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All children have the right to experience a safe and inclusive classroom that engages them in learning and advances equity. Writers' workshop is particularly well suited for creating a safe and inclusive space. Writers' workshop encourages children to share their own stories and listen to, learn about, and develop empathy for others. This instructional strategy can also encourage conversation about important social issues in local communities and the broader world. This article explains specific approaches that can be used within the writers' workshop framework to examine assumptions, use inclusive language, and practice respectful interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Providing children with opportunities to share their writing with others is a vital part of establishing a successful writing community. Although sharing is most often viewed as a beneficial experience for children, it is important to acknowledge that sharing can also be uncomfortable and intimidating for many young authors. This article provides tips for establishing a respectful writing community, including strategies for whole-group sharing, as well as alternative experiences for children who are reluctant to share. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As teachers work to move their writing workshop into the 21st century and to help students meet new standards expectations, they are ramping up their use of technology. This article lays out a set of guiding principles (E- BEST) to help teachers make reflective choices, so that the digital technologies in their workshops will enhance and extend student learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes how one teacher implemented a memoir genre study in her sixth grade classroom using a writing workshop approach. It begins by outlining the author's philosophy and rationale for teaching writing in this manner. This is followed by a discussion of how one could organize one's classroom for a memoir genre study. Several significant mini-lessons are then described which focus on brainstorming, planning, developing effective titles, leads and conclusions, structuring a memoir texts, the use of the senses in memoir writing and strategies for revision. The aim of this article is to equip practitioners with the practical knowledge they need if they are seeking to implement a memoir genre study in their elementary school classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes how third graders combine traditional literacy practices, including writer's notebooks and graphic organizers, with new literacies, such as video editing software, to create digital personal narratives. The authors emphasize the role of planning in the recursive writing process and describe how technology-based audio recordings, using iPods and LiveScribe pens, allow students to narrate, critically evaluate, and revise their stories before writing first drafts. The authors discuss the benefits of integrating recorded oral rehearsals into the writing process and explain how, with peer conferencing and teacher support, the audio drafts evolve into multiple written drafts, storyboards, and iMovies. Creating digital stories that are shared with proximate audiences (e.g, classmates and families) and distant, sometimes unknown audiences through a class blog, provide students with meaningful, engaging, 21st-century opportunities to communicate ideas through the use of multimodal resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the benefits of writing partnerships in primary education. The writers' workshop, which includes a mini-lesson, independent writing time, and sharing, is compared with writing partnerships, which has the students in the independent writing segment supporting each other, and allowing frequent student-to-student conferencing. The author discusses the authentic literacy features that partnerships offer including the presence of other people, feedback from others, access to tools, multiple activity options, and problem-solving situations. How the author conducts writing partnerships in her class including matching writers, setting the tone, and supporting productive partnering are discussed.

Presents techniques to make English language lessons more enjoyable for young students. Use of interactive calendar in primary grade classrooms; Implementation of graphic organizer notebooks to improve tests; How to organize journal-writing workshops in a first-grade classroom.