Parkway Schools

1st Grade Writing

Course Description

The First Grade Communication Arts Curriculum is centered around units of study in which the students are actively engaged in the process of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and using informational literacy and vocabulary. Within the structure of writing workshop students learn to build habits and develop strategies that proficient writers use on a daily basis. The units of study include the following inquiries. Writers Build Good Habits, which is where students learn the routines of writing workshop. Small Moment Personal narrative, which is where students learn how to write small moment stories based on their own experiences. Telling Good Stories, which is where students learn to write stories using a strong beginning, middle, and end. Revision: Making Our Writing Better, which is where students learn how to revise their work with a purpose in mind as they reflect on their writing by thinking about their choices. Nonfiction: Expert and How-to-Books, this is where students learn how to write a nonfiction/expert book that entertains and informs readers. Craft of a Mentor Author, which is where writers study craft techniques of a mentor author and practice using those techniques purposefully in their own writing. Powerful Print, this is where students will learn how to enhance their writing through manipulating print on a page to emphasize the message. The units of study are taught in a Writing Workshop, which is a balanced approach to instruction. The Writing Workshop includes the following: Mini-Lesson - a short, focused lesson taught in whole group format which teaches a strategy, skill, or classroom routine. Independent Writing - a period of time in which individual students are engaged in writing independently. During this time the teacher is conferring with individual students to provide direct instruction. Small Group Instruction - students are grouped flexibly based on specific learning needs. The small group may be structured as a strategy lesson or guided writing lesson. Literacy Centers - a time when students move through centers independently or with others, reinforcing or expanding their literacy skills and strategies taught throughout the units. Shared Writing - a time when students and teachers work collaboratively to create a piece of writing for a purpose. This instruction is done in a whole group or small group setting. Interactive Writing - a time when students and teachers work together and share the pen- to create a piece of writing for a purpose. This instruction allows students to practice letter formation and concepts of print. Celebration - a time when students share published pieces of writing with peers, teachers, and/or parents.

Grade 1
Prerequisite: Kindergarten

Course Expectations

Rationale: Writing is the process of discovering and recording ones own thoughts. It draws on a complex web of social and cognitive skills that take time and effort to acquire. Writing well is a skill best acquired through active, daily practice. Students are best motivated to write when they are encouraged to address topics and issues that have meaning in their lives. The writing process  consisting of prewriting, composing, revising, editing, and publishing is fluid and recursive. Writing instruction is based on a realistic and flexible model of what real writers do. Instruction will include a balance of students moving through the writing cycle together on self selected topics as well as opportunities for students to move through the writing process as they apply various strategies to different publications. Instruction is integrated into the context of the students own writing and provides a working knowledge of the structures of language, conventions of language, and formal elements of text. Specific lessons on grammar, mechanics, and language patterns are based on assessed needs and applied to student writing. These practices ensure the texts students create are well received and understood by those who are reading or listening to them.

Time Frame: 1 year

Standards Alignment

Enduring Understandings

Essential Questions

Course Materials: Representative Texts, Films and Resources

Units of Instruction

1. 1W Building a Community of Writers (CCSS aligned)

2. 1W Small Moment Personal Narrative (CCSS aligned)

3. 1W Persuasion in Multiple Formats (CCSS aligned)

4. 1W Nonfiction: Expert Books (CCSS aligned)

5. 1W Telling Good Stories (CCSS aligned)

6. 1W Revision: Making Our Writing Better (CCSS aligned)

7. 1W Studying the Craft of Nonfiction Mentor Authors (CCSS aligned)

8. Word Study

16. Elementary Language/Grammar