Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide
By Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi
Chapter 7 Literature in the Writing Workshop
This chapter talked about how writing and reading are intertwined. Good writers are usually good readers with heads filled with stories and such that they have read and reread many times. Teachers can help students make the reading and writing connections that some children do on their own, and others need some help.
Picture books are ideal to use for lessons because they are short and usually transparent. Teachers can develop craft lessons where they use picture books to illustrate a certain way that authors write. They might use a picture book to show how authors use transition words. Literature can also be a good place for students to get ideas to write about. I know from personal experience that by hearing somebody else’s poem or story I oftentimes jump to an idea that I would have never thought to write about. Teachers can also use picture books during student writing conferences. If I notice one of my students is struggling with a kind of writing I will have the student study authors and books to see how it is done.
In my classroom I already use picture books as a basis for mini lessons. This chapter helped me to remember why that is a best practice and also gave me some suggestions on books to use.
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