No One Should Dread Writing

A structured writing workshop can - and should - be run by the students themselves. In the same way that a Little League baseball team of 9-year-olds can run their own warm-ups and stretches while the coach sets up the bases, teachers can hand over control and allow students to warm up, stretch their creative minds, and set writing goals… all with a trained student leader. 

It’s powerful.

And that means no more head flops. 

The universal symbol for "Ugh, I give up." We've all been there. 

But your antidote is here. The first thing I learned as a teacher from the publishing world is this: professional editors are masters at encouragement. Masters.

Why? Because even the most seasoned writers need it. They need constant confidence. I cannot stress that enough... confidence in your writing is the first trait you must have. How do you get it?

Find Your Voice

Everyone has a voice. But you won't find it on a worksheet. There is no "box" that will capture the type of writing that only YOU can do. If we told a young Stephen King to fill in a box, we would have no deeply scary stories from him. Now that's scary! 

In the words of David Sedaris... 

"Write relentlessly until you find your voice. Then USE it."

So how do we get our students writing relentlessly?

Hand Over the Keys

Instead of students waiting for a worksheet to land on their desk, they have agency over the whole process.

The students welcome everyone to the workshop, help their classmates create their daily personal goal, then run the timer and spinners. They accomplish this through a script the leaders read and help create.

Let me repeat that, because this is the gamechanger: 

The students have a script, not the teacher. 

During the mini-lesson, focus on one of SIX SUPER SKILLS. These skills are taught on repeat all-year long. They're "super" because you'll get the most impact from these. Their writing will improve immediately! 

Six skills. Not 200 strategies. Not 300. SIX.

The students know which skill is next, and you know which skill is next. Your planning time is now strategic and you have confidence that the skills will transfer to their constructed essays as well.

Six Skills...on repeat

With a writing program that addresses high-priority skills that are used in all modes of writing, your students will already know how to write a killer hook. 

They will already know how to write with sentence complexity. 

With voice. 

With vivid descriptions.

You can now focus on the structure of an essay for a concise block of time. Instead of completing worksheets to learn essay writing, they use a process called "deconstructing an essay." 

Using this method, they grasp the concept much quicker.

That means your students will learn to meet deadlines. Revise with precision. And their confidence in writing will be ready to meet the challenge. 

The Essential Components

Student Leaders: Through scripts, students take charge and warm up the class, set daily goals, and run the timer.

Power Lessons: The teacher gives dynamic direct instruction on six high-impact skills that will transfer to all modes of writing.

Choice by Design: Students are ready to lift off and practice the skills in one of three distinct paths giving just enough choice to motivate, not overwhelm.

Diamond Mining: It's the secret sauce of the Structured Writer's Workshop. Both students and the teacher search out "diamond writing." It's a powerful way to lift up their words.

The Heart of the Problem

This is what many programs are missing. Motivation.

We have tried strategies and sentence frames and graphic organizers, and yet our students across the nation are still struggling with writing.

Why?

It's a completely different beast and we need to treat it that way. Math is objective, writing is not. We write then wait for someone's opinion on it. That can feel vulnerable. So many students simply don't try because of that sense of impending failure. Can you blame them?

This workshop goes ALL IN on the research behind motivation. From the student leaders to the use of the number 3 in choices and trio teams to the "diamond mining" process... your students will finally feel energized to get words on the paper.

An object in motion tends to stay in motion. Once we lift them up to convince them their voice is important, they take off.