Atwell had a very simplistic 50-minute, daily workshop schedule. It consisted of the following: Status Check, Mini-lesson, Writing Workshop, and Authors' Chair. My agenda was only slightly different (click here for outline in PDF format).

In order for this type of curriculum model to be successful, teacher modeling and scaffolded instruction (I Do, We Do, You Do) must take place. At a workshop held in Tampa, Florida shortly after the release of the second edition of In The Middle, Nancie Atwell admitted that she spends a great deal of time at the beginning of the year with routines, behaviors, and modeling. She said, "It seems like I yell at kids from August to the end of October..."

It is my opinion that most teachers who are not successful with writing workshop do not devote enough time to the modeling and scaffolding process. At the beginning of the year, I typically devote only 10 or 15 minutes to actual writing time, and devote any where from 15 to 20 minutes in dong Mini-lessons. Most of these mini-lessons have to do with generating ideas for writing, how to conduct peer/group conferences (I teach them how to do PQP's), and what the daily and weekly routines are. By the middle of the year, students are participating in writing activities (writing, peer editing, revising, conferencing, etc) around 20 minutes, and by the end of the year, this time is increased to 30 to 35 minutes with only a 5 to 10 minute Mini-lesson.

The question I am asked by teachers most often is, "What is the process or routine for your writing workshop?" In other words, what is the process or path a writing piece goes through before it is graded? I use the following model:

Repeat process.