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Not performing to
full ability
One and done
No accountability
Not working as
independently as
they could

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How can
Writers
Notebooks be
more
intentional?
What procedure
could students
use to make
Writers

My Notebooks will be more intentional if

my students can...
Use interactive notebooks to learn content in literacy.
In Writing Workshop and Reading Workshop
Creates a hands-on approach with content.
Refer back to their notebooks to find content that will help
them with independent work.
During Daily 5 (small group rotations)
Learn note taking strategies.
To build on
Practice writing and responding to texts.
Collaborate with peers to learn content in literacy.
Students will work together to complete assignments and
create examples in the Writers Notebook.

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Overview

Align
Interest*
of Year
Build
Set them Up
Teach
Lesson
Model
Go

Beginning

Current

Align the Standards

This is the very first step in creating successful Writers
Notebooks with your students.
This is a teacher only activity for now.
You want to do this so that you know exactly what youre
going to be teaching and can plan out how you will teach it.
During alignment, you will look at your curriculum maps
and documents provided by your district. Fayette County
provides these for us.
Take just a minute to look over the writing standard for this
unit.
Then look at the deconstructed standard.
Decide for yourself the big parts of this unit and in which order
it may be taught.

What do you see? BIG Picture

W.3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences
or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and
clear event sequences. a. Establish a situation and
introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event
sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use dialogue and
descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop
experiences and events or show the response of characters
to situations. c. Use temporal words and phrases to signal
event order. d. Provide a sense of closure.

* identify a real
experience or event
for my narrative.
* include an
introduction in my
narrative to establish
the situation.
* sequence the events
in my narrative.
* use temporal words
and phrases to order
the events of my
narrative in sequence.
* develop characters
by including their
actions, thoughts, and
feelings.
* write a conclusion
for my narrative.

Now Plan It
Day
1

2
3

Standard
W.3.3 Write
narratives to
develop real or
imagined
experiences or
events using
effective
technique,
descriptive
details, and clear
event sequences.

Target/Essential
Question
I can include an
introduction in my
narrative to
establish a situation.
How do effective
writers hook and
hold their readers?

Lesson
Attention Grabbers

Get Students Interested

Give students freedom to write what they want to write
about
Help them brainstorm ideas
Give them a list of ideas to keep in their notebook
No prompts; rather give guidelines
Heart Map
Use the Heart Map at the beginning of the year
It will show students that they have a lot that they could
potentially write about throughout the year
Because of the age of my students, not only will I model this,
but I will also give them prompts over the course of a week to
add more items to their maps. This could include,
favorite/least places to go, favorite/least animals
Strategies from Notebook Know How by Aimee Buckner
Writing from a List (17)
Scary Stories (19)
Questions (20)
Daily Pages (23)
Writing off Literature (24)
Observations (26)
Writing from a Word (27)

Get Students Interested

Explain to student what a Writing Workshop is
To spend time learning with their teacher and peers.
To collaborate with peers.
To learn new strategies and skills for writing.
Explain to student what a Writers Notebook is
PLAIN And SIMPLE, ITS A TIME FOR STUDENTS TO PRACTICE
WRITING FREELY, OPENLY, SAFELY, COMFORTABLY, AND DAILY
Teach skills and strategies of writing along with getting in
valuable practice.
...a place and time for projects, a place and time when
they can make writing kinds of things and spend time
being what a writer is and doing what a writer does,
(Ray, 60-61).
A writers notebook creates a place for students (and
writers) tp save their words, (Buckner, 4).
It can be ...in the form of a memory, a reflection, a list, a
rambling of thoughts, a sketch, or even a scrap of print
taped to the page, (Buckner, 4).
Writers notebooks help [teachers] maximize the effects
of [your] writing lessons, (Buckner, 5).

Get Students Interested

Give the rules and routines of Daily 5 rotations, including
Work on Writing
This does not begin until week 6 or so of school once all
assessment is completed and classroom routines are well put
into place.
Help them understand that the sky is the limit, (Ray, 61)
Students need to feel safe to write about anything
In The Writing Workshop, Fletcher and Portalupi discuss
praising students with specific feedback, letting students draw
when needed or to supplement writing, read aloud exemplars
and from the heart pieces for examples, and writing with the
students.
Writing Center
Freedom to come and go as needed
Supplies for writing time
Turn in area
Unfinished area

Build your Notebooks

Things you could have
Table of Contents
Numbered pages
Interactive pages from lessons and mini lessons as they go
Heart map
Skills and strategies
Letter chart
Sight word chart
Foldables
Reminders
Notes from lessons
Teacher feedback page
Resources page
Favorite books list

Set the Students up With the Standards

Show students the standard

Read the standard aloud to the class
Discuss the standard
Decide together the big picture
Decide together the important parts
This should be aligned to what you came up with prior to the
unit
You should guide your students to pick out the most important
parts to fit what you want them to do based on the standard
and targets you created
Create Success Criteria with your students
Create a rubric
These items should be posted in the room for referral.
This could also be an item to place in the notebook for
reference for students.

Teach the Students

Teach your lesson to your students
Youve already planned this part out
Use interactive pages to keep attention
Student[s] need to process information actively, so we give
them ample opportunity to be involved, (Anderson, 29).
Use mini lessons to refresh skills
Use this time to have student collaborate with peers
Show exemplar pieces and literature
Mentor texts offer examples of every type of imaginable
writing, (Anderson, 24).

Model, Model, Model

We make it possible for students to use this process on
their own by demonstrating what writers do, (Anderson,
25).
If we want students to [use the skills and strategies we
teach], we will have to demonstrate it first, guide them
through several experiences using varying texts, and then
slowly release them to apply the process on their own,
(Anderson, 25).

Model, Model, Model

You MUST model for students what you want them to be
able to do
We must give them multiple opportunities
We must scaffold as much as we can

Give it a Go!
Its time to release students to write
Remember its student choice on their writing; NO
PROMPTS
Give them multiple reminders of the skill taught in
instructions of activity
Assess them quickly based on the ONE SKILL ONLY for the
day

Overview

Align
Interest*
of Year
Build
Set them Up
Teach
Lesson
Model
Go

Beginning

Current

Now its your turn...

We can safely say weve

completed these steps this
summer together.
Align
Interest
Build

Our Lesson Today is...

Attention grabbing
introductions/sente
nces for our
narratives

Set them Up & Teach

Success Criteria for a narrative review
Success Criteria for an attention grabbing sentence or
introduction
Practice and model of referring back to Table of Contents
and previous material

Model
Academic skill taught
Lets practice writing an attention grabbing introduction
together now.
Remember we could
Tell a fact
Give a description
Give a quote
Ask a questions
Provide a sound effect
Begin with dialogue
Start with an action
Paint a picture

Also give details!

Situation:
I lost my dog

Go!
Now its your turn to create
an attention grabbing
introduction.
You may pick any situation
you want.

h
t
r
e
t h ut
O o
ab

s
g
in

to

i
h
t

k
n

Classroom Management
Routine for everything
Space for students to go to for materials
A way for students to conference with you or a peer if
needed
Non-verbal signals

Resources
"Kentucky Department of Education." : English Language Arts Deconstructed
Standards. N.p., 19 Feb. 2016. Web. 19 June 2016.
"Literacy & Math Ideas." : Free List of Attention Grabbers (Leads) For Narrative,
Opinion, and Informational Text Writing. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2016.
Anderson, Jeff. 10 Things Every Writer Needs to Know. Portland, ME.: Stenhouse,
2011. Print.
Buckner, Aimee E. Notebook Know-how: Strategies for the Writer's Notebook.
Portland, Me.: Stenhouse, 2005. Print.
Chapman, Carolyn, and Rita King. Differentiated Instructional Strategies for Writing in
the Content Area. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2009. Print.
"3A." Fayette County Public Schools. Office of Curriculum and Instruction, 2016. Web.
17 June 2016.
Fletcher, Ralph J., and JoAnn Portalupi. Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2001. Print.
Jacobson, Jennifer. No More "I'm Done!": Fostering Independent Writing in the Primary
Grades. Portland, ME.: Stenhouse, 2010. Print.
Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 June 2016.
Ray, Katie Wood, and Lester L. Laminack. The Writing Workshop: Working through the
Hard Parts (and They're All Hard Parts). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of
English, 2001. Print.