Writer's Workshop For Students With Diverse Needs

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

Hello! I am a second grade classroom teacher in urban Illinois. The majority of students in my classroom are identified as English Language Learners and speak a variety of languages at home including Spanish, Polish and Urdu. Our classroom also includes many students with special needs. In all, I have about 30 students in my classroom that form a diverse and tight community! Most of my students speak English as their second language. While their oral language skills may seem fluent, most have a more difficult time with writing. To encourage writing I have try to make writing as relevant to the real world and as engaging as possible. In 2nd grade this year we will be writing friendly letters to pen pals, biographies of a family member, poetry, publishing a monthly class newsletter and writing our first research paper! To accomplish all of this we hold a daily Writer's Workshop, in which the students each work at their own pace through the stages of the writing process: pre-writing, first draft, peer editing, revising, conferencing with me and publishing. To make writing even more enjoyable for my students, I would love to have some writing "tools" for our Writer's Workshop! My students peer edit each others' drafts and colored pens in blue, purple and green (not red!) would make editing marks easier for the students to see. The students favorite part of the writing process is publishing! While we type our classroom newsletter, most of their writing is handwritten and the students love to publish on "fancy" paper with pre-printed borders and decorations. I have also asked for several packs of lined paper so that the students can free-write or choose to illustrate their writing and the construction paper can be folded and stapled around lined paper for the students to be able to "publish" their own books. Finally, I encourage my students to be responsible and appreciate their classroom supplies so I have asked for folders to help them keep their writing organized! Having these writing tools will make writing more engaging and exciting for my students, and the more they are engaged, the more they are learning! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my proposal!