Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Third Grade
I believe that the most important things children need to know and understand about writing are:
Writing is everywhere All writing is important and valued Everyone is a writer
It is important that the children are comfortable with their writing because it is a huge piece of everyones lives. There will never be a point in which writing becomes obsolete (2002, 167). Furthermore, writing is a way for the children to express themselves in a way in which speech may not be able to (169).
Kinds of Writing
I think that it is extremely important to list out all of the types of writing and reading that children encounter in their every day lives. This might include:
Grocery lists Signs Stories Newspapers Comics Text messages Twitter Blogs Poetry I believe that it is very important for children to be given the chance to write freely which we will do every day for at least five minutes, so that the children can become used to the act of freely writing and expressing themselves, but it is also important to provide them with some structured assignments to be sure that each student is learning all the styles and forms so that they can become comfortable with each because all writing is important (2002, 204).
Major Topics
In the first writing workshop, the children brainstorm a list of all the ways in which they use or see writing in their every day lives The children will be taught to write the following in this rough order:
Autobiographies Fiction Stories Poetry Persuasive Essays Nonfiction Book Reviews Friendly Letters Newspaper/Magazine Articles Journals/Blogs Comics Biographies
However, these styles will be touched on throughout the year, poetry, for example, does not end after the main lesson is taught. There will be multiple lessons on each topic throughout the year. There will also be lessons based on what I observe that many of the children need to work on. Throughout each of these topics we will also be discussing topics such as vocabulary, summarizing, predicting, etc.
Schedule
5 mins Sharing
This would be a time in which a different student every day would be invited to share their favorite pieces of writing (books, songs, comics, etc.)
Schedule
After, I will share my writing with the students to provide a model and invite a couple to share theirs with the class as well (2002, 195).
Schedule
Writing Chart
Poem Fiction Story Book Review Poem
Newspaper Article
Friendly Letter
Comic
Persuasive Essay
Poem
Book Review
Fiction Story
Journal
Newspaper Article
Journal
Fiction Story
Friendly Letter
Adaptations
Writing is important for all students, especially those who are of diverse language backgrounds. Even if these children cannot read or speak fluently, writing is a different way for students to express themselves through language in a way reading and speaking cannot.
Writing is different from reading in that writers have a meaning in mind when they write while readers are left to construct their own message which can be difficult for ELL students (2002, 166). Writing is different from speech in that even though both follow the same rules, written language is more complete than speech (166), which in turn makes the language more concrete.
Adaptations
Children learn by doing which is why we will practice writing every day, which will help children of all levels improve their skills (193). While the free writing is highly encouraged, I understand that some students may not be comfortable with it at first.
Before the first free write I will have the children brainstorm some topics they could write about to get everyone thinking. If a child is ever stuck on the free write, I will have open-ended prompts to provide them with in order to help them write.
Assessment
Children will always be given a chance to draft and revise before turning in a final product because, as Bertrand and Stice state, no published author writes this way, and children authors shouldnt either (183). Students work will be graded based more on content and ideas than aspects of writing such as grammar, spelling, and handwriting. Although these are important, writing would be nothing without the idea. I will use a variation on the 6+1 rubric to grade the students papers on a 1-5 scale. The elements I will be looking for in order of importance are:
Ideas and voice are most important because without the idea one cannot have writing at all. Voice is important because it is important for childrens writing to be their own individual work that reflects themselves and their thoughts.
Assessment
To receive a 5, a student must exhibit the following characteristics in each of the categories:
Idea
The author presents an original idea Topic is focused One, clear main idea
Voice
Text elicits emotions Clear point of view Authors writes for intended audience
Details
Topic is supported by interesting and important details Author takes risks to say more than expected Piece is vivid and easy to imagine
Assessment
Fluency
The author uses transitions to connect their ideas Piece has a natural rhythm Piece avoids repetition Varied sentence structure
Structure
Piece has original title The opening of the piece grabs the readers attention Effective ending
Word Choice
Precise, fresh, accurate words used Words create images Language is specific Figurative language is used High frequency words are spelled correctly Basic punctuation is used correctly Correct capitalization is used Paragraphs are indented
Conventions
Works Cited
Goldberg, N. (1990). Wild Mind. New York: Bantam Books. Noddings, N. (1991). Teaching Children To Care. Turners Falls, MA: Northeast Foundation for Children. Bertrand, N. P. & Stice, C. F., (2002). Good Teaching. Portsmouth, New Jersey: Heinemann.