Writing Workshop
We Love to Write in First Grade!
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Big Topics of Interest
"All children are gifted.
Each individual child is a treasure chest, full of potential."
~ Robert Buesing
The journey in becoming a writer is developed through reading and writing.
In first grade, we give young children opportunities to experiment and practice writing without taking every piece they write to the "publishing" stage. Therefore, you will notice that some of the writing projects sent home will have spelling that is not corrected. We teach the children to use "Hearing Sounds In Words" as a method to write what they are thinking. Without the pressure for "correctness" in initially expressing their thoughts in writing, children feel the freedom to take risks and expand their thoughts.
I want the children to use their reading strategies during writing by linking what they know in reading in their writing. Students practice writing throughout the day for authentic purposes.
We use our 1st Grade Ohio Standards-defined Writing Rubric in the first grade. A copy of this is sent home at the beginning of the year. The criteria outlined on this rubric describes the expectations for Organization; Content; and Conventions scoring for the publications in each Unit of Study.
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Writing Paper with picture space
Making Books and Writing Paper
Resources for writing mini lessons
Poetry Class Wowza, look at these poetry lessons!
Samples from Units of Study for Primary Writing: A Yearlong Curriculum
Units of Study lesson plan template
Writing Workshop Rubric: Monitoring Children's Progress, Recording Your Teaching
a sample UOS unit: Personal Narrative
Writing Checklist Grades K-1
Writing Checklist Grades 1-2nd
Transition Words
Vowel Charts
Alphabet Chart from Zaner Bloser
Different ways to study spelling More fun ways to learn words
Blends Important word beginnings
Endings Word Chunks
Teachingbooks.net
This online database of books and authors is a rich resource for book characters, author studies and book talks. Encourage students to create book covers for all-time favorites from their reading logs. For a list of authors and illustrators to consult before heading to this site, check out our Online Extra list of interviews from our Magazine Archives.
Our tentative Year of Study (influenced by Lucy Calkin's Unit of Study)
Months | Dates | Units of Study | Essential Question | Type & # of Publications |
August | Days 1-5 of school | Assessment | Score using Ohio Writing Rubric | 1 publication |
September | 4 weeks | Launching The Writers Workshop The kinds of things writers make and how we'll make them in our room | Why is writing important in our lives? What is writer's workshop?
| 2 varied genre publications |
October November | 4-5 weeks | Pattern Books
| How can patterns found in texts influence our writing?
| 2 publications using patterned text style |
Nov-Dec | 4-5 weeks | Small Moments/ Personal Narratives | How do our personal experiences foster writing? | 2 publications |
December | 2 weeks | Communicating for an Audience | Why is writing an essential form of communication? How is written communication different from oral language? | 1 list; 1 letter publications |
January | 4 weeks | Authors as Mentors | How does studying the work of other writers influence our own writing?
| 1 Publications |
February March | 6-8 weeks | Nonfiction All About Books How- To Books
| How does writing informational text differ from writing inother genres?
| 2 Publications |
April May | 4-6 weeks | Poetry | How do poets "look at the world" and craft their writing? How does expressing ourselves through poetry differ from expressing ourselves through other types of writing? | 2 Poems |
May June | 3 weeks | Introductio to Revision and Editing | Why and how do writers revise and edit their writing? | 2 varied genre publications (no poetry) |
Using Picture Books to Teach Narrative and Six Trait Writing
Picture Book Resources from Cornerstone Toolkit/Children's Library
Read like a Reader Read like a Writer by, Steve Peha
Writing Fix (6 traits)
Noun Poem
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite nouns
Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite nouns
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite nouns
When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite nouns
And then I don't feel so bad.