Story Workshop: What You Need to Know

I have been seeing a lot of posts about Story Workshop on Instagram lately and I am SO excited about it! Although I am no expert in Story Workshop, I have really enjoyed what I have learned about it so far and my kiddos really enjoy their Story Workshop time. Earlier this week I posted on my stories reaching out to see if anyone had questions about this playful literacy approach. In this post I will share the questions I received and answer them the best I can. If you have any other suggestions, insights, or recommendations to the questions below, please share it in the comments! :)

I was originally introduced to Story Workshop during one of my Master's classes in the summer of 2021. I got into Story Workshop because I wanted a way to incorporate playful literacy into my classroom and find a way to encourage students who were reluctant to write.

How do you get started?

I strongly recommend picking up a copy of "Story Workshop: New Possibilities for Young Writers" by Susan Harris MacKay if you're looking to learn about Story Workshop. I loved the layout of the book, it is user friendly, an easy read, and really helped me understand how Story Workshop could work/look in my classroom. I also attended Susan's free online PD last year on Story Workshop. Keeping an eye out for those opportunities may be helpfu as welll! I would also suggest following #storyworkshop on Instagram to see how different teachers use Story Workshop in their classroom and connect with other teachers who share a similar interest as you! This link might also be helpful for you- https://opalschool.org/story-workshop-a-confluence-of-meaning-making-play-and-the-arts/

How do you divide the kids when doing Story Workshop? Is everyone doing Story Workshop?

I do it all together as a whole class during Story Workshop time. During that time, I am usually conferring with students and listening to their stories the whole time. If needed, you can use this time to assess kids, or pull small groups but I would suggest you spend this time conferring and observing. Depending on how long your small group reading instruction is, you may want to incorporate this during one of your center rotations. Personally, I find that my rotations during small group reading is too short for Story Workshop. Early finishers can also work on Story Workshop when they complete other work early.

Are all students doing it at the same time or is it center style with smaller groups?

I personally do whole group, but as I said above, you can do small groups too I am sure; whatever works best for you.

How much time do you give them?

It depends on the day. I have it permanently in my time table (only 1-2x/week for myself, although you can definitely do it more). I would say at least an hour time slot would be needed. Sometimes weeks we completely miss Story Workshop and other times we do it all afternoon.

Do you work in partners?

I let kids work however they want. Some choose independent work, where others choose pairs and or larger groups. It is nice to have different abilities work together too. It also depends on what I am assessing. Although Story Workshop is traditionally oral storytelling, later in the year I have them write their stories they are telling down. If I am assessing their writing ability, I will have them work independently, but they usually get to choose how they want to work themselves.

Where do you get your materials?

I have gotten my materials at thrift stores such as Value Village. When I first started collecting materials, I made it a date night and went out with my fiance for 2 or 3 Fridays in a row simply to find parts for Story Workshop. Thank goodness he is so supportive! LOL. I think it would also be fun to go hunting for these things with your grade partner! Dollarama and Dollar Tree have some great materials too. I think I prefer Dollar Tree over Dollarama when it comes to Story Workshop materials, but both places are great. If you're looking for specific things such as animals, I would suggest you reach out to family and friends to see if they have any items kicking around their home that they could donate to your classroom. I have also gotten a few things from Amazon.

How do you keep your materials stored?

I store them in the clear plastic shoe boxes that you can get from Home Depot. This was a fabulous suggestion from some colleagues in a class I took last year. The shoeboxes are reasonably priced, clear so you can see what is in them, have lids, and are square so they can stack easily. I keep the bins of materials up in my cupboards in my classroom when they are not in use and usually store them by type. For example, nature items, animals, people, etc. I do have some themed ones where I won't use those items for anything else, such as Halloween, so I have a Halloween Story Workshop tub. When I have them out I have them placed on some tables in our classroom. I set clear expectations about these tables at the beginning of the year and they are absolutely fabulous at looking after their materials and putting them away properly. I have a few posts of different Story Workshop set ups on my Instagram account if you want to check it out.

Will it be engaging for older students? I can't help but wonder if some will roll their eyes at it.

I teach Grade 1/2 and they love it. Although I have only had experience using Story Workshop in a Grade 1 or 1/2 classroom, I am almost certain Grade 3 students would love it as well! Story Workshop is definitely intended for early learners, but I think it could be adapted for sure if you are looking at incorporating playful literacy into your classroom. I am not sure what age you would be referring to as older, but I think you can set it up to connect to your curricular content. For example, having students use loose parts to share the life cycle of a ______, reenact the story of the making of treaties, retell the chapter you just read together as a class, etc.

Lots of playing, not a lot of writing. Help!

• Ah, yes. My class at times struggles to get their stories down on paper too, and to be honest, I don't blame them. I would rather play too! LOL.

• Some things I would suggest trying would be to give them 15-20 minutes of oral story telling and play to get their ideas together before they write. Make it clear that after time is up, it will be writing time (ex: Writer's Workshop).

• If you really want to encourage the writing process, incorporate laminated words that they might use in their stories based on the materials they are given, and provide students with writing materials and blank books to write in.

• Another thing you could try is breaking your Story Workshop time into small chunks. For example, you have 10 minutes to come up with a title and characters for your story. Now you have 15 minutes to come up with a problem and solution. Then maybe the next day they have to write the beginning of the story, etc. Each day they must finish the writing job from the day before before they get to play with the Story Workshop materials.

• You can also try encouraging them by saying that there will be sharing time and that you would like students to share the writing page of their story that they are most proud of, or their cover page, etc. However, it is important to remember not to force children to share their work.

• I would also suggest when conferring to start with the kiddos that are most reluctant. You can also pair them up with a stronger writer/a student who is often writing during Story Workshop and they can work together to write a story.

• I am not sure if these will work for you, but just some suggestions that came to mind!

Transitioning it to using the writing process in Grade 2. How do you get them to write?

I have both my Grade 1 and 2 students write. I begin by providing them with plain paper books and writing materials, as I would with Writer's Workshop. This is a similar question to the one above, so I hope the answer from the previous question helps!

Anything and everything!

LOL. I hope this post helps. Some things I would also mention that have not been asked is that the use of trays for students to carry their materials around the room to a space they would like to use is super handy! I have blue plastic trays that were donated to me from the hospital. Try reaching out to your hospital to see if they have any that they could donate to your class!

Document their stories they tell with pictures, videos, writing their stories, typing up their stories for them, etc.

My students are very engaged in the Story Workshop process and it is a great way to integrate playful literacy, engage students in storytelling, and build confidence in your writers.

The Story Workshop process model is imagine, play, create, and share.

StoryMaking: The Maker Movement Approach to Literacy for Early Learners by Michelle Kay Compton and Robin Chappel Thompson is another great resource. However, if you could only choose one, I would choose Susan MacKay's Story Workshop.

If you have any more questions, recommendations, thoughts, or things to add please drop it in the comments below!!

XOXO,

E