Setting the Stage for Writer's Workshop

Welcome to "The Owl Spot" as we set the stage for writer's workshop.  This is my 2nd installment of my Writer's Workshop Wednesday posts, and it's one of my favorites!  

As teachers, we (usually) enjoy decorating and organizing our rooms for a new school year.  Sometimes it gets overwhelming with all of the photos circulating on Pinterest and Facebook.  I like to make a checklist, though, to help me stay focused (grab the checklist at the end of this post for free!).

One area on my checklist is to set up my content related areas, one of them being my Writing Center.  In this center, I have an interactive bulletin board for students to track their writing process and a shelf with writing tools for my students to use (different kinds of paper, checklists, dictionaries, editing pens, etc.).

For today, I wanted to focus on the Interactive Writing Process Board (or display). 

One set of mini lessons I teach after I go over procedures for Writer's Workshop is what the Writing Process is.  It's important that students know what happens in each stage, as well as where they are in the process as they are writing.  

Creating an interactive board doesn't have to be as hard as it sounds.  You just need a way for students to visually track their own process.  It also makes it easy for you to catch a "status of the class" just by looking at your board/display.  

You want to make sure you have these items on your board/display:

* Stages of the writing process

* Short explanation of what happens in each stage - this can be either on the board/display or somewhere nearby.

* Movable pieces with student names on them.  These should attach to the different writing process stages. There's so many different ways you can do this!

1. Clip chart - students move their clothespins to the stage they are currently working on with their writing. Super easy!

2. Magnets - keep your writing process stages on a magnetic surface. Use dollar store/die cuts, etc. with student names on them for your movable pieces.  Just add a magnet to the back!

3. If using a true bulletin board, you can use any movable pieces. Students attach them to the stage with push pins!

Here's some picture ideas...

These are the pieces to a writing process board. 

The posters explain each stage, while the students use the clip chart to show where they are in the process. Super easy to set up, even if you don't have much board/wall space.

Here's one that I used a magnetic surface:

Since my theme was Sea Turtles that year, my students had magnetic name pieces (sea turtle eggs) that traveled to each of the stages of the writing process. This year I had to display my explanation posters in a different area.

Here's another one...

This one goes with my current Alice in Wonderland theme. Students have their writing process posters above the "Tea Party."  On the first day of school, students design their own teacups to use as their movable piece. Because this is on the wall, they use sticky tack to move their pieces on the corresponding teacup.

I've seen so many creative ways to do this! One teacher used a dog theme, and printed out dog bowls, one for each stage. Students had bones with their names on them to move to the different bowl.  Another favorite was a race track. The Writing Process stages were around the track, and students moved their race cars around!

Have fun making your classroom setup meaningful to what you are going to teach your students! 

I'd love to hear how you display your writing process so your students can track their writing!

Link: Free Checklist for Setting Up Your Classroom

Link: Writing Process Poster Set

Thanks for reading!
Martha from "The Owl Spot"