ABSTRACT
Strategy lessons used during writing workshop take place during independent writing time and are based on the issues teachers notice. Although there’s a high level of teacher talk in a strategy lesson, kids have to do most of the work. Small-group strategy lessons are not a substitute for one-to-one conferences. The end-of-mini-lesson check-in enables the teachers to see what their students’ intentions are for their independent writing time. Group students who have the same goal and meet with them over the course of a few weeks. The teachers can gather those students together for small-group strategy lessons weekly until they have mastered using exclamation points, question marks, periods, and ellipses in their writing. The lessons are suggestive, not scripted. First and foremost, the small-group lessons should be based on the skills and strategies the teachers want their students to master as writers.
