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Using Mentor Texts to Launch Writer’s Workshop


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Are you ready to transform your writing block? Do you love reading mentor texts to your class? If the answer is yes, then you’re ready to learn how to launch writer’s workshop! Launching Writer’s Workshop shouldn’t have to be hard- it should be so easy! I’m going to share with you how my Writer’s Workshop Course: From Scribbles to Stories can help you become a ROCK STAR at teaching writing! No previous writing experience is necessary! Especially if you’re a first-year teacher- this course will be a lifesaver for you!

By this time of year, you’ve probably already started writer’s workshop in your classroom or are wanting to start, but haven’t had the time. If you’ve already started it may be going great and you feel on top of the world, or it may have flopped and you’re feeling frustrated. However it’s going, there is always room for improvement and that’s where I come in! Let’s see what my course has to offer! Each MODULE has a training video, blog post, YouTube video, and writing templates to go with it.

Here are the MODULES that my course includes:

MODULES:

MODULE 1: Course Introduction

MODULE 2: The Gradual Release of Responsibility

MODULE 3: Materials and Organization

MODULE 4: How to Teach the Writing Process

MODULE 5: Mentor Texts That Foster Great Writers

MODULE 6: Templates and Resources

MODULE 7: Publishing a Story

MODULE 8: Wrap Up and Get Started

BONUS TRAINING: The First 10 Days of Launching The Workshop

MODULE 1: Intro to Course/All About Me

In this module, I will introduce myself and tell you how I got to this point in my teaching career. I’m a 24 veteran teacher turned coach, mentor, and trainer to help teachers like you launch a successful Writer’s Workshop in your classroom! I give many trainings in my district where I teach in Texas, and I’m CPE Certified!

I will also share with you what grades I’ve taught and what I’ve learned from my experiences. I will go through all of the modules and show you how to navigate the course so you know what you’re getting. There are 8 Modules and 1 Bonus Training.

MODULE 2: The Gradual Release of Responsibility

This Module is highly important for teachers to learn what the Gradual Release of Responsibility means. I was extremely lucky to have had Balanced Literacy Training in my previous district and I absolutely fell in love with it. This framework takes you from modeling to sharing, to guiding and applying the knowledge and skills you are teaching your students.

I will share with you how I teach the “I DO, WE DO, and YOU DO” during Writer’s Workshop. I will share with you what kinds of activities I do with my students for each part. This framework is crucial for teaching your students how to become independent thinkers and writers. You can apply this framework to any subject too!

MODULE 3: Materials and Organization

Of course, you need certain materials to launch your writer’s workshop! I will walk you through all the materials that I use in my classroom and why they are important. I will share how I organize my materials so my students know where to get them in my classroom. It’s important to be organized if you want this is go without a hitch. Some materials I organize are my mentor texts, process writing papers, writing folders, teacher table supplies, published books, and more!

MODULE 4: How to Teach the Writing Process

Teaching the Writing Process can be daunting, but with the help of my course, you will have it down pat! I will share with you how I teach the writing process with mini-lessons using mentor texts, anchor charts, interactive notebooks, and writing templates. I will share how I keep track of the writing process for each student and how they know what step they are always on.

Each student is on a different stage of the writing process. I know right? How do I do this? I’ll teach you! This keeps my students accountable and working towards the goal of publishing their stories. I have YouTube videos to share on how I take the Status of the Class!

MODULE 5: Mentor Texts That Foster Great Writers

This is my favorite Module because I share my favorite mentor texts that I use for my mini-lessons! I share the mentor texts that I use for launching the workshop from day 1, which mentor texts I use to teach grammar and which mentor texts I use to teach different types of writing genres such as Persuasive, Fairy Tales or Procedural.

I feel like it’s extremely important to model what good writing looks like and sounds like through different authors. This is also a great example of what authors go through to publish a book. You will LOVE this module!

MODULE 6: Templates and Resources

What templates do I need to use for writer’s workshop? What do I put inside my writing folders? What do I use for a dictionary? What do I use for Brainstorming? What do I use for Student Conferences? What templates do I use to publish a story? Here in this module, I will share the templates that I created to help my students write their stories.

I created these templates out of necessity because my district didn’t have a writing curriculum. I had to create everything on my own. I will share YouTube videos of my class and how each student is on a different step in the writing process all at the same time.

MODULE 7: Publishing a Story

Fairy Tale Writing Unit

The most exciting part of writer’s workshop is when one of my students publishes their story! They get to ring a bell and the whole class applauds! It’s such a big deal and they LOVE it! Before they ring the bell, we complete a self-reflection page together to see how they feel about their story. After they publish, they get to read their story to the class.

The class gives them compliments and suggestions about their story. After they read their story, it goes home in a special folder with all the templates that they wrote from Brainstorming all the way to Self- Reflection. The students read their stories to their parents and then bring the book back the next day to put on our publishing wall!

BONUS TRAINING#1: The First 10 Days of Launching The Workshop

In this BONUS TRAINING, you will get 10 days of lesson plans that include objectives, suggested mentor texts, anchor charts and interactive notebooks. The first 5 days include hooking the students into writing and teaching them about being an author and illustrator.

Lesson 1: Write From the Heart

Lesson 2: What Does Writing Time Look Like?

Lesson 3: What is a Dictionary?

Lesson 4: What is an Author and Illustrator?

Lesson 5: Creating my First Mental Image for my Story

The next 5 days are how to introduce Tiny Moment Stories which is the first unit about writing a Personal Narrative.

Lesson 6: Intro to Tiny Moment Stories

Lesson 7: Organizing More Ideas

Lesson 8: Introducing BME

Lesson 9: Big Topic, Small Topic, Tiny Moment- How to Tell the Difference

Lesson 10: What Does Publishing Mean?

WOW! That’s such a great start to Launch Your Writer’s Workshop! If you would like to get on my email list to receive the first 5 days of Launching, sign up here!

You might be saying, this is great Kara, but I’m interested in the Writer’s Workshop Course now so how can I purchase that? Click here to check it out!

The course is normally $200.00, but for this week you get a special offer of $150.00 with 6 monthly payments of $25.00. If you’re not satisfied with the course after 14 days, then you can ask for your money back guaranteed! Here’s a quick video of my student’s writing transforms from the beginning of the year to the end. Notice how the quality of writing starts and ends with a published book!

And guess what… If you purchase the course TODAY as an early bird special… you will get 7 more BONUSES added to your course for FREE!!! Normally they are not included with the course, so you might want to snag this deal! Here are the 7 BONUSES you will get!! Each bonus has a training video and my writing resources to go with it!

BONUS TRAINING #2: How to Set Up Your Writing Center

In this training, I will share how I set up my writing center, what materials I use, and what my students do at that center.

BONUS TRAINING #3: How to Teach Fairy Tale Writing

In this training, I will share how I teach my students how to write a Fairy Tale to publish their story. I will share the writing templates, anchor charts, and mentor texts I use. I will also share how I organize and plan a Fairy Tale Ball for my parents and students.

BONUS TRAINING #4: How to Teach Persuasive Writing

In this training, I will share how I teach my students how to write a Persuasive Story using anchor charts, sentence starters, writing templates, and mentor texts. Some of my persuasive writing craftivities are: I Want to Be the Easter Bunny, I Want to Go Trick-or-Treating, Why Should We Save the Rainforest, and much more!

BONUS TRAINING #5: How to Teach Procedural Writing

In this training, I will share how I teach my students how to write procedural stories using mentor texts, anchor charts, writing templates, and craftivities. This type of writing is so fun for the students because I also have a Kitchen Center in my classroom that reinforces “How To” stories. How do I use my Kitchen center? I’ll teach you! Some of my procedural writing craftivities are: How to Make S’Mores, How to Make Pancakes, How to Carve a Pumpkin and much more!

BONUS TRAINING #6: How to Teach Informative and Research

In this training, I will share how I teach my students how to research a topic, how to organize it, how to search for information, and how we present and share with each other using lapbooks. Some of my research lapbooks are: All About Monarch Butterflies, All About Endangered Animals, All About Animals That Hibernate and much more!

BONUS TRAINING #7: Behavior Management Strategies

In this training, I will share my behavior management tips and tricks from making a social contract, to having a star student, to using bonus bucks as a classroom economy, and the mentor texts I use for my Morning Meetings. Some of the resources you will receive with this bonus are: Great 8 Skill Cards and Morning Meetings, Show Me the Money, and Rules/Procedure Cards.

BONUS #8: How to Teach Writing in Math

In this training, I will share how I teach my students how to write story problems by using mentor texts, anchor charts, sticker story booklets, and writing templates. Some of the resources you will receive with this bonus are Back to School Story Problems, Haunting Halloween Sticker Stories and Crafty Christmas Story Problems.

I hope to see you inside my Writer’s Workshop Course! You don’t want to miss this EARLY BIRD SPECIAL!! Please email me if you have any questions: rickmankara@gmail.com. If you’re interested in checking out another blog post about my Writer’s Workshop, click here.

Until next time…let’s take your classroom to the next level!

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Hi, I'm Kara!

I teach teachers like you how to manage your classroom so you can teach Cross-Curricular.  I live in Boerne in the Texas Hill Country. I’ve been teaching for 24 years in first grade and I LOVE it! I am married to a band director and have two beautiful daughters: Kennedi and Presleigh. I love shopping, decorating and playing flute, piano and singing.

How about a FREE Cross-Curricular School Lesson Plan that includes Reading, Writing, Math, Phonics, Poetry, Science and Social Studies!