Can writer's workshop be done in 30 minutes? 

It’s nice to be reminded that even though I only have about 20-30 minutes for writing I can still teach writing to the best of my ability!

Thank you for mapping out how to get it all done in a shorter time block. As much as we want longer writing blocks, the reality is not always that way. Thank you!

This was a helpful reminder that mini lessons are a valuable tool when you are pressed for time or the curriculum does not budget time for writing.

We do not have an “actual” writing time. It is blocked in with our reading block-so 120 minutes to fit in reading, reading groups, rotations, phonics…and writing. Your videos are super helpful and has me thinking of ways to combine and save time!

You make teaching writing seem so much more doable. Thank you. I'm off to watch more.

Thank you! I love the idea of blocking longer time. Great strategy of splitting skills into smaller chunks.

Thank you. I like your idea of having a schedule rotating reading and writing, yet giving students the same amount of reading time per week.

Thank you for renewing my confidence in being able to deliver quality writing instruction in a shorter timeframe. I definitely finished the school year feeling defeated by the time constraints and the high needs of my students in special education! Thank you so much!

This helps so much to plan out my lesson, in the short amount of time that I have for my writing block.

Thank you for reminding me that writing instruction can be effective in a short amount of time.

Thank you, April for making these videos and linking your wonderful resources. I have 90 minutes for ELA and that used to frustrate me when I thought of it that way rather than thinking about it as 450 minutes per week. In my weekly schedule, I incorporate 225 minutes of centers and 225 for whole group. This looks like 40 minutes for spelling, 40 minutes for grammar, 60 for writing, and 85 for reading. I do writing conferences in my centers time. It works out great on full weeks, but gets a little hairy on short weeks. I typically cut spelling on short weeks and continue to emphasize how important writing is.

Love the strategies and how to implement grammar.

Oh to have a 90 minute block!!!! My 46 minutes for reading and writing is going to be tough, but nice to see how I can still get in meaningful mini lessons and writing practice. Not sure how many days a week I will do writing vs. reading.

This is so helpful! I've always struggled with managing the amount of time to do this without feeling guilty.

I have 40 min for writing and grammar! This is so helpful.

Very helpful with my tiny teaching window!

I really liked your breakdown of the mini-lesson. Some simple tips I can use.

I am moving things around right now to try to facilitate writing workshops. Our high-stakes state testing in science is very writing-based. Sometimes, students have not had enough practice organizing their thoughts in writing. I will be using this to help students write better because writing is critical to communicating their ideas. It does no good to know something if you are not able to communicate it!

This video has really helped me to be able to start planning for next year! Liked the tips for during the mini lesson

I totally appreciate this video and training.

Thank you for your guidance.

One skill a mini lesson, have to remember this, I always want to teach it all.

You have great ideas. Thank you for tools to help accomplish it all. I think I'll try something similar to your idea of writing being a portion of the time on Mon, Wed, and Fri.

Thank you for reminding us of these short, practical, simple strategies for modifying lessons for writing! I'm on the "keep my mini-lessons simpler" struggle bus, so it was so helpful that you showed how you prep the lesson, deliver the lesson, and the strategies for including the character's actions and why that was a better strategy than just describing the character. THANK YOU!

I have students take doodle notes (JH kiddos) if they need something to do with their hands to focus. We pause to write ideas during reading time if we're using the piece as a mentor text. Those have helped my time management for writing IMMENSELY

Thank you for some great ideas! I usually have 30-35 minutes for writing.

This is super helpful. The 30 minute time block seems so challenging to plan out because you have so much to fit in to a short time frame. Thanks for making that process a bit easier!

I am currently tutoring, but these were great tips for how to maximize the short time I have with a student.

Great ideas! I’m blessed to have longer. I have h to r Simplify Writing Membership and would recommend it to everyone. Reading and Grammar resources as well.

I teach 7th grade and have 51 minutes to teach ELA and writing instruction usually gets overshadowed by reading instruction. I specifically like the 10-minute mini-lesson approach. I feel that is definitely doable.

I have 55 minutes with each of my classes. In the past, I have done short mini-lessons on writing at the end of a novel. Students respond to a question about the novel by connecting to it through text to self, text to text, and text to world connections. I realize this is not enough, but the emphasis in 7th grade is specifically on reading. We have writing standards, but there is just not enough time in the year to meet all of those standards.

Thanks for the tips. I have found 30 minutes for writing to be rushed, so I like the idea of the MWF schedule to have longer blocks to work on writing as needed.

I sometimes feel I don’t have time for these important skills students need for writing in just 20-25 minutes. Thank you for helping me understand it’s possible using your strategies.

I like the idea of planning out grammar mini-lessons and having students use those skills in their writing the week that they have a mini-lesson on them.

Exactly 30 minutes is all we have! Going in to SPED next year so I have a smaller amount of time to work on writing goals.

Your suggestions on how to break down the 30 min block, having writing folders prepared and ready to go, and NO INTERRUPTIONS are going to be very beneficial as I prepare for next year.

We have a 90 minute ELA block to be divided into reading, writing, & grammar/language. Approx. 45 minutes go toward writing on average.

Thankfully, I can arrange my own ELA schedule. I plan to have a 45 min. writing block at least 3 times per week.

30 minutes is great for our intervention time.

This video gave me an idea of how to split class time up but how do you get student conferences in there?

In the past, I have had as few as 30 minutes per day to teach writing, but I'm aiming for closer to 45 minutes daily this upcoming year.

Little bits was always my problem, I wanted to fix it all.

I have one hour each day and have to fit in reading, writing and grammar. Still trying to figure out how to fit it all in.

Very helpful. How much do you assist special education students during independent work time? Most of my students get a scribe, but I also want them to learn to write on their own. How do I balance their IEP needs and still get them working indpendently? Suggestions??

What would you say is the best time or daily journaling. I want all of the students to be able to participate. Morning work time doesn't work if I have students who are late or have club meetings etc. in the morning and before dismissal isn't always going to work due to early dismissals. Would after recess or before lunch perhaps be a better time to journal?

It sounds doable…but I can see getting some of my rascals to focus and actually DO the work will be hard as always. I can just hear all the excuses…My pencil is lost, it’s broken, blah, blah. I need to tighten up on my timing and this is where I always fail.

In your perfect world, how long would you want/need to teach reading and writing?

I have less than 30 minutes to teach writing to grades K-8. Any ideas on how to conquer that challenge?

the challenge to these lessons is when you are trying to teach writing to struggling readers. what do you suggest?

30 minutes is doable!

I have about 45 minutes if I'm lucky for writing each day.