In what ways will implementing writers workshop impact the writing development of my kindergarten students?

Seminar Title

In what ways will implementing writers workshop impact the writing development of my kindergarten students?

Writing Development

Kindergarten

Elementary

Writing

Reading

“I cannot do this. I do not know how to write!” How often do we hear this as we start off our school year and ask our students to write for the first time? How many tears follow that statement in frustration? I am excited about my research because my students are now writers with confidence just four months after introducing writers workshop in my classroom. I believe my research can help those teachers that are stuck in a rut with their writing or want to learn about a new way to teach their students a way to work on their writing building their writing skill along with their confidence. I was looking to improving the writing of my students, but I was able to see through my research that writers workshop connects with classroom environment, instruction, and assessment. So if you are looking for an opportunity to engage in a deep discussion about how writers workshop can impact your students, this session is for you.

Implementing writer’s workshop and the impact on writing development The question guiding my research is as follows: In what ways will implementing writer’s workshop impact the writing development of my kindergarten students? After researching and reviewing many different sources in the area of writing development and writing methods, I was able to find strategies that could bring about the changes that I am seeking. As a result of my literature review, areas that I looked into changing were environment, instruction, and assessment. Having a positive environment where students felt like they were supported and comfortable to share their work. The instruction for myself focused on lessons that would be able to meet the needs of my students and their level of writing development. Assessments of student writing included teaching observations as well as individual student reflection and self assessment with checklists that addressed four different components of writing: proper use of uppercase and lowercase letters, finger spaces, proper spelling of sight words, and proper punctuation. Implementation of writer’s workshop has contributed to the growth of the writing development of my students. Writer’s workshop has allowed for instruction that is directed toward spending focused time on each individual component of writing. Students can learn these skills through lessons and modeled writing to be able to apply with their own individual writing. Application in their own writing can be seen in the data I collected through teacher observations, conferencing notes, and student writing samples. As I looked at the four components of the student checklist, I was able to see growth in the conventions of writing with all of my students. As a result of my interest in seeing how writer’s workshop can impact the writing development of my kindergarten students, I am going to continue with the process of having the time devoted to writing beginning with a mini-lesson, having time to write independently, and concluding with sharing student work. I will continue to gather student work samples to see the growth of my students’ writing development.