Below is my tentative yearly schedule by months. This is a guide for how I want my Writer's Workshop to develop throughout the year.
August
Introduce Writer's Workshop
Explain the various centers/steps in the writing process
Pre-Writing, Drafting, Revising, Editing, Publishing, and Sharing
Go over the expectations, procedures, and rules
Model for students
Briefly go over the 6+1 traits of writing
Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Conventions, and Presentation
Briefly introduce the Genres of writing that they will be working on
Poetry, Narratives, Informational, Realistic Fiction, and Opinion
Pass out writer's notebooks
Show students the writing resources and materials that are available to them
Go over the proper way to use these resources/materials
Establish a friendly and respectful writing community that encourages sharing
Give students a pre-assessment to determine their writing level, strengths, and weaknesses
Students will work on an informative writing that introduces them, so that everyone can get to know each other
September
Students will learn about the Pre-Writing stage in the writing process
Model how it should look and give them the opportunity to practice themselves
Provide resources in which students can use in this stage
Graphic Organizers
Students will also learn about the Ideas trait
Model to students what a good idea is and how to make an idea narrow
Introduce the ideas rubric and the ideas song
Have students create their own lists of ideas that they can reference throughout the year
A classroom chart would also be helpful
A great activity for this trait is having students draw their idea out and include many details.
Students will work on writing an opinion paper.
October
Students will learn about and focus on writing Drafts
Model how a draft should look
Explain that this is where they simply write all of there thoughts down
A draft may be messy and will not be perfect
Students will also learn about the Organization trait
Model to students how to organize their paper
Explain that their writing should have a clear beginning, middle, and end
Introduce the organization rubric and the organization song
A great activity for this trait is having the students use webs and graphic organizers so that they can put their writing in order.
Students will be working on a narrative Halloween/ Fall piece of writing sometime this month.
November
Students will learn about and focus on revising their writing
Use a draft that you created and model to students how to revise
Explain that revising includes changes sentences and moving them around
Revising a paper will make a piece of writing stronger
Students will also learn about the Voice trait
Show students examples of voice in picture books
Model to students how to add voice in their own papers
Explain that when you read their writing their personality should shine through
Introduce the voice rubric and the voice song
A great activity for this trait is by having students express various voices with sock puppets
Students will write a thanksgiving piece this month
They can write their own thanksgiving story or they can write a letter to their parents explaining what they are thankful for
December
Students will learn about and focus on editing their writing
Using the same draft that you revised, model to students how to edit their writing
Explain that editing is not changing their work, but rather checking for any mistakes such as grammar issues
Editing a paper is the last step before the writing can be published
Students will also learn about the Word Choice trait
Show students that word choice is important throughout literature
Model to students how to use vocabulary and words that will stand out to the reader
Make sure to explain that the student should vary their choice of words in their writing so that it does not become repetitive
Introduce the word choice rubric and the word choice song
A great activity for this is having each student brainstorm their top ten favorite words and challenge them to use some in their writing
Students will write something to celebrate the winter holidays/ Christmas
January
Students will learn about and focus on publishing their writings
Model to students how to publish a piece of writing
Express to students that this is the final copy of their writing
Students can print or type up their final copies
They can also draw and add images that will enhance their writing
Students will also learn about the Sentence Fluency trait
A great activity for this is having students come up with a classroom list of the various ways that they can begin their sentences
Things included could be like a sound, an interjection, or dialogue
Introduce the sentence fluency rubric and the sentence fluency song
Explain that sentence fluency is important so that the reader can fully understand their writing
Model to students what effective sentence fluency looks like when writing
Students will practice writing Realistic Fiction
February
Students will learn about the importance of sharing their writing with peers
Model to students where they should share their writing and how it should be done
Share your own writing with the entire class
Express that everyone should be respectful and listen to others when they are sharing
Sharing pieces of writing will allow students to gain confidence and learn writing skills and ideas from their peers
Students will also learn about the Conventions trait
Model to students how to strengthen convention in their own writing
Explain that writing conventions include spelling, grammar, and punctuation
Introduce the conventions rubric and the conventions song
A great activity to teach student how to spell is by having them spell words on their desk with shaving cream
Students will write a Valentines day poem sometime during the month
March
Students will learn about the Presentation trait
Model and tech students what good presentation looks like in writing
Explain that good writing presentation consists of legible writing, writing with spaces, and writing in the margins
Show students picture books to explain how various authors made their writing presentable
April
Go over all of the writing traits with students
Have them write on a topic an assess them on all of the traits
Assess their writing growth
May/June
Re-teaching of specific writing traits depending on student needs
Students will complete a final writing project to end the school year
Students will each write a page explaining their favorite 1st grade memory
The pages will be combined to create a class book
Every month I will collect student writing samples to place in their individual writing folders. These folders will be used to show student growth and progress to parents during conference night. I will also use this to assess if I need to adjust my instruction to better meet their writing needs.