Findings
A Writing Workshop that occurs consistently in frequency and length contributes to students’ academic achievement in writing and completion rates of writing projects.
As stated by Lucy Calkins, consistency is key when implementing a writing workshop. During Phase One and Two, Writing Workshops occurred on a near consistent frequency. This consistency, coupled with having an authentic audience to write for resulted in 100% completion rates of students’ personal narratives and Pen Pal letters. During Phase Three, the consistency of the Writing Workshop was significantly disrupted and the time students were given to write was shortened. As a result, only 50% of students were able to finish their animal stories. Furthermore, of those students who completed their stories only 25% of these stories were of the same quality or better than their personal narratives when assessed using the 6+1 writing rubric.
If students have experience completing the writing process and consistently participating in a Writing Workshop, they can overcome disruptions in schedules and will make modifications in an effort to complete the writing process.
Although the writing workshop schedule was disrupted in Phase Three, students’ attitudes towards writing remained positive and their motivation to complete their stories persisted. Students that finished were able to do so by speeding up the writing process, spending less time than previously spent revising and receiving feedback, in order to publish their stories before the deadline. Two students took their writing folders out to recess in order to extend their writing time. Students that did not finish their stories expressed the desire to do so over the summer. Participating in the Writing Workshop consistently for more than 8 weeks and experiencing the feelings that accompany working diligently on and completing writing projects seemed to foster in students an intrinsic motivation to continue this committed and conscientious attitude towards their writing. At the beginning of this inquiry, expectations during writing changed, and students worked to achieve these expectations. In his book, “An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students,” Eric Berger states:
"Once a student sees that he or she is capable of quality, of excellence, that student is never quite the same. There is a new self-image, a new notion of possibility. There is an appetite for excellence. After students have had a taste of excellence, they're never quite satisfied with less (2003)."
There is no one factor that contributes to the positive attitudes students have towards writing or their academic achievement in writing.
This inquiry was intended to focus on the affects an authentic audience has on student attitudes towards and academic achievement in writing. However, I learned that there are multiple factors that affect these things and these factors are inherently intertwined with and dependent upon one another. I would not be able to measure the affects an authentic audience has on students’ writing unless I also consider the time students are given to write, the support and guidance they receive, the quality of discourse and conferencing they participate in regarding their writing, and the quality of the mini lessons they are presented. While students had an intended audience for their fan letters During Phase Two, the fact that there was a significant possibility that they would not receive feedback from their intended audience had a negative impact on students’ completion rates. During Phase Three, students had an intended audience who would provide feedback, however, the time they were given to write was inconsistent and limited. As a result, completion rates and academic achievement in writing were negatively effected. This illustrated to me that every aspect of the Writing Workshop is equally valuable and should be used in conjunction with one another in order to positively impact students attitudes towards writing and their achievement in writing.
Possible extension:
Ideally, I would have implemented Phase Three during a time when our Writing Workshop could have maintained the same daily consistency. I would have also liked to have given the students a final assessment similar to the writing prompt they completed during the needs assessment to gain insight as to how a student's ability to write under similar conditions (i.e. time constraints, one draft with no opportunity to revise, etc.) may have changed in terms of length, sentence structure, detail, convention and word choice.
As stated by Lucy Calkins, consistency is key when implementing a writing workshop. During Phase One and Two, Writing Workshops occurred on a near consistent frequency. This consistency, coupled with having an authentic audience to write for resulted in 100% completion rates of students’ personal narratives and Pen Pal letters. During Phase Three, the consistency of the Writing Workshop was significantly disrupted and the time students were given to write was shortened. As a result, only 50% of students were able to finish their animal stories. Furthermore, of those students who completed their stories only 25% of these stories were of the same quality or better than their personal narratives when assessed using the 6+1 writing rubric.
If students have experience completing the writing process and consistently participating in a Writing Workshop, they can overcome disruptions in schedules and will make modifications in an effort to complete the writing process.
Although the writing workshop schedule was disrupted in Phase Three, students’ attitudes towards writing remained positive and their motivation to complete their stories persisted. Students that finished were able to do so by speeding up the writing process, spending less time than previously spent revising and receiving feedback, in order to publish their stories before the deadline. Two students took their writing folders out to recess in order to extend their writing time. Students that did not finish their stories expressed the desire to do so over the summer. Participating in the Writing Workshop consistently for more than 8 weeks and experiencing the feelings that accompany working diligently on and completing writing projects seemed to foster in students an intrinsic motivation to continue this committed and conscientious attitude towards their writing. At the beginning of this inquiry, expectations during writing changed, and students worked to achieve these expectations. In his book, “An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students,” Eric Berger states:
"Once a student sees that he or she is capable of quality, of excellence, that student is never quite the same. There is a new self-image, a new notion of possibility. There is an appetite for excellence. After students have had a taste of excellence, they're never quite satisfied with less (2003)."
There is no one factor that contributes to the positive attitudes students have towards writing or their academic achievement in writing.
This inquiry was intended to focus on the affects an authentic audience has on student attitudes towards and academic achievement in writing. However, I learned that there are multiple factors that affect these things and these factors are inherently intertwined with and dependent upon one another. I would not be able to measure the affects an authentic audience has on students’ writing unless I also consider the time students are given to write, the support and guidance they receive, the quality of discourse and conferencing they participate in regarding their writing, and the quality of the mini lessons they are presented. While students had an intended audience for their fan letters During Phase Two, the fact that there was a significant possibility that they would not receive feedback from their intended audience had a negative impact on students’ completion rates. During Phase Three, students had an intended audience who would provide feedback, however, the time they were given to write was inconsistent and limited. As a result, completion rates and academic achievement in writing were negatively effected. This illustrated to me that every aspect of the Writing Workshop is equally valuable and should be used in conjunction with one another in order to positively impact students attitudes towards writing and their achievement in writing.
Possible extension:
Ideally, I would have implemented Phase Three during a time when our Writing Workshop could have maintained the same daily consistency. I would have also liked to have given the students a final assessment similar to the writing prompt they completed during the needs assessment to gain insight as to how a student's ability to write under similar conditions (i.e. time constraints, one draft with no opportunity to revise, etc.) may have changed in terms of length, sentence structure, detail, convention and word choice.