Today we began the publishing process for our Informational books. As independent writers, we are working to learn our strengths, weaknesses, and needs. While we all know how to write informational all-about books based on many whole-class lessons, group lessons, repeated exposures to mentor texts, and extensive readings of nonfiction books throughout the past weeks, today we began holding writing clinics.Clinics are targeted sessions for groups of kids to brainstorm together and get feedback on areas they are most struggling with. Students self-select these clinics based on their needs and come to both gain feedback and to give feedback. Today, three clinics were held during our Writing Workshop time. Students signed up for zero, one, two, or three throughout the 45 minute block of time.
Our first clinic was called "Catchy Chapter Titles". Students who felt that their chapter titles did not hook the reader, came with their initial ideas and shared them with the group. They received feedback on their ideas and everyone left with titles they thought both explained their chapters well while still be catchy. Some students were even encouraged by others to keep their original chapter titles.
Our second clinic was called "Which Words to Bold?". In this clinic, students both asked each other where words should be bolded (as in, were most likely unknown words to an uninformed reader) and also what definitions to include in their glossary for some bolded words. Figuring out an exact definition for words like "liberty" or "team" were tricky, but we eventually helped each other out. Once we used a great writing tool too - the dictionary!
Our final clinic today was called "Fun Facts and Captions". In this clinic, students shared facts they had liked about their topics that didn't seem to fit into their chapters. They also asked for feedback on picture ideas or possible captions for their informational pictures. Again, everyone left knowing how to continue.
Being a self-directed writer is difficult. There is a lot to keep track of, a lot to organize, and a lot to process as we create multi-page books. Learning to identify our needs as a learner, however, is the hardest thing of all. Today we were responsible, self-directed writers. Stay tuned for more!
