrive, they haven’t learned the fundamentals of grammar or writing conventions. Or, if they do recognize terms such as “noun,” “pronoun,” and “verb,” they’re not quite sure how the rules and mechanics surrounding them—so essential to helping students convey meaning and establish voice in a piece of writing—translate to the actual writing process.
With a well-organized writing workshop approach, teachers can cover the writing process AND the writing particulars, introducing and applying key grammatical concepts and terms.
- Sentence structure
- Parts of a speech
- Punctuation
- Tense
- Usage
- Mechanics
By introducing grammar as part of writing workshop in the early years, schools can establish a strong foundation for the future.
Exposing young students to modes of writing during workshop is also an opportunity to teach them that there are types of writing suitable for different media—and that words have value, meaning, and purpose. What a thumbs up or an emoji communicates in a text won’t translate into an informational piece—especially when research or proof is essential! Students can learn that it’s fun to play with words and take ownership for how they use them.
Can You Use Mentor Texts For Grammar Instruction?
Grammar is a natural fit with writing workshop. Because teachers are constantly modeling good writing with the mentor texts, it’s a great opportunity to show how authors employ rules and conventions seamlessly.
Use Mentor Texts to Teach Grammar: 6 Tips for Writing Workshop
Draw attention to good technique
Demonstrate how powerful pairing (or tripling!) conventions can be
Introduce concepts in context
Illustrate the richness that variety in structure and/or pacing brings to a piece
Reinforce the importance of good editing
Communicate the power of choice—style, word, topic, structure—for establishing a unique writing style
Grammar & Writing Workshop: A Work in Progress
During writing workshop, students focus on just a few written pieces over time. This approach is great for reinforcing grammar concepts and conventions. Students write, rewrite, edit, and return to their pieces often, providing lots of opportunities to try different techniques.
The stepped-out workshop process is also an opportunity to introduce proofreading marks and practice self-editing! You can encourage students to peer edit pieces at different times, too. Remind students that writing is a journey of discovery and development—not just a destination.
4 Ways to Celebrate Grammar & Conventions in Writing Workshop
Words—and their placement—have power! How you choose to position them directs the reader’s experience.
Every draft is an opportunity to try something new.
Proofreading marks are badges of honor: they signal progress is being made.
Check please! Checklists reinforce good practices and assist with self-assessment.
The assets below can help you incorporate active, engaging grammar instruction into your writing workshop classroom. Watch, download, share, and read!
Teaching Conventions and Grammar
Learn how mechanical correctness is taught, practiced, and reinforced in workshop lessons—and a way to introduce students to proofreading.
Proofreading Marks
Share a visual reminder of commonly used proofreading marks and what they mean to writers.
Editing Checklist
Share a handy list of reminders for students to consider before finishing a piece of writing.
What Are Craft Moves?
Craft moves are the tools and techniques that writers use to improve and enhance their writing. When teachers use mentor texts as exemplars for instruction, students are encouraged to imitate and try different writerly techniques in their day-to-day writing and in the writing process in general.
Writing workshop incorporates the recognized characteristics of good writing.
During writing workshop, students learn how to use craft moves to incorporate characteristics of good writing into their pieces.
6 Ways to Incorporate Characteristics of Good Writing Into Writing Workshop
Communicate meaning
Show evidence of the genre
Provide structure for readers
Include specific details
Select words carefully
Apply the rules of grammar
Craft moves are applicable to fiction AND nonfiction writing. See Power of Craft Moves below for a list of different types of moves and how they work across writing modes.
Craft Moves, Mentor Texts, and Writing Workshop
Not surprisingly, craft move instruction fits perfectly within a writing workshop approach. Just as teachers use mentor texts to illustrate different grammar concepts and conventions, they can use the same texts to introduce craft moves and provide examples of good writing.
During the minilesson (whole-group instruction), teachers can point out how a writer is using a particular craft move to enrich the piece—whether it’s using inner dialogue to create empathy for a fictional character or citing sources to strengthen the power of an argument.
Craft moves are also a great topic for conferencing. When suggesting ways to improve a piece in progress or assist a student who might be stuck on direction, returning to a mentor text to revisit—or introduce—a technique or tool that might have been overlooked can be very helpful. Remind students that it’s okay to borrow moves from an author! As they become more familiar with new moves, they can eventually learn to make them their own.
Learn more about craft moves, how to teach them, and ways to help students achieve the qualities of good writing using the assets below.
The Power of Craft Moves
Find out what craft moves are, why they are important, and how to teach them to students using mentor texts and modeling.
Power of Craft Moves List
Share a list of craft moves students can use to enhance and strengthen both fiction and nonfiction writing.
The Craft of Writing
As students learn to read like writers, this form serves as a guide to help them identify and evaluate craft moves within mentor texts.
Assessment in Writing Workshop
The purpose of writing assessment is to inform instruction that helps students become better writers while providing encouragement and support.
5 Characteristics of Assessment in Writing Workshop
Ongoing
Informal and formal (Formative and Summative)
Self- and teacher-led
Measurable
Actionable
Assessment is built into the writing workshop approach. Because students focus on one or two pieces over a period of time, they are continually assessing their progress. Assessment begins even before the writing process begins with the process of setting measurable goals for the unit!
Setting Goals in Writing Workshop
Establishing goals is an important part of workshop. Journaling, brainstorming, and ideation help students set the stage for what they want to accomplish. Keeping a writer’s notebook separate from their writing pieces creates a resource to revisit during conferencing and throughout the editing process to ensure they’re staying on track.
Ongoing Writing Assessment
Over the course of a writing workshop unit, students should be writing, editing, revising/reworking, and refining their main writing piece. All of these steps are types of assessment—both self-directed and performed with the guidance of the teacher!
Using Rubrics and Forms
Checklists, rubrics, and forms can help students stay on track and provide more formal records of progress. Written teacher notes are helpful for students to return to as they refine and rework their pieces.
Assessment in Writing Workshop: Three-Part Video Series
It’s time to establish a process for assessment in your writing workshop classroom. Where to begin?
A three-part conversation between Welcome to Writing Workshop authors Lynne Dorfman and Stacey Shubitz explores the different types of assessment, the qualities of good writing, and tips for helping improving writing mechanics in a positive way.
Assessment in Writing Workshop Overview
Understand why and how to implement an assessment program in your writing workshop classroom.
- What are the different types of assessment?
- How often and when do I assess in writing workshop?
- How do you help students with self-assessment throughout writing workshop?
Assessment in Writing Workshop: Overview
Learn about the different kinds of assessment in writing workshop, the purpose of each, how often to assess, and the role of student self-assessment.
Quick Publish Assessment: Personal Narrative
Share a student-friendly form that includes the writing topic, a checklist of things to look for, and suggested guidelines for the assignment.
Editing/Publishing Checklist:
This lesson anchor chart provides a list of reminders for students to consider when finishing a piece.
Assessing the Qualities of Good Writing During Writing Workshop
Build and develop a repertoire of strategies and techniques that will help student writing grow and progress over time.
- What are the qualities of good writing?
- How do you narrow the focus for assessment in writing workshop?
- How is progress measured in writing workshop?
Assessing the Qualities of Good Writing
Gain an understanding of the qualities of good writing, narrowing the focus for assessment, and how to measure progress.
Qualities of Good Writing
Share a graphic representation that puts meaning, style, and the mechanics of writing in perspective.
One-Point Rubric: Personal Narrative
Download an assessment rubric that outlines the criteria standards and includes columns for areas that need work and for evidence of success.
Assessing Mechanics and Grammar in Writing Workshop
Learn how to balance assessing a piece of writing’s content and style with the mechanics: the grammar, the spelling, and the punctuation.
- Why are conventions and mechanics necessary for writing?
- How do you avoid an overemphasis on grammar and rules when assessing writing?
- How do you help students with editing and proofing their work during workshop?
Assessing Mechanics and Grammar
Learn why conventions are important, how to avoid an overemphasis of grammar and rules, and how to get students to edit and proof their own work.
Editing/Publishing Checklist: Persuasive Writing
This lesson anchor chart provides a list of reminders for students to consider when finishing their Persuasive Letter.
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- Suggestions for resources to include or cite
- Topics you’d like to see covered
- Ideas for upcoming writing workshop webinars
Interested in learning more about Jump Into Writing! writing workshop curriculum for grades 2–5?
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