Curriculum for Grades K-5

• Writing is communication.

• Writing is power.

• Writing is personal and gives voice to ideas.

• Writing is generating ideas and refining thinking.

• Writing is impacted by audience and experience.

• Writing is embedded in a community of inquiry, reflection, and collaboration.

• Writing is an ongoing creative process.

• Sharing writing connects people with one another.

Grade K Writing Course Description

Kindergarten students begin to experience the following three types of writing:  narrative, informative, and opinion through their use of Kid Writing which supports students as they make connections between the sound symbol relationship.  Students experience the writing process of planning, drafting, revising, editing, and sharing/publishing through writer’s workshop which includes a mini-lesson, writing time (writing, conferring, peer work), and sharing.  Early efforts with writing include drawing, talking, dictating, and writing as students transition to using more writing throughout the year. Kindergarten students also begin to use writing (talking, drawing, dictating, writing) as a response to reading through read alouds, small group and independent reading using evidence from the text to support ideas in their writing. Mentor texts play a key role in providing models during shared writing and independent writing.

Writer's Workshop Instructional Framework

Unit  Our Lives Are Stories:  Narrative Writing

• People write, tell, draw, and listen to stories

• Everyone’s life is made up of stories that they can tell.

• People tell stories that come from what they know or have learned,  have experienced, or read about.

• A narrative is a story

• Narratives combine topics and events that happen over a particular time.

• Narratives  have a beginning, middle, and end.

• Narratives come from real or imagined experiences.

• People can tell stories through pictures, speaking and/or writing.

Unit  Gain and Share Knowledge:  Information Writing

• People write to share information or to explain things to other people.

• Sharing information helps us learn or explore something new

• Information and explanations come from the present or the past, how or  why things work or happen.

• Writers can make sure what they write is true or complete by checking with sources.

• People can share information or explain things through writing, drawing, or telling.

Unit  Understanding Empowers People:  Opinion Writing

• People can write to tell their opinions about a topic.

• Everyone can develop an opinion.

• An opinion should tell what someone thinks about a topic and why they think that way.

• Opinions come from what someone knows, learns and experiences.

• People can share opinions through writing, pictures, or telling.

• The best way to share depends on the writer’s purpose and audience.

• Sharing an opinion about a topic can make others think about something or think differently.