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1st Grade Writing Curriculum -SB
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Lower Township Elementary Schools

Writing

1st Grade

Adopted August 28, 2024

Lower Township Elementary Schools

English Language Arts

Grade 1

Lower Township Board of Education

Gary Douglass, President

Monica DiVito, Vice President

Tricia Ryan, Secretary

Cindy Baldacchini

Lauren Cox

Lauren Randle

Lindsey Selby

Patrica Smith

Joseph Thomas

Jon Vile

Lower Township District Administration

Jeff Samaniego, Superintendent

Sarah Bowman, Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction

Christina Granero, Supervisor of Academic Achievement

Debra Keeler, Supervisor of Special Services

Interdisciplinary Connections

Social Studies: 6.1.2.History SE. 1: Use examples of regional folk heroes, stories, and/or songs and make inferences about how they have contributed to the development of a culture's history.

Comprehensive Health and Physical Education: 2.1.2.PGD. 2: Develop an awareness of healthy habits (e.g., wash hands, cough in arm, brush teeth).

Integration of Technology

Career Ready Practice: Act as a responsible and contributing community member and employee. 9.4.2.DC.6: Identify respectful and responsible ways to communicate in digital environments. 9.4.2.IML.1: Identify a simple search term to find information in a search engine or digital resource. 9.4.2.TL.1: Identify the basic features of a digital tool and explain the purpose of the tool (e.g., 8.2.2.ED.1).

Activity: Students will create a list of responsibilities they have at school, at home, or within their community. They will compare this to the responsibilities of their characters.

21st Century Skills

Career Ready/Life Literacies: 9.4.12.CI.1: Demonstrate the ability to reflect, analyze, and use creative skills and ideas.

Career Education

Career Awareness, Exploration, Preparation, and Training: 9.2.2.CAP.1: Make a list of different types of jobs and describe the skills associated with each job. 9.4.2.CI.2: Demonstrate originality and inventiveness in work.

Activity: Students will create a collage of community helpers in and around the school. They will compare this to the characters in their stories.


SUBJECT: English Language Arts - Writing

GRADE LEVEL: First Grade

UNIT TITLE: Unit 1-

Small Moments

LENGTH OF STUDY: 35 days

2024-2025 Grade 1 Writing Pacing Guide

Grammar Scope and Sequence

Unit Learning Goals

Bend 1: How can you write a small moment narrative story that lets the reader have a sneak peek into your life?

Bend 2: How can you look at your writing and say to yourself, “Hmm, what is missing, and where can I add it to my own writing piece?”

Bend 3: What do you learn from mentor authors to make your writing even better?

Materials

Mentor Texts:

  • Joshua’s Night Whispers by Angela Johnson (Lexile N/A)
  • Ish by Peter H. Reynolds (400L) Guided Reading Level M
  • Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry (480L) Guided Reading Level L
  • Teacher-written demonstration stories

Materials/Tools

● Writing center with tools such as writing paper, booklets, pens

● Writing booklets, plus additional paper

● Revision toolkit(s) - stapler, tape, sticky notes, purple pens

● Whiteboards and dry erase markers

● Charts/tools from phonics

● Pocket folder for each student

● Anchor Chart: “How to Write a Story”

Writing- Daily Targets

Instructional Activities

Bend I

Every day students will:

  •  move through the writing process on their own timeline. Students will generate ideas, plan, draft, revise and edit across the bend.

Voiceovers/coaching at tables:

  • Independence/Productivity page 14
  • Getting writers going page 32
  • Building writing stamina at tables page 47
  • Independence: How to keep yourself going page 48

High leverage small groups/conference to teach:

Writing Process

  • Generating ideas: making covers page 6
  • Oral rehearsal to support elaboration page 38

Genre Focused

  •   Zooming in on a small moment page 30
  • Progression from watermelon to seed story page 31
  • Use checklist to inform instruction page 55

Conventions/ Spelling

  • Supporting phonological awareness page 22

Spelling all the way to the end of a word page 23

Session 1:

“Today I want to teach you that to get an idea, you can think about - a person you know, a place you go, a thing you do. Then you can tell what happened to plan how that story will go. Then write it!”

Session 2:

“Today I want to teach you that once you have an idea for your story, it’s time to plan! To plan, writers  touch and tell what happens on each page, then they sketch, sketch, sketch (that means draw quickly),  and then they write.”

On Demand Today: no small groups/conferences. Collect student work at the end of the workshop.

Session 3:

“Today I want to remind you that when you are writing and come to a word that’s tricky to spell, you  don’t need to call ‘Help me, help me!’ You can just get to work! Say the word slowly, listening to all  the sounds, and then write the sounds you hear. After you’ve spelled the word, reread to check it, and  then keep going.”

Session 4:

“Today I want to teach you that instead of writing about big (watermelon) stories, writers write about teeny tiny (seed) stories—little stories inside the one big story. Inside a watermelon story, there are a  zillion teeny tiny seed stories!”

Session 5:

“Today I want to teach you that writers have to be careful that their tiny seed stories don’t grow into big watermelon stories. To keep them small, they start and end close to the main part of the story, the  main thing.”

Session 6:

“Today I want to teach you that when writers want to tell a Small Moment story, they tell what happened in small steps. To write that way, it helps to act the story out, thinking, ‘What exactly  happened, step by step, itsy-bitsy bit by bit?’”

Session 7:

“Today I want to teach you that writers admire their writing, noticing all the ways they’ve grown.  They look at their old writing, and their newest writing and they say, ‘Wow! Look what I can do  now!’”

Bend II

Every day students will:

  • Revise their pieces from bend I to start this bend. Then students will move through the writing process on their own timeline. Students will generate ideas, plan, draft, revise and edit more pieces across the bend.

Voiceovers/coaching at tables:

  •   Partnerships page 77

High leverage small groups/conference to teach:

Writing Process

  •  Keeping high volume during revision page 119

Genre Focused

  • Adding action and dialogue page 76
  • Collaborative Storytelling to support language page 84
  • Writing with focus page 103
  • Rereading to make larger scale revisions page 118
  • Using a chart to annotate student work and set goals page 128

Conventions/ Spelling

  • Adding quotation marks to dialogue page 78
  • -ed ending page 86
  • Interactive editing for punctuation page 92
  • Editing checklist page 94
  • Routine to orthographically map HFW page 101

Session 1:

“You see, and this is what I want to teach you today, writers have a saying: ‘When you are done,  you’ve just begun.’ That is, when a writer writes, ‘The End’ on the last page of a story, that’s the perfect time for the writer to begin to revise. The writer rereads the story and asks, ‘How can I make  this even better?’ One huge way to make a story better by adding on, by saying more. And one thing  you could add is actions to show what the characters do.”

Session 2:

“Today I want to teach you that you can revise your stories by bringing your people to life, and specifically by making your people talk. You can put people’s exact words right into your story.”

Session 3:

“Today I want to teach you that writers don’t write stories like they did at the start of the year either.  Writers don’t only add new learning as they revise. No way! Writers use everything they’ve learned,  right from the start, as they write.”

Session 4:

“Today I want to remind you that writers reread their writing to check for punctuation. And they also punctuate as they write. To write, they say a sentence to themselves, write it, and then end it with a punctuation mark. Say it, write it, end it.”

Session 5:

“Today I want to remind you that you can be a Professor of Phonics whenever you write, using all you know about words and letters and sounds. Some words you can write quickly, in a snap. For others,  you can listen for each sound to help you spell.”

Session 6:

“I’m telling you this because you can bring the people in your stories to life too. You can not only  make them move and talk, you can also show what they feel.”

Session 7:

“Today I want to teach you one more way that writers revise. Writers sometimes pretend to be readers of their own story, seeing the story for the first time. The writer can think of questions the  reader might have and then the writer can add to or revise the story to answer them.”

Session 8:

“Today I want to teach you that after writers write, write, write, they stop. They stop, and look backward at the writing they have done—and forwards to the work they’ll do next.”

Bend III

Every day students will:

  • move through the writing process on their own timeline. Students will generate ideas, plan, draft, revise and edit across the bend.

Voiceovers/coaching at tables:

  • Launching the new bend with volume and stamina page 139

High leverage small groups/conference to teach:

Writing Process

  •  Rereading writing fluently page 180

Genre Focused

  •   Craft Moves from Hair Love page 147
  • Sensory details to find precise words page 154
  • Ways to fancy up a piece for publishing page 178

Conventions/ Spelling

  •  Vowel in each syllable page 162
  • Table conferences for punctuation page 170
  • Using the appropriate spelling strategy page 171

Session 1:

“Today I want to teach you that you can let your favorite books teach you. Books can even teach you to come up with ideas for stories you can write. When you read books that other authors have written,  you can think, ‘Wait! That reminds me of a story in my life!’ And you can rush to get a pen and start  writing.”

Session 2:

“Today, I want to teach you that writers can read a book, find a part they love, then figure out how the author did it, and then . . . copy-cat! Writers try it in their writing!”

Session 3:

“Today I want to teach you that great writers don’t just throw any old words into their stories. Great  writers take their time to think, ‘What is the exactly right, precisely true word for what I want to  say?’ Very often writers think of a lot of words before they choose the exactly right one.”

Session 4:

“Writers, today I want to teach you that your talent for rhyme can help you spell the wonderful words you want to put into your stories! You can take a tricky word, listen to its parts, and think, ‘Does this  rhyme with a word I know?’ If it does . . . Presto! Your talent for rhyme will help you spell, and then  you can keep on writing your story!”

Session 5:

“Today I want to teach you that writers use punctuation to signal to readers, letting them know exactly  how they should read what you have written.”

Session 6:

“Today I want to teach you that writers put finishing touches on their books so that they are ready to go out into the world for others to read. They are especially careful to make a cover that says to readers, ‘Pick me! Pick me!’”

Standards

Priority Standards are in bold*

W.1.3. Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.

W.1.5. With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and self-reflection, and add details to strengthen writing and ideas as needed.

SL.1.4. Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.

SL.1.5. Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

SL.1.6. Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation.

L.1.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

L.1.2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

L.1.5. With guidance and support from adults, demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

Accommodations and Modifications

Special Education

  • Follow 504/IEP accommodations
  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions
  • Provide Educational “breaks” as necessary
  • Utilize visual and audio cues

Multilingual Learners

  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Utilize visual and audio cues
  • Highlight, define, or demonstrate important vocabulary
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions

Students At Risk Of School Failure

  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Utilize visual and audio cues
  • Highlight, define, or demonstrate important vocabulary
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions
  • Chunking content into small segments
  • Shorten or reduce assignment to focus on one specific skill

Gifted and Talented

  • Student Choice
  • Student centered activities
  • Enhance skill or activity based on Individual Student Need
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Problem solving situations

Students with 504 Plans

  • Follow 504/IEP accommodations
  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Restate, reword, and clarify directions
  • Provide Educational “breaks” as necessary
  • Utilize visual and audio cues

Assessments

Formative

Pre-Ondemand Writing Assessment, Writing Booklets, Observation and Conferences

Summative

Post-Ondemand Writing Assessment

Benchmark

Post-Ondemand Writing Assessment

Alternative

Projects

Unit 3

Topic Books

Book 2

SUBJECT: English Language Arts - Writing

GRADE LEVEL: First Grade

UNIT TITLE: Unit 2-

Topic Books

LENGTH OF STUDY: 35 days

START OF UNIT:

END OF UNIT:

Unit Learning Goals

Bend I: How can writers write a book about an object that teaches somebody about something from their classroom or home?

Bend II: How can writers write a topic book that teaches somebody about something they know a lot about, and how can they make sure that the book teaches  as much as possible through the words and the pictures?

Materials

Mentor Texts:

  • Now You Know How It Works by Valorie Fisher
  • Cake by Hareem Atif Khan
  • Teacher demonstration texts

Materials/Tools

● Writing center with tools such as writing paper, pens, etc.

● Paper choice

● Topic wands

● Interesting objects from throughout the classroom, such as a stapler, the clock, pens

● Students will need to bring in an object from home to write about

● Charts: “How to Write a Teaching Book,” “Writers Teach in Words and Pictures!” and phonics charts such as a vowel chart or blend chart

● Word wall

Setting up writing workshop and this unit - Read the Welcome to the Unit/Overview and page 7

Writing- Daily Targets

Instructional Activities

Bend I

Every day students will:

  • move through the writing process on their own timeline. Students will generate ideas, plan, draft, revise and edit across the bend.
  • The bend rallies students to choose topics from the classroom to teach about.

Voiceovers/coaching at tables:

  • Session 1: Generating momentum page 6
  • Independence and productivity page 14
  • if/then- Getting kids writing about their objects page 56
  • Voiceovers - volume/stamina/independence page 65

High leverage small groups/conference to teach:

Writing Process

  •  Planning subtopics page 7
  • Volume- starting a second book page 23
  • Using ‘questions to ask one another’ chart to say more page 49

Genre Focused

  •  Transitioning from story to teaching books page 24
  • Adding more in pictures and words post-its page 32
  • Adding tips and warnings page 48
  • Introduction to a information book page 57
  • Writing with sensory details page 58

Conventions/ Spelling

  •  Spelling multisyllabic words page 64
  • Interactive editing page 73
  • Common punctuation errors page 74-75

Session 1:

“Today I want to teach you that getting ready to write information books is a lot like getting ready to write  Small Moment stories. You think of lots of possible books you could write. To get ideas, you look around  and think, ‘This reminds me that I could write about . . .’”

Session 2:

“Today I want to teach you that when you write an expert book, you need to remember that you are the expert. You become Professor of Trash Cans, or Captain of the Block Area, or Leader of the Water  Fountain. You touch and teach, touch and teach, touch and teach, across your whole booklet. Then you are  ready to sketch and write.”

On Demand Today: no small groups/conferences. Collect student work at the end of the workshop.

Session 3:

“Today I want to teach you that writers of information books don’t want their books to be bummers. To make sure their books aren’t bummer, writers teach a lot on every page. To think of more to say and write,  writers might get people to ask them questions. They might also imagine what readers would want to learn.”

Session 3:

“Today I want to teach you that to write books that teach people things, you need to become someone who investigates, who explores, who researches. You need to look closely at your topic, seeing little things that others might not even notice. By looking closely, you can discover all sorts of interesting things to  teach.”

Session 4:

“Today I want to teach you that researchers ask themselves, ‘How does this thing look?’ To answer that question, they turn things over, look carefully, and peer into the cracks of things. Then, they teach their  reader how the thing looks.”

Session 5:

“Today I want to teach you that when you study an object, it helps to ask not only, ‘How does it look?’ but  also, ‘How do you use it?’ To answer that question, use your object, slowing the steps down. Then write the  steps like you might write a recipe, saying a lot about each step.”

Session 6:

“Today I want to teach you that when a researcher tries to describe something carefully, the researcher describes what the thing looks like, feels like, sounds like, and maybe even what it smells like. Researchers  use lots of descriptive words to teach readers all about the object.”

Session 7:

“So today I want to teach you that writers write a whole sentence or even a few sentences before taking a break. One way they can do this is by writing words they know how to spell quickly in a snap. If it’s not a  snap word, they quickly stretch it out.”

Session 8:

“Today I want to teach you that before you share your writing, you need to reread it, checking that your readers will be able to read it easily. You can check your writing by pretending to be the reader and finding  places you need to fix up.”

Bend II

Every day students will:

  •  move through the writing process on their own timeline. Students will generate ideas, plan, draft, revise and edit across the bend.
  • The bend invites students to write about topics they are experts in from their own life.

Voiceovers/coaching at tables:

  •   Building momentum and getting new work going page 85

High leverage small groups/conference to teach:

Writing Process

  •  Generating new ideas page 84

Genre Focused

  •   Adding examples page 100
  • Using pictures to teach even more in the words page 116
  • if/then- Using pictures to write with detail page 117
  • Adding comparisons to topic books page 124
  • Supporting more descriptive vocabulary page 125
  • Coaching with an annotated student exemplar page 126

Conventions/ Spelling

  •  Editing for silent e page 151

Session 1:

“That’s right! Today I want to teach you that writers are also inspired by books. You can get ideas for your next book by looking at the topics that other authors write about. You can also get ideas for books by  noticing topics that no one yet seems to have written about— those are topics that are calling out your  name!”

Session 2:

“Today I want to remind you that every word on the word wall can help you spell tons of other words.  When you want to spell a tricky word, you can look at the word wall and think, ‘Do I see parts that could  help me?’ Then, you can use those parts, along with everything else you already know about spelling, to  write that word.”

Session 3:

“Today I want to teach you a major way writers teach more about their topic. They give examples that help  readers understand exactly what they’re talking about.”

Session 4:

“Today I want to teach you that writers find photographs or pictures that are connected to their topics.  Writers then research by looking closely at these, mining them for specific details that will teach people even more about their topics. Then they put into words what they’ve learned and add this to their writing.”

Session 5:

“Writers, today we are going to do an inquiry. Let’s explore the question, ‘How do the illustrations help  writers teach more?’ We might notice some special techniques or tricks that authors of teaching books use,  to give their books teaching power. Then, we can try those same techniques in our books.”

Session 6:

“Today I want to teach you one more way to make sure that your book teaches a lot. You can help your  reader picture whatever it is you are writing about by comparing that thing to something that readers know  well.”

Session 7:

“Today I want to teach you that writers make choices about what will make their books the best they can be.  Charts can remind writers of possible choices. Writers read the chart, choose what their book might need,  and then add that into the book.”

Session 8:

“Today I want to teach you that information writers include a special kind of ‘morning meeting’ inside of their books, called an introduction. The introduction says ‘Hello’ to the reader and explains a little bit about  what they are going to learn.”

Session 9:

“Today I want to remind you that writers pay attention to the vowel sounds they hear inside words they want  to write. They use everything they’ve learned about vowels to help them spell those words. When you hear a  long vowel, you can add a silent e to the end of the word. Then you can ask, ‘Does that look right?’”

Standards

Priority Standards are in bold*

W.1.2. Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.

W.1.5. With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and self-reflection, and add details to strengthen writing and ideas as needed.

W.1.8. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

SL.1.5. Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

SL.1.6. Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation.

L.1.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

L.1.2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Accommodations and Modifications

Special Education

  • Follow 504/IEP accommodations
  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions
  • Provide Educational “breaks” as necessary
  • Utilize visual and audio cues

Multilingual Learners

  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Utilize visual and audio cues
  • Highlight, define, or demonstrate important vocabulary
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions

Students At Risk of School Failure

  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Utilize visual and audio cues
  • Highlight, define, or demonstrate important vocabulary
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions
  • Chunking content into small segments
  • Shorten or reduce assignment to focus on one specific skill

Gifted and Talented

  • Student Choice
  • Student centered activities
  • Enhance skill or activity based on Individual Student Need
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Problem solving situations

Students With 504 Plans

  • Follow 504/IEP accommodations
  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions
  • Provide Educational “breaks” as necessary
  • Utilize visual and audio cues

Assessments

Formative

Pre-Ondemand Writing Assessment, Writing Booklets, Observation and Conferences

Summative

Post-Ondemand Writing Assessment

Benchmark

Post-Ondemand Writing Assessment

Alternative

Projects


Unit 4

Writing Reviews

Book 3

SUBJECT: English Language Arts - Writing

GRADE LEVEL: First Grade

UNIT TITLE: Unit 3 -

Writing Reviews

LENGTH OF STUDY: 35 days

START OF UNIT:

END OF UNIT:

Unit Learning Goals

Bend I: How can writers state and support an opinion in convincing ways to their audience?

Bend II: How can writers write and revise so that they use introductions and conclusions, persuasive precise language, and opinion writing strategies to be  convincing to their readers?

Bend III: How can writers share their opinions about books using all that they’ve learned about review writing?

Materials

Mentor Texts:

  • Hair Love by Matthew A Cherry
  • Exemplar reviews (provided in the online resources)
  • Teacher demonstration pieces

Materials/Tools

● Personal collections from home- see page 10 for letter to send to families

● Classroom collections for students to use as needed

● Writing booklets, plus additional paper

● Anchor charts: “To Judge Fairly…” and “Convince Your Reader!”

Revision tools from earlier units, including purple pens, staplers, sticky notes, and revision strips 

Writing- Daily Targets

Instructional Activities

Bend I

Every day students will:

  • Write about pieces from their collections.
  • Students will move through the writing process on their own timeline. Students will generate ideas, plan, draft, revise and edit across the bend.

Voiceovers/coaching at tables:

  • Session 1: Keeping energy high page 8

High leverage small groups/conference to teach:

Writing Process

  •  Rehearsal and immersion into opinion writing page 18
  • Taking stock and setting goals at the end of the bend page 50

Genre Focused

  • Noticing parts of an object can help you think of reasons page 25
  • Using ‘To describe, writers tell about’ chart to say more page 26
  • Saying things are the best or worst in more precise ways page 34

Conventions/ Spelling

  •  Using word parts -er / -est to compare things page 42
  • Checking punctuation and capitalization page 49

Session 1:

“Today I want to teach you that people who know a lot about something, like collectors, usually have  strong opinions about which is best. They write and talk to tell others about their opinion, and  sometimes even try to convince others to agree.”

On Demand Today: no small groups/conferences. Collect student work at the end of the workshop.

Session 2:

“Today I want to teach you that when opinion writers want to convince their readers to agree with  them, they don’t just say what they think, they also say why. They give lots of reasons to support their  opinions.”

Session 3:

“Today I want to teach you that opinion writers don’t just give more and more of the same reason.  They give a variety of reasons—lots of different reasons—why they think the way they do.”

Session 4:

“Today I want to teach you that sometimes you’ll disagree with someone’s opinions—even with your  teacher’s opinion. If you disagree by saying your alternate opinion and your reasons, sometimes you  can be convincing enough to change someone’s mind.”

Session 5:

“Today I want to teach you that writers can figure out how to spell a word by writing it part by part.  Break the word into syllables, and then write the sounds you hear in each syllable, using everything  you know about letters.”

Session 6:

“Today I want to teach you that if you want to convince people to agree with you, then your writing  needs to be easy to understand. You can reread to make sure your opinion and your reasons are clear.”

Bend II

Every day students will:

  • Write reviews (toy/place, etc, not books)
  • Students will move through the writing process on their own timeline. Students will generate ideas, plan, draft, revise and edit across the bend.

Voiceovers/coaching at tables:

  •  Building energy for a new bend page 58
  • Lifting the level of volume/elaboration page 83

High leverage small groups/conference to teach:

Writing Process

  •  Partners-asking what would my reader want to know page 66

Genre Focused

  • Playing would you rather to generate more reasons page 68
  • Using an annotated student exemplar to teach page 74
  • Using narrative writing strategies in your review page 75
  • introductions/conclusions table conferences page 92
  • Guided inquiry of a mentor anthology page 107- end of bend

Conventions/ Spelling

  •  Editing for capitalization page 98

Session 1:

“Today, we’ll investigate like detectives to find answers to this big question: What do reviewers do to  make their reviews really convincing?”

Session 2:

“Today I want to teach you that reviewers use a voice that talks right to their readers. You can think,  ‘Who is this review for?’ and then pretend your audience is in front of you as you write. Use words  like you and give information they’ll need to know: what it is, where to find it, or when to go.”

Session 3:

“Today I want to teach you that you can make your review even more persuasive by including a tiny  Small Moment story. The Small Moment story can be another way to show that what you are  reviewing is very good, or very bad.”

Session 4:

“Today I want to teach you that writers pick the best tool—the best spelling strategy—to help them  with the particular word they need to write.”

Session 5:

“Today I want to teach you that beginnings and endings matter. Review writers grab readers’ attention  right from the start. Then, they end in ways that make their opinion stick.”

Session 6:

“Today I want to teach you that writers make sure most of their letters are lowercase and use capital  letters only where they belong—at the start of a sentence, a name or title, or the word I.”

Bend III

Every day students will:

  •  Write reviews of the books they love.
  • Students will move through the writing process on their own timeline. Students will generate ideas, plan, draft, revise and edit across the bend.

Voiceovers/coaching at tables:

  • Session 1: Voiceovers supporting transfer of skills page 116
  • Session 5: voiceovers-drawing on charts to get ready to celebrate page 149

High leverage small groups/conference to teach:

Writing Process

  •  Rehearsal - writing a book review together page 118

Genre focused

  • Adding a sneak peek to your review page 125
  • Making your writing even more convincing chart page 134

Conventions/ Spelling

  • Spelling by syllable page 117 
  • Capitalization rules page 132
  • Sentence length page 140

Session 1:

“Today I want to teach you that when you want to recommend a book (or an author), you use  everything you know about writing reviews in general to write reviews of books.”

Session  2:

“Today I want to teach you that book reviewers give a sneak peek without giving everything away.  One way to do this is to tell just a little bit about the book, but not the ending. Then make the reader  wonder about the rest!”

Session 3:

“Today I want to teach you that review writers can make a comparison to explain their opinions. You  might think about books with the same author or a similar topic or kinds of characters. Then, you can  say why one book is better than another, or you can explain that if a reader likes a certain book, they  might like the book you are reviewing.”

Session 4:

“Today I want to remind you that writers are responsible for spelling the words they know correctly.  When you learn how to read a word in a snap, it’s also important that you learn how to spell it in a  snap. You can go back and check that your word-wall words look right.”

Session 5:

“Today I want to remind you that writers use everything they know to make their writing the best (and  most convincing) it can be. They can study what other book reviewers do and make plans to revise their own reviews.”

Standards

Priority Standards are in bold*

W.1.1. Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.

W.1.5. With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and self-reflection, and add details to strengthen writing and ideas as needed.

SL.1.4. Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.

SL.1.5. Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

SL.1.6. Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation.

L.1.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

L.1.2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Accommodations and Modifications

Special Education

  • Follow 504/IEP accommodations
  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions
  • Provide Educational “breaks” as necessary
  • Utilize visual and audio cues

Multilingual Learners

  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Utilize visual and audio cues
  • Highlight, define, or demonstrate important vocabulary
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions

Students At Risk of School Failure

  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Utilize visual and audio cues
  • Highlight, define, or demonstrate important vocabulary
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions
  • Chunking content into small segments
  • Shorten or reduce assignment to focus on one specific skill

Gifted and Talented

  • Student Choice
  • Student centered activities
  • Enhance skill or activity based on Individual Student Need
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Problem solving situations

Students With 504 Plans

  • Follow 504/IEP accommodations
  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions
  • Provide Educational “breaks” as necessary
  • Utilize visual and audio cues

Assessments

Formative

Pre-Ondemand Writing Assessment, Writing Booklets, Observation and Conferences

Summative

Post-Ondemand Writing Assessment

Benchmark

Post-Ondemand Writing Assessment

Alternative

Projects

Unit 5

From Scenes to Series: Writing Fiction

Book 4

SUBJECT: English Language Arts - Writing

GRADE LEVEL: First Grade

UNIT TITLE: Unit 4-

From Scenes to Series: Writing Fiction

LENGTH OF STUDY: 35 days

START OF UNIT:

END OF UNIT:

Unit Learning Goals

Bend I: How can writers use what they know about small moments to create a fictional story?

Bend II: How can writers use all they know about spelling to develop characters’ feelings using higher-level vocabulary?

Bend III: How can writers study mentors of series books to help them create their own series books?

Materials

Mentor Texts:

  • Yasmin the Chef by Saadia Faruqi
  • Yasmin the Superhero by Saadia Faruqi
  • Yasmin the Teacher by Saadia Faruqi
  • Teacher demonstration pieces

Materials/Tools

● Writing booklets, plus additional paper  

● Playful supplies: popsicle sticks, craft supplies, paper to make rolled-up “telescopes”

● Cereal boxes  

● Anchor charts: “How to Write a Fiction Story” and “Series Writers…”

Revision tools from earlier units including purple pens, staplers, sticky notes, and revision strips

Writing- Daily Targets

Instructional Activities

Bend I

Every day students will:

  •  move through the writing process on their own timeline. Students will generate ideas, plan, draft, revise and edit realistic fiction pieces across the bend.
  • Each piece will be a new character, a new story, not a series.

Voiceovers/coaching at tables:

  •  

High leverage small groups/conference to teach:

Writing Process

  • Using identity webs across the writing process page 32
  •  Empowering writers in a conferences page 58

Genre focused

  • True details to made up characters - page 30
  •   Planning using familiar settings page 33
  • Using an annotated student exemplar page 40
  • Adding more details to stories page 41
  • Using more precise action words page 50
  • Ending your story with a lesson page 57

Conventions/ Spelling

  •  

Session 1:

“Today I want to teach you that writers can make up stories by first making up pretend characters . . .  and then choosing for them a real-life place you know well, and deciding what real-life thing they do.”

Session 2:

“Today I want to teach you that when you are writing realistic-fiction stories, it helps to act them out  and pretend again and again, even after you start to draw and write, because that helps you think of  great little things to have your people say and do.”

On Demand Today: no small groups/conferences. Collect student work at the end of the workshop.

Session 3:

“Today I want to teach you that fiction writers often create more than one character. Often the main  character is with someone else—a grandfather, or a sister, or a pet—anyone else that you want to put  into your story.”

Session 4:

“Today I want to teach you that realistic-fiction writers use their own lives and the things that are  important in their lives to make pretend characters and stories.”

Session 5:

“Writers, today I want to teach you that realistic-fiction writers work hard to really picture their stories.  It’s almost as if they hold up a pretend telescope to see all the little details. Then, they add those details  to their pictures and words!”

Session 6:

“Today I want to teach you that writers often choose special and fancy words to bring sparkle to their  stories. These daring writers remember and use all they know about spelling as they write—it’s part of  using all you know to keep yourself going as a writer.”

Session 7:

“Today I want to teach you that writers know stories don’t just stop, they end. One way writers create  satisfying endings for their readers is by telling what happens to their characters at the end of their  story.”

Bend II

Every day students will:

  • move through the writing process on their own timeline. Students will generate ideas, plan, draft, revise and edit realistic fiction pieces across the bend.
  • Students will be writing in a series.

Voiceovers/coaching at tables:

  • if/then - troubleshoot while turning stories into series page 68  

High leverage small groups/conference to teach:

Writing Process

  •  Becoming an ‘all in’ writer - motivation page 75
  • Taking stock and setting goals page 92
  • Increasing volume with student goals page 99

Genre focused

  • Using sensory details to bring stories to life page 84 

Conventions/ Spelling

  •  Spelling part by part page 90
  • Matching ending punctuation to dialogue page 106

Session 1:

“Today I want to teach you that to be a series writer, you need to first figure out what series writers  do. You can study a series you love and think, ‘What makes a series a series?’ Then, use what you  learn to write your own!”

Session 2:

“Today I want to teach you that to make the stories in your series go together, it helps to put some  details into Book One of the series, and then to put the same details into Book Two and Book Three.  Like maybe your character always wears a hat, or always carries a book, or always has her goldfish  with her.”

Session 3:

“Writers, today I want to teach you that series writers can also come up with ideas for stories by  thinking about what their character likes to do. For example, if a character loves to play in the snow,  then you might write a story in which she builds a snow fort or gets in a snowball fight.”

Session 4:

“Today I want to teach you that series writers take charge of their spelling. To spell, writers ask,  ‘Does it look right?’ and they recall times they’ve seen the word before. If they’re not sure, they try  writing the word more than once, especially checking the long vowels.”

Session 5:

“Today I want to teach you that series writers bring all of their characters to life, and one way they do  that is by making them talk back and forth. You can do this, too, by pretending you are the characters  in your book and acting out the conversations they might have.”

Session 6:

“Today I want to teach you that writers surround the words that characters say with a special type of  punctuation—in most stories written in English, that will be quotation marks. They put one set of  quotation marks at the start of the talking and one at the end.”

Session 7:

“Today I want to teach you that you can study how authors use pictures to give their readers extra  information. Then you can add special details to your own illustrations to give your readers more  information too.”

Bend III

Every day students will:

  •  Prepare to publish their series. Students will revise and edit across the bend.

Voiceovers/coaching at tables:

  •  Session 1: Revising on the run page 128
  • Responding to students writing page 135

High leverage small groups/conference to teach:

Writing Process

  Rereading writing fluently page 160

Genre focused

  •  Using a student exemplar to life the level of writing page 127
  •  Studying student mentors to add lists/patterns to writing page 134
  • Mining a monitor text for craft moves page 136
  • Studying back blurbs page 142

Conventions/ Spelling

  •  Practicing a repertoire of phonics and conventions page 150
  • Supporting students wit ha repertoire of spellings strategies page 151
  • Supporting students with punctuation page 159

Session 1:

“Today I want to remind you that you can revise your stories to add more flavor, more details. And  you know lots of ways to do that. You can revise with all the storytelling and writing tools around  you—the telescope to see more details, your craft-stick characters to act out scenes, our charts to  remind you, and as many flaps as you need to squeeze in just a bit more.”

Session 2:

“Today I want to teach you that writers put patterns in their stories to add more, as a finishing touch.  One famous pattern that you can put in your story is called the rule of three. You can list three  examples to describe feelings or actions or places in the story.”

Session 3:

“Today I want to teach you that as a series writer, you can study a series you love, asking, ‘What  finishing touches did the author add that I could add too?’ You can look at books in that series,  including the covers, and see if there are special features you want to try.”

Session 4:

“Today I want to remind you that writers write some words quickly. They do this by writing words  they know how to spell in a snap fast, instead of pausing to stretch them out. Writers use this skill  whenever they are writing new parts of their books.”

Session 5:
“Writers, today I want to teach you that writers use punctuation to give orders to their readers. One  way writers make sure their punctuation is giving the right orders is to reread part of their story out  loud, and when they want a part to sound
exciting, they add an exclamation mark. When they want a  part to sound like the character is questioning or wondering, they add a question mark.”

Standards

Priority Standards are in bold*

W.1.3. Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.

W.1.5. With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and self-reflection, and add details to strengthen writing and ideas as needed.

SL.1.4. Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.

SL.1.5. Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

SL.1.6. Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation.

L.1.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

L.1.2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Accommodations and Modifications

Special Education

  • Follow 504/IEP accommodations
  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions
  • Provide Educational “breaks” as necessary
  • Utilize visual and audio cues

Multilingual Learners

  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Utilize visual and audio cues
  • Highlight, define, or demonstrate important vocabulary
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions

Students At-Risk of School Failure

  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Utilize visual and audio cues
  • Highlight, define, or demonstrate important vocabulary
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions
  • Chunking content into small segments
  • Shorten or reduce assignment to focus on one specific skill

Gifted and Talented

  • Student Choice
  • Student centered activities
  • Enhance skill or activity based on Individual Student Need
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Problem solving situations

Students with 504 Plans

  • Follow 504/IEP accommodations
  • Step by step examples
  • Visual demonstration of skill or activity
  • Allow for flexible grouping
  • Student centered activities
  • Learning Stations
  • Small group & large group discussions
  • Problem solving situations
  • Restate, reword, clarify directions
  • Provide Educational “breaks” as necessary
  • Utilize visual and audio cues

Assessments

Formative

Pre-Ondemand Writing Assessment, Writing Booklets, Observation and Conferences

Summative

Post-Ondemand Writing Assessment

Benchmark

Post-Ondemand Writing Assessment

Alternative

Projects