WRITER'S WORKSHOP MINI LESSONS

Establishing a Workshop Routine: Putting a Date on our Work

Lesson 5: We Add the Code Date to our Writing

Review the ANCHOR CHART that has been started.  

• Discuss the importance of sitting at the carpet.

• Discuss the importance of watching and listening with our eyes, ears, hands, feet, and voices.

• Discuss the importance of helping other writers when they need help.

• Discuss the importance of sitting with and having writing buddies/partners.

Read Pepper's Journal: A Kitten's First Year  by S. Murphy.  {may read a different book that features "the day's date"}

After reading the book, facilitate a discussion about why Lisa wrote the date for every time she wrote about Pepper.

Share with students that it is important to add the day's date to our writing.

Ask students for reasons for why this is important.

Write the day's date [using the format you prefer students to write it in] on the board.

Tell students that this is the date for today.

Tell students that we call this the "code" date.

Share that later on in the year, we can read the date to determine what day it was that we wrote the story.

Model how to add the code date to the top of a story.

Encourage students to add the code date to the top of their stories every single day.

Take pictures of students being writing the code date [during independent work time].

Create an ANCHOR CHART for "Writer's Workshop" routine, and add information and a picture about the day's lesson.

Resources:

  Pepper's Journal  by Stuart Murphy