Lessons Taught through Writers Workshop

Two Main Lessons that Students Learn with this Writing Approach

Dec 10, 2008 Jennifer Wagaman

There are many benefits to using Writers Workshop in your Classroom.

In a Writers Workshop, the teacher decides what the children need to learn by finding their weak areas. Using this approach to teaching writing in the classroom results in two important lessons learned. These two main lessons that Writers Workshop addresses are writing for different viewpoints, and the purpose and place for revision in writing

Writing for Different Viewpoints

Children often write without any thought to who is going to read their work. This often results in a narrow story with few details. The details that are in the child’s head will not make it into the story because he will just assume that the reader understands. Authors Chair allows the students to discuss their writing throughout the writing process and to “view their writing from multiple perspectives, which promotes learning” [Clipperd,1998].

During Authors Chair each day, several students should read their work to the class. After each child reads his work, the rest of the class asks questions and provides opinions that the child may not have thought of to make his work better. Often the questions reflect the missing information that the child assumed readers would understand.

Younger children should have a place at the top of their paper to draw a picture about their story before they begin writing. This allows the students to remember the details to add by making sure that they have all aspects of their picture somewhere in their story.

The Purpose and Place of Revision in Writing

Students are hesitant to revise. They will look for errors and correct them, which is editing, but the idea of actually changing what they have already written, which is revision, is foreign to them. Writers Workshop focuses on the revision process as well as the editing process.

Teachers can use their own writing to demonstrate the need for revision. Put your writing on an overhead and ask the students to give feedback, demonstrating how to move sentences and paragraphs around to make a better overall paper. This modeling approach to teaching is important, and the teacher should follow up on the concept of revision in the students’ own work.

When considering whether to use Writer's Workshop to improve your student's writing, keep in mind the individualized approach that this method takes. It may take a little extra effort to organize a Writers Workshop in your classroom, but the benefits to the student's are huge.

Learn more tips to effectively teach writing.

Source:

Clipperd et. Al,. "Efficacy of writers’ workshop for students with significant writing deficits". Journal of Research in Childhood Education 13. p. 9. 1998.

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