writing through the year unit aligned with common core
TRANSCRIPT
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 1: Write about something you know a lot about
Day 2: Generate ideas list
Day 3: High 5: tell 5 things about your topic.
Day 4: Looking at what other authors do. Staying focused
Day 5: What to include. What to leave out.
Day 6: Looking at and naming text features.
Day 7: Text features: trying it out.
Day 8: Writing comparisons
Day 9: Organize into categories
Day 10: Creating a table of contents
Day 11: Moving pages if you need to
Day 12: Words we use: some, many, most, all, a few
Day 13: Using labels and telling more
Day 14: What questions will a reader have?
Day 15: Adding closure
Day 16: Reteach lessons as needed-Lesson can be from Unit 1 - Unit 5
Day 17: Reteach lessons as needed-Lesson can be from Unit 1 - Unit 5
Day 18: Reteach lessons as needed-Lesson can be from Unit 1 - Unit 5
Day 19: Preparing to publish, review, revise, and edit Fix-it up check list
Day 20: Celebrate
Unit 5:
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
On Our Way! Our little guys are such experts...just ask them!!!! They are experts on all sorts of things... their dance
class, their dog, snakes, fishing the list is endless. The Common Core ask that students, “Use a
combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name
what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.” The first grade standard asks
them to provide a sense of closure.
This unit will guide students to do just that. As with each unit, the students will be given the freedom to
select their topic as well as write in other topics. Student choice is important in primary writer’s workshops.
Students may choose to continue to write stories, procedural texts, and persuasive texts or in a way they
have the most energy and enthusiasm for. However, students will be expected to attempt this genre
during this 4 week unit.
You will continue to support your students by conferring with them during their independent writing time.
This will be the time when you guide your students towards their next steps in writing. You will expect
them to work differently as a result of your conference. Language such as, “So, as you write today and
every day after that, will you remember to...?” will help nudge your student along the continuum.
This unit will strengthen your students’ writing partnerships.
Writer’s workshop is…
Writer’s workshop is not…
Student Choice- Students chose to write about the topic they wish. Throughout the year, you will be asking them to write in a particular genre (descriptive, opinion) but the subject of their writing should be theirs.
Prompts: Writer’s workshop is not the time for students to write to a prompt. Although this is inarguably an important skill, writer’s workshop is a time for students to write on a topic of their choosing.
Frequent: Writer’s workshop should take place daily. As a writer, the students will need to know and anticipate daily writing. As these lessons progress, students will learn to sustain their writing topics over a period of days or weeks. Returning to it again and again…just like writers do!
Worked in: Writing is the direct application of all of the English Language Arts skills you teach. Phonemic awareness, phonics, and concepts of print can be reinforced and taught through writing. Don’t “work writer’s workshop in”. Make it an integral part of your daily instruction.
Learned from other writers: Students will learn writing by writing. They will watch as you write (modeled writing), as they share in the writing, (shared writing and interactive writing), and as they learn from each other (independent writing). Additionally, they will learn from published authors
Predictable Sentences: Predictable sentences (Johnny likes________, Amy likes__________) have their value, but they are not part of a writer’s workshop framework. Just like talking, writers learn to write by writing. We don’t wait until a child can speak in whole sentences before we allow them to talk. We
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
and their books. These books will be referred to as “Mentor Texts”.
hold precious their approximations.
Setting high expectations Students will write or participate in conferences on a daily basis. They are expected to be actively engaged throughout the entire writing time. In kindergarten, the students writing may just be pictures or scribbles at the beginning of the year.
Developmentally inappropriate: Students will work to their best ability. Writing is automatically differentiated. Each of your students will be at a different stage of their writing development. You will guide them from one stage to the next.
Accepting approximations: Some students will write with scrawling lines, while others will be able to form letters and words.
Handwriting: Handwriting is a fine motor skill that should be taught at a different time, not during writer’s workshop. Letter formation can be supported,, but it should not be the focus of the lesson.
The Routine
Mini-Lesson (10 minutes)
The mini-lesson is a time for students to sit up close and notice. Your mini-lesson might include modeled
writing, shared writing, or interactive writing. Your mini-lesson might include a mentor text where you ask
them to notice the craft of a particular author or illustrator.
It is important that you use explicit words like, “Today I will teach you how…”
Over time you will have students bring various materials with them for the mini-lesson (ie. their writing
folder, their whiteboard and dry erase marker).
Mini-Lessons work best when:
Teachers write in front of their students.
Familiar mentor texts are used and revisited.
Mini-lessons and modeled writing are displayed in the classroom for students to refer back to.
Status of the class (5mins)
Prior to going off to write independently, students will tell you what they will write about. Students
should be specific about what they want to write about. Should then say, “My dog.” You will want to use
some guiding questions so they will have a story to write about. So you might ask, “What story do you
want to tell us about your dog.”
In this unit students may be continuing a writing piece so they may say, “I am starting a new piece about
when I broke my arm.” Or “I’m going to write about why I want a dog.”
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Students will consult with their writing partner about their topic prior to telling you. Once they tell you
about the topic, they will get started right away. If a student is unsure of their topic, they stay on the
carpet until they come up with one. They will be listening to the other students’ topics. Perhaps, a
classmate will inspire them.
It is tempting to skip “Status of the class” because it initially takes a bit of time. However, this is a
form of prewriting. Once a student has shared their topic, they can get right to work. Status of the
class works best when:
It is done out loud
You do it regularly
Everyone can hear everyone else.
Students choose their own topics
Writing time (5-20 mins)
Students will return to their writing place (I use desks) to practice independent writing. Put on soft music in
the background. This is their cue to work quietly. Music that is just instrumental works best. Music with
lyrics quickly turns into a sing-along.
*Using classical music is a great way to introduce students to this type of music.
Put on a timer for quiet work time. During this time the room should be quietly working. Overtime, students
will build their writing stamina. This can be charted (see attachment).
Some prefer to have their students write with pencil, and then add color. Other teachers may want their
students to use pens or markers.
Your goal is for students to write independently. They should not come up to you for any reason. Some
students will be capable of working independently while others will require some assistance. You will want
to relay to these students that they are fine, they do not need you, and that they should simply do their
best. Do not spell for your students. If you do, you will become a walking dictionary and your students will
become dependent on you. Just tell them to put down the sounds that they hear. (NOTE: this might cause
some student anxiety, if they are used to people spelling for them. Praise their attempts and they will be
more likely to take risks!)
You will begin your student conferences during this unit.
Writing time works best when students understand:
Self-help strategies (how they can help themselves)
They are to write (or illustrate) the whole time.
They are building stamina in their writing.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Sharing (10mins)
Most will agree that writing is meant to be heard and shared. Your emergent writers will want to share
their writing as well. This gives them a purpose and will help motivate and drive them towards writing.
Students will share their writing with their writing partners every day.
A select few will take turns sharing their
writing in front of the class. I like to have
a set sharing schedule. You can use the
first two students on the conferring schedule
plus one other student of your choosing
(perhaps a student who has done a nice job
to trying out your mini-lesson in their own
writing.) This is another opportunity to take
notes and informally assess your students.
Students will continue to grow in their use of
“Noticings” and “Questions” during share times.
Noticings are things that you notice the child
tried out. You may be on the lookout and
notice when a student applies your mini-lesson
ideas in their writing. I noticed that you stretched out the word “mom” on this page. That made it easier
for me to understand your writing. Or I noticed you colored your hair brown. That made it easier for me
to know it was you. Questions are ways to learn more about the writer’s story. I see you are at the
park. What is your favorite thing to do at the park? Overtime students will internalize these questions
and attempt to answer them as they compose their writing. You will need to continue to model and
support your students as they work to become more familiar with this part of writer’s workshop.
Sharing time works best when students can:
Notice and name the writing qualities they are learning.
When it is done consistently
Procedure Check (5-10mins) Procedures will need to be continuously reviewed and revisited. It is essential
that students follow the procedures so the learning can take place. You will need to be able to utilize
your conferring time to meet with students, not handle behavior issues.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Use Avery Labels color coding labels.
Green=Keep going Red= I’m done
The Supplies
Teacher Materials:
Quality texts,
chart paper
markers
correction tape
ABC Chart
Portable Word Wall
modeled writing can be done with chart paper, overhead, document camera,
interactive white board.
Conferring Notebook
Student Materials:
Single pages
Pre-stapled booklets(4-5 pages stapled together)
crayons
pencils
pens
Writing Folders (ABC chart, Portable Word Walls)
Mentor Text
Mentor Texts are books that display qualities of writing you want your
children to learn. Ideally these books should be read over and over again to your students
prior to introducing them to your writer’s workshop mini-lessons.
The students should know these stories well so when they return to look at them again, they can study
them as writer. Click on the book titles to find the
books.
I HIGHLY recommend this type of staple
remover. This will not rip up your pages and
it is easy for your students to learn to use.
They are inexpensive, so I have several of
them in my room.
You can find it on Amazon by clicking on the
picture.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Books Suggestions
Nicola Davies writes beautiful books that combine a narrative and informational format. They provide
wonderful word choices. Additionally, both of these books provide illustrative study opportunities.
Ice Bear: In the Steps of the Polar Bear by Nicola Davies
Just Ducks by Nicola Davies
Question and Answer format
Guess What is Growing Inside This Egg by Mia Posada
Illustrative Study
A Seed is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston
Primary texts with text features-Note these can be obtained via Scholastic Book orders
(you probably have a few books in this series already.) You can select book topics that
match what you are learning in your class.
The White House by Lloyd G. Douglas (Table of Contents, Glossary, Index) {Welcome
Books}
Arctic Foxes by Emily Rose Townsend (Table of Contents, maps, Glossary, Internet Sites,
Index) {Pebble Books}
Awesome Walruses by Eric Charlesworth (Contents, Chapters, Captions, Diagrams, Fast Facts, Maps,
Glossary) {Science Vocabulary Readers}
Books on how to draw
How to Draw Animals by Barbara Soloff Levy
How to Draw by Barbara Soloff Levy
How to Draw Cars and Other Vehicles by Barbara Soloff Levy
Conferring
As the students write you will conduct individual conferences. Each conference lasts for about 5 minutes.
Linda Dorn writes in her book, Scaffolding Young Writers, that “the writing conference is the heart of
teaching the writing process. When teachers confer with children, they provide them with individual guidance
within their zone of proximal development.”
The conference is broken into three parts:
1. Preconference: - “Tell me what you are working on?”
2. Heart of the conference – this is where you scaffold your language to coach the students to solve
their problems by giving hints or reminders.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
3. Conclusion – “Today and every day when you write...” Remember your lessons should be about the
writing, not the piece. For example, you might say, “Today and every time write, you will want to
stretch out those sounds and say them slowly. Then you can write them down.” This instruction can
be transferred to new writing
opportunities, vs. “When you write
the word “friend”, you should put
down the letters you hear” which
may not.
Scheduling conferences
Schedule 3 conferences a day, plus 1 quick
follow up. Try to meet with your students
at least once every other week. Your
struggling writers will need to meet with you
more often. You should get through your
entire class within a two week cycle. If
you have more than 20 students, you will
need to adjust how many times you meet
with your struggling students.
Leave the final line open so you will be able to write in the names of the students you want to follow up
with. Example: You confer with a student on Monday and ask them to try something out. You may want
to meet briefly with them on Thursday to see how it is going.
Hint: Let your students know who you will be meeting with that day. This will help them anticipate your
conference and they will help keep you accountable
Writing Continuum
As you confer, you will want to give your student a
suggestion that is within their zone of proximal development.
Look at the continuum (or your district’s continuum) to help
select “next step” goals for your student. Be mindful that
you want to gently nudge your students along the
continuum. When you push too hard or reach too far along
the continuum you run the risk of stalling the learning.
Your writer may become frustrated.
Rubric: Measures the standard of performance and is used to state expectations.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Continuum: Learning is a continual process. The continuum is used to look for evidence of learning and the
next stage of development. Some concepts are acquired and elaborated over time.
Questions to guide the conference
Use the questions to guide the conference if you need
suggestions.
The Lessons
These lessons are listed as Day 1, Day 2, and so on.
However, you may need to take the lessons out of order. Listen to the needs of your class and make
adjustments accordingly. The best lessons stem from the needs of your classroom. Please do not feel
you need to follow these lesson verbatim.
HINT: Students should bring their writing folder to the carpet for the mini-lesson. Teach them to sit on the
folder, so it won’t be a distraction.
When they come back to the carpet for “sharing” they should sit on their folder again until they meet with
their partner.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 1: Write about something you know a lot about
Materials needed: Individual writing pages
Mini-Lesson: This writing will be a baseline. By collecting this writing sample you will have a starting point and an understanding of your students grasp on the genre. Over the course of this unit you will see your students growth within this type of writing. Friends, we have learned so much this year already! I remember we studied about spiders a few months ago, holidays from around the world, penguins, and animals that live in the arctic (name a few things you have learned about already this year). But you know what? You also know a bunch of stuff that you didn’t really learn at school...stuff like fishing, dancing, princesses, superheroes, and Mario. I would love to learn more about the things you know. Take a minute to talk to your writing partner about some of the things you know a lot about. Try it out: Friends, today you might want to start a book about something you know a lot about. Does it have to be perfect? No, just do your best. Add words to help your readers understand your writing. Procedure Check: Writers please get started. I will be meeting with a few of you. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 25 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. Get with your writing partner. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 2: Generate ideas list Materials needed: Anchor Chart
Mini-Lesson: Generating ideas list will be similar to the topic idea lesson that the class did in Unit 1. Friends, today I would like to brainstorm some ideas that we already know a lot about. When we brainstorm, it means we help each other think of ideas. We can write about of a lot different things. Have students sit knee to knee with their partner. Tell your partner one place that you know a lot about. Give students several minutes to talk with their partner. You may need to push into their conversation to help them along. Have students share out what they brainstormed and chart it. Then move onto the next topic. Tell your partner about a person you know a lot about. Continue repeating this process as you create your anchor chart.
Places (like the river, beach, the mall, Dave and Busters, places they have been) People (Justin Bieber, sports figures or teams, authors you have studied) Things (sea shells, video games, ) Animals (polar animals, ocean animals, dogs, bats, spiders, owls)
When you are done, you might ask: I wonder if there are any sports teams anyone knows a lot about. How about superheroes? Movie stars or singers?
Try it out: Today, you might want to start an informational book about one of these ideas. Remember, when we write informational books it is different than stories. Informational books teach about something. Stories tell about a time when something happened. Procedure Check: Today I am going to be meeting with a few students to talk about their writing. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 20 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. Get with your writing partner. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions. Show your partner where you named your activity.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 3: High 5-Tell 5 things! Materials needed: Anchor Chart
Mini-Lesson: Friends sometimes I wonder if I know enough to write about something. Do you remember how we used our story hand to write about something that has happened to us (Unit 2)? We can also use our hand to see if we have enough to write about. Let me show you what I mean. Suppose I wanted to write an all about on penguins. I need to check to see if I have enough to share. Let’s see, I could write, “Penguins are birds that can’t fly. Blubber helps to keep penguins warm. Penguins live south of the equator. Penguins eat fish, squid, and krill. A group of penguins is called a rookery.” Hold up one finger as you say each fact about penguins. What if I wanted to write, “Penguins are cute”? Would that go in my “All About” book? Should we test out your topics to see if you have enough to write about? Call on a few students to tell you what 5 things they can say about their topic. This is a great opportunity to weed out those things that do not belong in an all about book. Try it out: Today, when you are writing your all about book, you will want to be sure to include at least 5 things about your topic. Remember, when we write informational books it is different than stories. Informational books teach about something. Stories tell about a time when something happened. Procedure Check: Today I am going to be meeting with a few students to talk about their writing. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 20 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. Get with your writing partner. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 4: Looking at what other authors do. Staying focused
Materials needed: Ice Bear by Nicola Davies
Mini-Lesson: We have read this book by Nicola Davies about polar bear before. This time, I want to read it like a writer. This book is amazing because it is like two books in one. One part of this book sounds like the people in this book are talking. Then the other parts have little facts woven in. I also love how the words look like they are blowing across the page..sort of like I would imagine the wind would be blowing in this cold place. Even thought there are these two other people in this book, Nicola Davies stayed focused on writing about polar bears. She included so many great facts! Try it out: Today when you are writing, don’t forget to stay focused. If you are writing an “All About” book you will want to keep the book about your subject. Do this the best you can. Does it have to be perfect? No, just do your best. Add words to help your readers understand your writing. Procedure Check: Today I am going to be meeting with a few students to talk about their writing. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 20 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. Get with your writing partner. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 5: What to include, what to leave out. Materials needed: Ice Bear by Nicola Davies Mini-Lesson: Since the beginning of the year we have been writing all sorts of things. Sometimes we wrote about something that happened to us, sometimes we made up a story, and sometimes we wrote about something we know. When you write an informational book or an “All About” book, there are some things you put in, and some things you leave out. Let’s decide if these sentences sound like a time when something happened (a story) or an “All About.” Together with the students, sort out these sentences and chart where they belong. *Polar bears are the biggest hunters on land. *One day a polar bear decided to take a vacation. *Polar bears can swim for 100 miles without resting. *Cubs stay with their mothers for two years. *I saw a polar bear at the zoo. *When I went to my cousin’s house we watched a movie about polar bears. *A polar bear’s skin is black and hair is hollow to help keep him warm. Try it out: If you are writing a story about a polar bear, you might include one of these things. BUT, if you are writing an “All About” book, you will want to be sure tell facts about your topic. Do the best you can. Does it have to be perfect? No, just do your best. Add words to help your readers understand your writing. Procedure Check: Today I am going to be meeting with a few students to talk about their writing. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 20 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. Get with your writing partner. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 6: Looking and naming text features Materials needed: Awesome Walruses by Eric Charlesworth (or another book that offers informational text features)
Mini-Lesson: Note: A head of time you will want to take a copy of the text features you find in your book. So... if your book has a table of contents, photocopy that table of contents. There are numerous text features that you could use, but you may want to limit it to no more than 5. I your mentor text has a different feature than one that is included in this unit, you can simply write it in. Informational books have some great tools in them to help us better understand what we are reading. Usually, they have a lot of photographs but we also know they can be written with illustrations, like in Ice Bear. Today I want to look at Awesome Walruses and we can list all the great features it has. Table of contents: Helps the reader find what is in your book. Maps: Helps the reader know where things are in the world. Close-ups: Helps the reader to see the details up close. Labels: Tells about the picture and its parts. Cutaways: Shows your reader what something looks like on the inside. Captions: Tells your reader about the picture. Try it out: Today when you are writing, you might want to add some of the text features we learned about. This will help your reader understand your writing. Do the best you can. Does it have to be perfect? No, just do your best. Procedure Check: Today I am going to be meeting with a few students to talk about their writing. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 20 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. Get with your writing partner. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions. Show your partner where you added labels or arrows.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 7: Text Features: Trying it out. Materials needed: Text Features anchor chart that was created on day 6.
Mini-Lesson: Yesterday, we talked about some of the text features we see in informational books. I want to try one out today. Suppose I wanted to write about how polar bears have hollow hair and black skin to help keep them warm. I might want to use a close up to show how that looks. Watch as I give this a try. Talk as your draw. So, I want to draw my polar bear pretty big to cover most of the page I think. Then I want to add a little close up window. I need to make sure that it is large enough so my readers will be able to see what I am drawing. Now I want to write the words. I want to make sure that my words tell about the close up, otherwise it might be confusing to my readers. Without the words, they might think these are spikes or something. Try it out: Friends, today you might want to add a text feature to your writing. If you do, you should also include words so your reader will understand your picture better. Procedure Check: Today I am going to be meeting with a few students to talk about their writing. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 20 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. Get with your writing partner. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 8: Writing comparisons Materials needed: Ice Bear or Awesome Walruses
Mini-Lesson: Writers add comparisons in their books to help you get a picture in your head and it makes them say, “Whoa!” They do this when they compare something you might not know very well, with something that you can easily picture. I remember reading in Ice Bear these sentences, “Polar bears are the biggest hunters on land. Male bears can be ten feet long and weigh as much as 10 men.” I remember thinking whoa! That is a lot. I got this picture in my head of a polar bear and 10 men! That weighs a lot! So today writers, I want to add a comparison in my writing. I want to add this fact... that a polar bear is as heavy as ten men. Talk as you draw. Let’s see... how could I draw that? I know! I could put them on a balance scale. We know that would NEVER happen, but I think it would help my readers understand better. So on one end I will draw the bear. On the other end I will draw the ten men. I don’t think I need to add all of their faces because I think you can tell that they are men without doing all of that. Now I need to make sure that I also explain my picture with my words, so I will write, “A polar bear is as heavy as ten men!” Because I think that is amazing, I am going to put an {!} point instead of a period. You may not have time to color your picture before your little sweeties get restless. You can color it later. NOTE: There is also a great comparison in Awesome Walruses which compares the weight of a walrus to that of a small car. Try it out: Friends, today you might want to add a comparison to your writing. Perhaps you know that an Emperor Penguin is as big as a 6 year old. You might want to add that comparison to help your reader get a picture in their head and make them say, “Whoa!” Does it have to be perfect? No, just do the best you can. Procedure Check: Today I am going to be meeting with a few students to talk about their writing. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 20 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. Get with your writing partner. If you added a label to your writing, but sure to show them. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 9: Organize your writing into categories Materials needed: Arctic Foxes by Emily Rose Townsend
Mini-Lesson: When writers write they organize their information so it is not all jumbled together. Sort of like when you put your clothes away. You put all of your socks together, you put all of your shirts together, and you put all of your shoes together. If you have them scattered all over the place it can be hard to find them. You will want to do the same thing when your write informational texts. Let’s look at Arctic Foxes. You can see that the first part of the book tells about Arctic foxes and what they look like. Then the author wrote about where the Arctic foxes live in the world. Boy, that map really helps me. Finally, the author wrote about some of the things Arctic foxes do, like how they hunt and how they act. So let’s say you are writing about soccer because you know a lot about soccer. You could write about the equipment you would need. Then you could write about the rules of the game. Question: Would you also tell about the time you played soccer and then your team went out to pizza after the game? No, because that would be a story about a time and probably not an informational piece. Try it out: In your own writing you might want to try to organize your writing into ideas that go together like Emily Rose Townsend did. My B (or A) partners will go first. Once you have finished sharing, you may get started with your writing. Walk around and listen in as the students discuss their writing plans with their partners. This is a great opportunity to take conferring notes. Procedure Check: Today I am going to be meeting with a few students to talk about their writing. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 20 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. Get with your writing partner. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 10: Creating a table of contents Materials needed: Arctic Foxes by Emily Rose Townsend Text Feature chart
Mini-Lesson: I want to look at Arctic Foxes again. I want to show you how she wrote the table of contents. Remember we said that the table of contents helps the reader find things. Yesterday we talked about how we want to organize our writing. The table of contents can help people find the information. Imagine you were writing about soccer like I said yesterday. You could add a table of contents. I think I will need do this last, after I have written my pages. Then I could go back and see how I have my book organized. You know I can always swap the pages around if I need to. Talk as you write the Table of Contents. So after I looked at how my book was written, I can get started. Imagine my first page was about the stuff that you needed to play the game. I could call that “Things you need.” Then I could add the page number. I will want to draw a picture so it will help my reader. Oops, I better put numbers on my pages. The next part of my book is about some of the rules. So I could write that down. I will have to look in my book to see what page that is on. The last part of my book is about how teams celebrate when they win or at the end of the season. Try it out: Today you might be ready to add a table of contents. You might be ready to add it to the book you have just finished or a book you finished last week. If you do, think about how you have your book organized and tell your reader where to find the information. Does it have to be perfect. No, just do your best. Please share with your partners about your writing. My B (or A) partners will go first. Once you have finished sharing, you may get started with your writing. Walk around and listen in as the students discuss their writing plans with their partners. This is a great opportunity to take conferring notes. Procedure Check: Today I am going to be meeting with a few students to talk about their writing. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 20 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions. If you added a table of contents, please share it with your partner..
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 11: Move you pages if you need to. Materials needed: Past writing samples Staple removers
Mini-Lesson: Prior to this mini-lesson, look over some student samples that could use some help in moving pages around. Ask the student permission to make these changes with the class. Friends, we have learned so much about how to make our books easier for our readers to read. Today I want to show you how you can go back to some of the “All About” books you wrote at the beginning of the unit and reorganize the pages so all the information is grouped together. Today we are going to help {student name} organize her book. Watch carefully, because you will be doing this with your partner in just a minute. After you organize a student’s book. Ask them if they would like to add a table of contents. Staple the book back together. NOTE: In my room the students remove the staples independently. They organize the pages, but I staple the pages together again. Try it out: Friends. Take a minute to look through your folder for a piece that you want to reorganize. If you do find one, please think about removing the staples and getting the pages in order. This might also be a GREAT time to add a table of contents. Does it have to be perfect? No, just do your best. Procedure Check: Today I am going to be meeting with a few students to talk about their writing. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 20 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. Get with your writing partner. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions. If you illustrated your picture from a different point of view, be sure to show your partner.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 12: Words we use: Some, many, most, all, a few,
Materials needed: chart paper. Awesome Walruses Chart paper
Mini-Lesson: I was going back to read this book and I noticed that the author used a few words. Words like “some” p. 5 “Some are 12 feet long and weigh 3,000 pounds.” Does that mean that every walrus weigh 3,000 pounds? No, but some of them do. Then on page 8 it says, “All walruses have tusks.” Wow, that means that every single walrus has a set of tusks. On page 17 it says, “Most of them [walruses] have one baby at a time.” So that means that almost all of them have one baby, but I guess that means that a few have more than one baby. If you wanted to use these words, they might help you to say more about your topic. So let’s pretend I was writing about our school. I could write, “Most of the students buy their lunch at school.” Does that make sense? Usually we have 5 or 6 kids who bring their lunch, but everyone else has a school lunch. I could also write, “Some kids bring their lunch from home.” Try it out: Today in your writing you may want to try some of these words when you are thinking of telling more. Does it have to be prefect? No, just do your best. Please share with your partners about your writing. My B (or A) partners will go first. Once you have finished sharing, you may get started with your writing. Walk around and listen in as the students discuss their writing plans with their partners. This is a great opportunity to take conferring notes. Procedure Check: Today I am going to be meeting with a few students to talk about their writing. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 20 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. Get with your writing partner. Show your partner where you used one of our spelling strategies to help you write a word. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 13: Using labels and telling more Materials needed: Past writing samples Books with great examples of text features such as Walruses by Eric Charlesworth
Mini-Lesson: Friends, listen... sometimes writers will go back to a piece they have been working on again and again. Sometimes they will decide to make changes and add onto a piece instead of making a new one. You might decide to add more details with your words. Maybe you will want to do a close-up or zoom in like I did when I wrote about the
polar bear’s fur. You also may want to add words like some, many, or most like we talked about yesterday. You can also use labels to tell more like Eric Charlesworth did in his book about walruses. I love this picture of the walrus’s tusks. The label really makes it clear. I also love how he listed the fodd that walruses eat but also
included a few photos. You could do that with your inforamtion, tell more with pictures and with words. Try it out: Today in your writing you will want to see if you can tell more. You can add more information by adding a label or by adding more pictures to your pages. Does it have to be perfect? No, just do your best. Please share with your partners about your writing. My B (or A) partners will go first. Once you have finished sharing, you may get started with your writing. Walk around and listen in as the students discuss their writing plans with their partners. This is a great opportunity to take conferring notes. Procedure Check: Today I am going to be meeting with a few students to talk about their writing. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 20 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. Get with your writing partner. If you added a helpful hint, show your partner. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 14: What questions will a reader have? Materials needed: Student samples Mini-Lesson: Prior to this lesson look though a few student samples. Select a few that might have good questioning opportunities. Ask the students’ permission to use their writing for this lesson. One way we can tell more about our subject we are writing about is to think about the questions our readers might have. So Anna’s writing says, “In dance class you learn different dances.” Does anyone have any questions? Elicit responses from the class such as, “What are the dances called? Are they hard to learn? “ Then help your student answer these questions in her writing. It might sound something like this. “You can learn how to tap and do jazz steps. It can take weeks to get it right.” This might be a good time to remind your students how to use a caret. Friends, I want you to sit with your partners. Partner A listen to your partner and think of one question you have. Be ready to share that question with the group in a moment. Then Partner B, you will have a turn. Listen in and support your students as they ask their partner questions that might strengthen the writing. Then select a few who have done a great job of asking meaningful questions to share with the whole group. You may need to model questions that would not be helpful such as, “Do you like dance class?” Have partner B repeat the process. Try it out: Friends, writers think about questions there reader might have and they try to answer those questions in their writing. Your partner has given you a few ideas, but I bet you can think of a few. Today and every day, I want you to think of those questions and try to add them into your writing just like Anna did with her dance writing. Does it have to be perfect? No, just do your best. Procedure Check: Today I am going to be meeting with a few students to talk about their writing. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 20 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. Get with your writing partner. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 15: Adding closure Materials needed: Student samples or one of your own writing samples.
Mini-Lesson: One of the things that writers do is sometimes they wrap up their writing in an interesting way. They call this a closure. As you have been writing your informational writing, you have been telling facts or things you know about your subject. When you get to the end of your writing, it is okay to tell how you feel about your subject. So my polar bear book might have a last page that says, “Polar bears are powerful and amazing animals.” Anna might have, “Dance class is a fun way to make friends and learn new things.” As you know it is really easy to add a page to our writing. You all know how to use the staple remover and I will staple your book back together after our workshop time. Try it out: Today you might want to go back and look at some of your “finished’ writing. You might find a place where you can add a closure. Does it have to be perfect? No, just do your best. Please share with your partner about your writing. My B (or A) partners will go first. Once you have finished sharing, you may get started with your writing. Walk around and listen in as the students discuss their writing plans with their partners. This is a great opportunity to take conferring notes. Procedure Check: Today I am going to be meeting with a few students to talk about their writing. These will be the students who will share today (hand out the share passes). I have one more share pass that I will hand out to the student who is really working hard at their writing. Can you interrupt me while I am working with my friends? No! I am going to set the timer for _______ minutes (or just add 1 minute to yesterday’s writing workshop). NOTE the expectation will grow until the independent writing time reaches 20 mins. Document their writing stamina. Sharing: Students will share their writing in front of the class. Call on students to offer noticings and questions. The teacher will continue to model “Noticings” and “Questions”. Get with your writing partner. Show them where you started with a capital letter. Show them where you wrote a word in all lower case letters. My A (or B sharers) will start first. Listen to your partner and practice your Noticing and Questions.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 16-18: Reteach any lessons covered in Unit 1 - Unit 5 as needed.
Materials needed: Premade book (write under a document camera), or chart paper.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if we only needed to teach a lesson once and EVERY one of our students were ready for that lesson AND EVERY one of our students internalized these lessons? The reality is that some lessons need to be repeated. Here are a few suggestions.
Reading and touching each word. Add the words that are missing.
Are the word wall words spelled correctly?
Strategies for spelling longer words
Are my words easy to read? Is my handwriting clear?
Do I mostly have lowercase letters except at the beginning of my sentence?
Does it make sense?
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 19: Fixing it up Materials needed: Fix-it up check list Student writing sample.
Mini-Lesson: We are getting ready to publish our writing. Right now I want you to find a piece that you would like to publish.
Have your students return to their desk and go through their folder. They can self-select 1 piece to publish. They should hold on to that one piece and bring you the other pieces in their folder. Those “unpublished” pieces will be bound together and sent home. Give the class a few minutes to complete this task. Ask your students to rejoin you on the carpet again. Your job today is to look over a piece of your writing that you would like to publish. One of the things that writers sometimes uses is a little checklist to make sure they have not forgotten anything. This checklist is like our Build a Sentence Chart. Let me show you how it can work. Take a student sample and use the checklist as you read their writing. I find it is helpful to ask for volunteers. I tend to select students who are
confident writers and who will not mind having their work edited in front of the classroom. If you prefer, you can make your own writing sample to use with the “Fix it” checklist. Then when you see something you have forgotten, you can just fix it up! I am going to give you this checklist. Take it back to your desk and go through and edit your work. Fix it up the best you can. It does not have to be perfect. Try it out: NOTE: Editing is a challenging skill that will require a lot of practice. Students will approximate this skill while you provide support. Those pages that were not selected to be published should be bound
together in chronological order.
You may decide to send this home (see parent letter) or keep this writing
in their writing portfolio until the end of the year. Writing is slow to grow.
Similar to a tree, it is hard to see the growth when you look at it every
day. When you can go back and compare old photographs (writing samples)
you will better see the progress.
©Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills 2013
Day 20: Celebration Materials needed: Student celebration papers. Student unit books.
Mini-Lesson: Today is the day we have been looking forward to. We get to celebrate our writing. Today we will have our publishing party. Students can celebrate their writing in several different ways. I enjoy bringing a little snack or asking parents to send in some cookies and juice. I then group the students and have them take turns reading their stories to each other. I rotate the groups a few times so each student has the chance to hear each other. Here is one way to rotate your students:
1. Number your students. Have half of your class sit on the outside of a circle. The other half will face them on the inside of the circle.
2. Have students take turns sharing their writing with each other.
3. Give a signal when it is time to switch partners. The outside of the circle rotates while the inside stays seated.
Signal could be a timer or music Other options:
1. Invite parents to join you. 2. Invite faculty to join you. 3. Invite another class to join you.
Display: Make their writing public by hanging in the hallway, somewhere in your classroom or elsewhere in your building.
We can write about…
©D. Jump and D. Wills
We can write about…
©D. Jump and D. Wills
You can use the images on the following pages to make a large anchor chart for brainstorming and recording writing topics. There are individual planning sheets for the students to use as well.
Thin
gs I
can
w
rite
abou
t Nam
e
Thin
gs I
can
w
rite
abou
t Nam
e
Use the resource on the following page with the lesson on Day 5.
Have the strips cut out and then as you read them aloud have your students help you decide
where they belong on the chart.
A Ti
me W
hen
Some
thin
g Ha
ppen
ed S
tory
Al
l Abo
ut B
ook
Polar
bear
s ar
e th
e bigg
est
hunt
ers
on lan
d.
One
day
a po
lar
bear
de
cide
d to
tak
e a
vaca
tion
.
Polar
bear
s ca
n sw
im f
or
100 m
iles
witho
ut r
esting
.
Cubs
sta
y with
their
mot
hers
for
two
year
s.
I sa
w a
polar
bea
r at
th
e zoo
.
I wat
ched
a m
ovie a
bout
po
lar
bear
s at
my
cous
in’s
hous
e.
A p
olar
bea
r ha
s blac
k sk
in t
o ke
ep h
im w
arm.
I go
t a
stuf
fed
polar
bear
for
my
birt
hday
.
Tab
le o
f C
on
ten
ts
Ma
ps
He
lp th
e re
ade
r fin
d w
hat
is in
th
e b
oo
k.
He
lp th
e re
ade
r kno
w w
he
re
thin
gs are
in
th
e w
orl
d.
Type o
f anim
al 2
W
here
it
lives
3
What
it e
ats
4
Clo
se-U
ps
Lab
els
He
lp th
e re
ade
r to
se
e th
e
de
tails up clo
se
.
Te
ll ab
out
the
pic
ture
and it
s
part
s. ta
il fin
dors
al f
in
gill
slits
pect
oral
fins
Cu
taw
ay
s C
ap
tio
ns
Sho
w th
e re
ade
r w
hat
so
me
thin
g
loo
ks like
o
n
the
in
sid
e.
Te
ll th
e re
ade
r ab
out
the
pic
ture
.
This
is a
gre
at
w
hit
e s
hark
..
There
are
many d
iffere
nt
ty
pes o
f s
hark
s t
hat
live
In t
he o
cean.
After teaching the kids about the different text features have them help you match up the name of the text feature and what it is used for. Next, assign each group a feature to illustrate and use them to create anchor charts. {See example on following page} OR simply sort and glue the text features you copied to use in Day 6
Tell about the picture and its parts.
Labels
Text Features
Table of Contents
Maps
Close-ups
Labels
Cutaways Capti
ons
Help the reader find what is in the
book.
Help the reader know where things are in the world.
Help the reader to see details up
close.
Tell about the picture and its
parts.
Show the reader what something looks like on the
inside.
Tell the reader about the picture.
A w
alr
us c
an
we
igh a
s m
uch
as a
sm
all c
ar.
Co
mp
ar
iso
ns
He
lp t
he
re
ade
r ge
t a p
ictu
re
in t
he
ir h
ead t
o u
nde
rsta
nd
rela
tio
nship
s b
etw
ee
n t
wo
or
m
ore
thin
gs.
Co
mpari
so
ns
He
lp t
he
re
ade
r ge
t a
pic
ture
in t
he
ir h
ead t
o
unde
rsta
nd r
ela
tio
nship
s
be
twe
en t
wo
or
mo
re
part
s.
Use to create an anchor chart if desired.
Make Believe Story
All About Book
If your little ones are still having trouble distinguishing between a make believe book and an all about book you can use the chart headers and pictures to sort into the appropriate categories. As your little ones help you sort the pictures discuss as a class the reasons why they belong under that category.
Behaviors to notice
Emergent 1 Emergent 2 Emergent 3 Early Writer 1 Early Writer 2 Early Writer3 Transitional writer 1
Sentence structure
No evidence of intended message
Includes 1 intended word
Includes 1 intended simple sentence
Includes 2-4 simple and/or 1 complex/compound sentences.
Includes 5 simple and/or 2 complex/compound sentences.
Includes 3 complex/compound sentences
Includes 4-6 complex/compound sentences
Directionality, spacing,
punctuation
Places squiggles or letter-like shapes randomly on the page
Places letter-like shapes in a left to right direction and may have space between 2 words
Places letters and/or words in left to right direction with 3 or more spaces. Punctuation attempt may be made.
Ends 1 sentence or story with a period
Ends 2-4 sentences with periods. May use other forms of punctuation appropriately at times.
Ends 5 sentences with periods. May use other forms of punctuation appropriately at times.
Ends 6 sentences with periods and uses 2 other forms of punctuation appropriately at times.
Letter formation, capitalization
Forms squiggles or letter-like shapes
Forms mostly uppercase letters. May have 1 word in lowercase letters
Forms 2 or more words with lowercase letters
Capitalizes the first word in the sentence.
Capitalizes 2-4 sentences. May use other forms of capitalization correctly
Capitalizes at least 5 sentences. May use other forms of capitalization correctly
Capitalizes at more than 6 sentences. May use 1 other form capitalization correctly most of the times.
Spelling Represents words with letter like shapes with no sound correspondence
Represents 1-2 words by recording at least 1 sound. May spell 1 word conventionally.
Represents most words by recording 1 or more sound. May spell 2-3 words conventionally`
Spells 4-8 different words conventionally.
Spells 9 or more single syllable words conventionally
Spells 3-5 different two-syllable words conventionally
Spells 6-8different two-syllable words conventionally
Supporting Details Does not include a, an, the or describing word
Include a, an, the or describing word
Includes 2 describing words or modifiers
Includes 3-4 describing words or modifiers
Includes 5 different describing words or modifiers
Supports 1 idea with details in at least 3 sentences
Supports 2 ideas with details in at least 3 sentences
Word Choice Includes no evidence of intended words
Uses 1-3 intended high frequency words
Uses 4 or more intended high frequency words
Uses 1 precise word that is more exact in meaning
Uses 2 precise words that are more exact in meaning
Uses 3-4 precise words that are more exact in meaning
Uses 5-6 precise words that are more exact in meaning
Ideas/Focus Unable to develop ideas
Develops an idea with assistance
Develops ideas independently
Writes 1-2 sentences while maintaining focus
Writes 3-4 sentences while maintaining focus
Writes 5-6 sentences while maintaining focus
Maintains writing focus through out.
Writing Continuum
Writing Through the
Year: informational
texts
Sustained attention Unable to maintain
attention during writing
workshop.
Maintains attention during
writing workshop some of
the time
Maintains attention during
writing workshop most of
the time
Maintains attention during
writing workshop all of
the time
Author’s message Makes uncontrolled or
unidentifiable scribbling
Draws picture and labels Picture and/or words
carry the message
Picture and words carry
the message
Topic generation:
Provide persuasive
argument
No attempt at providing a
reason
Attempts to provide a
reason
Provides a reason Provides a convincing
reason
Genre writing Does not provide
information about the
subject
Provides information, but
they facts are not
grouped.
Provides information with
facts that are somewhat
grouped 1-2 sentences per
big idea.
Provides information with
facts that are grouped.
2-3 sentences per big
idea.
Letter attempts Forms easily recognizable
letters most of the time
All letters are easily
recognizable
All letters are formed
correctly
Letters are formed
correctly and uses mostly
lowercase letters.
Letter-sound
representation
Hears and records some
consonant letter sounds
Hears and records most
consonant letter sounds
Hears and records most
consonant letter sounds
and some vowel sounds
Hears and records most
consonant letter sounds
and vowel sounds
Rubric Name: ____________________________________________ Date:_____________________________
Starts with a capital letter. Uses spaces between your words. Uses punctuation at the end. Mostly lowercase letters.
Fix It Up Checklist
Here is my dog.
Here is my dog.
Here is my dog.
Here is my dog.
Name: __________________________________
Starts with a capital letter. Uses spaces between your words. Uses punctuation at the end. Mostly lowercase letters.
Fix It Up Checklist
Here is my dog.
Here is my dog.
Here is my dog.
Here is my dog.
Name: __________________________________
Writing Conference Schedule Wee
k 1
Wee
k 2
Wee
k 3
Wee
k 4
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Visit with three scheduled students a day. Leave one slot a day open for quick follow up checks.
Questions to guide the conference
If you notice this... Try this
Unfocused piece Do you have more than one story here? What’s the most important part? What’s your favorite part? How can we build on that? What do you want your reader to know about ______________?
The piece is just a list of events with little of the writer’s reaction
How did you feel when this happened? What do you think about all of this What made this so important to you?
“I like” or “I love” story or a vague idea.
Tell me what you love about _____________?
Conferences should feel like a conversation, not an interrogation. However, here are some conference starters: • So, how’s it going? • Show me where you are in your writing. • What is the best part? • What can I help you with? • What can you do to help yourself? • What do you think your next step will be?
Setting up your conferring notebook
• 90 page spiral notebook • Add tabs (one for each student) • Write student names on the tabs (I will wait until school
starts because my class list always changes). I like to keep the tabs in alphabetic order.
• Paperclip the conference schedule to the front page. • Schedule students in pencil so they can be rearranged if
needed.
• Tape or glue the writing continuum if you feel it would help you in identifying writing behaviors.
I used Post-it Filing Tabs. You can write on them and they are repositionable.
Our
writing
st
amina Da
tes
Minutes
Awes
ome
Writing
! P
leas
e Sh
are!
Awes
ome
Writing
! P
leas
e Sh
are!
Awes
ome
Writing
! P
leas
e Sh
are!
Writing
Par
tner
s
Part
ner
A
Part
ner
B
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My
Writing
Nam
e:
___________________
Date
s:
___________________
Kinde
rgar
ten
Writing
Nam
e:
___________________
Date
s:
___________________
1st G
rade
Writing
Nam
e:
___________________
Date
s:
___________________
2nd Gra
de
Writing
Nam
e:
___________________
Date
s:
___________________
Dear
Par
ents
. We
have
jus
t finish
ed o
ur f
ifth
writing
unit
on in
form
ationa
l o
r “A
ll Abo
ut” bo
oks. D
uring
this p
ast
mon
th w
e ha
ve c
ontinu
ed o
ur w
ork
with
mak
ing
book
s. S
tude
nts
prac
tice
d writing
abo
ut t
hing
s th
ey k
new a
lot
ab
out.
We
cont
inue
d ou
r st
udy
in t
elling
our
mes
sage
thr
ough
pictu
res
and
thro
ugh
wor
ds. We
stud
ied
the
wor
k of
oth
er a
utho
rs a
nd illu
stra
tors
who
wro
te in
form
ationa
l te
xts. W
e lear
ned
that
write
rs o
rgan
ize
their
wor
k in a
way
tha
t mak
es s
ense
. We
also
loo
ked
at s
ome
of
the
text
fea
ture
s th
at a
re s
een
in in
form
ationa
l bo
oks.
We
cont
inue
d ou
r wor
k on
str
etch
ing
out
unkn
own
wor
ds. W
e pr
actice
d ou
r ne
w s
trat
egy
to h
elp
us f
igur
e ou
t multi-s
yllable
wor
ds,
as w
ell as
, writing
our
wor
d wall wor
ds.
Enj
oy y
our
little
auth
or’s h
ard
wor
k!
And
rem
embe
r... We
lear
n to
write
by
writing
! Sinc
erely,
Pape
r ch
oice
Multiple
pape
r ch
oice
s ar
e av
ailable.
This
unit f
ocus
es o
n pe
rsua
sive
tex
ts, bu
t yo
u st
uden
ts m
ight
also
wan
t to
write
in
othe
r ge
nres
. The
refo
re, multiple
pape
r op
tion
s ar
e av
ailable.
The
se f
orms
will b
e us
ed t
o mak
e bo
oks. S
imple
copy
the
boo
k pa
ges
(4-5
pag
es) an
d st
aple t
hem b
ehind
the
book
cov
er. Mak
e yo
ur b
ooks
hea
d of
time.
Stud
ents
can
add
pag
es o
r re
mov
e un
used
pag
es. St
uden
t will w
ait
until th
eir
book
is
almos
t co
mplet
ed
to a
dd t
he t
able o
f co
nten
ts.
Book
Cov
er
Tab
le o
f Co
nten
ts
By ______________________________________________
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Page
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Tab
le o
f Co
nten
ts
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