OBERLIN COLLEGE
WRITING ASSOCIATES
Course WAs
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Writing Workshop Guidelines
Start here if you're looking for general advice about leading a workshop!
General Tips for Leading a Workshop
Helpful advice for getting started as you plan your writing workshop.
A list of attributes that make a workshop successful, compiled by WAs and SSWAs.
Leading Effective Peer Workshops
A video from Professor McMillin explaining how to help students give each other helpful feedback on their writing
Writing Workshop and Mini-Lesson Outlines
Use these workshop outlines as templates or inspiration. Sample slides from writing workshops can be found below.
This workshop introduces basic rhetorical concepts and elements of a college academic paper.
This workshop covers the basics of devising a thesis statement and how to most effectively organize an argumentative essay that builds on your thesis.
This workshop leads students through peer workshopping and goes over the differences between editing and revising.
This mini lesson introduces students to the basic elements of an academic paragraph and helps them learn to write them.
This workshop teaches students how to effectively lead class discussions.
This workshop helps students determine whether a thesis they have written is strong and walks through how to make sure their essay supports that thesis.
Writing an Effective College Essay
This workshop goes through the basics of choosing a topic, writing a thesis, and structuring an academic essay. It was given to ENGL 218 by Sarah Dalgleish in the spring of 2018.
This workshop covers the concepts of cohesion and coherence with helpful examples. It was created by WA Leo Ross in Fall 2020.
Characterization Mini Lesson Plan
This outline was created by CWA Cass Gutterman-Johns in the Fall of 2021 for Professor Barton's Creative Writing Class.
Writing Workshop Sample Slides
These slides were used by WAs for various writing workshops. They provide good examples of different styles of visual aids that can accompany lessons.
Writing an Effective College Essay: ENGL 218
This workshop covers the basics of choosing a topic, writing a thesis, and structuring an academic essay. It was created by Sarah Dalgleish for Professor Hyman's class Shakespeare and the Limits of Genre in the Spring of 2018.
Writing a Strong Thesis: FYSP 043
This workshop focuses on how to craft a strong thesis. It was created by Leo Ross for Professor Sammartino's class Daily Life in 20th Century European Dictatorships in the Fall of 2020.
Writing Your First College Essay: FYSP 150
This workshop goes over how to approach your first college essay. It was created by Sarah Dalgleish for Professor O'Connor's class Questioning Realism in the Fall of 2019.
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Building Blocks of a Critical Essay: CINE 290
This workshop covers the framework of a critical essay as well as how to start building an argumentative thesis statement. It was created by Emma Brownstein for Professor Day's class "Introduction to the Advanced Study of Cinema" in the Fall of 2020.
This workshop goes over strategies for writing a strong thesis. It was created by Eva Hilton for Professor Cooper's class "What is Pop? German Fiction, Film, and Music since 1989" in the Fall of 2020.
Handouts
These handouts are meant to be passed out during CWA-led workshops. You are welcome to use them, modify them, or draw ideas from them.
Guidelines for productive and respectful peer workshopping
This handout walks students through planning how to lead a class discussion step by step.
6 Questions to Test if You Have a Strong Thesis
This handout gives students helpful questions to ask themselves after writing a thesis.
This presentation handout outlines the rhetorical triangle and provides examples to help students identify ethos, pathos, and logos. It was created by Eva Hilton and Heather Do in Spring 2021.
Have a workshop or lesson that you think is awesome? Email owap@oberlin.edu with your outline!