FAQ - Do you do a separate Writing Workshop?
A: It really depends upon the age of students and the master schedule. In our primary classrooms, if our schedule allows, we typically hold a separate Writer's Workshop outside of the Daily 5™ literacy block. During Writer's Workshop, though students always have choice of topic, they don't always have choice regarding form. When we are doing small moment writing, we are all writing small moments. So, children enjoy the complete freedom of choice that comes with writing during the literacy block. They may be working on lists, friendly letters, reports, or continuing an unfinished piece from the workshop time.
Even if our day includes a separate Writer's Workshop block, we typically conduct a brief writing lesson for one of our focus lessons during Daily 5™. The topics are derived directly from things we notice as we confer with students. This saves the in-depth writing instruction for Writer's Workshop time. (We are primarily using Lucy Caulkin's Primary Units of Study and About the Authors by Katie Wood Ray)
By the time Daily 5™ is up and running with our intermediate students, we find their excellent stamina lends itself well to a block with only two rounds…one of reading and one of writing. The focus lessons in between each round include one on reading comprehension and one on writing. The writing focus lesson becomes the Writer's Workshop lesson. Many of our schools use a writing curriculum such as Lucy Caulkin's.
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