Rose mentioned “Quiet Ten.” Today, after the abundance of Thanksgiving (food, conversation, catching-up, laughter), Quiet Ten seems like a perfect topic.

What is Quiet Ten?
It’s a technique I developed while teaching first grade that works beautifully for all ages. (Though in Kindergarten, it tends to be Quiet Five!) Basically, I ask that the first ten minutes of Writer’s Workshop is silent.

Yes, truly. Silent.

Why?
One of the very best forms of prewriting is thinking. And yet, as teachers we are often uncomfortable with thinking. When our students are pondering (which looks like staring off into space), we jump in offering all sorts of unneeded assistance or pressure. But mulling is essential – essential for coming up with an effective topic, essential for organization, essential for sentence fluency. Without time to think, writing often reads as one long brainstorm on the page.

So the first ten minutes are quiet, giving all of us an optimum environment for thinking.

How does it happen?
Students tiptoe from the rug to the writing center, get their materials, and settle down to write. (Okay, I’ll admit it. Sixth graders will NOT tiptoe.)

I put on some classical music to act as a trigger. A trigger? Our brain is remarkable. Given a predictable, repeated stimulus, it will provide the most appropriate action. Oh, says Brain. There’s the Pachabel Cannon again, time to write!

What am I doing?
This is the most important part. I am sitting at a table, writing. Don’t skip this part no matter what you do. If you don’t sit down and write, you will be tempted to talk to a student or two. If you talk – even if you whisper – your students will too. So don’t move around the room. Don’t conference with students until the ten minutes is up.

Besides, writing along with your students is probably the single most effective way to inspire your students to write.
 

But my first graders need me!
Not as much as you think they do. Believe it or not, our tendency as primary teachers is to train our students to need us! By beginning with Quiet Ten you will be better able to build writing independence in your classroom. Here are some additional tips:

• Encourage primary students to draw before writing.
• Ask them to write the sounds they hear. (DO NOT SPELL WORDS FOR THEM.)
• If they must ask you something, they need to write a note. (This may be a string of random letters, but it is nevertheless necessary.)

Try Quite Ten in your classroom and tell us how it worked. And let’s start a playlist. For those of you who are using Quite Ten, what’s your music of choice?