You’ve taught your mini-lesson. Check.
You’ve modeled for your students through a mentor text or your own writing. Check.
Your students have moved into writing time. Check.
Your students have written independently. Check.
You’ve done your conferring to provide feedback. Check.
So, what’s left?
I’ve heard many teachers say, we clean up and move on to our next subject. Now, we all know that time is of the essence and a hot commodity in our classrooms. My biggest suggestion is to not skip the final piece of the puzzle.
Personally, I think one of the most important parts is often overlooked due to time constraints. In my classroom, I always intentionally save (yes, I actually plan this in every single day) the last 5 minutes of writing time to bring it all back together.
Some call it share time. Some call it reflection. Some call it a wrap-up.
Whatever you want to call it, it is so incredibly critical for so many reasons:
- Allows opportunities for students to engage with one another in their writing.
- Allows opportunities to reinforce the learning target.
- Allows opportunities to build a collaborative mindset.
- Allows opportunities to create your classroom community of writers.
- Allows opportunities to provide feedback.
- Allows opportunities to reteach to any misconceptions students may have.
Everyone gathers their writing piece or pieces they were working on, and brings it to the front of the room. We sit on the floor in a big circle for what I call our ‘circle up.’ This conversation looks very different depending on my purpose for our reflection time. Here are some examples and tips for how you can guide, coach, and facilitate your students through this time. The ultimate goal is to be intentional, set the stage for your purpose, and authentically engage with your writers to reflect on their writing.
Examples
Example 1
Purpose: To connect back to your teaching point
~Have students share a specific example from their own writing of how they tried the day’s teaching point, craft move, revision technique, or writing strategy.
TRY:
-Find an example of where you use descriptive language to elaborate on the character in your story.
-Find an example in your piece where you included strong figurative language. -Find a section of your text where you used non-fiction text features.
Example 2
Purpose: To share something your students are proud of
~Have students choose a part of their writing from the day that they are exceptionally proud of and explain why. (This is a great reflection topic for the beginning of the year and gives you lots of insight about your writers. Then, I pull it into each unit I teach throughout the year, because my writers love to share!)
Example 3
Purpose: To build your classroom community of writers.
~Have students share a section of their writing with a partner, and provide authentic feedback to one another. (You will have to spend time practicing this skill and modeling what you want from your students. Giving specific, concrete feedback can be really challenging, but once students get it…they are amazing at this skill. You can give a specific idea for their feedback {see below} or leave it open ended).
TRY:
-Tell your partner one character that you really enjoy from their piece and why.
-Tell your partner one thing you think they could do to improve their piece. Be specific!
-Tell your partner which element of their plot is the most effective.
Example 4
Purpose: To build your writer’s toolbox.
~Provide your students with a writing tip that you don’t have time to teach an entire mini-lesson on. Maybe it’s a craft move, a revision technique, a writing strategy, or a quick teaching moment that you notice students need during your conferences.
Example 5
Purpose: If you notice a misconception or need to reinforce a skill.
~If you notice students have a misconception or many students are struggling with the same skill, bring this topic back to reflection time. (Maybe a strong majority need coaching with integration of descriptive language or theme or the use of headings).
TRY:
-Make an anchor chart for reflection time reinforcing the skill.
-Create a word list that targets the misconception.
Tips for Reflection Time
- There is not always time for every student to share something. Be conscientious of who shares each day, so you can give everyone an opportunity throughout the week.
- If you struggle with management of time, set a timer to pace and monitor yourself.
- Guide the discussion, prompt, and return to your purpose.
- Be concise, coach your students to stay on topic.
Allow yourself the grace as you navigate this time. Your students will come to love the opportunity to gather and reflect after their writing time. You will find that intentionally scheduling this will yield extreme benefit and will aid exponentially in your students’ growth and development as an author.
