By Gordon Korman

From our whole group reading aloud of No More Dead Dogs and then I used this as a mini-lesson on omniscient POV.  This is what we noticed.

Noticing by Cathy Rode's Class

1. each chapter named after a main character in the book
2. each character "talks" like they would in real life
3. author uses different font for different point of view or speech
4. reader sees inside each person's life 
5. know everything character thinks or feels
6. multi-genre: there are letters written by characters, first-person point of view, and written for teens

From our whole group memoir mini-lessons and from our independent reading immersion and close study of chosen texts for process studies, we've created this noticings chart of process studies.

A Writer's Notebook: By Ralph Fletcher

Noticings By: April Camp

* Uses stories to begin the chapters and shows how the writing can be done before you are asked to do the writing

* Uses catchy chapter names to help direct where you want to read

* gives examples of the type of writing that is being shared

* figurative language used

* shares ways to begin to notice the world around you in different ways

*Process Study:  Punctuation

Flip's Fantastic Journal by Angelo DeCesare

Noticings Chart: process study

By Cammie Price

1. Notice:

-author writes how a primary student would write, uses capital letters and underlines when wanting to add expression  -written like a journal   -"child-like" illustrations students can relate with  -Flip went from not liking to write to loving to at the end (good for students to relate with)  -days of the week are always underlined

1. Talk: 

-child-like tone is great for students to relate with/easy to understand (real life connections), good opening and beginning (writing like a journal got my students "hooked") 

1. Name:

        -tone, structure

1.  Connect:

-This reminds me of Ralph Fletcher's writers notebook for grown-ups  : it encourages, inspires, and  gives good writing ideas

1.  Envision:

-I use this at the beginning of the year to get students excited about their "yellow dot" writing notebook. We brainstorm ideas about what students may choose to write about. I love the idea of making a top 10 list of things you love and top 5 list of things you don't like. That is 15 easy off the cuff writing topics students can write about during free writing time.

"Process Study"- Drafting, Revising, and editing for publication   Crystal Weathers

What you Know by Heart  by Katie Wood Ray

After our class I started going through the many books I have accummulated over the years and have used at one time or the other and have put away. I came across several Katie Wood Ray books, Wondrous Words, and What you know by Heart.

     This book has many sources for process studies but one that I have used and will use again is Drafting, Revising and editing for Publication. A few of the revision tools that KWR has gathered throughout the years  and are what she focuses on in her text,

• Take a line and use my notebook to try writing it lots of different ways.
• Find all the verbs in the draft and ask, "Is there a more precise verb I might use?"
• Have someone read the draft and then give a summary of it. Ask myself, "Did my piece make sense to this reader?"
•  Consider shifting the voice of the piece by changing the person of the pronouns. 
• Take a small chunk and write it longer (add inside thinking, add an image, slow time down). Take a long chunk and make it shorter (say a lot in one sentence, speed time up)
• Try starting the draft in a different place. 
• Try crafting techniques in the draft that I've seen other authors use in other texts. 
• Look closely at puncutation. Are there places wher I could exploit punctuation marks to help make my meaning stronger? 
• Add anything that would make the meaning stronger. 
• Read the draft aloud, over and over and over. LISTEN for what I need to do to it. 

Live Writing

by Ralph Fletcher

Noticings by Kim Sutherland

• user friendly
• table of contents page
• simple wording/ to use to teach writing processes
• breaks down parts of the writing process to teach in small components. for example. one chapter is teaching how to write hooks/leads
• another chapter teaches how to write conflict
• Fletcher tells the do's and don'ts of writing 

6+1 Writing by Ruth Culham- Noticings Chart by Bonnie Cumbo

• chapters are organized and written in a clear process
• many mentor texts are cited
• writing samples are available to analyze
• charts are available
• rubrics are provided to help teachers and students analyze their use of the traits
• Culham voices an excellent command of the writing process
• written in user friendly language-a first year teacher could easily use this
• written so that this book could be used for a book study 

Launching the Writing Workshop by Lucy Caulkins and Leah Mermelstein Reccomended by Kelly Compton 

• easy to read
• organized 
• mentor text cited
• student samples
• dialog of what to say
• day-by-day lessons
• sidebars of what you might encounter or "words of wisdom" 
• CD to print out lined paper for students with more lines and less box for illustrations as they become better writers
• "Getting Ready" list for what you will need for each lesson
• This series really builds the students up at authors.
• Great process of writing

Writing Essentials by Regie Routman

Recommended by Renee Phillips 

Her book Reading Essentials has always been a go to book for me with Reading Workshop. This book is that way for writing. Just like Lucy Caulkins it is a nice complement to KWR.

Noticing Chart

• she is a practitioner so it is written in teacher friendly terms
• not scripted so it lets the teacher make the important decisions about what to teach
• CD included with forms and lessons that you can watch
• Suggested mentor text
• Suggested lessons for process
• Schedules and ideas for how to make WW fit in a best practice classroom and integrate it throughout the day.