Don't Forget to Share

Book excerpt: I'm certain that you'll feel excited to try out the different kinds of share sessions that Leah discusses...and that she will give you the know-how and confidence you'll need to be successful. - Carl Anderson Author of Assessing Writers Traditionally, the writing workshop is a three-part framework: a minilesson, writing time, and a share session. Because much attention has been given to lessons and conferencing, the share session has sometimes seemed like an afterthought rather than an opportunity for children to look closely at their writing process and discuss it with others. No more. With Don't Forget to Share, Leah Mermelstein helps you recognize the importance of this aspect of the workshop and shows you ways to get maximum instructional impact from it. Don't Forget to Share is the first book to take on the share session in depth, revealing why it's essential to the success of writing workshop. Mermelstein presents insight and smart ideas for conducting share sessions that honor and reinforce individual kids' accomplishments, while at the same time offering them a safe way to get input from other writers. From setting up share sessions to facilitating them, she presents shares that promote rich conversations that support students' improvement in four specific areas of writing: content craft process progress. With in-action transcripts of teachers and students, helpful tips for working with English language learners and struggling writers, suggestions for matching children to share activities, and samples of effective teaching language, Don't Forget to Share has everything you need to not only invest your teaching time in share sessions but to make them work for you and your students. So if you're looking for a new way to ramp up the power of your writing workshop, take the advice of Leah Mermelstein, and Don't Forget to Share.