K-5 Overarching Concepts

• 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 1 Writing Course Description

    First grade students begin to experience increasing complexity in the following three types of writing:  narrative, informative, and opinion. 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.  Conversations about writing are framed by essential questions and mini-lessons support what students need to know, do, and understand as first grade writers.  Writing for research is embedded in each type of writing.  Students apply conventions through the editing component of writer’s workshop. First grade students also use 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 independent writing.

Writer's Workshop Instructional Framework

Unit 1 Our Lives Are Stories:  Narrative Writing

Teachers College Units of Study Small Moments:  Writing with Focus Detail and Dialogue 

• Narratives connect people with each other’s experiences, interests and beliefs through telling and listening to stories

• Everyone’s life is made up of stories.

• Narratives come from real or imagined experiences.

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

• Narratives sequence events in an order that makes sense.

• Narratives include references to when and where the events took place.

• Narratives tell  how the characters think and feel about the events.

• Interesting narratives inform and entertain the reader.

• Interesting narratives are drawn from experiences that people can relate to.

• Interesting narratives use descriptive words and details to make events and people come alive for the reader.

• There are many narrative formats. The best one depends on the writer’s purpose and audience.

Unit 2 Gain and Share Knowledge:  Information Writing

Teachers College Units of Study Non-fiction Chapter Books 

• 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.

• Informative or explanatory writing is useful when it gives accurate information that connects to the topic.

• Writers can make sure their information or explanations are accurate by checking with sources.

• Informative or explanatory writing  teaches the reader something by naming a topic, giving  information, and providing closure.

• There are many ways that information and explanations can be shared, and the best format depends on the writer’s purpose and audience.

Unit 3 Understanding Empowers People:  Opinion Writing

Teachers College Units of Study Writing Reviews 

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

• People can write opinions to make someone else think differently about something.

• Everyone can develop an opinion

• Opinions come from what people read, care about, and experience.

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

• There are many ways to express opinions, the best way to share depends on the writer's purpose and audience.

• Opinions tell what a person thinks, give reasons why, and stick with an idea from beginning to end.

• Reasons for an opinion should relate.

Unit 4 Our Lives Are Stories:  Narrative Writing

Teachers College Units of Study From Scenes to Series:  Writing Fiction 

• Narratives connect people with each other’s experiences, interests and beliefs through telling and listening to stories

• Everyone’s life is made up of stories.

• Narratives come from real or imagined experiences.

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

• Narratives sequence events in an order that makes sense.

• Narratives include references to when and where the events took place.

• Narratives tell  how the characters think and feel about the events.

• Interesting narratives inform and entertain the reader.

• Interesting narratives are drawn from experiences that people can relate to.

• Interesting narratives use descriptive words and details to make events and people come alive for the reader.

• There are many narrative formats. The best one depends on the writer’s purpose and audience.