Writing Workshop

One Friday a few weeks ago, the children in the Monday P.E. group engaged in a reading and writing activity of recalling and retelling the story, "Where's My Teddy" by Jez Alborough. In this context, we talked about how stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. We compared a story to a sandwich, with the top and bottom bread being the beginning and end of a story, and the sandwich filling as the delicious, interesting middle. 

We also noted how stories unfold through a series of events that happen one after another. The children then retold Alborough's story in their words and with their own drawings, focusing on what happened at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the story. Everyone eagerly dived into the activity and felt fully satisfied at the end of the process. When we offered them the idea of having a regular time for writing stories on their own, all of them jumped on it and unanimously decided on the day and time to do so. And thus our Writing Workshop was born.

Our first session focused on the question, "What makes a story a story?" In addition to a beginning, middle, and an end, children noted that stories have characters in it. In stories, something happens to the characters. Stories also take place somewhere. Stories can be true, or it can be something the author just made up. We talked about "brainstorming" ideas. What can one write about? Some children were itching to start writing and drawing. Some children brainstormed ideas with friends. Some children needed teacher assistance to get started. Everyone is committed.

Our second and most recent session focused on how they can record their ideas more independently. We reviewed all the letter sounds we have learned, and got a preview of the remaining sounds we will cover in the days and weeks to come. More importantly, we talked about "Sound Spelling" and "Dictionary Spelling." Sound spelling happens when one spells words based on the sounds they hear in words. Dictionary spelling refers to how words would appear in the dictionary (a.k.a. conventional spelling). Sometimes, one's sound spelling might look like the dictionary spelling, and sometimes it would not. The important thing about sound spelling is that it allows writers to jot down their ideas without worrying whether or not the spelling matches that found in dictionaries. 

Another important thing to know about sound spelling is that it will differ from person to person. Sound spelling is about writing down sounds a writer of word hears and recognizes. For instance, the word "sparkle" might be written down as "sprkl" by one person, and "srcl" by another. The important thing is that the writer can read back what they had written. 

This is a big step for all of them to take. They are ready for the challenge and looking forward to the thrill of being a storyteller through the use of printed words and drawings. They have many stories to tell.