Writing

“If students are not engaged in writing at least four days out of five, and for a period of thirty-five to forty minutes, beginning in first grade, they will have little opportunity to learn to think through the medium of writing.”

- Donald Graves

We use the Writer's Workshop Model in our classroom for 45 minutes four days a week. Each student is given time to write on a topic of his/her choosing. Each day, a mini lesson is presented in order to strengthen the student's writing, coupled with student share in large groups or partner sharing. Student/Teacher conferences help the students grow with added personalized goals to their celebrated writing strengths.

Resources used:

• Units of Study
• The Steps in the Writing Process
• Modes, Forms and Genres
• Six Trait Writing Writing A-Z
• Spiral-Up Spelling
• Phonics Lessons
• Write Source Grammar

Assessments:

• Kent School District Six Trait Writing Assessments
• Student Writer's Notebooks
• Anecdotal records from student/teacher conference

In the Kent School District, the second grade has not yet transitioned to the Common Core English Language Arts Common Core Standards. We will in the next few years. To this end, we are still teaching to and assessing with the Washington State EALRs.

Washington State EALRs:

1. The student understands and uses the writing process.
2. The student writes in a variety of forms for different audiences and purposes.
3. The student writes clearly and effectively.
4. The student analyzes and evaluates the effectiveness of written work.