Writing, Grades 4-6
This course focuses on students' progression through the different
phases of the writing process, from their introduction to the basic
concepts to learning about writing's many purposes and forms.*
Consider the content of this course within the context of the
Open Court Reading and SRA Imagine It! classroom, in which students learn to
make connections between reading and writing.
Using the genre of personal narrative, students will learn to
express their ideas in writing. From choosing a topic through final
presentation, students will progress through the different phases
of the writing process (prewriting/planning, writing/drafting,
revising, proofreading, and publishing). They will consider their
topics, think carefully and critically about what information must
be included and what can be left out, write drafts, revise,
proofread, and publish their work. They will share their ideas and
give each other feedback. They will experience the pleasures of
writing and learn how exciting, challenging, and rewarding it can
be.
Teaching Example 1
In Teaching Example 1, James Garvin begins the lesson's writing
assignment by introducing the personal narrative. Using the writing
process as the underlying structure, Mr. Garvin guides his students
through the process as they apply it to writing a personal
narrative.
After introducing students to examples of personal narratives, he
ensures that they understand what a personal narrative is by
working as a class to read and discuss the Language Arts
Handbook pages on personal narrative. Then Mr. Garvin and his
students brainstorm what they might want to write about. Later,
students will choose a specific event or topic.
Introduction and Brainstorming
Prewriting is the process by which writers develop an idea and
plan their approach for a writing assignment. Brainstorming, or
coming up with ideas, is the first step in the prewriting process.
In this lesson, students already know they will be writing a
personal narrative; often, though, deciding on the genre is part of
the preplanning and prewriting that goes into good writing.
To help his students through the brainstorming phase of their
writing, Mr. Garvin:
- Prompts each student to suggest something to write about.
- Helps students consider what they might say about each of these suggested topics.
- Reviews their choices.
- Helps them narrow their choices down to one writing topic.
Teaching Example 2
Teaching Example 2 continues the prewriting phase of this writing project. Using the Writer's Workbook as an organizational tool, Mr. Garvin and his students work together to plan their writing. Using a graphic organizer helps the students organize their thinking; Mr. Garvin models what he would need to include in his personal narrative about his dream home before students begin.
After prewriting has been modeled for the students, they take
time to think about what they will write. Following the discussion,
the students use their Writer's Workbook to help them complete
their planning. Again, Mr. Garvin circulates around the room,
monitoring his students' progress and conferencing with them as
they complete their graphic organizers.
Prewriting/Planning
Inexperienced writers often want to jump right in and start
writing. Experienced writers, however, have learned the benefits of
planning. In the planning phase, writers think about their topics
and assess the kinds of information they will need to include in
their writing. They also think about the genre they will work
within and their intended audience. Approaching writing in a
patient and systematic manner allows writers to complete their
writing with direction and intent. They know what information they
have and what they still need. They understand the structure of
their chosen genre, and they know their audience's tastes. The
knowledge gained by planning makes students' writing flow more
smoothly and keeps them on track.
In this course, personal narrative is the designated genre. The
students must choose an event from their lives and ensure that they
have enough information to write a short personal narrative. Since
the goal of the lesson is to teach students about writing personal
narratives, most of the instruction revolves around learning the
basic structure and components of this specific genre.
Teaching Example 3
In Teaching Example 3, the students will write the first draft
of their personal narratives. Before the students begin to write,
Mr. Garvin discusses different ways to introduce variety into their
writing. By helping them see how they can vary their writing, he
encourages them to write rich, complex, and interesting sentences
and paragraphs.
After clarifying the writing assignment, Mr. Garvin has his
students refer to the graphic organizers they worked on in their
Writer's Workbook. As the students write, Mr. Garvin
circulates around the room, offering encouragement and suggestions.
Finally, several students present their work, and Mr. Garvin and
the other students offer feedback.
Writing the First Draft
At this point, the writer has developed a plan and has an idea
of what he or she wants to write. Students should write as much as
they can about their subjects, keeping in mind that this is a draft
and that their ideas and stories are still subject to change and
revision. In this phase of the process, writers should focus on
putting all their ideas on paper. They will focus on clarifying
ideas and writing conventions as they revise and proofread.
Teaching Example 4
In Teaching Example 4, the students revise their first drafts.
Mr. Garvin begins instruction on this phase of the writing process
with a discussion of author's voice and how it can affect their
writing. In addition, he and the students discuss the purpose and
goals of revising and acknowledge that making revisions is a
difficult but necessary part of good writing.
The students use a checklist as a tool to help them focus on
different aspects of their stories. In addition, they work with
partners, providing feedback on each other's stories and helping
each other with revisions. As the students review and revise their
stories, Mr. Garvin circulates and conferences with individual
students.
Revising
It has been said that there is no good writing, just good
editing. The purpose of the revision process is to make sure that
writers have expressed their ideas clearly and completely.
Inexperienced writers are often resistant to making revisions. They
simply don't want to go back and rewrite; they usually feel they
got it right on the first try. By approaching what they have
written as a reader, rather than as a writer, even new writers can
often recognize the strengths and weaknesses of their own work and
make changes in their own writing.
Teaching Example 5
Teaching Example 5 addresses the last two phases in the writing
process: proofreading and publishing. Mr. Garvin begins instruction
with a discussion of what to look for while proofreading. The
students use a proofreading checklist provided in the Writer's Workbook. The students correct their stories, rewrite them, and
then share them with each other.
Proofreading and Publishing
Writing that is free of grammatical, spelling, and technical
mistakes is clearer and easier for readers to understand. By
proofreading their pieces, students also notice which errors they
make repeatedly and learn not to make them in the future.
Proofreading is an integral part of all the writing students do
with Open Court Reading and SRA Imagine It!. They are taught to proofread their
own work as early as kindergarten and from that point on are
responsible for the correctness of what they write. By proofreading
their own work, students learn to be responsible and attentive to
their work and grow to understand that they need to attend to all
aspects of their writing.
In publishing their work, the students share their ideas,
knowledge, and feelings. They may choose to publish a piece through
writing, reading it orally, recording it, or a combination of
different approaches. It is the sharing that is the goal,
regardless of what form it takes.
Please note: Mr. Garvin is a fifth grade teacher and
therefore, is using Level 5 of Open Court Reading. Although
the content is different, the instructional methods used in this
course can be easily applied to the writing lessons in Levels 4 and
6.
For users of SRA Imagine It!, a variety of resources, including the writing transparencies, graphic organizers, and writing samples, are available digitally on the eSuite. These can be used and displayed on individual computers and interactive whiteboards. The student activity pages for writing in SRA Imagine It! are located in the Skills Practice workbooks.
* See the Program Appendix.
