Teacher Researcher's observation of Writing Workshop in 1st grade classrooms
This article is a brief view of a teacher as a researcher and my evaluation on Writing Workshop in the elementary classroom. Writing Workshop, or Writer’s Workshop as some teachers have named it, has been around for decades and has been shown through research to be an effective way to grow students’ writing skills. As a guest teacher, I have the opportunity to visit and teach in different grade levels and in different classrooms. This gives me a unique perspective of the ways to implement Writing Workshop and how teachers have created an environment that values writing.
Votteler and Miller (2017) note that researchers such as Murray (1972), Graves (1994), Calkins (1986), and Atwell (1987) all have a similar view on writing. Murray is a proponent for valuing the process over the product by focusing on prewriting, writing, and rewriting. Murray was a mentor for the work that Graves, Calkins and Atwell contributed. Graves emphasizes the importance of allowing writers time to write, choice, response to their writing, demonstration and instruction, structure of the workshop, and personal evaluation of their writing. Calkins, similar to Graves whom she worked with, covers everything from the structure of Writing Workshop, to the mentor texts to use as a teaching tool, to the classroom community, to the students viewing themselves as authors. Atwell laid out the process to include mini-lessons, prewriting and planning, drafting, revising, editing, peer and teacher conferencing, and publishing. Classroom teachers could structure their Writing Workshop slightly differently by following each of these researchers but have the same overall outcomes.
Marsh (2019) connects the Writing Workshop models to the sociocultural theory which views social, cultural, and historical elements as essential to language and literacy. Graves (1983) notes that children are more comfortable and willing to take risks in writing when they write in a supportive social environment. Marsh’s findings support the idea that writers’ ideas stem from their cultural knowledge and the world around them. This is important to all language development including culturally and linguistically diverse learners.
Observations during Writing Workshop occurred over multiple days in two first grade classrooms in a diverse middle-class school. Each class had their own routines and expectations as well as their own challenges and room for growth. The sociocultural aspect of Writing Workshop was also evaluated in each classroom observed.
First grade classroom A is made up of native speakers, English language learners, students with special needs receiving in-class support, and a mixture of reading levels. Teacher A has writing workshop routine set so that students know that the lights are to be dimmed, the music comes on, and everyone has their writing notebook. She starts with a mini lesson with all students sitting on the carpet. Then she reminds students to use the conventions and tools to help them write such as the word wall, anchor charts, and prior writings and conferencing notes. Students are then released to go write. Being in first grade and at all levels of skill, they are allowed to start a new piece or continue working on an already started piece of writing and able to draw then label, draw then write, or write then draw. At the end of the writing workshop time, Teacher A will select one or two student’s works from that day to showcase to the class.
Students in first grade class A feel comfortable writing at their own ability, but still strive to make personal growth. Teacher A often will look at the beginning of their writing notebooks to show the students how far they have come since the beginning of the year with handwriting, spelling, content, and length of writing. Watching other classmates work being showcased allows students to commend their classmates as well as give themselves a goal to work towards. Students also feel comfortable asking peers for help with spelling, to look over their writing and give feedback, or sharing for just for praise. Students with special needs will typically only write about what they are interested in every session, yet peers listen and get excited like it’s the first time they have heard about this topic. A new student who moved from Venezuela and spoke no English found acceptance when sharing her work. She wrote in Spanish, which her classmate could understand but not read. Her classmate told her in English, while pointing at her work, that she liked her handwriting and her pictures. First grade class A has a judgement-free and encouraging atmosphere which promotes all students to write at their own level.
First grade classroom B has children of all reading levels and has multiple students receiving special education in-class support. Teacher B also has a very predictable routine for writing time. First students come to the carpet and teacher B will give a mini-lesson for the day. Some days it is a continuation of the lesson from previous days showing students how to add on to a piece of writing. Students are then released to go to their desk with and practice in their own writing notebook. In this classroom, students are asked to practice the technique that was the focus of the mini-lesson. That could be writing a letter, thinking of something they dislike and explaining why, or their favorite holiday and why, just to name a few mini-lesson examples. After the students write following the same format as the mini-lesson, they are able to write about whatever they would like or go back and continue a prior piece of writing. Students are expected to write first then illustrate when finished.
During writing, teacher B will walk around and conferences with students. She will work with a few reluctant students to add to their piece and encourage them to share at the end of writing. At the end of the writing time, teacher B will ask if anyone would like to share their work from that day. She always has more students wanting to share than she has time for. Often, they are the same kids, but she also calls on the reluctant students which she had worked with as well. Students a confident when sharing and always receive applause and praises from their peers.
In looking at these two first grade classrooms, writing workshop is a priority and valued aspect of the day. The freedom offered in classroom A allows students to truly write about what they want without having to follow a formula. Though in classroom B, the students are learning and practicing a variety of writing genres. After seeing what the students in classroom B are capable of producing, I feel like the students in classroom A could be pushed to write more and wean away from the illustrations. This observation is strictly about the amount of writing produced. When it comes to ideas, I do not feel that class B is being stifled by having the product assigned. They are able to choose their topic and when they have written in the format of the mini-lesson, then they are able to freely write in any genre they choose.
The social aspect of writing and sharing that writing with your community of learners is so important. Both teacher A and teacher B have created classroom communities where students feel safe to share, make mistakes, and try new things. The students in both classes strive to improve their writing and want to create writings that the teacher and the class are excited about. The student generated ideas speak to the cultural nature of writing. Not everyone comes from the same culture, but through writing, students are able to share their culture with their classmates. Students are going to choose topics they are comfortable writing about and what they have knowledge about. Both teacher A and teacher B use mentor texts to scaffold vocabulary and as good writing examples. Students refer back to the mentor texts from the mini-lesson to see how the author wrote. This was present in both classes.
Overall, I feel like both teachers are effectively teaching writing and teaching students to be writers. Both teachers use the term writing workshop and writer’s workshop interchangeably. As for my classroom, I would only use the term writer’s workshop because the goal is to create writers. Writing happens every day, but being a writer sets students apart. When students feel like they too can be a writer or an author, they become empowered to create to their best ability. The skills of being a writer come during writer’s workshop. Writing happens, but being a writer is something special.
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