Growing Community Through Voice & Choice by Kelsey Corter

“It’s time for writer’s choice!”  I announce, as writers begin buzzing around the room. 

Mason carefully attaches pop up flaps to each page of his “Can you find the animals?”  book for our open-genre mini study, camouflaging the animals from the reader.  Lola scans the word wall, then asks me to add the word “went,” as it’s an important word in her narrative.  Later, she teaches the new word to the class.  Ryer races to meet Gabe, who is writing in the hallway, and they begin rereading the last page of their Pokemon book before starting the next page.  Sienna uses the document camera to share her book with a group of writers at the rug.  She asks the group, “Can you help my writing grow?”   Lovisa offers Amelia support with editing her book to make it more readable.  Violet rehearses each page of her book with Paolo, who listens intently and offers suggestions.   Lauri asks his table, “Does anyone know which letter says ahhh?”  Avigail, determined to finish her book, gets a pair of headphones  to help her concentrate amongst the productive noise. 

Writer’s choice is an added component to writing workshop in our classroom, in which writers make a decision to continue independent writing projects, collaborate with a partner, or share writing and receive feedback.

Writer’s choice was created by my reflective and joyful community of kindergarten writers, who desired daily opportunities to write longer, write together, teach each other, and share work.  The writing community we have grown, in which voice and choice are nurtured, was inspired by my own reflections after joining a writing community last summer.

Growing a Joyful Community of Writers Through Voice and Choice in Writing Workshop

A community of writers talks about writing.
Writing is both a social and private practice.  Headphones and quiet nooks in the classroom or in the hallway offer students silent spaces to write.

A community of writers support each other.
Making student experts and individual goals visible helps students see that mentors live beyond the books in our library. 

A community of writers write together.
Partner writing offers many of the same benefits as shared and interactive writing.  Partners plan, oral rehearse, and share the pen -- naturally modeling skills for each other.

A community of writers shares, listens to, and is inspired by each other’s writing.
There’s no bigger compliment to a writer than when someone asks, “Can I have a copy of that book?” 

A community of writers offers kind and specific feedback.
Lots of guided practice, and visible skills and genre-specific charts are essential to this practice.

Writer’s Choice adds 10-15 minutes to writing workshop each day.  That extra time means more possibilities  to confer, work with small groups, and longer writing time for my eager authors.  What are your writers seeking more of in their writing lives?  What could Writer’s Choice look like in your community?


Kelsey Corter calls K-313 at PS 59 in Manhattan home.  She loves to read, write, and romp in Fort Greene park with her two-legged and four-legged family.  You can read more of Kelsey’s posts at http://smallsteps.blog, on Twitter at @kelsey_corter, or on Instagram at @theorganicclassroom