Just like when you are getting ready and organizing your classroom, you need to organize and plan the beginning of your workshop. Atwell states that you must set the tone on the first week if you want your students to commit to the workshop and learning. Student buy-in is as important as teacher buy-in when beginning this process.
Setting routines allows for the ninety minute class time to run as smoothly as possible. One routine that students need to gets used to right away, is the ability to “look at what they are doing as writers and identify it…”
Setting a quiet tone is important as well. By talking quietly yourself while working with students, you help them to understand that they should do the same. This helps to set up a comfortable writing environment.
Ch. 6 - Mini-Lessons
When committing to a reading-writing workshop, mini-lessons become an important part of learning. Instead of maximizing a lesson and taking days to explain concepts, many mini-lessons that cover and recover concepts are more effective for student learning. You can use mini-lessons in order to “highlight concepts, techniques, and information that will help writer and readers grow up.”
When deciding what you should teach in a mini-lesson, look at what your students are writing. Where are there problem areas? What can be improved? Once you have uncovered and answered those question, you have found the topics for your mini-lessons.
Remember, as a teacher, you are the most knowledgeable reader and writer in the classroom. Put your expertise to good work and use what you know to help your students. Information out of a book cannot be compared to your first-hand knowledge of what works and what makes the writing harder and less successful.
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