Procedures for Writing and Reading Workshop

Often, students in Mr. Desilets' classes work on major writing assignments in class.  When they do so, they participate in a reading and writing workshop, using the procedures outlined below.

The purpose of the writing and reading workshop is to give students a continuous experience with writing and reading. For this reason, it is impossible to complete all the tasks of the workshop. Be sure that you understand the procedures outlined on this sheet. If you do, it will be clear that the expression, "I'm finished," makes no sense in connection with this workshop.

Frequently, a workshop unit will begin with some prewriting activities that the entire class will do together. These activities will often involve brainstorming a long list of ideas, selecting those that seem worthwhile, and organizing them into an outline. However, it is often a good idea for individual students to do more prewriting on their own, especially if they find that they do not have much to say. 

1. Prewriting to Find Ideas
In writing, the student brainstorms a list of ideas that may be related to the assignment.
Evidence of Completion: the brainstormed list.

2. Prewriting to Organize Ideas
The student considers the items on his or her brainstormed list, removing those that do not seem useful.  The student then organizes the remaining ideas into an outline or idea map.
Evidence of Completion: an outline or idea map

3. Drafting
Without consultation with other students, each writer produces a first draft. Students should not submit any drafts to the teacher until they have completed the step called "Checking Manuscript Form."
Evidence of Completion: a rough draft.  Students who are using word processors should remember to save this draft.

4. Revising for Unity
Each student carefully checks her draft for unity.
Evidence of Completion: written answers to each of these questions, about each paragraph:
A. What is this paragraph about?
B. Is there anything in this paragraph that is not about the paragraph's topic?
If the answer to Question B is yes, the student changes the paragraph to produce tighter unity.

5. Revising for Clarity
Each writer then checks every sentence to be sure that it is clear, correcting every item that is not clear.
Evidence of Completion:
In a good sentence or two, the student describes, in writing, one change he or she made to make his or her draft more clear; or the student explains, in writing, how one part of his or her draft is especially clear.

6. Editing for Sentence Fragments and Run-Ons
The writer checks every sentence for fragments and run-ons, correcting each problem that he or she finds.  
Evidence of Completion: In a good sentence or two, the writer describes how he or she corrected a fragment or run-on; or the student explains, in writing, how one of his or sentences is particularly correct or mature.

7. Editing for End Punctuation
The writer checks every sentence to be sure that it has a period, question mark, or exclamation point, as appropriate, at the end.  
Evidence of Completion:  In a good sentence, the writer describes how he or she corrected an error in end punctuation; or the student explains, in writing, why one of his or sentences shows the correct mark of end punctuation.

8. Editing for Internal Punctuation
The writer checks each sentence to see that commas are used appropriately. (See pages 594-600 in Elements of Writing, Introductory Course.)
The writer checks each sentence to see that apostrophes are used correctly. (See pages 624-632 in Elements of Writing, Introductory Course.)
The writer checks his or her use of quotation marks. (See pages 615-621 in Elements of Writing, Introductory Course.)
Evidence of Completion: In a good sentence, the writer describes how he or she corrected an error in internal punctuation; or the student explains, in writing, why one of his or sentences shows the correct marks of internal punctuation.

9. Editing for Spelling
The writer checks each word for spelling, first with an electronic spelling checker if the writing is in electronic form. Even if the writer uses an electronic checker, he or she must still check the spelling at least once with the "naked eye."
Evidence of Completion: In a good sentence, the writer describes how he or she corrected an error in spelling; or the student lists, in writing, at least three hard-to-spell words that appear in his or her work.

10. Checking Manuscript Form
If the writing was not done on a word processor, the author makes a good, legible draft with margins at the top, bottom, left, and right. If the writing was done on a word processor, the author makes sure that that file is saved under the correct filename and writes a note to the teacher indicating that the writing is ready for teacher input. In either case, the author places his or her name at the top of the paper and submits the final draft, along with evidence of completion of steps on through nine, to the teacher.

11. Reading Workshop
The author now does some reading of her own choosing, using a book, newspaper, or magazine she has brought for this purpose. Whenever she completes approximately fifty pages of reading, the author writes a reaction to what she has read.

12. Working With Teacher Suggestions
Occasionally, a student will receive a draft, with suggested corrections, from the teacher. The student should then follow those suggestions carefully in producing a new draft. Then, the author applies steps four through ten of this workshop process to the draft. Finally, the author submits the paper to the teacher for a grade.

13. The author now continues with Step 11 of this workshop.

14. When a student receives a draft with a grade on it, he may choose to work on the draft further and to submit it for a higher grade. In this case, the student goes back to Step 4 in this workshop.

Occasionally, the teacher will make assignments for peer review; that is, for students to review one another's writings. Otherwise, students should not consult with one another during the writing process.