Teaching Students to Write K-5

1. Teaching Students to WriteK-5 Susan Dold doldsb@scsk12.org

2. Why Teach Writing K-5? • Writing helps with reading. • Writing is 30% of a student’s ELA grade in grades 1-5. • The upcoming PARCC Assessments will be heavy on writing. (Sample item to follow)

3. Grade 3, Item #3 You have read two texts about famous people in American history who solved a problem by working to make a change.   Write an article for your school newspaper describing how she and  faced challenges to change something in America.  • In your article, be sure to describe in detail why some solutions they tried worked and others did not work.   • Tell how the challenges each one faced were the same and how they were different. Note: This is what the February TCAP Writing Assessment will look like.

4. Knowledge and Skills Required • Knowledge of the required writing mode (narrative, informational/explanatory, opinion) • Ability to organize thoughts • Ability to identify key ideas and details • Ability to cite evidence from the text

5. PARCC Framework and the SCS Curriculum

6. How It Looks K-2 • K-drawing, dictating, writing--words and phrases, longer pieces • 1-drawing and labeling, writing--sentences, longer pieces • 2-paragraphs, stories, reports

7. How It Needs to Look 3-5 • PARCC says: • Routine writing • Analyses • Narratives

8. Scoring CriteriaInformational/Explanatory & Opinion • Development • Focus and organization • Language • Conventions

9. Routine Writing • Notes • Two column notes • Graphic organizers • Annotations • Summaries • Journals/learning logs • Others?

10. Writing a Summary • Read, mark, and/or annotate the text • Topic sentence • Key points • Concluding sentence • Frame your topic sentence: In this text, the author reports/states/claims that _________. • Summarize two or three key points in one sentence each. • Restate the main idea in one sentence.

11. Analyses • Multiple modes • Explanatory/informational • Opinion (states and supports a claim) • Evidence from the text(s)

12. Writing Analyses • Read the text(s) actively • Underline, annotate, highlight • Read the prompt carefully • Take note of key words (explain, opinion, cite, delineate) • Formulate your main idea (the author’s key point, your opinion) • Select a few key details (examples, reasons) • Organize your paper (introduction, body, conclusion) • Use reasons and examples from the text for the body • Conclude by restating your main point

13. Narrative • Original stories • Modifications to stories (e.g., new endings, write from another point of view) • Descriptions of processes

14. When? • Experts recommend that students in grades 1-5 receive one hour of writing instruction per day. • 30 minutes teaching them how • 30 minutes practicing • This does not all need to take place during ELA time • In kindergarten, the experts also recommend at least 30 minutes per day

15. How: Recommendations from the Experts • Provide ample time • Teach the writing process • Build fluency through handwriting, spelling, sentence structure and keyboarding • Create a community of writers

16. How? Use the Writing Process

17. How? Explicit Instruction • I do • We do • You do

18. How: Focus on the Mode

19. How: Build Sentence Fluency • Sentence framing • Sentence expanding • Sentence combining

20. Sentence Framing

21. Sentence Expanding

22. Sentence Combining

23. But, But, But… What about grammar, usage, and mechanics?

24. What Spelling is REALLY About

25. Information from the State http://www.tncore.org/english_language_arts.aspx