Good Beginnings, Endings

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Good Beginnings, Endings Stuff in Between

• This workshop will assist you with ideas,
  strategies, and techniques that will help
  students craft better writing.
• The Writing Workshop Resource Manual will be a
  great resource for you and your students

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Explicit instruction

• Explicit Instruction helps all students those
  with and without learning disabilities
• Instruction should be explicit about
• Process planning, revising, and helping kids
  learn to monitor what theyre doing
• Goals why kids are being asked to do the
  writing assignment and what they intend to give
  the reader

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Encouraging young writers

• Model the process. The work that goes into
  writing planning, drafting, revising, and
  editing all goes on inside the mind. Make it
  visible to students
• Help make handwriting, spelling, and sentence
  construction routine (automatized, so students
  dont have to stop and think of each word)
• Provide grammar and vocabulary instruction

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Extra attention to the fundamentals pays off

• As a students spelling improves and their
  writing improves, there is a carryover effect
  in
• improved sentence construction
• increased amount of writing
• increased quality of the writing

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Mechanics versus content

• Often interrelated. For example, if you struggle
  writing the words youre going to produce less
  content
• If a kid struggles with mechanics, provide
  focused instruction in letter formation and
  spelling to help kids move past that point. Look
  for alternatives to help the student keep up
  (e.g., word processing software, speech synthesis
  software)
• If a kid struggles with content, sometimes its a
  structure issue or a knowledge issue.
  Instruction should center on how to get ideas and
  ways to organize ideas

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Other effective strategies

• Explicitly teach children how to form sentences
• Use reading as a model for writing
• Have kids do research and ask questions to get
  ideas for writing
• But nothing beats a well-prepared,
  knowledgeable, dedicated teacher in helping kids
  become good writers.

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How to model sentence formation

• Take small, kernel sentences
• Show how to make those into more complex
  sentences
• Have kids work with you to do the same thing,
  then work with each other
• Have them apply the practice in their own writing
  

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The Writing Workshop Resource Manual

• Lets take a look inside to preview some helpful
  ideas, strategies, and techniques that will
  assist your writing instruction in your classroom
  or instructional setting

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Chicopee Writing RubricSecond Grade Proficient

• Topic clearly stated
• 3 paragraphs beginning, middle, end
• 3 supporting details
• Sentences on topic
• Ideas logical and sequential
• Appropriate use of order words
• Complete sentences
• Sentence variety Compound sentences
• Variety of word choice nouns, verbs, adjectives
• Words support topic
• Sensory words
• Precise nouns and verbs

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Writing Conventions Proficient

• Capitalization
• End punctuation
• Grade level words spelled correctly
• Correct use of nouns, past and present verbs,
  adjectives
• Articles a and the
• Writing Process Handbook

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Prewriting

• First step to a well developed composition is
  organizing your thoughts in the prewriting step
  which helps the writer
• Stay focused on the subject
• Think sequentially
• Form strategies for beginning, middle, and end
• Come up with all options before writing
• Write descriptively
• Consider the audience and purpose of their
  writing
• http//www.mrscarosclass.com/writing_resources.htm

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Some Prewriting Strategies

• Brainstorming
• Making word lists
• Webbing
• Sequencing with a picture storyboard
• Graphic organizers
• Transition timeline
• First, next, after
• Story Starters
• Memory Chart
• Who, What, When, Where, Why?
• Illustrations

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2nd grade pre-writing ideas

• Brainstorming
• Collages
• Art-picture
• Read a story
• Word bank (class-created)
• Objects- sensory
• Experience Activities walk
• Fun graphic organizers

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Bold Beginnings

• Lets the reader know what the topic is
• In narrative, you let the reader know you are
  going to tell a story.
• Describes people, places, and events.
• Describes exactly what happened.
• Describes what was seen, heard, and felt

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Bold Beginnings

• An introductory paragraph
• Includes the main idea/topic sentence.
• A detail sentence that will lend itself to the
  second paragraph.
• Concluding sentence should restate main idea
  and/or add an emotion word. This will lend itself
  to the last paragraph.

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Bold Beginnings

• Hook Sentence/Grabber Sentence
• Catches the readers attention
• Pulls the reader into the essay and makes the
  reader want to read more!
• Its appropriate for the purpose and audience
  being written for.
• (Binder p. 75-89)

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Bold Beginnings

• Writing the topic sentence
• Have students underline the important part of the
  given prompt.
• Model, model, model! Practice, practice,
  practice!
• Topic sentence needs to tell the reader what
  their essay is going to be about.
• The topic sentence could even be the hook!
• My day at the beach was awesome!

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Bold Beginnings Gr 2 Ideas

• Categorize Ideas to organize thoughts
• Highlight for self-editing mistakes
• Extra modeling for addtl support
• Show samples of every step in writing process
• POW sentences vote on best sentences!

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Gr 2 Ideas - Continued

• Special paper with bold lines if needed
• Students read topic sentences out loud, sharing
  best topic sents
• First, next, last for 3 paragraphs
• Modeling unique topic sentences (many different
  ways for same idea)

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ACTIVITY

• Hooking your reader!! Winning a prize!
• A Day at the Beach
• What are some tacky beginnings?

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Marvelous Middle

• Second paragraph
• Paint a picture for the reader with specific
  details that are organized and stay on focus.
• Have students utilize the prewriting strategies
  to stay organized.

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Marvelous Middles

• Ingredients for a good composition
• Details! Details! Details!
• Stay on topic
• Sequential/logical order
• Emotion words
• Sensory Words
• Sentence variety and length
• Voice
• Transition words

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Marvelous Middles

• Show, dont tell
• Means to describe something to the reader instead
  of telling them something too obvious. It paints
  a picture in the readers mind

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Marvelous Middles

• The boy was very frightened.
• The boy screeched in terror and threw his hands
  up to protect himself. Even though his legs felt
  like they had turned to jelly, he jumped to his
  feet and ran screaming all the way.

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ACTIVITY

• Show, dont tell
• Rewrite one of the following sentences!
• The girl was happy to see her mom.
• He was mad they didnt win.
• The garden is pretty.
• That ride was fun.

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Marvelous Middles

• Vivid vocabulary
• Strong verbs
• Adjectives
• Specific nouns

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Marvelous Middles

• Conventions
• Punctuation
• Capitalization
• Spelling
• Creative spelling is OK for the first draft.
  Circle words that may be misspelled.
• Grammar

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Excellent Endings

• The concluding paragraph
• Restates the topic that is in the introductory
  paragraph.
• Brings the essay to an end.
• Gives the reader something to think about.
• Wrap it up!
• What do you want the reader to remember?

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ACTIVITY

• Write an excellent ending! Win a prize!
• Have you ever been so scared that you couldnt
  talk or move? Thats what happened to me last
  Thursday. It was the scariest day of my life!
• I just got home after school. I was surprised
  to see the front door open. I called for my mom,
  but no one answered. I ran through every room in
  the house calling for her. I couldnt find her
  anywhere! Thats when I got really scared. What
  happened to my mom?
• (ADD AN ENDING!)

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Revising

• Students clarify their writing and make it more
  interesting to the reader. They may make changes
  in content, word choice, and organization.

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Revising

• Helpful Hints
• Skipping lines on first draft makes it easier for
  students to make corrections.
• Have students use colored pencils in revising.
• Students should read their first draft aloud,
  either to themselves or a classmate.
• Make a revision checklist available, so students
  know what they are looking for when revising.
• Make word lists available.

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Editing

• Students review their writing to correct errors
  in conventions
• Punctuation, spelling, capitalization, spacing,
  and indenting, grammar.
• Model and practice skills in small groups and
  center activities
• Differentiate instruction

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Gr 2 Ideas Revising Editing

• Quick self-correct with a star for excellent
  sentences
• Edit one sentence together at a special time each
  day (before lunch) build to 2 sentences during
  year
• CPS Capitalization, Punctuation, Spelling at
  top of each paper
• Editing Checklist with a SMILEY ? for each
  completed item

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Editing Revising Ideas Contd

• Revising games with peers papers

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Final Thoughts

• Give explicit instruction to demonstrate writing
  process and skills.
• Allow students time to practice writing.
• MAKE WRITING FUN!
• Santa Maria-Bonita School District