Writer’s Workshop Mini Lesson #1
Topic: Prewriting
Focus: Development of Creative Ideas
Format: This lesson will take 40 minutes, 1 day
Grouping: Whole Group Instruction
Common Core Standards
Text Types and Purposes
4W3CC.4.W.3 Text Types and Purposes: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
Key Ideas and Details
4R.L2CC.4.R.L.2 Key Ideas and Details: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
· Make connections with the author’s point of view
· Brainstorm two ideas for their story
· Write one paragraph summary for each story idea
Materials
- Lined paper for students to write their ideas on
- Students should have pencils sharpened and ready to go
- Example for students to view for modeling
Anticipatory Set
I will ask the students if they have ever wished to be an author as they read in their books. I will instruct the students to close their eyes to visualize and imagine what it would be like to be an author. I will introduce to the students that they will be
Procedures
- Discuss the term publishing. What does publishing mean?
- Engage students in open conversation about what publishing means. Ask the students if they think publishing can be used in all of the core subject areas: Math, Science, Social Sciences, Reading, and Writing.
- Explain that when anyone conducts research in any of the aforementioned subjects, they would have to publish their research and writing. Have students get out their textbooks and explain that they had to be published in order for them to have them at school.
- Explain to the students that they are going to be writing a Children’s book and publishing it through an online website. Tell the students that they are going to have the opportunity to buy their very own books that will be hardbound – with enthusiasm!
- Explain to the students that their task is to brainstorm two different ideas that they could write a story about. They will be free to choose their own story idea (they will later be guided in choosing the most appropriate story to write.)
Assessment
· Students will be assessed based on school appropriate content.
· I will make comments on the students’ work, guiding them to the idea that I think can be best developed into a story.
Writer’s Workshop Mini Lesson #2
Topic: Editing/Revising
Focus: Conventions
Format: This lesson will take 40 minutes, 1 day
Grouping: Whole Group Instruction, Partner Work
Common Core Standards
Conventions of Standard English
4L1CC.4.L.1 Conventions of Standard English: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
3L6CC.3.L.6 Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships (e.g., After dinner that night we went looking for them).
Objectives
Students will be able to:
· Identify grammatical errors within their story rough draft
· Use accurate grade level words when revising the story rough draft
· Work in partners to revise and edit each other’s story
Materials
- Red pen to make grammatical changes for the editing stage
- Blue pen to make story changes for the revision stage
- Conventions and editing/revising handouts
- Writer’s Folders
- Lined paper to write feedback on
Anticipatory Set
I will introduce Miss Fisk (Mandy) to the students to talk about editing for 10 minutes. I will ask the students, “How would you like to meet someone who has actually edited a book?”
Procedures
1. Introduce the guest speaker, Mandy Fisk, to the students and she will talk about editing. She will also point out some things to keep in mind when illustrating their books.
2. After Miss Fisk speaks, the students will be free to ask questions about editing.
3. Explain to the students that they are going to be working in partners to edit/revise each other’s work. The students will read their stories and think of ways to improve their partners’ story. They will also be pointing out the good points of their books as well, and celebrating those as well.
4. The students will take the feedback that was given to them and implement it using the blue and red pens.
5. The red pen will be used to make conventions corrections, and the blue pen for revising corrections.
6. If the students don’t finish the assignment in class, they will take it home to finish it as homework.
Assessment
I will be looking to see if the students made appropriate corrections with revising and editing.
Social Studies Mini Lesson #3
Topic: Famous Authors
Focus: Northeastern States
Format: This lesson will take 30 minutes, 1 day
Grouping: Small Group Instruction
ILS Goals
D. Understand the historical significance of geography.
17.D.2a Describe how physical characteristics of places influence people’s perceptions and their roles in the world over time.
C. Understand relationships between geographic factors and society.
17.C.2b Describe the relationships among location of resources, population distribution and economic activities (e.g., transportation, trade, communications).
Objectives
Students will be able to:
· Identify different authors from the northeastern states
Materials
· Social studies handouts (written by students in newsletter formatting)
· Yellow highlighters
Anticipatory Set
I will introduce the lesson by telling the students that I have received newsletters from the Northeastern States about Famous Authors. I will ask the students if they would like to hear what they have to say.
Procedures
1. I will divide the students into groups of 3 with one group of 4. Students will be working together to find interesting facts about the states and to gather information about publishers, famous authors, poets, etc.
2. Students will be asked to make connections between publishing (our unit) with social studies.
3. Brainstorm with the students ideas and ways publishers and authors are needed within the community and how their geographic location may affect what they write about.
4. Students will share at least 2 facts per group that they gathered with the whole class.
Assessment
Students will be assessed based on class participation as well as their ability to recall important facts about the authors and publishers from those states.
Reading Workshop Mini Lesson #4
Topic: Illustrations
Focus: Visualizing
Format: This lesson will take 60 minutes, 1 day
Grouping: Whole Group Instruction, Individual Work
Common Core Standards
Key Ideas and Details
4R.I3CC.4.R.I.3 Key Ideas and Details: Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
· Visualize key concepts and details from the story from making connections from the illustrations
· Infer the connections between illustrations and context of a story
Materials
· Picture books
· Novels with pictures inside
· Post it notes
· Choice books
Anticipatory Set
I will begin the lesson by asking the students, “How many of you like to watch movies?” How many of you see pictures inside of your mind when you read a story or novel?
Procedures
1. Students will gather around the carpet on the reading workshop minilesson area. Explain to students that visualization is a literacy skill that helps to better understand a text and what is going on in a story.
2. Explain further that in the story they are writing, they need to come up with images that help the reader understand their story more.
3. Read a book aloud without showing the students the pictures. Ask the students what they recall from the book.
4. Read another book aloud, but this time, show the students the pictures. Ask the students what they recall from the book.
5. The students will recall more from the book in which the pictures were shown.
6. Give the students the task of using a post it note to exemplify that they found a part in their choice book that they understood better because they were able to visualize by using an illustration.
7. The students will write what they understood on the post it note.
Assessment
The students’ post it note will verify if the students understand the concept of visualizing and how it helps the reader understand the context of the story better.
Reading Workshop Mini Lesson #5
Topic: Final Drafting
Focus: Publishing
Format: This lesson will take 30 minutes, 1 day
Grouping: Whole Group Instruction, Individual Work
Common Core Standards
Key Ideas and Details
4R.I3CC.4.R.I.3 Key Ideas and Details: Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
· Type their story into the online publishing website
· Use technology appropriately to publish their book online
Materials
· Writer’s Folder
· Netbooks (cart from the library at 8:00am)
· Teacher laptop to show my example book
· Elmo to connect to the laptop to show the example book
Anticipatory Set
Explain to the students that they are going to begin the publishing stage of their books today by using the netbooks.
Procedures
1. Students will check out a netbook in ABC order.
2. Students will login to onlinepublishing.studentreasures.com using their username and password.
3. Students will follow the instructions online to begin typing their books into the website.
4. This process will take 2 weeks to get through to the publishing.
Assessment
I will login as the teacher to view the progress of the students’ books and monitor closely as the weeks go on.
