Bake the Writing Unit: A Recipe for Planning Meeting

I have many saved recipes to bake. The issue with baking is that there’s little room for improvisation. If I mess up the measurements or don’t follow the steps, I will fail. Several banana breads are perfect examples.

Now, why am I thinking about baking when all I want is to summarize how I run my planning meetings? Maybe it’s because I see things in steps and protocols—much like a recipe.

My week consists of several planning meetings where I help teachers unpack units. This morning, I sat with the first-grade team as they prepared to teach their final unit next week. Here’s my recipe for how to run those meetings:

Ingredients:

• 45-min “ish” of uninterrupted (hah!) meeting time
• Snacks and drinks
• All teachers who will teach the unit
• The genre’s learning progression
• An unpacked (list) version of the overview and standards
• A checklist for teachers to use as a formative assessment
• A blank pacing guide
• Post-its & pens
• The unit’s resources
• An open mind

Steps:

1. Preheat the Room: Unpack the Standards with the Unit Overview

Knowing you’ll get maybe 40 minutes of actual work time, come prepared. Unpack the unit overview and standards before the meeting, generating a concise list of key takeaways for teachers. For example:

Standard W.1.3 – Narrative Writing Elements:

“Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.”

Checklist (for formative assessment use):

• Student recounts two or more events
• Events are in logical order
• Includes details about what happened
• Uses temporal words
• The story has a clear ending

2. Paint a Border Picture

Use the learning progression to help teachers see students’ strengths and a pathway for growth. In future meetings, you might highlight or underline specific parts of the progression to pull out “actionable teaching points” for small groups.

3. Fill in the Pacing Guide

Ask teachers to complete the pacing guide, accounting for non-instructional days.

• Encourage 1–2 immersion days to kick things off using mentor texts (if time allows).
• Make sure the pacing is both flexible and aligned with the unit (don’t overextend!).

4. Facilitate Planning the First Few Sessions

Facilitating is mostly asking questions, which is something I must keep in mind when I find myself racing the clock and explaining more than asking. Here’s a flow I like:

• Read the teaching point. Identify the what (What are students doing?) and the how (How will they do it?)
• If the teaching point is too abstract, simplify it. Fewer words often land better.
• Choose the best teaching method for your students (Watch me do this, then try it).
• Decide how students will try it out (orally, independently, with a partner, in the air, on paper—briefly!).
• Adjust the link to be as clear as possible—it’s their send-off to write. Students should have some sort of plan or options for independent writing.
• Decide if you’ll use the mid-workshop or adjust it to something more tailored to your group.
• Do the same with the teaching share, and whenever possible, build in student reflection.
• Finally, circle back and write the connection. I find it easier to do this after the minilesson is sketched out. Once you see the big picture, you can choose the best way to pull them in.

5. Gather the Goods

Share any resources teachers might use, and encourage them to write their own mentor texts! (Offer support if they need guidance in doing so.)

If time allows, repeat the process for the next session. Realistically, you’ll probably be running out the door to your next meeting. So, before you go, ask if they’d like a follow-up meeting—and leave them with a bit of encouragement.