Why a Writer's Notebook?

When you walk into an elementary classroom, you are likely to see kids doing math or reading work. There is a chance that they may be conducting a science experience, or they could even be taking a brain break. However, the chances of students taking part in a writer's workshop seems to be a lot less likely. Math and reading are the tested subjects, and science, although neglected itself, seems to be the runner up on time spent working in that area. Writing is important, and I think teachers, parents, and students know that, but there is not much time in the school day and finding the time in the schedule to spend the neccessary time writing can be difficult. The excuse of writing being incorporated into ELA time when responding to comprehension questions is a "classic." However, I want to share with you why it is so important that students be given time and expected to simply write.

No matter the field that a student decides to go into, there is going to be a time when they need to write. Simply, filling out a job application will require some writing. Communication with others is a part of daily life. Although verbal communication may be the most common form of communication, written communication does not fall far behind. When children practice their writing skills, they practice their communication skills. Not only that, writing provides practice for skills needed in upper grades.

Children need to know that their thoughts are important. As a teacher, we do not have time to give every child all the neccessary attention and hear all the stories that we may wish to hear in one day. By providing students with a writer's notebook, we are telling children that their voices and feelings are important. When we have a writing workshop and begin with a mini lesson, we are not only providing children with a writing strategy, we are giving them the tools they need to share their thoughts and allow others to hear their voices. The writer's notebook is a place where students can be creative. They learn to take ideas that they may have and store them in their "treasure chests." When they are ready to write, students can refer to their notebooks for topics and also use the notebook to draft up different ideas.

How to Get Started?

The thought of a writer's notebook for every child in your classroom with multiple writings from every child can be overwhelming at first thought. However, you do not have to read everything that every child writes. The goal is to get your students writing and have them learn to decide for themselves what they can write about. They may have ten drafts of something and you only read one. You want your students to know that you care about what they are writing, but one of the many skills a writer's notebook teaches is independence. Students need to have a bit a freedom and choice. This is what helps make writing FUN! My first suggestion when starting writers' notebooks in your classroom is to make kids aware of this. Let them know that you want to read what they have written, but that some of what they write will be for them. Their notebooks are where they can think! It may even be useful to come up with some type of system that allows your students to mark a page a certain way to signal to you that they do not wish to share the information on a certain page with you. Of course, they must understand that they cannot mark all pages, but with a system such as this, students have the opportunity to get out some things they may need to let go of and know that mistakes are just find to make.

As you may have guessed, you cannot simply hand each of your students a writer's notebook and expect them to magically know how to write. Learning to write is just like learning to do anything else. It takes time! You must model for your students ways in which to write. Challenge them to take risks and use different styles. A great way to do this is through the use of mentor texts. Mentor texts are books, often times picture books, that we present to kids, in order to show them something. These mentor texts are read in the classroom multiple times during the school year and bothe the teacher and students must love them. When learning a specific strategy, teachers can use mentor texts to point out things that the author of the book does that students may want to test out. Your students will need you to first model these things. The gradual release of responsibility model allows for just that. I reccomend that the average day (or span of a day or two, depending on the age of your students) consists of a schedule similar to you reading the mentor text, pointing out a strategy to students. After the reading the strategy is discussed and you model how to use the strategy. From there, students may work with a partner talking throught the strategy and possibly completing the strategy before using the strategy by themselves.

But My Students "Have Nothing to Write About"

Anyone who has worked with students of any age who are asked to write has heard the age old excuse "but I just don't have anything to write about." By completing prewriting and brainstorming activities with your students in the writers' notebooks, you can help avoid this issue and have your students wanting to write! However, it can take time to build up topics. As a class, the first two weeks of school could possibly be spent brainstorming, and that is okay! The drafting process should not be seen as five straightforward steps to all be taken in a row. Most pieces will never make it to be published, and multiple steps throughout the writing process may be repeated.

There are a number of different strategies that you can use with students that are sure to get them in the writing mood and give them multiple topics to write about. A favorite among teacheers and students alike are heart maps. Students are given a heart. Inside the heart, they write or draw things that they love. Things that are not liked go on the outside of the heart. This should give students multiple topics to write about. Specialized heart maps may be used, as well. For example, a heart map specifically for family may be generated.

Heart Map Example

Students can also use a triangle point down to pinpoint a story. Sutdents start with an overarching topic and slowly narrow it down until a story to tell is reached.

Triangle Point Down Example

If you are looking to integrate social studies, maps are the perfect answer. For example, students may draw a map of their neighborhood. On the map, they will list stories that have happened in different places of the map. This activity can be adjusted to be used with both younger and older children. Maps can be of any and everything. Maps of animals, bedbrooms, and the school are just a few of the many possibilities. Older students can even map their emotions. Students simply trace their hands. In each of the finger areas, they write an emotion that they have felt. From there, they list storied related to the different emotions.

Map Example

These suggestions are just a few of the many possibilities. For more resources and ideas for helping your students get their story ideas down on paper, check out "Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children's Literature K-6." You can also get more ideas and insights from the blogs of my classmates which are linked on my website!

Dorfman, L. R., Cappelli, R., & Hoyt, L. (2017). Mentor texts : teaching writing through children’s literature, k-6. Portland, Maine : Stenhouse Publishers, [2017].