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nd
Grade
Teaching writing is a passion of mine. Years ago, a colleague and friend observed me teach a
writing lesson. After the observation, she said, Is that all you do? The answer was and still is the
same yes! This packet of mini-lessons will help you establish a classroom of passionate and
proficient writers without much, if any, preparation.
Supplies needed:
Whatever you use to model writing: chart paper, document camera, computer,
and/or overhead projector
Writing notebooks for mini-lessons: one per person, including you. I use
composition notebooks.
Writing notebooks for writing: one per person, including you. I use Google Docs.
Spiral notebooks or composition notebooks work well too.
Copies, as needed.
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Preface:
If you dont have enough time built into your schedule, dont worry. Just fit
the lessons into the schedule that you have. Youll be surprised what 10-15
minutes a day of modeling writing will do for your class. Dr. Rich Allen,
author and brain-based consultant, says, If youre not modeling, youre
teaching something else. This concept is especially true in writing.
Remember to MODEL writing every day.
Writing is talking on paper. If a child tells you that he doesnt know what to
write about, simply respond with this statement, Thats so sad. It looks like
you wont be talking today. J
Simply said, write ALOUD in front of your students for about 10 minutes
each day. If you dont finish a lesson, dont worry. Simply pick up the next
day where you left off. If you add on to your writing, students will add on to
their writing. If you revise your writing, students will revise theirs. These
lessons can easily stretch into 60 days, and itll be time well spent.
Essentially, were teaching the same concepts over and over anyway.
Take time to SHOW students whats going on inside your head. When I was
a first-year teacher, my principal said to me after observing a math lesson,
The difference in a mathematician and a good math teacher is that a good
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math teacher can teach others how to teach math. Youre a good math
teacher.
Ive always laughed about how that was a backhanded compliment, but I
agree wholeheartedly with him. I believe the same holds true for teaching
writing. If writing comes naturally to you, it may be harder for you to teach
others how to write. If it doesnt, you may be the best writing teacher out
there.
Regardless of how easily writing comes to you, be sure to share the thinking
that goes on inside your head with kids. Well, be sure its school appropriate!
Some things you may want to keep to yourself. J Its okay to get stuck. If
that happens, let your students help you figure out what youre going to write
next.
This packet is designed to get you started writing aloud with your students.
You can use the lessons as they are written, or you can modify them to best
meet your students needs. You can use a computer with a projector,
document camera, chart paper, or an overhead projector
when modeling. Just be sure the students see you writing.
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Lesson One:
Pre-assess:
Before you begin teaching writing, instruct students to write to a prompt. Do not give
them a rubric or any other directions.
Two that Ive used are:
Tell about a fun time you had with family or friends.
Pretend you are an animal. Tell about a day in your life.
Instruct students to follow the steps of the writing process. I allow about 30 minutes
and then collect what they finish.
Since this is a pre-assessment, youll know all you need to know about their writing
whether or not they finish. I have my students do this in their writing journals. Its a
wonderful first piece. Then, have them write to the same prompt around Christmas and
again at the end of the year. Their growth should be phenomenal.
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Lesson Two: I can talk on paper. (The time spent gathering ideas will be well worth it in
the long run!)
Create a list of things you like to talk about in front of students. Be sure to
include fiction and nonfiction topics when creating your list. Once youre finished,
students create their own list in their writing mini-lesson notebooks.
My list looks like this:
Family: Jack, JT, Kyle, Mom, Dad, Monica, Brenda, Lucille
Close Friends: Emalie, Lori
Students: All of them!
Pets: Annie, a toy poodle, and Remington, a lab mix
Vacations: New York City, New Hampshire, Eureka Springs, San Antonio,
Mount Zion National Park, Chicago, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone
National Park
Hobbies: Harley Davidson, gardening, farm life, horses, building houses,
shopping
Social Studies: Landforms, Rights of Citizens, Native American People,
Peaceful Resolutions
Science: Magnetism, Sound, Rocks, Soil, Life Cycle
Fictional Characters: Cherilyn, a wise older sister, and Monique, an annoying
little sister (Note: My name is Cheryl Lynn, and Im the little sister in real life.
My older sisters name is Monica. My students love these fictional stories.
J)
Students spend their writing time creating their own list of writing ideas.
Have them circle suspect spelling words.
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When you finish telling your story to the class, talk about what it would look like
if you wrote it on paper. Then, have students find a partner and take turns
talking about something on their writing list.
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My Writing Ideas
A
XYZ
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Images are worth a thousand words. Model cutting out pictures you like from
childrens magazines and talk about the stories you could write to go along with
the images. After you model creating yours, students create their own. They can
glue these images into their writing notebooks. My friend and colleage, Emalie
Lindsey, had her students glue the images on the front of their composition
notebooks along with pictures they brought from home of their pets, favorite
items, and family. Later that day, she Mod Podged the covers for durability.
If you dont have magazines, you can search for images online. Once you find
the images you want, place them in a word document and copy them for
students. Since I have 12 computers in my room, I save the document on the
students computers, and they can cut and paste the images they choose into
their own documents.
If you search correctly, you can find appropriate images that you have
permission to use and copy legally! Heres how:
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Remember to continue to add on to these lists as the year progresses. Revisit these
lists as students run out of things to write about. If you spend enough time at the
beginning of the year establishing writing is talking on paper, you may never have
this problem.
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Lesson Nine/Ten: I can write several sentences. Repeat this lesson until most of the students have mastered this.
Begin an Editors Checklist. Youll add on to this as the year progresses. Post it
so the students can see it in the classroom.
o Name and Date
o Sentences make sense.
o Capitals at the beginning of a sentence
o Punctuation at the end of a sentence
Write a sentence that the students will have questions about. This is a great way
to get them to combine sentences. Consider indenting the sentence because
youll be turning it into a paragraph soon.
o I had the best dinner ever last night.
Ask students what they want to know about my dinner. Guide them to ask
questions. As they ask questions, answer them. Model writing the answers to the
questions on an anchor chart.
o Student: What did you have?
I had shrimp scampi with a baked potato and a salad. The cheese
biscuit was so good!
o Student: Where did you eat?
I ate at Red Lobster.
o Student: Who did you eat with? (If you want to use proper English, say,
With whom did you eat?)
I ate with my husband, our kids, and my parents.
o Student: Why did you eat out?
We ate out to celebrate my husbands birthday.
Write sentences that will spark students interest.
o I had so much fun last night.
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Lesson Ten/Eleven: I can combine sentences and sequence information. Repeat this lesson
until most of the students have mastered this.
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Lesson Twelve: I can circle suspect spelling words. Repeat this lesson until most of the students have mastered
the editors checklist.
Model writing aloud in front of your students. Choose a topic from the Alphabox
you made earlier in the year. Be sure to add items to the Alphabox as the year
o Point out when capitalizing the first word in a sentence and end
punctuation. Talk about how the sentences make sense. When you come
to a big word stretch it out when spelling it. Talk about the spelling, and
circle the suspect spelling word so you can look it up later when you edit.
Consider repeating this lesson for several days. I will probably spend a week or
two modeling writing from our class Alphabox while talking students through our
Editors Checklist. You can make this interactive by allowing students to circle
the capital letters and ending punctuation after you write aloud. You may want to
model looking up suspect words in the dictionary. My students will have personal
dictionaries from our Word Work block. This is a good time to teach students
how to add words to their personal dictionaries.
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o An hour later,
o Without delay,
o Immediately,
o At that very moment,
o At last,
o Next,
o Later that same day ,
Read Cinderellas Big Foot by Laura North and Martin Remphry. If you set up
your free teacher account at www.getepic.com, you can project the book for
your students. Simply search for it. It has several temporal examples in it. Point
them out to students as you read. If theyre not already on your list, add them.
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Next,
Finally,
Closing Sentence: Im glad Remington loves spending time with us on the farm because
we love spending time with him too!
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Next,
Finally,
*Four Wheeler
*Swims in pond
*Runs in front
*Likes to snuggle
*Rides on back
*Sneaks in bed
* 93 acres
Closing Sentence: Im glad Remington loves spending time with us on the farm because
we love spending time with him too!
Have the students create a graphic organizer of their own.
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nd
statements with your students. Look a writing piece that you modeled previously.
Point out what a 3 looks like. Have students take a minute to self-assess. Talk
about their self-assessment when you confer. You may agree or disagree with
them.
writing.
focus in my writing.
writing.
words in my writing.
in my writing.
writing.
punctuation in my writing.
punctuation in my writing.
writing.
words in my writing.
words in my writing.
writing.
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Read Cinderellas Big Foot by Laura North and Martin Remphry again. This time,
go on an adjective hunt. Write down the adjectives. You dont have to collect
them all. Start with the ones before nouns. Theyre the easiest to spot. See if
students remember the temporal words lesson you did with this book previously.
This is a good time to spiral your teaching.
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Lesson Twenty-Six: I can stretch out my graphic organizer by adding adjectives and
spicy words to my writing.
Continue going through the writing PowerPoint with the students pointing out
how you expanded the graphic organizer into an interesting narrative.
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as pretty as a picture
as flat as a pancake
as light as a feather
Follow up lesson: Model adding similes to your writing. Youll spend the rest of the year
spiraling back to these lessons, reteaching as needed. Remember to think aloud as you
write in front of the students. As Rich Allen says, If youre not modeling, youre
teaching something else.
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Topic Sentence:
Temporal Words:
Detail:
Detail:
Detail:
Detail:
Detail:
Detail:
Detail:
Closing Sentence:
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Simile:
Detail:
Simile:
Detail:
writing.
focus in my writing.
writing.
words in my writing.
in my writing.
writing.
vocabulary in my writing.
vocabulary in my writing.
my writing.
language in my writing.
language in my writing.
my writing.
writing.
writing.
punctuation in my writing.
punctuation in my writing.
writing.
words in my writing.
words in my writing.
writing.
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