Masterful Mini-Lessons

So when life gives you lemons...
This was a particularly tough week for me professionally.  I had a big term paper due in my Master's class.  At the same time I realized I had to make a major "course correction" in Math.  The students were just not getting the material and I knew that they wouldn't be ready for the test I scheduled on Friday.  So I spent several days scrambling to get more (and different) material to teach the topic in a new way and to fill an additional week of instruction.
At the same time I realized that I am unhappy with the quality of my reading and writing mini-lessons.  I am way too task-oriented.  I do too much telling them what to do and not nearly enough time showing them how to do it.
Squeezed in between all the professional reading I have do to for my Master's, I am also reading Lucy Culkins' A Guide to the Writing Workshop Grades 3-5.  This book is a breath of fresh air.  Her words really resonate with me.  It is not about doing more, it is about setting up our instruction and instructional time purposefully, and choosing our instructional language carefully.  I find myself actually quoting from the book when I conference with my students! Her book really gets you into the heads of intermediate grade students.  I realized, reading her book, how I could "beef up" my mini-lessons in both Reading and Writing.  So I created some scaffolding to get me started: a template to help me develop my lessons with care and thought.  I hope it is useful to you.  Please leave a comment if it is.