In a Fifth Grade Writer's Workshop, the Story's Rarely Done
When fifth grade teacher Amanda Berg arrived at Shore to begin the 2016-2017 school year, she brought with her an approach to teaching writing that she had first discovered during a weeklong institute at the influential Teachers College Reading & Writing Project of Columbia University. The renowned think-tank-like project originated the concept of the "workshop" approach to teaching writing to children, which holds that writing is a process, with distinct phases, and that all children, not just those with innate talent, can learn to write well.
According to Berg, "I use the workshop model because I've seen it work. I've seen kids really and truly become excellent writers. They feel and see the progress they’re making; they readily understand how their not-so-great first draft compares to their final draft. And they feel good about the process, even the ones who come into the workshop setting not liking writing. It has a lot to do with truly giving children ownership of their work."
In Berg's fifth grade curriculum, writing is divided into "units," four- to six-week areas of study that combine language skills with topics in social studies, history, literature, and more. "Every unit follows the exact same process, so students quickly learn what to expect," says Berg. "The first step is generating entries in a writer's notebook based on research related to whatever topic we're studying. Second, students choose a 'seed' idea that will turn into their written piece. Next, they 'zoom in' on that idea and expand on it. Depending on what type of writing we’re doing, throughout this process I'm also teaching all sorts of mini lessons on the skills and the tools that they need as writers to produce that type of writing."
Finally, students enter an extended period of revision—much of which happens through peer editing and feedback—and eventually publish their work. Peer editing is an integral part of the process, explains Berg. "Once they create a draft, each student has another read through it, mostly for content, pace, progression, and descriptions. Then the writing comes to me multiple times, as well, and I provide feedback on both content and grammar."
Recently, Berg and her fifth graders celebrated the culmination of a mammoth unit on historical fiction, during which students chose a moment in American history between 1607 and 1775 as the setting for a story about a fictional character of their own creation. "I had shelves of books available in the classroom for their research. Once they had decided on their character, they came up with a name, family background, and biographical information. They really had to dig into the research about the time period, and decide how their character would be connected to that."
The figures the students imagined came from all walks of life, and spanned the entire stretch of American history from Jamestown to the Revolutionary War. Several students wrote about the establishment of Jamestown in 1607, with one student meticulously detailing the misery of the voyage across the Atlantic. Another focused on a blacksmith in Jamestown, and the hardships of pursuing such a profession at that time.
The surplus of creative energy offered a surprising contrast to the first few weeks of school, when Berg says her students often raced through assignments so they could say, "I'm done!"
"By this point in the year they never say that," she observes. "Now, my students know they’re not done on the first try. They know I will always have something to say about what they can improve. And the great thing is that in the workshop setting, they’re more than willing to keep working, even adding onto their original story."
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According to Berg, "I use the workshop model because I've seen it work. I've seen kids really and truly become excellent writers. They feel and see the progress they’re making; they readily understand how their not-so-great first draft compares to their final draft. And they feel good about the process, even the ones who come into the workshop setting not liking writing. It has a lot to do with truly giving children ownership of their work."
In Berg's fifth grade curriculum, writing is divided into "units," four- to six-week areas of study that combine language skills with topics in social studies, history, literature, and more. "Every unit follows the exact same process, so students quickly learn what to expect," says Berg. "The first step is generating entries in a writer's notebook based on research related to whatever topic we're studying. Second, students choose a 'seed' idea that will turn into their written piece. Next, they 'zoom in' on that idea and expand on it. Depending on what type of writing we’re doing, throughout this process I'm also teaching all sorts of mini lessons on the skills and the tools that they need as writers to produce that type of writing."
Finally, students enter an extended period of revision—much of which happens through peer editing and feedback—and eventually publish their work. Peer editing is an integral part of the process, explains Berg. "Once they create a draft, each student has another read through it, mostly for content, pace, progression, and descriptions. Then the writing comes to me multiple times, as well, and I provide feedback on both content and grammar."
Recently, Berg and her fifth graders celebrated the culmination of a mammoth unit on historical fiction, during which students chose a moment in American history between 1607 and 1775 as the setting for a story about a fictional character of their own creation. "I had shelves of books available in the classroom for their research. Once they had decided on their character, they came up with a name, family background, and biographical information. They really had to dig into the research about the time period, and decide how their character would be connected to that."
The figures the students imagined came from all walks of life, and spanned the entire stretch of American history from Jamestown to the Revolutionary War. Several students wrote about the establishment of Jamestown in 1607, with one student meticulously detailing the misery of the voyage across the Atlantic. Another focused on a blacksmith in Jamestown, and the hardships of pursuing such a profession at that time.
A number of students chose to set their stories in 1775, which was a natural extension of all they absorbed on a class trip last fall to Lexington and Concord. Still others placed themselves at the center of Bacon’s Rebellion, each writing as one of Bacon’s leaders. "That rebellion was a very complicated moment in history," explains Berg, "and it was interesting to see the students' take on it. They ended up focusing more on the family relationships than the historical detail."
The stories or journal-like essays were told in the first person, with plenty of dialogue, character development, plot points, and historical details. "It was a tough assignment," recalls Berg, "which is part of the reason it took so long to complete." Rather than wrapping up in the usual four to six weeks, this unit stretched from the fall all the way through the new year.
"We spent a lot of time making sure the writing was historically accurate. Many kids got so wrapped up in creating their story that they forgot at first to include the historical details that would make it believable. So through the revision process in the classroom, there was a lot of going back through the story, changing language, making sure dates were accurate, even checking that times of day were correct." The Boston Tea Party provides a good example, says Berg. "There is so much that’s been written about the timeline of that night that the students who chose the Boston Tea Party as their setting had to carefully reread and rewrite to make sure their fictional timeline reflected the well-documented timeline of the actual event."
"We spent a lot of time making sure the writing was historically accurate. Many kids got so wrapped up in creating their story that they forgot at first to include the historical details that would make it believable. So through the revision process in the classroom, there was a lot of going back through the story, changing language, making sure dates were accurate, even checking that times of day were correct." The Boston Tea Party provides a good example, says Berg. "There is so much that’s been written about the timeline of that night that the students who chose the Boston Tea Party as their setting had to carefully reread and rewrite to make sure their fictional timeline reflected the well-documented timeline of the actual event."
Some students took their work a step further, dyeing the pages of their works with tea to give them a historical artifact-like appearance. But, says Berg, what was probably most striking about the historical fiction unit was just how much the students wanted to write. "They wrote and wrote and wrote—a lot! Even though we had dedicated research and writing time nearly every day, and though I borrowed some of our social studies time, too, because of the interdisciplinary nature of the project, they still needed reigning in. They just had too much to say."
The surplus of creative energy offered a surprising contrast to the first few weeks of school, when Berg says her students often raced through assignments so they could say, "I'm done!"
"By this point in the year they never say that," she observes. "Now, my students know they’re not done on the first try. They know I will always have something to say about what they can improve. And the great thing is that in the workshop setting, they’re more than willing to keep working, even adding onto their original story."
Berg continues, "What I stress with my fifth graders is that I want us to be a community of thinking and learning, where it's safe to take risks. And during this unit, a lot of them did take risks: what they chose to tackle was hard. But they all felt confident enough to do it, even knowing they were going to get a lot of feedback that would require them to work even harder to change things, fix things, and revise their work again and again. They were genuinely excited about making their work better."
Still, every writing unit has to come to an end, and, says Berg, "We do that with a Writing Celebration. Usually each student reads his or her piece out loud to the class and then receives compliments from the audience about something specific they like about the piece." The culminating celebration of the historical fiction unit and the students' post-project reflections said volumes about the strength of the workshop approach. "I learned that if I put my mind and time into writing, I do great at it," one student said. Added another, "I learned that I can write a lot more than I thought; I also learned that I could be a good artist."
Berg notes that several students seemed ready to keep editing even after their project was complete. One said, "I realize that if I had had more time I would have changed my ending so that it wasn’t so sudden." On the other hand, it was clear that every writer in Berg's classroom had felt inspired and energized by the assignment. As one student observed, "If I had had more time, I wouldn’t have changed anything, because I really like my story."
Berg notes that several students seemed ready to keep editing even after their project was complete. One said, "I realize that if I had had more time I would have changed my ending so that it wasn’t so sudden." On the other hand, it was clear that every writer in Berg's classroom had felt inspired and energized by the assignment. As one student observed, "If I had had more time, I wouldn’t have changed anything, because I really like my story."
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Amanda Berg
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