Videos to Support Your Child as a WRITER

You might be wondering, what is a Writing Workshop? What type of writing instruction is my child getting? In this video, LaKisha provides an overview of Writing Workshop. She provides some tips and suggestions of things that you can do with your children, at home to support their writing development.

In this video, Amanda works with Alex to co-create a shopping list for a birthday party. You’ll get ideas for ways to find real and authentic purposes for writing at home, such as making a shopping list together, writing a letter to grandparent, or creating a sign for the door.

One Word (Candle):

When your child is beginning to learn how to write, they will go through some predictable stages in spelling. Many parents ask, “Should I correct my child’s spelling? Should I tell them how to spell?” In this video, Amanda practices with Alex, stretching out the sounds, slowing the word down, to hear more sounds. When you are helping your child with spelling, you can do the same. This will give them more confidence for when they are writing in class throughout the day.

"Try it Different Ways"

In these clips, Amanda models two ways to check and fix spelling mistakes, ways that your child can try out even on their own. You’ll watch Amanda coach students using two different spelling strategies when tackling a tricky word.

Student One

In Writing Workshop, one of the big demands on student writers is for them to come up with their own ideas for writing. Here, in three videos, Amanda helps three different kids (a kindergartener, 1st grader, and second grader) to generate their own ideas and practice saying out loud their story, how-to or poem. Practicing this outside of school will surely give your child lots of topic ideas to write about in school as well.

Essays are a huge part of writing. In this short clip, Cheney shares how your child is being taught to structure and organize an essay. He explains some important terms you will probably hear your child use, such as “boxes and bullets”. He also quickly demonstrates the process your child is expected to go through when drafting an essay: develop a topic or claim, list reasons to support the claim, give examples to back up each reason, and then explain the chosen examples.

Often as parents, when we go to help our children with their writing, we aren’t exactly sure where to start. It can feel much easier to jump in and help children edit for spelling, punctuation, and conventions than to help your child with structure and elaboration. In these four clips you will see Amanda work with two students, a kindergartener and a first grader, to revise their writing in purposeful and intentional ways.

What is Writing Workshop?  Part One - Talking Directly to Parents and Families in Spanish

In this video, Heather shares some of the ways she creates authentic opportunities for writing with her seven year old daughter. From lists and weekend schedules to apology letters and love notes, this video will provide you with a wealth of ideas for “taking the mundane and making it marvelous!”

In this video, Cindy shares ways to support your child’s spelling development She helps clarify the approximations you see your child making as they learn how to spell words. Cindy shows you how to help your child access spelling strategies to help them spell on their own, even if it is an approximated spelling.

One Word (Birthday Cake):

When your child is beginning to learn how to write, they will go through some predictable stages in spelling. Many parents ask, “Should I correct my child’s spelling? Should I tell them how to spell?” In this video, Amanda practices with Alex, stretching out the sounds, slowing the word down, to hear more sounds. When you are helping your child with spelling, you can do the same. This will give them more confidence for when they are writing in class throughout the day.

"Clap Out the Parts, Put a Vowel in Each Part"

In these clips, Amanda models two ways to check and fix spelling mistakes, ways that your child can try out even on their own. You’ll watch Amanda coach students using two different spelling strategies when tackling a tricky word.

Student Two

In Writing Workshop, one of the big demands on student writers is for them to come up with their own ideas for writing. Here, in three videos, Amanda helps three different kids (a kindergartener, 1st grader, and second grader) to generate their own ideas and practice saying out loud their story, how-to or poem. Practicing this outside of school will surely give your child lots of topic ideas to write about in school as well.

Have you ever wondered, ‘What can I do with all the writing that comes home from Writing Workshop?’ or ‘How else can I encourage my child to write at home?’ In this short clip is the start of a project that Amanda helps Rania to do: Write a couple of poems for her parents. You can make gifts of poetry, songs, and even stories for those you love. Remember to take the lead form your child, they know so much about writing!

Often as parents, when we go to help our children with their writing, we aren’t exactly sure where to start. It can feel much easier to jump in and help children edit for spelling, punctuation, and conventions than to help your child with structure and elaboration. In these four clips you will see Amanda work with two students, a kindergartener and a first grader, to revise their writing in purposeful and intentional ways.

What is Writing Workshop?  Part Two - Talking Directly to Parents and Families in Spanish