Writers' Workshop

Two weeks ago our class completed the first writing unit called "Launching." In this writing unit the children first drew pictures of events from their lives. With encouragement and modeling by the teachers, they began to add labels using their phonetic spelling to the drawings. Next the children began to write a sentence or two about their stories. We talked about including characters, setting, and action. The children made great strides in their ability to write about their personal lives. They eagerly shared their stories with partners and with the whole class using the document camera.

For the past two weeks we have been talking about making lists. This mini-unit emphasized being brave spellers as the children worked independently to create their lists. These lists have included colors, animals, foods, activities, etc. After brainstorming numerous topics, on Friday the children selected their own catogories for their list making assignment. These included "things in my bedroom", "art supplies", "pets I want to have," "favorite games," etc. Today we are brainstorming new topics as part of the final list making unit. The children will consider what is needed to "go on a picnic," "plan a birthday party," "get ready for school," etc. Tomorrow each child will read their favorite list to the class using the document camera so everyone can easily see each writing piece.

On Wednesday we will begin our next writing unit called "Stretching Small Moments Across Pages." We will be using three page story booklets to write out our stories each day. We will practice adding more details to our stories and to include a beginning, a middle, and an ending. We will try to use interesting words to make our stories come alive. We will continue to use phonics to sound out challenging words and to learn conventional spelling for short, common words.

The children have wonderful stories to tell from their personal lives. As each child's writing skills grow, their good stories will become even better. Great work, class!