Teaching Technique ( Writer's Workshop)

Mini Lesson Format


In general mini lessons should last approximately 10-15 min. It has to follow a certain structure.
Architecture of a Mini-lesson
1- Connection: 1-2 minutes
2- Teaching: 5-6 minutes
3- Active Engagement: 2-3 minutes
4- Link: 1-2 minutes

Connections Mini-lessons begin with making a connection to what the students will be learning and how that learning fits into or connects to what they already know, the world around them, something they have read, or into their lives as readers and writers.  
Teaching:  Students are taught something they will use in their lives as readers and writers. Often this is done through an engagement or demonstration of a strategy. Everyone in the learning community can be both a teacher and a learner. Sometimes, through demonstration, the teacher learns as much from the student as the student learns from the teacher and vice versa.  
Active Engagement :Students are given an opportunity to try out what has been taught. Sometimes, students will practice the strategy with a partner and other times the whole class or a small group may practice the strategy before all students apply the strategy to their own writing in an independent context.  Independent  Reading or Writing Students are given an opportunity to apply the strategy (what has been taught) in the mini-lesson to their own reading or writing. By allowing the students an opportunity to practice and then apply the strategy it is more likely to become part of the students’ lives as readers and writers.  
Link: Students are given time to share something they learned, found interesting, or noticed during independent reading or writing time. Often times thoughts shared will connect to the mini-lesson, but not always. The goal is to facilitate students’ growth as readers and writers.  
From - Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, 2002

This Video Shows the idea