MINILESSON - INTRO

	Resources Daybooks Discovery Going public Minilessons Introduction Am I a writer? Writing Workshop routine Writing tools Learning from others Revising Conferring Narrative tips Persuasive tips Research writing Poetry tips Reflective thinking Assessment For parents LikeToRead.com Literacy Leads
			What do I teach?

			Donald Graves said that students would NOT become better writers if they ONLY wrote more. On the other hand, if they’re only told how to write, they will not get better either. Writers need both: time to write and a writing teacher. As a writing teacher, I struggle with selecting what to teach. I don’t think I’m alone. So for those of you wondering what will help your writers, I offer some tips. Write! By writing, even a few minutes each week, you’ll discover what to teach. You'll join your students in the work of finding a topic, figuring out what to say, feeling nervous about sharing, and deciding whether to revise or abandon what you’ve written. Each writing challenge I face in my personal writing time is a topic for discussion with my fellow writers. For example, I might start class with a question like, how do you know what to write about? Then I share how I decided. Others join in. Soon, we have a list of strategies for students to try. Observe! Watch your children to see what they do well intuitively. Ask writers to teach minilessons. They love that! Notice what troubles other authors. Create lessons that address their challenges and your curriculum. Inquire! Name a problem: papers not in sequence, for example. Throw the problem out to the class in its most general form. Ask, do writers plan? Should writers plan? Then, show your solution: outlining, for example. Explain how planning improved your writing. Invite students to experiment: try your idea, perfect a strategy they've been using, or create a new one. Study other strategies: sketching, talking, outlining, timelines, freewriting, etc. Revisit this big idea throughout the year for different genres and functions. Ask experts! My favorites are by Carol Avery (K-1), Katie Wood Ray (Preschool - 8), Ralph Fletcher (2nd-8), and Harvey Daniels (4th-12). Study! Take workshops, read, join study groups on your campus or with your friends, consult websites like Read, Write, Think.org, and join your local National Writing Project site. Use minilesson pages! These ideas might jumpstart your thinking as you address the needs of your students. In the first month, I teach variations of the lessons on the next few pages. The topics are surprisingly similar no matter what the grade. My goal is to get procedures in place and build a writing community before I tackle teaching harder writing units. NEXT: Am I a writer?

A resource for people passionate about helping students write well, compiled by Karen Haag

Like me, you will struggle with how to help students be better writers. I'm constantly asking myself what to teach. The best advice I can offer is ... write.

Reflection

I wrote this page in an hour. I wrote first to get my thoughts on paper. I looked at my writing to find my main ideas. I re-ordered the paragraphs to reflect those discoveries. Next, I checked all my verbs to see if I had used active tense. I realized I was bumping into sentences that I needed to take out even though I liked them. Finally, I checked to see if my sentences and paragraphs transitioned from one to the next. Any one of these ideas could be a minilesson.