Writing workshop, as conceived by Donald Graves and other US researchers in the 1980s, positively transformed the writing instruction of many teachers. However, others experienced considerable challenges as they tried to create workshop classrooms. This article examines the three historical conditions that defined workshop: (1) choice, (2) time…

This article describes a major capstone course centered on public writing, whose underlying pedagogical principles are transferable to courses across the curriculum. The course aims to strengthen students' mathematical agency and their ability to effectively communicate mathematical ideas. In its unique format, students repeatedly take turns…

This study presents a professional development (PD) model for promoting preschool teachers' writing instruction utilizing teachers' reflective practices. Thirteen prekindergarten teachers were followed for the entire pre-K year. Teachers were assigned to intervention and comparison conditions. A reflective PD workshop was developed based on…

This profile describes the first three years of initiating new writing-intensive seminars for the General Education curriculum at a small, career-focused, Catholic University. The primary reason for implementing the program was to initiate new writing-intensive seminars to replace existing writing-intensive General Education introductory courses…

We examined the effects of a professional development (PD) system designed to support teachers' use of data-based instruction (DBI) to improve early writing outcomes for children with intensive needs. The PD system, called "DBI-TLC," provided tools for early writing assessment and intervention, learning modules including face-to-face…

We examined the effects of a professional development (PD) system designed to support teachers' use of data-based instruction (DBI) to improve early writing outcomes for children with intensive needs. The PD system, called DBI-TLC, provided "tools" for early writing assessment and intervention, "learning modules" including…

Students who graduate from high school who are college-ready are more likely to graduate than those who are not college-ready. The need for remediation on college campuses burdens both students and institutions with financial and opportunity costs that at best delay, and at worst impede graduation rates. At a time when workforce preparation skills…

Background: An elementary teacher study group supports each other in a year-long journey as they learn how to work through writer's workshop curriculum in order to implement Units of Study by Lucy Calkins at a K-6 school. Time spent in writing instruction has been largely neglected, and a teacher-researcher wants to document the support found from…

Writers' workshops are a type of small-group interaction designed to provide middle school students with a forum for sharing their writings and receiving direct and functional feedback to support their rethinking and revising. Students in one sixth-grade class learned that other students could comment as insightfully on their writing as their…

Explains the process of implementing a writing workshop for the first time in the authors' third-grade classrooms. Describes the authors' motivations, fears, and concerns in starting these workshops. Outlines components of workshops, such as setting goals, organizing time, peer editing, and conferencing. Concludes that writing workshops change…

Examination of the extent to which three different modes of staff development (an intensive summer institute, an open program, and a one-day orientation workshop) helped elementary and secondary school teachers to implement a writing project indicated that the extent of implementation was clearly linked to the intensity of the staff development…

Included in this guide are strategies for helping struggling secondary readers and writers so that they will develop the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) necessary to write successfully and have greater access to the general curriculum. It focuses on the writing process because research supports the efficacy of the writing process as a…

Examples of writers' workshops and ways to implement them for children's second-language learning are described in this handbook for teachers. Writers' workshops are important structured classroom events that provide children with opportunities to demonstrate their facility as writers. The theory behind writers' workshops is that children…

A study was conducted to determine the extent of implementation of the Bay Area Writing Program (BAWP) and how the extent varied for different components of the program or for the elementary versus secondary level. The role of staff development in helping teachers use the program--which emphasizes prewriting, writing, and rewriting phases--was…

This professional development guide is designed for educators who work with secondary students who are struggling in reading and writing and who need intensive, individualized instruction to improve their skills. Examples of students for whom this guide is intended include: students with disabilities, English language learners, and low-achieving…