Logistical WW ?'s - Anyone Care to Tackle?

[lovebug422]

I've been using the UOS for two years now and LOVE them. I've never seen Lucy - would love to though. And have never been to any WW workshops for teachers. I know many of us here have though, and I was hoping you could answer a couple of questions...

*When you have your children write each day, do you have them first start by sketching their story (say you're doing Small Moments)?

*Do you have your kiddos use black markers when writing?

*Do you allow your students to color their pictures after going back to add more details?

*If a child wants to start their day in WW by working on a story they started yesterday, do you find they are spending time on the pictures, and not on the words? How do you approach this?

*When using/starting the "writing booklets" - three pages stapled together. Do you have them write the "beginning" on the first page, "middle" on the second page, and "ending" on the last page? Do you have a nice way that you structure this in terms of your mini-lessons? I'm not really fond of telling the story across your fingers - I don't know, maybe it's a "me thing" but it just doesn't work for me. Any thoughts?

THANKS!

 

[luckyteacher]

This is my fourth year using Lucy but I don't follow it strictly. I'm in NYC so we actually have quite a few teachers that went to TC for their teaching degree and most of the colleges in the area have a strong emphasis in teaching using the workshop model. Teachers at my school collaborate with the Literacy coach on minilessons for each unit of writing following Lucy's basic theme but with alternate lessons.

Here's my answers. I'm definitely still learning so I'm interested in how others will respond.

No, I don't always have them sketch first, I tell them some people like to write first and that helps them visualize what to put in their pictures and for others it is the other way around. They get to decide for themselves as the writer which method works best for them.

I don't use black markers when writing but have recently gotten very interested in trying that. I'm still not sure about the best way to introduce it and what markers would be best to use. If someone else does I would love to hear how it works in your classroom.

As far as coloring goes I have done it a few ways. No coloring unless we are publishing. Coloring only on Fridays and I would teach an illustration lesson/technique every (most) Fridays. And I've done allowing them to color whenever they want. I am back to that this year. I just don't feel like not allowing them to color had an impact on their writing. If anything I feel like the year I allowed them to color whenever they wanted, 2 years ago, and this year again my students writing has been the highest. So there are days when they may spend the majority of WW coloring their picture and I'm o.k. with that. I try to integrate writing a lot during the day. I do keep a thumb on kids who can spend a lot of time on the pictures. I make sure to work with them on spending just as much time with the words.

As far as booklets are concerned. I pretty much teach it the same way as Lucy. I focus a little bit more on touching each page and saying what will go on the page though.


Hope this is helpful!

 

[liketeaching1]

Writing Workshop

*When you have your children write each day, do you have them first start by sketching their story (say you're doing Small Moments)? Yes, I usually ask them to first sketch their thoughts. I model this extensively so they understand that a sketch is done quickly so they can get to the writing.

*Do you have your kiddos use black markers when writing? No, I don't because--when I get my kids from K, sometimes they are used to writing with crayons, etc. We work on always using pencils so that we can erase our mistakes (backward letters, etc.) Since I "preach" using pencils for writing--I figure that I can't go against my own teaching and have them use markers when doing WW. I know that last year this was discussed here on PT and some let their kids use pens. I think this is a personal opinion.

*Do you allow your students to color their pictures after going back to add more details? This depends on if the student is finishing up a piece or beginning a new piece. If the student has worked on it for a day or two I let them color for a few minutes at the end of WW. IF they are beginning a new piece--sketch with pencil, write, write, write, share.

*When using/starting the "writing booklets" - three pages stapled together. Do you have them write the "beginning" on the first page, "middle" on the second page, and "ending" on the last page? Do you have a nice way that you structure this in terms of your mini-lessons?

I have the pages pre-stapled into three page booklets. Like the previous poster, I have them touch the pages and decide what they will put on each page. By telling their partner and touching the pages, this usually helps them decide as to what to put. We sometimes say that on the first page the author usually lets us know the who, where, when/ the second page the what happened/ the third page your feelings or "ending"

 

[Mrs. R]

This is my third year using the program. I was able to attend the writing institute in NYC two summers ago and it was amazing. I think no matter the amount or type of training people have had, you'll find lots of different answers to your questions. Ultimately, you have to do what works best for you and your students.

*When you have your children write each day, do you have them first start by sketching their story (say you're doing Small Moments)? First I have them tell their story aloud across the pages, then I have them sketch across the pages. I find that my first graders sometimes "lose" their story if they don't sketch cross the pages first. Plus it helps to make sure the story is stretched out and not all concentrated on the first page.

*Do you have your kiddos use black markers when writing? I don't use black markers, though I can see why people would. Pencils work for me and my students.

*Do you allow your students to color their pictures after going back to add more details? I don't have my students add color to their pictures unless it's the piece we're "fixing up and fancying up" for publication. I have too many children who would spend their time coloring and I want to get as much writing out of our writing time as I can. They asked a lot about coloring during our launching unit, but by now they've bought into the whole "we color when we publish" idea.

*If a child wants to start their day in WW by working on a story they started yesterday, do you find they are spending time on the pictures, and not on the words? How do you approach this? I don't find this. usually the reason they want to keep working on the piece is that they have more to add to the words. I've found sharing their plan for the day with their writing partner really helps with this. If I do have a student who's drawing too much, I might repeat a version of the drawing vs. sketching minilesson with that child during a writing conference. Or I'd show them how in my own writing I choose the most important parts to sketch. It's a difficult balance for some kids.

*When using/starting the "writing booklets" - three pages stapled together. Do you have them write the "beginning" on the first page, "middle" on the second page, and "ending" on the last page? Do you have a nice way that you structure this in terms of your mini-lessons? I'm not really fond of telling the story across your fingers - I don't know, maybe it's a "me thing" but it just doesn't work for me. Any thoughts? I can't help much here b/c I really like the "telling the story acorss your fingers" idea.

 

[lovebug422]

Thanks for your feedback -
I think my "issue" with telling your story across your fingers is because I don't get how to do it. Each finger doesn't stand for a sentence does it? Give me an example of how you would tell a story across your fingers...

 

[schoolmama]

small moments

I am fairly new to UOS but I have been to a workshop for teachers. It was so awesome! If you ever get an opportunity to go make every effort, it will be worth it.

When I taught the small moments I started first with talking the students through the small moment so we could see that first. That was planning the story. Then we talked about what we were going to draw on each page. We quickly sketched the story in pencil and then we labeled our sketch. Only the important things that were going to be in our story.

After this we planned out the words that would go on each page. I did use the first page as the beg., second as middle, etc. We tapped the page for each word to see if it would fit. Then we wrote the words.

I do not allow my students to color their sketch until they are ready to publish their story.

I would be interested to know what others do.

 

[happyreading]

tell across fingers

No, each finger isn't one sentence; it's one idea/page. Something I learned from the TC people was to hold up the first finger, tell what you'd say, then say "turn the page" before holding up your next finger. This transfers really well to then touching each page to tell the story.