I've been out of the classroom for a few years, so maybe take my ideas with a grain or two of salt.
Writing Workshop Our team pretty much came to the same conclusions that Maggie did after trying the traditional Atwell approach for a couple years. We felt that it wasn't getting students to where we wanted them to be. So we modified the concept so that we focused on 1-2 selected genres/styles each quarter (some integrated with SS or SCI projects). This allowed for more interaction between students and more collaboration among team teachers. These two things somewhat downplayed in traditional, individualized Writing Workshop approach. Free or Unstructured Writing One of the things I would change in my practice is to go with more free writing - maybe 15-20 minutes of unstructured writing at least twice a week. With all the process writing, 6+1 Traits, and extensive pre-write strategies, I think we may be driving out some of the joy of writing for kids. So I'd put in that 20 minute time for writing fast and furious on whatever is in the mind, in whatever style the student wants. The only stipulation I would use is that the ENTIRE time is used for writing or thinking. I've been in classrooms that require only two paragraphs during a "journal write" - so Johnny scribbles off two mindless paragraphs in 5 minutes and uses the other 15 in being annoying or playing games. I think there's something about the process of thinking, writing, and reflecting that doesn't always fit into a five minute chunk. Keith Mack [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.literacyworkshop.org _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
