{"id":3489,"date":"2021-03-07T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itslitteaching.com\/?p=3489"},"modified":"2021-12-15T16:36:09","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T22:36:09","slug":"teaching-writing-with-mini-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itslitteaching.com\/teaching-writing-with-mini-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Writing with Mini Lessons: A How-to"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every year, teachers are asked to do more–close the gap, make learning fun, use technology, encourage independence, provide quality feedback, collaborate, and so on. It’s not easy finding a class structure that perfectly meets the needs of students, administrators, and classroom evaluators. When it comes to teaching writing with mini lessons, however, you can get pretty close.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How I Discovered Mini Lessons<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

During my first year of teaching, I tried really hard to create long, dynamic lectures. My favorite teacher in high school had been able to lecture for hours at a time without losing my interest; I wanted to be able to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But no matter how interesting or well-planned I thought my lessons were, my students always eventually lost interest. Plus, they didn’t have any time in class to put their new knowledge to use. And I was spending a ton of time outside of class grading and providing comments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I discovered mini lessons, many of these issues disappeared!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mini lessons are now one of my favorite structures for lesson planning (especially for creative writing<\/a>). When done well, I believe they lead to more independence and confidence in students and they get this introverted teacher out of the spotlight–wins all around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this post, I’ll cover the benefits of using mini lessons, especially for writing, and how to structure your own.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pinterest Pin for blog post: \"Teaching Writing with Mini Lessons: A How-to\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What are Mini Lessons?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you pick up any number of professional development books on mini lessons, you’ll find many definitions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some say that mini lessons have to cover a certain topic or content areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others give strict requirements for time limits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, I’ll give you my own definition of mini lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mini lessons are exactly what they sound like–short (mini) lessons or lectures. Those little lectures are followed by activities that let students immediately implement what they’ve learned. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mini lesson includes a short period of direct instruction followed by independent practice for students. Within this framework, the direct instruction and practice components can vary greatly, but this will be our general working definition for now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How “Mini” is Mini?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The term “mini” will vary depending on your class structure and time<\/strong>. I teach in ninety-minute blocks, so my mini lessons can go on for up to forty-five minutes sometimes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A teacher with a forty-five minute class time, however, will probably find that fifteen to twenty minutes for direct instruction is the sweet spot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The independent practice portion can be anything from a worksheet to working on a project. Typically, mini lessons involve more creative thinking activities–writing, <\/p>\n\n\n\n