Scaffolding for young writers: I do it, We do it, You do it

WRITING WORKSHOP NONFICTION ANIMAL REPORTS

EMILY BONNEMORT, 2011

Guiding our Unit of Study

Common Core

The K–5 standards on the following pages define what students should

understand and be able to do by the end of each grade. The CCR and

grade-specific standards are necessary complements—the former

providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity—

that together define the skills and understandings that all students must

demonstrate.

College and Career Readiness Anchor

Standards for Writing

Text Types and Purposes

1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis

of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning

and relevant and sufficient evidence.

2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine

and convey complex ideas and information

clearly and accurately through the effective

selection, organization, and analysis of content.

3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined

experiences or events using effective technique,

well-chosen details, and well-structured event

sequences.

Production and Distribution of Writing

4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which

the development, organization, and style are

appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by

planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a

new approach.

6. Use technology, including the Internet, to

produce and publish writing and to interact and

collaborate with others.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

7. Conduct short as well as more sustained

research projects based on focused questions,

demonstrating understanding of the subject under

investigation.

8. Gather relevant information from multiple print

and digital sources, assess the credibility and

accuracy of each source, and integrate the

information while avoiding plagiarism.

9. Draw evidence from literary or informational

texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Range of Writing

10. Write routinely over extended time frames

(time for research, reflection, and revision) and

shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two)

for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

College and Career Readiness Anchor

Standards for Reading

Key Ideas and Details

1. Read closely to determine what the text says

explicitly and to make logical inferences from it;

cite specific textual evidence when writing or

speaking to support conclusions drawn from the

text.

2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and

analyze their development; summarize the key

supporting details and ideas.

3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and

ideas develop and interact over the course of a

text.

Craft and Structure

4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used

in a text, including determining technical,

connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze

how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how

specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions

of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza)

relate to each other and the whole.

6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the

content and style of a text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in

diverse media and formats, including visually

and quantitatively, as well as in words.

8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and

specific claims in a text, including the validity of the

reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency

of the evidence.

9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar

themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to

compare the approaches the authors take.

Range of Reading and Level of Text

Complexity

10. Read and comprehend complex literary and

informational texts independently and

proficiently.

• Open Common Core Book

• With your group, locate Reading AND

Writing Standards for Informational Text

• Highlight and Discuss the expectations for 2nd

Grade

Dig Into the Common Core

2nd Grade Reading Standards for

Informational Text

RI.2.2. Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus

of specific paragraphs within the text.

RI.2.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to

a grade 2 topic or subject area.

RI.2.5. Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print,

subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts

or information in a text efficiently.

RI.2.6. Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants

to answer, explain, or describe.

RI.2.7. Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine

works) contribute to and clarify a text.

RI.2.10. By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts,

including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2–

3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high

end of the range.

W.2.2. Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic,

use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding

statement or section.

W.2.5. With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic

and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.

W.2.7. Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a

number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science

observations).

W.2.8. Recall information from experiences or gather information from

provided sources to answer a question

2nd Grade Writing Standards

Preparing to Teach…

Consult Common Core

Analyze Student Writing Samples

Form a checklist of what you expect students to be

able to do

Develop rubric

Jordan School District

Teach Text Features

Introduce a new text feature each day. Chart the feature and its purpose.

Show students many examples in nonfiction books.

Students find their own examples of text features in books.

Teacher models how to design a text feature.

Students independently write or draw text features (Can use a text-feature student booklet).

Harvey and Goudvis

Primary Comprehension

Toolkit

Build Background Knowledge

Prior to beginning the writing unit, read aloud and discuss several nonfiction books (about the animals they chose)

Students read nonfiction books during guided reading

Choose topics

Students choose an

animal to research

(give them 4-6

animals to choose

from)

Flexible group

sizes- (I recommend

3-5 students per

group)

Become Experts on a Topic

Prior to this unit, student should have exposure reading and discussing the purpose of nonfiction text

Have a class discussion about authors

of nonfiction. Point out that they must

be experts on a topic to write about

it

Discuss table of contents and

headings

Ask children to help brainstorm which

sections to include in a nonfiction

book to teach a reader about an

animal

Guide the conversation to include the

topics: looks like, habitat, and eats

(their future books will include these

three, and a section of their choice)

Choose a topic to research together as a class

“I do it”

Model Note-taking: Think aloud

Taking Notes “Key Word Strategy”

1. Read the information

2. Stop, think about it

3. Say it in your own

words

4. Think about the most

important words

5. Write key words on

a post-it

Choose an animal to research

together as a class

Explain that note-taking is the first

step in researching and writing

Explain that the category “eats”

will be the first heading and that

all of the notes written today will

about eating

Read aloud and have students

discuss their learning (“turn and

talk”)

During reading, model by thinking

aloud to determine important

information

Model taking notes on post-its

Model Writing: Shared Writing

Composing Text

Model using key

words from notes to

compose sentences Teach how to combine

ideas with conjunctions

Teach pronouns

Draw an “x” over the

information used

“We do it”

Scaffold using notes to compose sentences

Begin the second category

“habitat”

As a class, read and take a

few notes on post-its

Together, as a class, use the

information on the first 2 post-

its to compose sentences (use

enlarged paper)

Teach how to combine

ideas with conjunctions

Teach pronouns

Draw an “x” over the

information used

Using notes to compose sentences

Students use

information on

the last 2-3

post-its to

independently

compose

sentences

Moving Toward Independence

Scaffold Note-taking

Review note-taking process.

Begin the third category “looks

like”

Model and have students help

you take the first few notes on

post-its (Use a simple text that

most can read independently or

with a buddy- I used a scholastic

reader that came with an

enlarged copy)

Give students a student copy of

a scholastic reader and post-it

notes

Students work independently to

take additional notes (everyone

has the same scholastic reader)

Independent Writing: Composing Sentences

Student use their own notes to write a “looks like” section

They draw an “x” over the information after they have used it

“You do it”

Students begin independent research

Supply groups with a box of nonfiction books about

their animal (make sure some are at independent

reading level)

Students research by reading and using animal

websites and data-bases (Zoobooks, Discovery

Streaming, National Geographic-Kids)

Begin the independent writing process

Introduce students to the writing process cycle

Students move through the cycle at their own pace

Students keep track of their work using a checklist

Teacher conducts individual writing conferences during work time

Differentiation-incorporate small-group writing

Take notes

Write a section

Reread, edit,

revise

Try a text

feature

Read

Student Work Samples

Independent Note-taking

Independent Writing

Interactive Writing

Before and

during this

unit, write a

nonfiction

animal Big

Book as a

class.