Writers Workshop Writers workshop is an hour of instruction devoted to teaching students what good writer's do. It is based on both the Minnesota State Standards in writing and the NCEE (National Council for Economics in Education) standards in writing. Students start with a 15 minute mini-lesson focusing on 1 specific skill, strategy or part of their writing. Then they are given 35 minutes to write, practicing the strategy in the mini-lesson and others they have already learned. Then there is a 10 minutes sharing time.