Prewriting: children begin to plan writing. Drafting: children put their ideas into writing and drawing. Revising: children reread the draft and decide how to rework and improve it. Editing: children polish the draft. Publishing: children share their writing and drawing with others. The Writing Traits Along with understanding the writing process, children will benefit from having a beginning understanding of the traits of good writing covered in the Common Core Writing Handbook. The Traits of Writing is an approach in which children analyze their writing for the characteristics, or qualities, of what good writing looks like. These qualities include ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. A Common Language One of the advantages of instructing children in the traits of writing is that you give them a working vocabulary and thus build a common language for writing that they can all use and understand as they progress up the grades. Children can use the traits as a framework for improving any kind of writing they are doing. To this end, a systematic, explicitly taught focus on the traits of writing has proved to be an effective tool for discussing writing, enabling children to analyze and improve their own writing, and providing teachers with a way to assess children s compositions and developing skills in a fair, even-handed manner. The Writing Workshop Since writing is an involved process that children accomplish at varying speeds, it is usually a good idea to set aside a block of time for them to work on their writing. One time-tested model that has worked well in classrooms is the Writing Workshop. In this model during a set period of time, children work individually and collaboratively (with classmates and/or with the teacher) on different writing activities. Two of these activities are for children to comment on interactive writing produced during class time or to collaborate in reviewing each other s manuscripts. One effective technique used in many workshops as a way for children to comment on aspects of each other s writing is to use the language of the traits when they comment. Writing Workshops are often most effective when they adhere to a dependable schedule and follow a set of clearly posted guidelines (for example, keep voices down, point out the good things about someone s writing as well as comment on parts that might be revised, listen politely, and put away materials when the workshop is over). In addition, children should know what areas of the classroom they can use and should have free access to writing materials, including their handbooks. Introducing the Traits Share an overview of the Writing Traits with children. Discuss each trait briefly and explain to children that they will learn about the traits, which they can use to help them as they plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish their writing. When you use the minilessons to instruct children on different topics in writing, use the language of the traits with them. Encourage them to use it, too, any time they interact with text. Over time, they will develop an important common writing vocabulary that will help them as they progress up the grades. Evaluating Writing While children are learning about the writing process and writing traits they will also benefit from knowing how to evaluate their own writing as well as the writing of others. Children will learn that creating a checklist will help them become better writers. They can ask themselves the following questions to check their writing: Did I leave spaces between words? Did I start my sentences with capital letters? Did I end my sentences with a period or other end mark? To signal that their writing is complete, children may draw a happy or smiling face next to each part of the writing that completes their checklist. Children may then want to complete any section that did not get a happy face. With practice, children will learn the importance of evaluating their writing and how it improves their overall writing skills. 30 Grade K 5 31
Captions Minilesson 5 Minilesson 6 Telling About a Picture Drafting Captions Common Core State Standards: W.K.2, L.K.6, SL.K.4 Common Core State Standards: W.K.2, L.K.6 Captions Objective: Talk about the action in a picture. Guiding Question: How can I tell someone else what is happening in a picture? Objective: Write about the action in a picture. Guiding Question: How can I write about a picture? Sketch a simple picture on the board that shows a person running (stick figures are fine). Tell children that this picture shows a person named Bernie. Add that Bernie is doing something in the picture and that you can use words to tell what he is doing. Say Bernie is running. Emphasize that you told what was happening in the picture. Repeat with a picture showing a bird in the air and the sentence The bird is flying. Sketch a simple picture of two people throwing a ball back and forth. Tell children that the people in the picture are named Beth and Fred. Ask children to describe what is happening in the picture. Guide them to focus especially on the action. Help them put together short sentences such as Beth and Fred are playing ball. If time permits, repeat with another picture of your choice. Again, ask children to focus on describing the action in the picture. Give each child a photograph or drawing clipped from a newspaper or a magazine. All pictures should show some type of action (no portraits or pictures of objects). Then divide the class into pairs or small groups. Instruct children to describe what is happening in their picture and tell their ideas to their partner or group members. If time permits, have children exchange pictures with classmates and repeat the activity. Make sure children are describing the action in the picture rather than saying This is a girl or something similar. Ask guiding questions as necessary to make sure children focus on the action in the picture. Teach/Model ID o Draw a simple sketch of a fish. Include small lines to suggest motion. Tell children that they can probably tell what is going on just by looking at your picture, but that you want to write some words to make sure people who see the picture understand it. On the board, write The fish is swimming. Begin the sentence with a capital letter and end it with a period. Read the sentence aloud, running your hand under the words and pointing out the initial capital and the final period. Explain that when words tell what is happening in a picture, we call the words a caption. Display a picture that you have cut from a magazine or newspaper. Be sure the picture focuses on action, such as an athlete catching a ball or an animal digging in the dirt. Have children talk about what is happening in the picture. Then guide them to write a short sentence to serve as a caption for the picture. Help children write the caption on the board. Read it aloud with them, pointing to each word as you say it. Distribute copies of the blackline master on page 11. Ask children to think of something they like to do. Then have them draw a picture of themselves engaged in that activity. Next, ask children to write a short caption telling what they are doing in their picture, with an emphasis on the activity (dancing, building, reading). Have children share their work with a partner or the whole class as time permits. Encourage children to do as much writing on their own as they can. Help them write sentences with an initial capital letter and a final period. Teacher: Have children draw a picture showing themselves taking part in a favorite activity. Then have them write a caption to explain what is happening in the picture. 32 10 Writing for Common Core Grade K 11 33
Story Sentences Minilesson 7 Minilesson 8 Choosing Events to Describe Common Core State Standard: W.K.3 Drafting Story Sentences Common Core State Standards: W.K.3, L.K.1f Story Sentences Objective: Describe which ideas or events to include in a story. Guiding Question: What events do we want to tell about? Say that you have an idea for a story that could go with the setting at the beach. Tell children that you can think of two interesting events for a story with that setting. Explain that an event is something that happens. Say One idea I have is that a character would go in a boat. That would be one event that would go with the setting of a beach. Sketch a stick figure in a simple boat. Write go in a boat below the drawing. Repeat with the event find seashells. Tell children that they will soon be starting a class story. Work together to choose a setting for the story. Then guide children to suggest events that could happen in that setting. Write children s ideas on the board in bullet form and encourage them to sketch quick pictures. Remind children that the events they describe must be connected to the setting. After 5 6 suggestions, read the list aloud. Have children draw pictures of an event they would like to include in a story. Then have children share their work and vote to choose which events they ll include in their story. Move through the room, engaging children in conversation about their pictures. Offer assistance with writing as needed. Children may simply write labels, but encourage them to write longer phrases or complete sentences, if possible. Objective: Write a sentence for a story. Guiding Question: How can I write a sentence that can be part of a story? Review that in the previous minilesson you were thinking about a person who went to the beach. Say I had an idea for a story about this person. I thought the person might go on a boat. Explain that today you will write a whole sentence about that idea. On the board, write Eddy sailed away from the beach in a little blue boat. Read the sentence aloud with children, touching the words in turn. Explain that this is a sentence because it begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, and that it could be part of a story about Eddy and his trip to the beach. Explain that you would like to write more sentences, this time about a girl named Nola who finds seashells on a beach. Ask children to think about what the shells might look like (color, size, shape), and how Nola feels about finding them. Guide children to tell you 3 4 sentences that could be part of a story about Nola, such as Nola found 3 big purple shells or Nola was happy that she found so many seashells. Write the sentences on the board as children say them. Distribute copies of the blackline master on page 13. Read the directions aloud. Have children use the prompt to draw a picture and write a story sentence about it. Emphasize that the character must be make-believe and come from their own imagination. Have children share their work with a partner. Make sure children compose a complete sentence rather than just a phrase. If you take dictation, ask them to tell you where the period should go. Teacher: Ask children to think of ideas for a made-up character they might like to write a story about. Ask them to draw a picture that shows their character. Then have children write a story sentence to tell more about the picture. 34 12 Writing for Common Core 35 Grade K 13
36 Research Report: Prewriting Minilesson 17 Minilesson 18 Notetaking and Outlining Common Core State Standards: W.5.5, W.5.8 Objective: Select appropriate information and organize it. Guiding Question: How do I organize my research report? Read aloud and discuss handbook p. 30. Remind students that an outline can help them organize a research report. Explain that, before writing the model outline, the writer brainstormed ideas, chose a topic, conducted research, and recorded details on note cards. Model paraphrasing and writing notes for the facts in the second paragraph, such as first game in 1967 and games used to take place in January. Discuss the system of numerals and letters used in outlines and model how to put notes into outline form. With students, brainstorm a topic for a research report, such as George Washington. Help students use a classroom resource such as a textbook or the Internet to find a few facts and take notes. Together, organize the notes into an outline. COLLABORATIVE Have small groups use their social studies text to find information and take notes about another historical figure they have studied. Tell them to organize the notes into an outline. Have groups share what they have written. INDEPENDENT Have students repeat the above activity for another research topic they have studied in science class. Encourage students having trouble researching to think of the 5 Ws + H: Who, What, When, Where, Why, + How. Explain that answering these questions will help them find important facts. 30 Writing for Common Core Headline Planning a Report with Headings Common Core State Standards: W.5.5, W.5.8 Objective: Plan a research report with headings. Guiding Question: How do I plan a research report with headings? Review handbook p. 30. Explain that headings are a good way to organize information so that it can be easily found and understood by readers. Discuss the model. Point out that each main idea in the outline can be used as a heading in a research report. Explain that these headings will help readers recognize the main ideas and know which facts relate to which ideas. 1 Direct students to the frame on handbook p. 31. Tell them that, together, you will plan a research report about the history of your state. Provide students with access to research materials, such as books and the Internet, and guide them to choose facts to list under each heading, such as The Spanish and French were the first Europeans to settle in Florida. Have students write in their books as you write on the board. We Do 2 COLLABORATIVE Have groups plan and complete Activity 2. Tell them to create an outline for a research report about the history of a favorite sport or game. Have groups share their work with the class. 3 INDEPENDENT Have students read and follow the directions. Tell them they can use the notes they made for Minilesson 17 or to brainstorm a new topic. As students draft, have them evaluate their work using the rubric on p. 104. ebook WriteSmart Interactive s Headline Research Report: Prewriting A research report is a nonfiction composition that uses facts gathered from several sources of information to tell about a topic. One way to plan a research report is to make an outline. Parts of Prewriting for a Research Report 30 Grade 5 Brainstorm ideas for your research report Decide on a main topic and write your thesis statement Research your topic and record important details on note cards Organize the details from your note cards into an outline that will guide you when you write your report Check to see that all of the details you included in your outline support your thesis I. Introduction: The Super Bowl Exciting game Most watched sport on TV II. History of the Super Bowl First game in 1967 Originally called the AFL-NFL Championship Games took place in January until 2004 III. Super Bowl Records Miami Dolphins the only team to have undefeated season (Super Bowl VII) Pittsburg Steelers first team to win six Super Bowls (2009) IV. Conclusion Winners are the best team in the world Interesting things always happen 11 million people watched the Super Bowl in 2011 Corrective Feedback IF... students are having a hard time coming up with outline headings for their research reports, Focus Trait: Ideas Tell students that they can use a variety of resources to get ideas for their research reports. Encourage them to use more than one source when finding information for a research report, explaining that this will help them get a more balanced perspective on their topic. Allow students time to research their topics. If necessary, remind them how to search periodicals, use encyclopedias, and locate books about their topic. Explain to students that the Internet often can be a Follow your teacher s directions to complete this page. We Do 1 2 3 I. Introduction: II. First Settlers III. Important Historical Events IV. Conclusion On a separate sheet of paper, prewrite for a research report about the history of your favorite sport or game. Create an outline to use as a guide for writing the report. On a separate sheet of paper, prewrite for a research report on a science or social studies topic of your choice. Create an outline to use as a guide for writing the report. Research Report: Prewriting 31 THEN... have them group related details together. Then have them ask themselves how the details are similar. The response to this question should lead them to a heading. good research tool. Point out that, unfortunately, it is more difficult to verify information found online. Show students how to search for information within a specific domain (i.e..edu for information found within a university domain and.gov for information found on a government website). Emphasize that information from a recognized authority a college or university, a government agency, or a respected expert usually can be trusted. Grade 5 31 37
Descriptive Sentences Minilesson 13 Minilesson 14 Showing Information in a Drawing Drafting Descriptive Sentences Descriptive Sentences Common Core State Standard: W.K.2 Common Core State Standards: W.K.2, L.K.5c Objective: Draw a picture to communicate information. Guiding Question: How can I use a picture to share my ideas with others? Objective: Write a descriptive sentence. Guiding Question: How do I write a descriptive sentence? 38 Explain that you are going to draw a picture of something you saw this morning. On the board, draw a sketch of a person. Then draw a sketch of a dog and draw a leash from the dog to the person s hand. Ask children to describe what you drew. Elicit or explain that you saw a person walking a dog. Repeat with another example, such as a school bus with a person standing nearby to represent seeing a school bus picking up a child. Emphasize that you can use a picture to tell other people what you know or what you saw, heard, smelled, or touched. Guide children to think about things they saw earlier in the day. Invite a few volunteers to come to the board one by one and draw a simple picture to show something they saw, heard, smelled, or touched. Encourage other children to guess what each drawing represents. Then guide the artist to explain in words what he or she had in mind. Point out that the drawing shows information about what each person saw. Have children draw a picture on their own that shows them doing an activity they enjoy. Ask them to share and discuss their completed picture with a partner. Circulate and engage children in conversation about their work. Find something positive to say about each child s work. Point out how their pictures show other people what they like to do. 18 Writing for Common Core Remind children that they have been learning about words that describe objects, people, or events. Review a few of these kinds of words with children, such as purple, loud, bumpy, and small. Then draw a quick picture of a tall tree on the board, showing several thick branches. Tell children that you are going to use words that describe the tree to write a sentence about it. Say Here are some words that tell about the tree: tall, strong, thick. I ll put some of those words into a sentence. Write on the board The tree is tall and has strong branches. Read the sentence aloud to children, pointing out the initial capital letter and the final period. Point to the describing words tall and strong. On a sheet of paper or on the board, sketch a quick picture of a large leaf. Display the picture. Invite children to name words or phrases that describe the leaf, such as big, green, and pointy. Guide them to create sentences about the leaf that use these words, such as The leaf is big and green or This leaf has sharp points. Write the sentences on the board and read them aloud. Help children find the descriptive words, the initial capitals, and the final periods. Distribute copies of the blackline master on page 19. Write butterfly, flower, and tiger on the board and ask children to choose one. Have them draw a picture and write a sentence to describe it. Circulate, guiding children to use complete sentences rather than simply writing down words and phrases. Ask them to point out descriptive words they used. Teacher: Have children draw a picture of a butterfl y, a flower, or a fi sh. Then have children write a descriptive sentence to tell about what they drew. Grade K 19 39
Opinion Sentences Problem-Solution Essay FORMS Problem/Solution This Minilesson 37 Minilesson 38 In a problem-solution essay, the writer presents a difficult situation, or problem. Then the writer explains a solution to the problem. Sharing Writing in Groups Parts of a Problem-Solution Essay Common An introduction Core State that describes Standards: the problemw.k.3, SL.K.4, L.K.1f Possible solutions that might solve the problem A conclusion that describes how the problem was solved Objective: Ask and answer questions about writing. Guiding Question: How can I talk about my writing? Too Many Cats! Last summer my cat Lucy got sick. She stayed Teach/Model I Introduction Do under the porch for days and would not come out. We Begins tried everything to get her to come inside. We called her. Explain the story that when you share your writing in a group, and gives We left food out for her. Nothing seemed to work, and Lucy stayed under the porch. Finally, my father decided you background answer to questions, and that when someone else is the problem to crawl under the porch to get Lucy. When he came sharing, you listen back out, carefully he was carrying and several ask tiny kittens! questions. Lucy On the wasn t sick after all. She was under the porch taking board, write the care of following: her new kittens! I went to the park. I walked My father brought Lucy and her for a while. Then kittens inside. I sat We and put them read all in my a box book. in Other Display Transitions a the closet. There were six in all. The kittens Last summer puppet. Explain that the puppet is in your Finally sharing were so small they couldn t even open A few days later group. Read your their eyes. work Lucy was aloud. a good mother. Then She have One the by one puppet stayed with them day and night. Then ask questions like A few Did days you later, my have mother fun?, told me What After a couple book did Body weeks Describes that we could not keep all the kittens. We you the read?, difficult What already else have two did dogs you and a do?, cat, she and What sounds situation or said. We just don t have room for a bunch of kittens. did problem you hear? Answer the questions thoughtfully. Guided 110 Grade 3 Practice We Do Write the following on the board: I went bowling. Bowling is my favorite sport. Read it aloud. Guide WRITING MODELS AND FORMS children to ask you questions about the writing. Offer Minilesson prompts as 97 needed by having the puppet ask a question or two. Repeat with I saw some flowers Understanding near the sidewalk. They the smelled wonderful. Problem-Solution Essay Common Ask children Core to State write Standards: a sentence W.3.2a, about W.3.2d something they saw or heard. Then divide the class into groups Objective: of 4 or 5 children. Understand Have the characteristics children take of turns a good sharing problem-solution their writing with essay. the group. Invite listeners to ask Guiding questions Question: and have What the should writer I include respond. in a Remind problem-solution children to be essay? polite when speaking. If time is an issue, you can distribute children s completed writing Teach/Model and have them share this work instead. Read the definition, bulleted list, and sample essay on pp. 110 111. Explain that an essay may discuss more Walk than around one the possible room, way checking to solve that the groups problem. are working smoothly and that children are being Practice/Apply respectful to one another. Suggest questions to ask if Have children students are having identify difficulty the problem formulating and the their possible own. solutions Compliment that children the writer on discussed. their ability to share ideas. paragraph explores ways to solve the problem. Here the author describes her solution to the problem. Conclusion Describes what happened when she tried her solution I was sad, but I knew she was right. Caring for six kittens is a lot of work. My mother asked me what I wanted to do about the kittens. We could bring them all down to the animal shelter. Or we could try to find good homes for them ourselves. Drafting Opinion Sentences We decided to find homes for the kittens. That way we could make sure each kitten found a good family to live with. I made signs about the kittens. The signs had pictures of the kittens and our phone number. Then we put up the signs in places like the grocery store and the post office. After a few days, we started to get phone calls about the kittens. Different people came by to see the kittens. One by one each kitten found a new home. We made sure each kitten was going to nice people. Finally, there was one kitten left. He was small and quiet. After a couple of weeks, no one came to look at the last kitten. Then one day my father said to me, Let s keep this one. I was so happy! We got a new kitten! Common Core State Standards: W.K.3, SL.K.4, L.K.1f Objective: Write an opinion. Guiding Question: How is an opinion different from a fact? Explain that sometimes people write opinions, and sometimes people write facts. On the board, write Giraffes are very tall. Read it aloud and explain that this is a fact because it is true; everyone knows that Note how the author of this piece: giraffes are tall. Then write I think giraffes are the Introduced the problem to the reader by telling a story. funniest-looking Used transition animals words and in phrases the to world. move the story Read along. it aloud A few days later, my mother told me that we could not keep all and explain that this is an opinion because it tells the kittens. what you Used think; dialogue some to describe people the problem might and make agree the story with you, sound realistic. but others probably do not. Repeat with Giraffes We already have two dogs and a cat, she said. We just don t have long have necks room for (fact) a bunch and of kittens. Giraffes are my favorite animals (opinion). Problem/Solution 111 Write the word cats on the board. Guide children to tell their opinions about cats. Possible opinions might Minilesson include Cats 98are not very friendly, I love cats, or I think cats have the softest fur of any animal. Help Using children distinguish Dialogue these opinions from facts about cats, such as Cats are animals or Cats have four legs. Common Core State Standard: W.3.3b Write children s opinions on the board, using full sentences, and read them aloud. Repeat with another Objective: animal, such Use as dialogue dogs or to make lions. an essay sound realistic. Guiding Question: What can I add to make my essay more interesting and realistic? Teach/Model Pass out copies of the blackline master on page 43. Ask children to think of an animal they have an Remind students that dialogue refers to the words opinion about. Have them draw a picture of the spoken by the characters. Explain that dialogue can animal and then write one or two sentences that tell make the writing more realistic and more interesting their opinion about it. Ask children to share their for readers. Restate the final paragraph on p. 110 writing in small groups, taking turns asking and without dialogue. Then reread the dialogue to show answering questions. how it enhances the essay. Practice/Apply Offer assistance as needed and make sure that Have students locate dialogue in the essay and children are on task. Check whether children are able discuss other places the writer could have added it. to distinguish facts and opinions. Opinion Sentences Teacher: Have children choose an animal and draw a picture of it. Then have them write one or two opinion sentences about the animal. Grade K 43 92 40 42 Writing for Common Core Writing for Common Core 41