In a recent poll that I did on Instagram, 99% of my story viewers let me know that they’d like to see me do a series of blog posts on the components of the writing workshop… so, here it is! For those who don’t know me well yet, you will soon discover that I love all things writing (and reading) workshop! I have a passion for teaching literacy which has led me to some pretty incredible professional development opportunities. The most impactful of which has been attending various Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Institutes! This series comes to you from a place of wanting to share the knowledge I have gained from experiences through PD, as well as practical application with my students as I continue to refine and improve my own practices in the area of writing instruction. With that said, let’s dive into our first topic of this series: The Writing Center! Over the years my writing center has evolved into what it is today; a simple and organized space where my first graders are able to access everything they need for their work as writers each and every day. In this post, I am going to break down each component of my writing center and the reasoning behind it. 1. Writing Folders My students keep all of their writing for each unit in a folder, and we store their folders in the writing center rather than in their desks. I believe that the simple act of making space in our writing center to nicely and neatly store their writing folders, is one way of communicating to my students that the work they do as writers is valued. It is valued so much that we create a special space in our classroom where it remains protected from getting lost amongst the inevitable clutter within their desks, or set in a pile someplace else in the classroom. I store the folders in magazine file boxes, and as you can see I color code them. These colors match the table group colors that my students sit at. Color coding the boxes has helped with efficiency of getting my students writing folders to them each and every day. After my mini-lesson, one student from the group is responsible for grabbing the box and pens for their table. Then, they disperse the folders at their table group so that each writer can get to work quickly! For more info on how I set up my student's writing folders click here to read another blog post that I have dedicated to exactly that! 2. Paper choices I believe that providing choices promotes ownership and independence. At the beginning of the school year, when I introduce my students to varied paper choices, I explain to them that as writers they have the important job of deciding what type of paper best fits them as a writer and fits the books that they will be writing. This is one of the early lessons that feeds into establishing my first graders identities as writers. From early on they begin to internalize that writers make decisions and that as writers, I trust them to make those decisions. The paper choices that I make available in our writing center change as our unit of study changes, and also as my students writing development evolves throughout the year. What remains the same is that there are always pre-stapled booklets of paper, as well as single pages of paper that can be added to, or inserted into their books as they make decisions to add on or revise. Since the paper choices do change throughout the year, I use “labels” (printed sticky notes) that are easy to change out without much fuss. I will happily share these labels with you for free! Click here to get them emailed to you. 3. Pens My students use flair pens… yes, FLAIR PENS for their writing. Why? Well… I have an entire post dedicated to why we use pens for writing so you’ll have to head on over to read it too! Talk about a blogging cliffhanger, right?! 4. Revision/editing resources After teaching my students about revising and editing their writing, I introduce them to tools that they can use as they engage in that work. Once introduced, those tools are also stored in our writing center. The little containers that are pictured, which are 5x7 inch photo boxes, contain staple removers, strips of paper and tape. 5. Checklists and Charts In the past I have always included alphabet charts and sight words charts in my writing center too. Now, those are housed in my students writing folders. This is my first year making that change and so far I am really happy I did! My school of thought for storing these tools in the writing center was that I wanted my students to be independent in getting the tools that they needed. Last year, Matt Glover came to my classroom and nudged my thinking about this, he encouraged me to try storing these charts in my students writing folders because he feels that young writers should have easy access to the tools they need. I do continue to store student checklists in the writing center. The checklists that I use are from the Units of Study Writing curriculum; there are 3 different checklists that I have in the center depending on if we are studying narrative, informational or opinion writing. That sums up the components of my writing center! Having conversations about all things literacy are some of my favorite conversations to have, so if you have any questions about setting up your writing center please reach out by leaving a comment below, emailing me, or reaching out on Instagram! Also, be sure to subscribe to my blog so you are notified when my next post in this series is available… it will put an end to the cliffhanger above because it is all about why my students use pens for writing! Want to remember this post for later? Save the pin above!