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foráis sa bhunscolaíocht ENGLISH | WRITING | Stage 1 and Stage 2

The Writing Workshop

LEARNING OUTCOMES Children need repeated,
Children develop concepts,
explicit demonstrations
PRIMARY LANGUAGE CURRICULUM

dispositions and skills in of the processes involved

relation to: in writing, with plenty of
• Engagement opportunities to practise
• Motivation and choice and experiment. Planning
• Conventions of print and for and teaching the process,
sentence structure craft and mechanical
• Spelling aspects of writing is essential Because writers are
• Vocabulary for children to develop into continually planning and Children sharing their
independent, self-regulated thoughts and ideas is the
• Purpose, genre and voice revising as they write, most important part of
• Writing process writers who can easily draw on researchers recommend writing; lower-level skills
• Response and author’s intent needed information from long- a process approach to such as grammar, spelling
term memory. Communicating the teaching of writing.This and punctuation can be
Why a Writing to children that the most approach views writing as a dealt with when editing
and publishing.
Workshop? important part of writing is the set of behaviours which can
For all writers, young and old, sharing of their thoughts and be taught, learned, discussed
writing is a complex process. ideas and that lower-level skills and developed. It emphasises
It involves tasks/stages during such as grammar, spelling and the importance of thinking, inquiring, imagining,
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which the writer chooses punctuation can be dealt with creating, communicating and exploring language
topics to write about, plans when editing and publishing, through writing and gives equal attention to
ideas, translates ideas into can relieve their anxiety and processes of writing and the written product.
a first draft, and reviews increase children’s confidence The Writing Workshop is an instructional framework
what has been written. and sense of self-efficacy. which teachers can use to support children as writers.

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The Writing Workshop

During the Writing Workshop for the authentic integration CONDITIONS FOR THE WRITING WORKSHOP TO FLOURISH
children learn how to be real of oral language, reading,
PRIMARY LANGUAGE CURRICULUM

• Provide sufficient time for writing daily.

writers and they are viewed fluency and vocabulary.
as real writers. Teachers Children begin to see reading • Give children choice of topic and opportunities to write
in a range of genre.
explicitly teach children how and writing as reciprocal
• Emphasise the development of children’s voice and
to work and learn actively processes as they adopt the creativity in their writing.
as writers, through providing stance of the writer and then
• Provide opportunities for social interaction including an
daily meaningful, authentic the reader. audience and response to children’s writing through daily
opportunities to write within conferences and share sessions.
Children need lots of
a routine-driven, predictable • Provide opportunities for children to learn the processes,
experience with shared and
learning environment. As craft and skills of writing through tailored daily mini-
interactive writing and shared lessons.
writing is primarily a social
reading before moving on to • Use the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model and other
activity, teachers scaffold
the Writing Workshop. appropriate teaching methodologies.
children’s learning and provide
opportunities for children to • Use quality literature to demonstrate writing techniques.
listen and respond to each • Create a safe, highly-organised, routine-driven, predictable
learning environment.
other daily. When a workshop
• Focus on content and writing as communication first and
approach is used, the creative foremost; encourage approximate spelling in the case of
and aesthetic dimensions young writers.
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of writing are fostered and • Assess writing using checklists, rubrics and portfolios in
motivation is enhanced as order to plan mini-lessons on the craft, skills and processes
children have choice and of writing. See also: NCCA (2006) Assessment in the
Primary School Curriculum.
control over writing topics.
It provides opportunities • Hold high expectations for children’s writing.

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The Writing Workshop

• concepts of print, e.g., left to right, spaces between
words, punctuation
PRIMARY LANGUAGE CURRICULUM

• approximate spelling of unfamiliar words by

segmenting syllables, stretching sounds and
matching letters to phonemes (a phoneme is the
smallest unit of sound in a word)
• how to use the word wall for high-frequency words
• how to combine ideas and elaborate on them
• how to add description and build context.

Interactive Writing
Getting Started with The teacher and children
Shared and Interactive share the pen. Children are In interactive writing,
Writing invited to come up and the teacher
Shared Writing write on the chart and children both
or interactive whiteboard, act as the scribe.
In shared writing, the children
e.g., particular words
choose what they would like to
or sounds that they are
write about (the topic) and the
familiar with and can spell.
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teacher acts as their scribe. First

Collaborative writing
they discuss the topic and then a chart or interactive screen by opportunities with the teacher and other children
they work together to develop modelling aspects of the writing is an important precursor to the introduction of a
the writing. The teacher records process such as: writing workshop.
the children’s writing ideas on
Video 1

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The Writing Workshop

Transitioning to • spell by segmenting sounds Teaching and development. Children
Writing Workshop in words Assessing for Learning move through predictable
PRIMARY LANGUAGE CURRICULUM

Children begin to write their • use environmental print in the

Regular assessment of stages of development in
own stories independently when classroom as a spelling aid.
children’s writing using spelling, which increases
they have experienced shared All children can make checklists, conferences their capacity to produce
and interactive writing, have meaning on the page by and rubrics can help more complex text.
a knowledge of some letter- mark-making/drawing and teachers determine Keeping samples of
sound relationships and an talking about their writing. children’s progression children’s writing in a
understanding that the written Some will also be able to with writing, in line portfolio provides a
word is a communicative act. label elements of their with the Progression record of progress over
drawings and others will be Continuum for Writing time.
In daily mini-lessons, teachers
think aloud and model how to: able to take it further and in the Primary Language
attempt to write sentences. Curriculum. Children
• choose topics of personal should also be encouraged
significance and brainstorm
to self- and peer-assess,
ideas Regular assessment using appropriate child-
• draw ideas and then label from conferences, and teacher-designed
elements of the picture rubrics and rubrics and checklists.
• write sentences related to the portfolios feeds into
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This information can then

picture mini-lesson planning feed into planning for
• discuss ideas with an audience and differentiation. differentiated instruction
• add to and refine ideas and scaffolding towards
• consider word choice and select the next stage of
interesting and apt vocabulary

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The Writing Workshop

place when a group of
children demonstrate a
PRIMARY LANGUAGE CURRICULUM

need for a specific skill or The Writing Workshop

craft. Small-group lessons has three parts:
are based on the teacher’s (1) a mini-lesson
notes and assessment (2) independent writing
records.While the and conferencing
teacher conducts small- (3) a share session
group lessons with
a targeted group of
children, the children
Structure of the Writing Workshop not involved in the small-group continue to work
1.The Mini-Lesson (approx. 10 mins.) independently on their writing from the previous day or
begin a new piece.The teacher will conference with 3-4
Video 2 of these children after the small-group lesson concludes.
Video 3 Daily mini-lessons play
The Writing Workshop begins with a mini-lesson. A mini-lesson a critical role in assisting
In a mini-lesson, the
is a short lesson focused on one aspect of writing in which the teacher provides explicit
children in enhancing the
teacher provides explicit instruction using a think-aloud. The instruction on one quality of their writing
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mini-lesson is often linked to high-quality children’s literature or specific craft, convention, and in discovering their
a piece of the child’s own writing. Whole-class mini-lessons process or organisational own voice.
take place when all children, or the majority, need explicit technique involved
in writing.
instruction with one specific craft, convention, process or
organisational technique. Small-group mini-lessons take

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2. Independent Writing to encourage children
TYPES OF MINI-LESSONS and Conferencing as writers. During
PRIMARY LANGUAGE CURRICULUM

Management and organisation (when necessary): (approx. 20-30 mins.) conferences, teachers
Teaching the routine of the Writing Workshop, e.g., the structure also use this one-to-one
of the Writing Workshop, how to use writing folders, rules for Video 4
time to note specific
conferences and how to respond within a share session. Video 5
concerns or areas of
Process (when necessary): Teaching the steps in the writing During sustained, expertise for individual
process, e.g., choosing a topic, drafting, revising, editing and publishing. independent writing children.This will
time, the teacher enable the teacher to
Conventions (1-2 times a week): Teaching skills to improve
engages in conferences provide differentiated
the readability and fluency of the piece, e.g., grammar, spelling,
with individual children. instruction during future
punctuation and sentence structure.
Conferences are short conferences and plan
Craft (3-4 times a week): Teaching a technique to enhance (approx. 5 mins) and content for small-group
writing quality/style, e.g., using details, strong introduction and teachers should aim to mini-lessons. In this way,
crafting an effective title. Recording key ideas on an anchor chart and conference with 3-4 the teacher provides
displaying in the classroom provides a visual reminder for children. children daily. A good support in response
conference involves to children’s particular
80% child talk and needs.At the end of
20% teacher talk.The independent writing
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teacher’s job is to nudge time, it is important

details from the writer, that children are given
to understand what a few minutes to read
the writer is trying to over what they have
do and to continue written and encouraged

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The Writing Workshop

to fix-up any errors they
to their audience with appropriate rate, pitch, and
notice. This provides
expression. Children in the class listen for details, ask
PRIMARY LANGUAGE CURRICULUM

teachers with insights

questions and state what they like about the piece of
into children’s level of
writing. The share session creates opportunities for
awareness of errors and
teachers to model appropriate language structures
their capacity to self-
in response to the writing, and for children to
correct. It can also feed
develop their vocabulary and oral language. The
forward into future
share session also provides the writer with positive
mini-lessons.
feedback from a real, attentive and appreciative
3. Share Session audience and increases children’s confidence and
(approx. 5-10 mins.) motivation to write. To conclude the workshop, the
Video 6 teacher and children may reflect on the mini-lesson
and set goals for the next workshop.
Video 7
One child sits on the
author’s chair or a
designated area in the In the share session,
classroom and reads his/ each child reads his/
her writing aloud while
her writing aloud to the
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children in the class

class. This is a natural
listen, ask questions
opportunity for children and say what they like
to transfer fluency skills about the writing.
learned in the reading
workshop by reading

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Grainger, T. Goouch, K., & Lambirth, A. (2005). Creativity and writing: WritingWorkshop_Video4
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www.curriculumonline.ie Developed in collaboration with

www.ncca.ie/primary Dr. Eithne Kennedy, St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra 8