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| The predictable nature of a conversation between a teacher and student during writing workshop. |
The conversation I have about my writing with other writers is crucial to my work. Without those conversations, I would sputter out, fizzle, take the wrong turn. It is critical to talk about writing with others.
The same is true for the student writers in our classrooms. They need the chance to talk about their writing. On Monday I posted about how I thought I would teach second grade writers about the different roles in a conference. As is the usual case, as I thought more about it, the focus took on a different direction. Instead of teaching about the roles in a conference, I decided to teach the predictable nature of a conversation about writing.
I've come to believe it is important to teach children why writers talk about their writing, as well as the way the conversation usually unfolds. This kind of teaching lifts the level of a conference, which in turn lifts the level of our instruction. Often the conversation I have about my writing with my crit partner follows this same structure. It's how we grow as writers.
I video taped the minilesson and hope to share it with you soon. I'm just waiting for permission to post the footage from the classroom.
You really have me thinking once again. I love the simplicity of the conference format. But what really struck me was your paragraph about how important conversation is for writers and how your conference format mirrors your conversation format with your crit group. I would love to be able to sell the idea of student crit groups with a teacher I'm working with but I'm not sure he would go for it. Like I said, you've got my cogwheels turning! :)
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