Youpi- We are Finally Writing!

Before the winter break, the first grade students spent two weeks learning about the writing process (e.g., brainstorming ideas, using a graphic organizer, writing a draft and a good copy, proofreading, and using word walls/dictionary). Students were prompted to write a story with an unlikely and/or comical ending. We had fun incorporating an interdisciplinary approach by using what we learned about shapes in Mathematics and about lines in Art to create a setting for our story using only shapes.

Writing these stories has been a stepping stone from our weekly journals; we are now starting to create a text using a graphic organizer that expresses a clear message without relying on a picture.

Success Criteria
1. Brainstorm ideas for a story- a setting, 1-2 characters, a problem, and a solution.
2. Write the story in a chronological sequence that makes sense.
3. There are capitals at the beginning of a sentence, ending with a period. There is clear spacing between words.
4. Spelling is correct for most words. It is evident student used the word wall ''mur de mots'', a dictionary, and proofread his/her work.

Next Steps:
Throughout the month of January, we will continue to use various story map graphic organizers and discuss story structure, pre-writing brainstorming, and transitional words that can be used to signal sequences of events.

Writing Themes in January:
- Writing Process- Memory book of our winter break
- Identifying nouns, verbs (action words), and adjectives (words that describe a noun)
- Discussing and applying new vocabulary for winter (e.g., clothing we wear, weather, activities, etc.)
- Developing a transition word chart
- Analyzing and reciting poems about winter