Choice and Agency in the Writing Workshop

Step into a classroom and “listen in” on the writing initiatives and motivations of students who are given significant choice and agency in the development of their writing. Discover why upper elementary children need ways to “become literate as kids,” not merely as prototypes of adults or teenagers. Filled with rich portraits of in-class writing interactions and challenges, this book highlights various themes that help teachers become better observers and more responsive to the complexity of writing in children’s lives. Key themes include: drawing and popular media in children’s learning; the challenges of listening to students during conferences; the intersections of writing and relationships; the roles of sharing and publishing writing; and the importance of shaping a writing curriculum through dialogue.

With Choice and Agency in the Writing Workshop: Developing Engaged Writers, grades 4-6, Fred L. Hamel invites readers to observe a writing workshop in action, think deeply about writing workshop, and imagine how they can respond to student writers in generative ways. In addition to sharing about what works in this kind of instruction, Hamel also explores tensions that educators might experience within a workshop context.--Journal of Language and Literacy Education, There is much to learn from Hamel in terms of his thoughtful pedagogical decision making, his keen sense of observation, and his delight in children as writers, thinkers, and people. All teachers, not simply those who are already believers of the importance of valuing children's participation in official and unofficial worlds (e.g., Dyson, 2003), would benefit from his view into this classroom world of children writing.--Teachers College Record

Fred L. Hamel is a professor in the School of Education at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington.