Do you want to improve your students’ writing? Well, don’t teach grammar! I’m serious. Teaching grammar doesn’t improve student writing. I will never forget the year when I devoted an unreasonable amount of time to teaching grammar in the hopes that students would stop making all those careless mistakes in their writing. It didn’t work.

Recently, I discovered that decades of research have proven what I discovered through experience. The National Commission on Writing quoted the research below in this important report on teaching writing: The Neglected “R”: The Need for a Writing Revolution.

The research shows:

• “Experiments over the last 50 years have shown negligible improvements in the quality of student writing as a result of grammar instruction.” (Becoming a Nation of Readers, National Institute of Education, 1985.)

• “Decades of research (Elly, 1979, Hillocks, 1986, Freedman, 1993, Freedman and Daiute, 2001) have shown that instructional strategies such as isolated skill drills fail to improve student writing.”

But before you throw out all those fabulous grammar books, please let me explain why it doesn’t work and then how to make it work.

Three Reasons Why Isolated Grammar Skill Drills Don’t Improve Student Writing

• First, the information doesn’t stick because students simply figure out “the trick” and then fill in all the rest of the answers using the same trick.

• Also, students are not motivated to remember all that grammar if they are not writing authentically in the content areas.

• Finally, isolated grammar skill drills fail to bring about writing success because the grammar books (by their very nature) fail to connect the dots to students’ authentic writing across the curriculum. (Hence the name “isolated skill drills.”)

The research shows that grammar instruction is MUCH MORE effective when taught within the context of authentic student writing. At the very least, the dots must be connected between the isolated skill drill and students’ authentic writing. This is where Writer’s Workshop enters the picture.

Writer’s Workshop is the Correct Way to Teach Writing… Only it Doesn’t Work Either

Wait… I meant to say it doesn’t work for many teachers. I personally use many parts of Writer’s Workshop; however, there are also many parts of Writer’s Workshop which I do not use.

Writer’s Workshop in its purest sense involves too much risk. There is a great risk that students will not make great progress. Struggling students (which includes a majority of students in the inner-cities) cannot afford that risk. The reason Writer’s Workshop is so risky is because the direct and explicit writing instruction is minimal. In fact, the main lesson in Writer’s Workshop is called a “mini-lesson.”

My experience has been that many, many students need more than mini-lessons. They need direct and explicit instruction. And then they need to practice that direct and explicit instruction in authentic writing. The truth is many adults also respond best to direct and explicit instruction. In fact, I recently wrote something for adults where I did not want to lay it out clearly for them. I wanted the events that took place to speak for themselves. I wanted the adults to figure out what it all meant. I did not connect the dots. I did not tell them what they were supposed to learn from the piece of writing… Guess what? No one got it. So, let me repeat, many students need direct and explicit instruction in order to learn what you want them to learn.

An important truth about Writer’s Workshop is that the teachers who get great results with Writer’s Workshop would likely get great results no matter how they taught writing. Put simply, they just get it… and they know how to communicate that to children. Additionally, they invest a lot of time in teaching writing. It’s their passion.

But before we dismiss the importance of Writer’s Workshop, it should be pointed out that Writer’s Workshop has two very important strengths. In fact, these two strengths are at the polar opposites of researchers’ conclusions about why isolated grammar skills instruction do not improve student writing.

The Two Strengths of Writer’s Workshop

1. Students spend the majority of writing time actually writing. The time is not spent with students listening to the teacher talk and then quickly practicing a drill.

2. The majority of all grammar and writing skills are taught within the context of students’ own authentic writing.

Spiraling Writing Curriculum Doesn’t Work Either

Spiraling writing curriculum is quite similar to what the researchers call “isolated skill drills.” In short, students spend time learning “information about writing” and then quickly practice what they learned through silly and disconnected writing prompts. Spiraling writing curriculum spends too much time giving information and not enough time having students write authentically across the curriculum.

Writing is a skill and learning information does not create a skill. Learning information creates knowledge. It’s the application of that knowledge that creates skill. However, before you throw out all those fabulous spiraling writing lessons, please let me explain why they don’t work and then how to make them work.

The Problem with Grammar Instruction and Spiraling Writing Curriculum is that the Lessons Only Take Students From Point A to Point B

In this illustration:

• A = The beginning of a writing or grammar lesson.

• B = The end of a writing or grammar lesson. (The lesson’s objective has been achieved.)

• I = Students are independent and competent writers. Students can write paragraphs and essays on demand. Students are able to organize their thoughts and communicate their knowledge competently.

• Z = Writing perfection. Z can never be reached; it can only be approached. After all, writing is an art and art is subjective.

The problem with most grammar and writing instruction is that the curriculum only takes students from point A to point B. It continually and repeatedly takes students from point A to point B. It uses “lessons” to do this; and after all, it is the purpose of a lesson to take students from point A to point B. The problem with this approach in teaching writing is that it is too much like the movie Groundhog Day. Each day starts fresh. Each day’s lesson is neither connected to the prior day’s lesson, nor to students’ authentic writing.

Most writing teachers understand this aspect of lessons and try dearly to connect it all together. As teachers, we know it is our job to take students from point A to point “I”, and then to get students as close to point Z as is humanly possible.

The reality of teaching writing is that it is the teachers who are the ones who must connect all these point A to point B lessons. Most teachers discover that the only way to connect all these lessons to meaningful writing is to have students writing authentically (and effectively) across the curriculum. This allows for many “teaching moments” which provide the needed opportunities for teachers to connect lessons to authentic writing.

Put simply, taking student from point A to point B repeatedly takes them nowhere. Most grammar programs and spiraling writing curriculum don’t understand this.

Point A to Point B Lessons Are the Reason: 

• Why we have so many struggling writers.

• Why so many students fail to become independent and competent on-demand writers.

• Why Writer’s Workshop is so often put forth as a solution (by Writer’s Workshop teachers). (Note: Writer’s Workshop teachers consider themselves to be the “Real Writing Teachers.”)

• Why decades of research have shown that grammar instruction and isolated skill drills fail to improve student writing. (Note: Spiraling writing curriculum that simply “gives information” should also be considered isolated skill drills.)

Now let’s look at solving this writing conundrum!

Creating Independent and Competent On-Demand Writers

Students must reach point “I” in order to achieve true educational success. They need to become independent and competent on-demand writers. This is what Pattern Based Writing does. It takes students from point A to point “I” (writing independence and writing competence). Pattern Based Writing is a self-contained system and methodology which starts with the end in mind.

I am aware of a growing number of schools that are using Pattern Based Writing across several grades. Why would a school choose to use the same writing program across several grades?

The reason is that these schools understand exactly what has been laid forth in this article. These schools understand that writing and grammar instruction must be closely connected to students’ own writing. In one sense, students must be independent and competent writers in order to teach them writing. These schools know that is that it is very difficult to teach writing to non-writers. These schools know that Pattern Based Writing creates independent and competent writers!

Pattern Based Writing is both a foundation and a framework. It becomes the criteria for what is expected. Now, I am quite sure that at the schools using Pattern Based Writing across multiple grades, that each successive year Pattern Based Writing plays more of a background role. It plays more of a background role because the organized, thoughtful writing which Pattern Based Writing teaches becomes internalized.

After Pattern Based Writing has been internalized, it’s easy for teachers to spiral in advanced writing skills and advanced grammar instruction while keeping the focus on students’ own authentic writing. This is what the research suggests works!

The point of all this is that there is no lack of writing and grammar lessons in the world. What has been lacking is the way to create a writing foundation:

• which can be built upon

• which lessons can be layered on top of and connected to

• which both teachers and students understand

• which makes everything involved in writing connected.

Pattern Based Writing does all of this!

Teaching writing is not that hard once students are independent and competent writers. You simply continue to layer on skills and keep the focus on students’ own authentic writing. It’s that easy!

So, how long does it take to create independent and competent writers using Pattern Based Writing?

Getting Results Fast!

With Pattern Based Writing, a middle school teacher can remediate struggling writers in 4-6 weeks and get the results she had only dreamed were possible. As well, an elementary school teacher can go page-by-page through the program and build a solid writing foundation that instills structure yet allows for creativity.

This is possible because the program is part book, part manual, and part lessons. It’s put together in a way where a person who has no knowledge of teaching writing can start on page one and get the results they need in the time they have.

This program has a goal in mind. I do encourage those who want to create independent and competent writers to give it a try. Warning: There is some repetition and students will need to write a lot in order to develop the writing fluency and writing skill that this program promises. “I get it!” is the goal.

Note: The National Commission on Teaching Writing recommends that the amount of time students spend writing needs to be doubled! So, the little warning above is really just sound advice.

Achieving Writing Independence and Competence in Elementary School

The California Grade 5 Writing Strategies Standard 1.0 is, “Students write clear, coherent, and focused essays.” Fifth grade is the first year the term “essay” is used. This subtle switch to using the term “essay” communicates a profound shift in writing expectations.

One should also be aware of what is possible in third and fourth grade. The state of Oregon has released anchor papers from their standardized testing. You can find them here: Elementary Writing Samples, Middle School Writing Examples. Take a close look at all of the high-scoring third and fourth grade papers. They all have very nice multi-paragraph form. These students get it… and your students can to!

It is true that Pattern Based Writing is being used VERY effectively with struggling middle school writers. However, more and more teachers (and schools) are discovering that writing independence and competence can be achieved in elementary school. Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay brings writing success!

In the real world of state standards and standardized tests, it can be a little difficult for a teacher to get their head around what Writer’s Workshop is. As long as I have been teaching there has been a continuing push towards making teachers more and more accountable for student achievement.

With Writer’s Workshop teachers are accountable… but they are also asked to take a leap of faith into the world of flexibility. The teachers are asked to believe that Writer’s Workshop is the best way to get the results that EVERYONE wants for the students they teach.

In this multipart series on Writer’s Workshop you will:
• Learn what Writer’s Workshop is
• Discover how you may already be using certain aspects of Writer’s Workshop
• Learn some tips for implementing Writer’s Workshop
• Learn how to avoid some of the stress and traps of implementing Writer’s Workshop

I am a teacher… and the realities of REAL teaching in actual classrooms will always be a part of everything you will read in this series.

What is Writer’s Workshop?

Here are “the parts” of Writer’s Workshop. We will examine each of the following parts and will explore the pros, the cons, the problem areas, and the areas of benefit for each stage of Writer’s Workshop.

1. Mini-lesson – Direct instruction lasting between 5-15 minutes.
2. Status of the Class – As students begin work on their individual writing project, the teacher quickly monitors the status of each student. Where are the students in their writing and how will they be spending their writing period? (2-3 minutes)
3. Writing and Conferencing – Students write and teachers either write or conference. The teachers can conference with individual students or small groups. Teachers are encourage to spend at least some workshop time actually writing themselves in order to model what authors do. (25- 40 minutes)
4. Sharing – There are a variety of ways to share. Author’s chair, peer editing, and reading to at least one other student are popular methods. (5-10 minutes)

Using the Writing Process in Writer’s Workshop

It is important to note that the entire Writer’s Workshop process incorporates the entire Writing Process. Here is a simple version of the writing process outlined for you:

1. Prewriting
2. Drafting
3. Revising
4. Proofreading
5. Publishing

The actual writing process is not a straight line and there are other models of the writing process which more accurately reflect the TRUE writing process. This five step model is “the classic version” and one which is easy for students to grasp. Essentially, this is what students will be implementing during Writer’s Workshop. 

Using the Six Traits of Effective Writing in Writer’s Workshop

Also worth mentioning is that a natural part or integration of Writer’s Workshop is the Six Traits of Effective Writing model.

The Six Traits of Effective Writing are:
1. Ideas
2. Organization
3. Voice
4. Word Choice
5. Sentence Fluency
6. Conventions

Let’s Use More and More and More Workshops!

 How important is Writer’s Workshop to creating fantastic writers? Proponents propose that it is indispensible to creating students who can truly write. But before we go hog-wild on Writer’s Workshop here are some more workshops where the proponents propose the dire necessity of the workshop.

• Reader’s Workshop – Your students will develop independence in reading and become lifelong readers outside of the classroom. Your students will conference with peers and teachers yet the focus is always on becoming independent learners. Reader’s Workshop often becomes the favorite part of a student’s day!

• Independent Work Time (IWT) – Students must have a time each day where they work productively in groups while the teacher meets the needs of individual children. Teachers also need a time where they can challenge advanced students and give support to struggling students… and the Independent Work Time Workshop is the method you should use!

• Math Workshop – Meet the needs of your children! Boring textbooks leave behind the students who can’t keep up while too much hands-on math ensures that all your students will fall behind. We have the perfect solution. It’s “Math Workshop!” We have uniquely found the right balance!

I think you will be able to find a “workshop theory” for every single subject and every single concept that a teacher might teach.

The Truth about Writer’s Workshop

The truth about Writer’s Workshop is that teachers have used workshop strategies for years and years without a lot of the rhetoric associated with “Writer’s Workshop.”

Many workshop strategies are used across the curriculum in order to:
• differentiate instruction
• scaffold instruction
• meet student’s needs

Sometimes people get carried away with “philosophies.” Can anyone say “out of touch administrators” or “professional development guru?” It seems a lot of decision makers have not been running a classroom for a long, long time…

Personally I use many aspects of Writer’s Workshop… and… I also know I have to use my time wisely!

There is not enough time in the day for workshop after workshop and still teach the curriculum and meet state standards and prepare for the upcoming standardized test.

But… it’s great to know about all these theories and strategies so we can continue to grow as teachers!

Be sure to:
1. Check back for Part 2 of this series
2. Read “The Controversy over Writer’s Workshop in Elementary and Middle School”
3. Go to the homepage and discover “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay.”

Teaching writing… in the world of teaching… is “controversial.” So few teachers really feel they know how to teach “writing” well. Everyone feels they teach “grammar” just fine, but writing… This feeling of uncertainty creates defensiveness and high emotions.

But even in the world of teaching writing… just the mention of “Writer’s Workshop” will get people all worked up. I know of one teacher’s forum on the internet in which a VERY heated debate over Writer’s Workshop has lasted for years. Tempers rise, accusations fly… and then finally someone says, “What exactly is Writer’s Workshop? I don’t get it…”

Writer’s Workshop: A History of Controversy

Let’s face it, “Writer’s Workshop” was born in the adult world and has been transferred over to the world of elementary and middle school writing. “Writer’s Workshop” in the adult world can bring up vivid images of hippy-communes and groups of beatniks writing in Greenwich Village. (I’ve seen some classrooms that use Writer’s Workshop which aren’t much different!)

Writer’s Workshop Works… But Only for Some Kinds of Teachers

Some teachers swear by Writer’s Workshop… others swear AT Writer’s Workshop. I think it’s good to understand a few different “kinds of teachers” as it will help you to decide if Writer’s Workshop is for you. I hate to categorize teachers, but when it comes to Writer’s Workshop, some will have great success and others will completely flop.

“To thine own self be true!”
                                             William Shakespeare

Two out of these four kinds of teachers will have success with Writer’s Workshop.  Which two do you think it will be?

1. flowery teachers
2. brass-tacks teachers
3. flowery talking teachers who are really brass-tacks teachers
4. brass-tacks talking teachers who are really flowery teachers

Answer: Teachers number 3 and 4.

Here’s Why:
1. flowery teachers – School and teaching writing is not about running a hippy commune where “it’s all good.” We are teaching students to be successful at school. Sooner or later being successful at school involves doing things correctly. With a flowery teacher who is not keeping an eye on results, too many kids will slip through the cracks and won’t MASTER the skills needed to be successful students.
2. brass-tacks teachers – This teacher wants results. They want results that can be measured and measured now. Writer’s Workshop will be an exercise in frustration for them. They will not have the patience to watch “progress over time” and “developing the love for writing” is not something they consider to be measurable.
3. flowery talking teachers who are really brass-tacks teachers - These teachers will have the greatest success with Writer’s Workshop. They buy into the philosophy and are firecrackers when it comes to monitoring what students are doing.
4. brass-tacks talking teachers who are really flowery teachers – These teachers will have success because at their heart they want kids to enjoy school. Writer’s Workshop will be a fun change of pace for their students. They will run a tight-ship during Writer’s Workshop and they will get results. It will be effective… but it will come a little bit at the expense of students developing a true love for the art of writing.

Be sure to check back for:
1. What Exactly is Writer’s Workshop? 
2. Tips, Tricks, Pros and Cons of Using Writer’s Workshop in the Classroom

What are today’s best practices in teaching writing? Decades of research have shown that isolated skill drills do little to improve student writing. All of the research indicates that students must spend more time writing in order to become effective writers. Students should be spending at least 45-90 minutes writing every single day.

More and more teachers are discovering that when students can organize and compose a complete essay in less than 30 minutes, teaching writing becomes easy! Even if your students are in elementary school or are struggling middle school writers, Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay will make these writing dreams come true!

Read on to find out what some of the most important names in teaching writing research have to say about the best practices in teaching writing! After that, be sure to check out the Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay writing program!

Writing Instruction: Current Practices in the Classroom

Over the past forty years, the emphasis in writing instruction has shifted from product to process. A companion ERIC Digest entitled “Writing Instruction: Changing Views over the Years” gives an overview of this development during the period from 1960 to 1999. The present digest focuses on the experiences of individual teachers as they searched for ways to put the principles of process writing into practice in the classroom.

WRITER’S WORKSHOPS

Teachers have found that writer’s workshops are effective in helping students master the principles of process writing in particular. “The term ‘writer’s workshop’ refers to an environment conceived to encourage written expression.” Because writing is difficult and risky, “children need to know that their environment is a predictable, safe place for them to take risks” (Bunce-Crim, 1991; cited in Bayer, 1999, p. 8).

Even first-graders can benefit from writer’s workshops. Fisher (1995) says that “writing workshop is an essential part of the curriculum in my first grade classroom, and almost every morning the children are involved in self-selected writing endeavors.” This lets students know that writing is important and that they can count on “daily opportunities to pursue their own topics, work by themselves or with friends, and begin a new piece every day or work on a story or book over time” (p. 1).

With young children, a systematic organization of materials is essential. Furthermore, a predictable routine helps children get organized first thing in the morning. Fisher also reads aloud to the class during the day so that children can hear different models of written language. Also, frequent mini-lessons are used to focus on specific areas of writing such as procedures (using a folder), strategies (such as using books to inspire topics), qualities of good writing, and skills (p. 2).

Bayer (1999) evaluated a first-grade class to find out whether or not students actually became more confident, proficient writers after participating in a writer’s workshop. Children actively participated in the workshop two or three times a week, and each session began with a mini-lesson that focused on a specific topic such as sentence structure, correct capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. After the mini-lesson the actual writing began, with the teacher modeling her own writing along with the children. The teacher worked with individuals as needed, helping each child focus on the appropriate step in the writing process.

Before beginning writer’s workshop, students were asked how they felt when the teacher said it was “writing time,” whether or not they liked to write, whether they preferred to pick their own topics, and how they described themselves as writers. The same questions were asked during the final weeks of the workshop. The results showed that to a great extent “writing workshops improve the feelings and attitudes that first graders have about writing, as well as how they feel about themselves” (Bayer, 1999, p. 6). For example, the percentage of children who looked forward to writing time almost doubled, and the number of those who said they liked to write jumped from 25 percent to 71 percent.

QUESTIONS ABOUT WRITER’S WORKSHOPS

Although the preceding comments suggest that children can benefit greatly from writer’s workshops, there are questions and potential problems that need to be considered. Sudol and Sudol (1991) discuss some of the questions that arose during the adoption of the process approach and during a writer’s workshop in a fifth-grade classroom taught by Peg Sudol.

In the first place, there is the question of time. Although some recommend as much as an hour of writing each day, it is difficult to devote this much time when other subjects must be taught as well. Also, curriculum requirements may make it difficult for students to choose their own topics because teachers are required to teach specific kinds of writing (Sudol & Sudol, 1991, p. 294).

Another problem relates to pacing and deadlines. It is true that all students should not be expected to work at the same pace, but a few students may have difficulty ever completing any project. In addition, students are often put off by workshops devoted to assigned writing types.

In general, the experience of Peg Sudol was positive in spite of the problems encountered early on. “In the main, her children enjoyed the writing. (Now they moaned and groaned whenever the workshop was canceled.) They wrote more than any of her previous students, and the quality of their writing was better” (1991, p. 299). Among the most productive parts of the writer’s workshop were the mini-lessons, in which students could address problems such as run-on sentences within the context of their own writing, not in abstract textbook lessons.

JOURNAL WRITING

Routman (2000) points out that journal writing is a good way to begin implementing a writing workshop because journals can “promote fluency in reading and writing, encourage risk taking, provide opportunities for reflection, and promote the development of written language conventions” (p. 233). However, the advantages of journal writing can be lost if teachers fail to monitor students’ work and to let them know what is expected.

All too often, children’s journals are flawed by sloppy, careless writing and frequent misspellings of easy words. Furthermore, they seldom show clear improvement over time because journal writing is too often used as a time filler, not as something the children feel is really worthwhile. In many cases, teachers do not provide any guidance for journal writing. They also tend to assign topics rather than letting students choose their own. Unfortunately, students come to accept sloppy writing and bad spelling as the norm for journals since they don’t seem to matter. Finally, teachers too often assign journal writing as an activity separate from writing workshop, which makes it appear that journal writing is not as important as “real writing.”

Routman suggests that journal writing can become more worthwhile if teachers encourage students to write for several days on a topic they care very much about and if they teach students how to write with detail and voice. Furthermore, students should realize that journal writing is only one type of writing they are expected to do, and they should maintain high standards for legibility and neatness (adapted from Routman, 2000, p. 235).

WRITING INSTRUCTION IN THE UPPER GRADES

Wartchow and Gustavson (1999) analyzed writing instruction in the upper grades by interviewing some high-school students from a large urban school and others from a private suburban school. They were immediately “struck by the modernist picture that the students painted of their schools” (p. 3). The modernist view is based on the belief that “there is a ‘natural order’ or ‘best way’ on which all methodology is based. Once discovered, this best way should be, indeed must be, followed” (Doll, 1993, p. 45; cited in Wartchow & Gustavson, 1999, p. 3).

In both schools, analytical writing was stressed above all else, with emphasis on the customary pattern: introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and conclusion. “Once the students write their five paragraph essays, often choosing theses created by the teacher, the teacher can easily grade them because there is an identifiable structure” (Wartchow & Gustavson, 1999, p. 5). This forces students to accept the format and procedure prescribed by the teacher. Furthermore, students come to rely on the teacher for topics and motivation; they are not shown how to develop and explore ideas on their own. They are also put off by the “simplicity and pettiness of their writing assignments” and the knowledge that teachers “only expect a sentence or two” when students respond to various readings (p. 7).

As for personal or creative writing, many students question its worth because it is given no value in school. They also believe that creative writing must necessarily lack coherence because it does not follow the five-paragraph pattern. Finally, some students realize that teachers view creative writing as chaotic and therefore worthless because it does not fit into a “required body of quantifiable, systematically constructed knowledge” (Wartchow & Gustavson, 1999, p. 11). When asked what kinds of creative assignments they would prefer, students provided some valuable insights. One told of rewriting the end of a Shakespeare play and then performing it for the class. Another was challenged by exploring what might happen if “Wuthering Heights” were set in the present day. Students also suggested that assigned topics could be turned into thesis statements, encouraging students to argue their points and take a more active approach to writing.

Students also find it difficult to reconcile the conflict between what they are required to write in school and what they want to write for themselves. Time constraints often cause students to “go through the motions” to complete a school project according to a prescribed procedure. Also, students realize that they can be intellectually lazy as they churn out school writing according to the required format; on their own, their writing leads them to probe below the surface and try to think things through.

As a result of the findings summarized above, the authors have been led “to argue for an aesthetic, post-modern orientation in the teaching of writing. Within the students’ frustrations and desires lies the question: Why do many English teachers not engage their students in a discourse on the aesthetics of writing?” (p. 20). A modernist writing curriculum fails to encourage proficient writers because it does not allow students the chance to experiment with various approaches beyond the five-sentence paragraph structure. In addition to advocating a clearer connection between the process and the product, the authors “also strongly believe that the power for understanding writing lies in the actual doing of the art, not in the exclusive observation of it” (Wartchow & Gustavson, 1999, p. 20).

“Too often in English classrooms, teachers expect students to critique the writing they read with little or no understanding of the craft, the historical context, or the personal nature of that writing. Essentially, students must write about an art of which they have no experience” (p. 20). By encouraging students to move beyond convenient structures and to enter into the intricate process of creating what goes into those structures, teachers can help them discover that what they have to say is important and that there are many ways to organize their thoughts to form convincing, coherent arguments.

REFERENCES

Bayer, R. A. (1999). The effects of a first grader’s participation in a writer’s workshop on their ability to become more confident and more descriptive writers. Kean University: Master’s Research Project. 41 pages.

Bunce-Crim, M. (1991). What is a writing classroom? “Instructor”, 17(1), 36-38.

Doll, W. (1993). “A post-modern perspective on curriculum”. New York: Teacher’s College Press.

Fisher, B. (1995). Writing workshop in a first grade classroom. “Teaching PreK-8″, 26, 66-68.

Routman, R. (2000). “Conversations: Strategies for teaching, learning, and evaluating”. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Sudol, D., & Sudol, P. (1991). Another story: Putting Graves, Calkins, and Atwell into practice and perspective.

Wartchow, K., & Gustavson, L. (1999). “The art of the writer: An aesthetic look at the teaching of writing”. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada.

Source: ERIC Clearinghouse

Author: Smith, Carl B.