|
Synopsis of the Writer's Workshop Curriculum |
||
| Middlebury Community Schools | ||
What does a writing workshop feel like? Imagine a junior high industrial arts class. Kids wearing goggles are spread out around the room, each working on their individual projects. The instructor gathers the students for a few minutes to point out technique, or remind them about a safety issue. But pretty soon the kids are back working on their own projects. The room is noisy and dirty. With each kid working at a different pace, on a different part of his or her project, the atmosphere seems disorganized at first glance. But on closer study, you can see that a lot is getting done. While the students work, the instructor moves around the room examining, complimenting, asking questions, making suggestions. At times the instructor picks up a tool and demonstrates its use for a particular student. But there is never any doubt that the student “owns” the project and is ultimately responsible for it.
Kids enjoy classes like shop, gym, and band because there’s a premium placed on doing the activity rather than talking about it. Writing workshop embraces that same premise. Lucy Calkins, director of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, has pointed out that the writing workshop is a “generative” time of day, with kids actively involved in creating their own texts. This is important. Most kids experience school as a series of tasks, dittos, assignments, and tests – things that are administered to them. Writing workshop turns the table and puts kids in charge. This requires us to engage in responsive teaching rather than relying on preset lesson plans.
For some people, the term “workshop” has a laid-back, 1960’s New Age feel that conjures up images of beanbag chairs and a kind of permissive, anything-goes atmosphere. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, workshop is a rigorous learning environment that has its roots in the traditional system in which apprentices learned the skills of their trade by working at the sides of master craftsmen and women. The writing workshop puts kids on the spot and makes them responsible for their learning.