Our current writers workshop unit of study is Writing Pattern Books to Read, Write, and Teach! Read you might ask. I thought this was a writing unit! The fact is that reading and writing go hand in hand and the children will be creating books that resemble the little leveled reader books that are in their hands as emergent and beginning readers.
The children begin by choosing some content, something important that they want to say. This is the meaning or main idea. The pattern is constructed to fit with it. For example: I see . . . I see . . . I see . . . or I play with . . . I play with . . . I play with . . . The children then find ways to use pictures and words along with the pattern to make books that others will want to read. The repetition gives them practice writing high frequency sight words (which by the way we are practicing during readers workshop, coincidence . . . I don't think so).
Our next step will be to notice how authors incorporate questions and answers, see-saw patterns, or twists to the end. The children will begin to write longer patterns and make them a bit more complex. These books will also be added to the now ever growing classroom library for everyone to read.
Finally the children will create pattern books with opinions, letting us know how they think or feel about something. They may begin to include dialogue to capture their voice!
Of course we will wrap it all up with a writers celebration! Stay tuned for more on all this writing.
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