Teaching writing and writing in itself is an absolute passion of mine but is not for many teachers, as well as students. In my opinion, writing is probably one of the hardest subjects to “teach” and is dwindling quickly out of schools altogether. Why? Because writing is personal and emotional and it can be difficult to teach. The school days demand so much that writing has fallen by the wayside.
Many teachers ask me how I get my students to write. What’s my secret? How do I fit it into the already jam-packed school day? In my experience with teaching and coaching, it all comes down to classroom management and in this case, the classroom management of Writer’s Workshop. This includes the organization and management of the physical space and the components of the workshop. Just like everything else, writing is a process, and in order for this process to begin, we must organize and manage the physical space and the Writer’s Workshop components BEFORE teachers can actually begin teaching writing with confidence so students can work through the writing process with success.
After the classroom space is organized for Writer’s Workshop, you’ll need the right tools and resources to support and guide your students through the writing process. I don’t know about you but I haven’t had any formal training or professional development in writing so I had to do some learning for myself and find the tools and resources I needed for my students to be successful.
Since I found what works to transform students into writers and actually like writing, I’m sharing it with other teachers. I created a 7 day Writer’s Workshop Boot Camp that will give you all my tips, tricks, and resources to help you transform your students into writers. It’s particularly for the elementary grades with a focus on differentiating the resources to make it work for the grade(s) you teach.
Here’s a Sneak Peek:
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Day 1: Organizing & Managing Writer’s Workshop Video Tutorial- You’ll learn how to set up your Writer’s Workshop regarding the tone, physical space, and all the components.
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Day 2: Transforming Your Students Into Writers- You’ll learn 4 ways to get your students to LOVE writing, the first step in transforming your students into writers.
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Day 3: Launching Writer’s Workshop- You’ll get easy to implement resources to launch your Writer’s Workshop, like my writer’s workshop script and my Writer’s Heart activity, plus a guide for the first 20 days.
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Day 4: Teaching The Writer- You’ll get my ultimate BUNDLE of lesson plans that include 54 lessons that teach the six traits of writing (ideas, organization, voice, sentence fluency, word choice, and conventions) and is intended for grades K-5 within all 3 genres (18 lesson plans each) of informational, narrative and persuasive/narrative/opinion writing.
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Day 5: Teaching By Genre- You’ll get some AMAZING structured resources to teach by genre (narrative, informational and persuasive/argument), including my Personal Narratives and Informative Writing Unit, which both include lots of visual graphic organizers, teacher examples to use for whole group lessons, discussions and peer activities, along with checklists, publishing paper, and a rubric.
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Day 6: Writer’s Workshop Toolkit- You’ll get essential tools, like rubrics, checklists, and more, that every Writer’s Workshop needs. I threw in my bestselling Feedback Sticky Notes and my Revising Checklists, Posters, & Sticky Notes too…woot!
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Day 7: The Secret- You’ll learn the secret to getting your students to write.
You’ll become part of my exclusive writing group, to receive freebies and other resources that will continue to help you grow and learn as a writer teaching writers.
I know that you will love teaching writing after you have the tools and resources to help you organize and manage the physical space and instructional strategies to transform your students into writers.
Here are a few happy boot campers’ reviews after taking this mini-course:
Here’s a little note of appreciation from a parent of a reluctant writer in 3rd grade. I worked my writing magic on him with the strategies and resources you’ll get in this boot camp.
I just wanted to send a quick thank you for that sweet writing notebook you made for Ethan — you are so incredibly thoughtful!!! He was so excited about it! We are going on a trip to Brazil this summer and he already said he wants to pack that notebook and write about our days there in it as a diary 🙂 And it was his idea! I can’t begin to tell you how thankful I am for your writing inspiration in his life this year. Thank you for being so great!
If you need some support with Writer’s Workshop or transforming yourself or your students into writers, check out the Writer’s Workshop Boot Camp Mini-Course here and let the writing magic begin!
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Christine Weis is a passionate educator, classroom management coach, wife, and mom of two busy boys. She enjoys teaching, writing, and creating resources for teachers.
You are doing a great job by creating this resourceful guide. I am a self taught writer and I can relate to what you have said here.
That’s fantastic feedback! Thank you! I’m so glad!! Thanks so much for reading!
Christine at For The Love of Teachers
What a great idea for a writer’s workshop boot camp! I’m a teacher and I also don’t like teaching students how to write, as I find it difficult! I’ll follow your tips with pleasure. 🙂
Thank you! It is so difficult to teach kids to write, especially if you don’t like to write yourself. I hope it helps many teachers. Thanks so much for reading!
Christine at For The Love of Teachers
I have always love and fancied creative writing. I can however use a refresher. Will definitely check out this workshop boot camp. Thank you for sharing.
Me too! I love all things writing, pens and journals included. 😉 Thanks for reading!
Christine at For The Love of Teachers
Creative writing was always my favourite part of school. I liked it when the teacher would give us a vague title like ‘the playground’ and we had to create a story just from that.
Me too! Creative writing is so much fun and many children like it. Thanks for reading!
Christine at For The Love of Teachers
This would be great for kids during the summer! By the time they get back they will be ready!
It’s actually more for the teachers to do over the summer so they can begin implementing Writer’s Workshop in their classroom within the first 6-8 weeks of school. Thanks for reading!
Christine at For The Love of Teachers
This is interesting. I have always felt the need to upgrade my writing skills. Will take a look at it and see if I can fit in my schedule.
Thank you! It definitely helps teach the writer. Thanks for reading!
Christine at For The Love of Teachers
I’m glad we focused so much on writing when I was in school. I never thought I’d use it, but here I am writing a blog. Your program sounds like a great resource for educators.
I’m glad you did too. Writing is thinking and needs a lot of modeling and practice. And look here you are writing away! 🙂 That’s a big accomplishment. And thank you…I hope my Writer’s Workshop Boot Camp helps many teachers. Thanks for reading!
Christine at For The Love of Teachers
My kids struggle with writing. I commend you for your teaching. Kids need to learn how to express themselves in the written word
Thank you Cristine! I hear that often…kids and adults struggling. I guess because writing is my passion it’s easy for me to teach and to spread my enthusiasm. It transforms my students into writers. I love it! They love it! It’s a win-win! Thanks for reading!
Christine at For The Love of Teachers
I’ve attended writer’s workshops in the past and found them helpful. It’s always good to get away and focus on your own creativity.
That’s great! I’m glad they were helpful! Creativity is the key to writing …writing about what you know and love. Thanks for reading!
Christine at For The Love of Teachers
This sounds amazing! Actually laying out how to plan to teach writing makes it seen a lot less daunting a task.
Thank you Natalie! I agree…7 days is a good amount of time to learn something new, brush up on what you already know and do it better moving forward. I hope my boot camp helps many teachers. Thanks for reading!
Christine at For The Love of Teachers
Writing has always been my favourite and it is difficult to teach because it requires so much imagination and creativity. However, I think this workshop would be a stepping stone to help those who find it hard to find their groove.
I agree! Writing does require imagination and creativity. When writing seems impossible, I encourage my students and teachers too, to write about what they are passionate about and/or what they know a lot about. That’s always a great place to start. Thanks for reading!
Christine at For The Love of Teachers
Writing has always been my favorite. I like that they are workshops like this to foster people’s talents.
Me too! I’m glad that writing is a positive outlet for some. I hope my boot camp helps many teachers. Thanks for reading!
Christine at For The Love of Teachers
Sounds like a great workshop! It’s sad that writing has gone by the wayside because of the heavy demands on teachers and students. I am glad that you are able to inspire your students to love writing.
Thank you! It is sad! When the demands get high and the time in the day gets shorter, that’s when you integrate teaching reading and writing together, using mentor texts. It’s a time saver! I find that mentor texts inspire my students to think and write like real writers. Thanks for reading!
Christine at For The Love of Teachers