Writers workshop and moon study

Writer's Workshop is in full swing and we are enjoying every minute of this special time in our day.  We have established the expectations for this time so that all can do their very best work.  We begin each workshop with a lesson on the craft of writing and then students have five minutes to share with a friend about what they will be working on during that time.  Once the music starts (classical:) then they begin writing on a topic of their choice.  At the end of workshop, there is another opportunity for the students to share with a friend or two about what they worked on that day.  The friends lend support whether it be in the form of a compliment, encouragement or suggestion.  This week we will be adding another component to this time.  Each student will have the opportunity to share their writing with the entire class at least once during the week at the end of workshop.  They are very excited about this!

I always begin each new study with asking the children what they think they already know about the new topic.  They are given a sticky note to record their knowledge in pictures and/or words and we post them under the heading of what we THINK we know.  As the study progresses over the week or month, we may find that some of our knowledge is incorrect and we move our sticky notes to misconceptions.  Our next study will be on Johnny Chapman aka. Johnny Appleseed.