Writing+Workshop+Goals

Lesson Name: Writing Workshop goals


 * Submitted by** Alix McKee

2D Student demonstrates ability to set and achieve goals
 * Standard**(s):

Writing notebook Pencil
 * Materials**:


 * Time**: 5 minutes at the beginning or middle of the independent working time of the writing workshop

Students will focus their efforts on practicing a particular technique during writing workshop. Students will evaluate their efforts at the end of writing workshop to see if they did indeed use a particular technique or quality of writing.
 * Goals**:

One of the most difficult aspects of writing workshop is holding students accountable for using the techniques and skills they have been taught during the mini-lesson. Lucy Calkins’ __Units of Study for Teaching Writing, Grade 3-5__ offers the suggestion that students should begin each independent writing session by writing a “planning box” or a brief statement about what they will try to focus on and improve upon as writers during the work session. It can be helpful to have a reference list of the techniques and skills the class has been learning about so that students can use it to set a goal each day. Similarly, students who need to increase writing volume can use a small tick mark in the margin to set a goal for number of lines written in an independent work session.
 * Assessments/Activities:**

During writing conferences, teachers can refer back to these planning boxes and tick marks to see what students’ need support with. At the end of writing workshop, students should be directed to look back at the planning box and evaluate the effectiveness of their work. This evaluation could be a simple conversation with a writing partner or could take the form of reporting a number on a scale of 1-5 to the teacher.