Next Steps
Phase One allowed me to set the Writing Workshop foundation and helped my students realize that, although it may have been difficult, they were all capable of completing a writing project much longer in length than anything they have written before. During Phase Two, I wanted to give my students a bit of a break while capitalizing on their positive feelings regarding audience feedback. Writing letters allowed my students to continue writing on a daily and receive frequent and immediate feedback from their pen pals. I feel like my students benefited from the foundation they received from Phase One and the immediate responses they received from their pen pal letters in Phase Two. As they completed each phase, they also realized that writing becomes easier with consistent practice.
For Phase Three, I plan to test my claims that my students have grown as writers and that their increase in confidence as writers also increased their positive attitudes towards writing. I will have my students participate in a longer-term writing project (similar to the writing project in Phase One) that will be shared during a school wide Art Exhibit. I also plan to publish their stories on a website where readers will be able to respond and comment. My data collection and analysis methods will remain the same.
At the beginning of Phase 3, students will be working on an end-of-the-year project for the school’s annual Art Exhibit. This project will give students an opportunity to pick an animal from the San Diego Zoo, research this animal and create a model of this animal using recyclable materials. Family, friends, schoolmates and administrators spend a day appreciating students’ work and celebrating their efforts. I believe a creative writing piece would be a great addition to this project.
Students had the opportunity to write a true story from their personal lives during Phase One. During Phase Three, I want students to utilize what they learned about the elements of a story to write a fictitious story about their animals. I will observe their productivity and attitudes during this phase, collect feedback surveys, conduct small and large group conferences, and compare these observations to the observations I made during Phase One.
For Phase Three, I plan to test my claims that my students have grown as writers and that their increase in confidence as writers also increased their positive attitudes towards writing. I will have my students participate in a longer-term writing project (similar to the writing project in Phase One) that will be shared during a school wide Art Exhibit. I also plan to publish their stories on a website where readers will be able to respond and comment. My data collection and analysis methods will remain the same.
At the beginning of Phase 3, students will be working on an end-of-the-year project for the school’s annual Art Exhibit. This project will give students an opportunity to pick an animal from the San Diego Zoo, research this animal and create a model of this animal using recyclable materials. Family, friends, schoolmates and administrators spend a day appreciating students’ work and celebrating their efforts. I believe a creative writing piece would be a great addition to this project.
Students had the opportunity to write a true story from their personal lives during Phase One. During Phase Three, I want students to utilize what they learned about the elements of a story to write a fictitious story about their animals. I will observe their productivity and attitudes during this phase, collect feedback surveys, conduct small and large group conferences, and compare these observations to the observations I made during Phase One.