1. Agenda for Monday, Nov. 29
• Mini-Lesson
• “The Unwritten” by W. S. Merwin
o Writer’s Palette Activity
• NCTE Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing
o Written Conversation
• Stages of Writing Development
• The Writing Process
• Grammar Instruction

2. Writer’s Palette Activity
• Reread the poem
• Choose 10 words or phrases that appeal to you
and record them on your writer’s palette
• Write your own paragraph, poem, or story
using at least 5 of the words or phrases from
your writer’s palette

3. Write-Around/Written Conversation
• Form a group of
four.
• Each person have a
blank piece of paper
ready to use.
• Each member put
their initials in the
upper left-hand
margin.
TWO RULES:
1. Use all the time
for writing.
2. Don’t talk when
passing.

4. Write-Around/Written Conversation
• WRITE FOR ONE
MINUTE
• PASS the paper
when asked to do so
• READ all the entries
on the page, then
WRITE for one
minute
• RINSE & REPEAT
TWO RULES:
1. Use all the time
for writing.
2. Don’t talk when
passing.

5. Helpful Written Conversation Strategies
• Pay attention to what the
other person is
saying/writing
• Give opinions and back
them up
• Use examples
• Expand on your ideas
• Say funny stuff
• Connect your own
experiences to the reading
• Ask a lot of questions
• Answer your partner’s
questions with a lot of detail
• Come up with interesting
ideas
• Make predictions
• Express feelings
• Say how the reading relates
to the real world
• Keep the conversation going
by bringing up a new topic
—don’t repeat the same
thing over and over
• Argue and disagree, but in a
nice way
• Talk about what you think is
important
• Use your imagination
• Refer to specific
scenes/incidents
• Comment on your partner’s
ideas/opinions
• Use a lot of details

6. Helpful Written Conversation Strategies
• Pay attention to what the
other person is
saying/writing
• Give opinions and back
them up
• Use examples
• Expand on your ideas
• Say funny stuff
• Connect your own
experiences to the reading
• Ask a lot of questions
• Answer your partner’s
questions with a lot of detail
• Come up with interesting
ideas
• Make predictions
• Express feelings
• Say how the reading relates
to the real world
• Keep the conversation going
by bringing up a new topic
—don’t repeat the same
thing over and over
• Argue and disagree, but in a
nice way
• Talk about what you think is
important
• Use your imagination
• Refer to specific
scenes/incidents
• Comment on your partner’s
ideas/opinions
• Use a lot of details