Full Description

Judy Davis and Sharon Hill have distilled several decades worth of teaching experience into this invaluable road map to creating a writing workshop in which students grow and grow and grow as writers.
—Carl Anderson

Here is a book written by expert teachers who have lived the teaching of writing from inside the classroom. This is a book that wisely connects writing with reading, life, parents, the school, and community. Judy Davis and Sharon Hill show us the practicalities of helping children become lifetime writers today.
—Donald Graves

This excellent book is as brilliant as it is pragmatic. Every teacher will want to dog-ear and highlight the myriad of tips and strategies that fill every page.
—Georgia Heard

In the hurry of teaching, how reassuring to be able to reach out for indispensable, ready-to-go aid and comfort. This book is filled with concrete answers to the questions, "What do I teach and how should I teach it?"
—Lucy Calkins

What a treat—everything we always wanted to know about teaching writing packed into this extraordinary book. So chock full of thoughtful strategies and practical ideas that my pencil jumped into overdrive marking spots I will return to again and again. This book is destined to become a familiar friend to us all.
—Stephanie Harvey

Filling their book with specific how-to details, Judy Davis and Sharon Hill describe the organization of a successful yearlong writing workshop, centered on writing cycles and the writing notebook. They help teachers prepare tools, address management issues, get the work started, and build momentum as students increase their understanding of good writing practice.

Additional Resource Information

(click any section below to continue reading)

Contents

I. Getting a Handle on the Essentials: Goals, Tools, and Management

1. Setting Achievable Goals
2. Using the Right Tools
3. Providing Structure and Organization
4. Setting Up the Writing Workshop

II. Helping Your Students Become Writers

5. First Cycle: From Writing Idea to Notebook Entry
6. Teaching What Your Students Need
7. Moving from Notebook Entry to Finished Piece
8. Future Cycles: Lifting the Quality of the Writing Notebook
9. Mastering the Magic of Revision

III. Extending Writing Possibilities

10. Poetry Study
11. Feature Article Study
12. Picture Book Study
13. Open-Choice Investigations

Conclusion: When Writing Spills Out of the Writing Workshop

1. Editing Checklist
2. Student Weekend Writing Assessment
3. Writer's Reflection
4. Conference Record-keeping Sheet
5. Notebook Checklist
6. Minilesson Planning Sheet
7. Day-to-Day Minilesson Planning Sheet
8. Flowchart: What I'm Trying to Say
9. Craft Study
10. Structure Templates
11. Responding to Poetry
12. Poetry Study Chart
13. Knowing My Taste in Poetry
14. Poetry Reflection
15. Feature Article Study Chart
16. From Notebook Entry to Feature Article
17. Feature Article Assessment
18. Getting Inspired by a Good Picture Book
19. Picture Book Study Chart
20. Picture Book Assessment
21. Open-Choice Investigation Topic Chart

Bibliography

1. Professional Books
2. Poetry Anthologies
3. Picture Books
4. Books Containing Short Texts

Samples

• Learn about tools that support both teachers and students of writing. (PDF, 5.8 MB)

Companion Resources

Chapter 2:	Using the Right Tools Figure 2-1: An array of notebooks.
Chapter 4:	Setting Up the Writing Workshop Figure 4-1: Our meeting area. Figure 4-3: Personal thesaurus/class bulletin board. Highlighting Other Poetry Anthology Entries Hallie's poetry anthology layout. Sam's poetry anthology layout. Rilka's poetry anthology layout. Hadley's poetry anthology layout.
Chapter 5:	First Cycle-From Writing Idea to Notebook Entry Highlighting Additional Notebook Entries Stephanie's notebook entry, "I Always Wondered." Hallie's notebook entry, "My Nana." Alex's notebook entry, "The Toylet." Laura's notebook entry, "Why People Are Late." Carey's notebook entry, "Sad." Roschell's notebook entry, "Hot and Sticky Summer Nights." Chris's notebook entry, "My Dad." Albina's notebook entry, "When My Mother Was a Little Girl." Leonela's notebook entry, "Grandpa." Lianna's notebook entry, "A Lousy Day."
Chapter 7:	Moving from Notebook Entry to Finished Piece Figure 7-2: A student working on a draft using a flowchart. Figure 7-4: Celebrating students' work. Figure 7-5: Writers' Gallery. Figure 7-6: Great Lines bulletin board. Highlighting Additional Personal Narratives (more personal narratives published early in the year) Alex's writing. Andy's writing. Andy's poem. Gianpaulo's writing. Gianpaulo's poem. Julian's writing. Julian's poem. Rebecca's writing. Belinda's writing. Belinda's poem. Chris's writing. Jacob's writing. Jacob's poem. Jessie's writing. Shardinay's Writing.
Chapter 8:	Future Cycles-Lifting the Quality of the Writing Notebook Highlighting Additional Student Work Ellen's writing after reading "My Grandmother's Hair." Josh's writing after reading "My Grandmother's Hair." Noah's writing after reading "Plenty." Justin's writing after reading "Plenty." Emma's writing after reading "Plenty." Sam's notebook entry. Sam's lifting a line to begin a new entry. Luke's notebook entry. Luke's wondering off his notebook entry. Kyla's notebook entry. Kyla's combined entry. Rachel's exploring the "so what" of her writing. Suzannah's exploring the "so what" of her writing. Josh's writing, turning small things into big writing. Kathy's attempts to mimic Jane Yolen's style. Jonathan's initial notebook entry. Another entry by Jonathan on the same topic. Jonathan gathering more on his topic. Jonathan's flowchart to organize his thinking. Jonathan gathering more on his topic after organizing his ideas. Jonathan trying out leads for his draft. Jonathan's first draft. Jonathan's final piece. Jonathan's writer's reflection. More Personal Narratives Demonstrating Deeper Thinking Esther's writing. Hallie's writing. Hallie's poem. Julia's writing. Julia's poem. Luca's writing. Sam's writing. Sam's poem. Amanda's writing. Amanda's poem.
Chapter 9:	Mastering the Magic of Revision Highlighting Additional Student Work Suzannah's original notebook entry. Suzannah gathering more around the topic. Suzannah's flowchart to organize her thinking for her draft. Suzannah's first draft. Suzannah's revision work. Suzannah's second draft. Suzannah's final piece. Suzannah's writer's reflection. Personal Narratives Demonstrating a Variety of Crafting Strategies Kyla's writing. Sam's writing. Sam's poem. Carey's writing. Hadley's writing. Hadley's poem.
Chapter 10:	Poetry Study A Collection of Student Poetry Jeffrey's published poems. Traci's published poems. Mergim's published poems. Luca's published poems. Laura's published poems. Dyllon's published poems. Julia's published poems.
Chapter 11:	Feature Article Study Luca's writing. Feature Articles by Students Eliza's published article. Max's published article. Todd's published article. Lathisha's published article. Highlighting Additional Student Work Daniella's initial notebook entry. Daniella's flowchart. Daniella's first draft. Daniella trying out leads for her second draft. Daniella's second draft with revisions and edits. Daniella's published feature article. Daniella's assessment, reflecting on the process.
Chapter 12:	Picture Book Study Sophie's picture book assessment. Sophie's picture book. Typed Texts of Other Picture Books Alex's picture book text. Conrad's picture book text. Suzannah's picture book text. Gabrielle's picture book text. Andy's picture book text. Nigel's picture book text. Belinda's picture book text.
	Appendix Scaffolds That Support Writing Work