31

INTRODUCTION

Purpose and FormWriters choose specific writing forms to communicate their intended meaning. To choose effectively, they target their purpose and audience before and while they write. Children will be introduced to and practice writing in different genres to build up a repertoire of writing forms from which to choose. This increasing practice as well as access to information about writing will help children feel more comfortable about writing and help them enjoy doing it.

In this handbook, the writing forms and models presented coincide primarily with the purposes expressed through the Common Core State Standards. These are to inform, to explain, to narrate, and to persuade. There are other purposes for writing as well, but these four are emphasized to best prepare students at all grade levels for college and career readiness.

TO INFORM The purpose for writing to in-form is to share facts and other information. Informational texts make statements that are supported by facts and truthful evidence.

TO EXPLAIN The purpose for writing to explain is to tell what, how, and why about a topic. An example is to explain in writing how to do or make something.

TO NARRATE The purpose of writing to narrate is to tell a story. The story can be made up or truthful. Most forms of narrative writing

have a beginning, middle, and end. Examples are fictional stories and personal narratives.

TO PERSUADE Writing that has a purpose to persuade states an opinion or goal and supports it with reasons and supporting details in order to get the audience to agree, take action, or both.

Success in School and LifeOlder students and adults are often judged by how well they can communicate. Students at all grade levels are thus encouraged to learn to write well to be successful in their studies. In particular, by the upper grades, students will need to master the basic essay format that includes

An introductory paragraph that identifies the topic or statement of purpose.

Supporting paragraphs that provide related details and examples.

A closing paragraph that sums up and concludes.

Students will use this essay form to produce reports, literary analyses, theses, and critiques throughout their academic career. They will also be tested on their ability to write effective essays in standardized tests. In later life, as adults, they will need to be able to communicate clearly in writing to coworkers, bosses, and clients. This requires extensive and ongoing exposure to exemplary writing models and explicit instruction in a variety of areas, as well as

Purposes for WritingThe Common Core Writing Handbook spirals writing instruction up the grade levels to coincide with the writing standards that spiral in the Common Core State Standards. Beginning in Grade 1, children will explore and practice writing, and their sophistication in writing for different purposes and audiences will grow. Students across all grades will learn about and practice opinion/argument, informative/explanatory, and narrative writing.

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????????? Think:

Task: What am I writing?

Audience: Who am I writing?

Purpose: Why am I writing?

Understanding Task, Audience, and Purpose (TAP)

Your audience is who you write for. Are

you writing to a friend or a teacher?

Your task is what you write. Do you

want to write a story or a report?

You can call your task, audience, and

purpose your TAP.

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Purposes for Writing

INTRODUCTION

Before you write, think

about why you are writing.

This is your purpose.

To Inform

Tell facts. Share what you have learned

about a topic.

To Explain

Tell how to do something or how

something works.

To Narrate

Share a story. It can be something that

really happened or made-up.

To Persuade

Tell your opinion. Give reasons why

others should agree with you.

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opportunities to practice different forms of writing. In all cases, their purpose for writing must always be clear. Evidence suggests that the more time student writers spend on writing, developing their writing skills, and deepening their writing experience, the better writers they become.

At Grade 1, children begin to solidify their understanding of basic sentence construction, first through modeled and interactive writing and then through independent practice. This approach enables children to progress to building solid paragraphs. Children will learn that a paragraph has at least a topic sentence that reflects their purpose, supporting sentences, and a closing sentence. As they progress up the grades, knowledge of basic sentence and paragraph construction will enable children to write longer pieces such as essays, which contain multiple paragraphs connected by transitional words and phrases.

The Reading-Writing ConnectionThe ability to communicate their thinking about texts for a variety of purposes and audiences will serve children well in several ways. When children

write about what they read, reflecting on content, craft, or another aspect of a text, they provide evidence of their thinking. This helps teachers know how well children have understood a text. Additionally, the more children write in response to texts, the more they increase their ability to reflect and improve their critical writing ability. Also, children will learn how to cite evidence from texts to support their claims or main ideas.

Introduce the PurposesHave children turn to page 8, and read aloud the text to them. Explain that these are the key purposes for writing that will be explored in their handbooks. Give or elicit an example of writing that might be used for each purpose. Examples might include a report about an animal to inform, a recipe or directions about how to make a sandwich to explain, a story about what happened at school yesterday to narrate, and a poster about the need to recycle to persuade. Then read the next page to children. Discuss how children should always consider their TAP—or task, audience, and purpose—to help them better target the message of their writing.

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30

32 33

Prewriting

Drafting

Publishing

Editing

Revising

Make a list of ideas to

write about. Draw a

picture or make a chart

of the idea you choose.

Write sentences about

your prewriting idea.

Do not worry about

making a mistake.

Meet with a partner and

talk about your draft.

How can you make it

better?

Reread or read aloud

your revised draft. Fix

any mistakes you find.

Think about how you

want to share your work.

The Writing Process • 11

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INTRODUCTION

The Writing Process

After you think about

your TAP, use these five

stages to write.

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EditingDuring editing, the draft is polished. In this stage, children reread and correct their writing for the following:

Grammar

Spelling

Mechanics

Usage

PublishingChildren share their writing with others. In this stage, children typically:

Make a final, clean copy.

Use their best handwriting, if writing by hand. If they are sharing their work electronically, they typically choose typefaces and other elements to make their writing readable and attractive.

Combine their writing with art or graphics.

Make multiple copies, read their writing aloud, post it electronically, or share and display it in some other way.

Introduce the ProcessRead aloud Student Handbook pages 10–11. Explain to children that the writing process is a strategy that they can use to help them write about any topic. Point out how the graphic on p. 11 starts with prewriting at the top and then moves down to the last stage at the bottom, which is publishing. For children who have no previous orientation to the writing process, simplify your introduction by emphasizing at first only the three key stages of planning, drafting, and revising. Explain how most tasks of any nature require planning, doing or making something, and then thinking about what might be done better and making those improve-ments. Compare how these same basic stages can be used to help children write well.

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INTRODUCTION

What Process Writing IsThe writing process, or process writing, is an instruc-tional approach to writing that consists of five basic stages. The stages are prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. The stages are recursive in nature, meaning that children are encouraged to go back and forth between the stages as needed.

The Common Core Writing Handbook is set up so that you will have the opportunity to demonstrate the writing process stages through interactive writing exercises before you ask children to try it themselves. See pages 74–77 of this teacher’s guide for the minilessons you might choose to use in teaching the writing process to your children. Use these minilessons, as needed, to scaffold the writing instruction presented in your main reading program. Also, encourage children to refer to writing process pages in their handbooks whenever they need additional help in writing.

The characteristics of the stages of the writing process are as follows:

PrewritingThis is the stage where children begin to plan their writing. Children:

Define a task and purpose.

Identify an audience.

Brainstorm ideas.

Narrow and choose a topic.

Plan and organize information.

DraftingDuring drafting, children put their ideas in writing. In this stage, they

Write a first draft.

Do not yet worry about perfecting their writing.

Know that they can revise, edit, and proofread later.

Use their plan and checklists to help them write or to return to prewriting, as needed.

RevisingA draft is reread and decisions are made to rework and improve it. In this stage, children might:

Read aloud their work to others to determine how it sounds and how it might be improved.

Conference with other children or their teacher.

Add information.

Delete unnecessary information.

Rearrange sentences.

Combine sentences.

The Writing ProcessThe Common Core Writing Handbook presents the writing process as a strategy that children can use to help them write for any task, audience, or purpose. Practicing and understanding the writing process can help children understand how to plan, write, and revise for various purposes and genres. It is thus useful in helping children meet the Common Core State Standards for opinion, informative/explanatory, and narrative writing.

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34 35

INTRODUCTION

A Common LanguageOne of the advantages of instructing children in the traits of writing is that you give them a working vocabulary and thus build a common language for writing that they can all use and understand as they progress up the grades. Children can use the traits as a framework for improving any kind of writing they are doing. To this end, a systematic, explicitly taught focus on the traits of writing has proved to be an effective tool for discussing writing, enabling children to analyze and improve their own writing, and providing teachers with a way to assess childrens’ compositions and developing skills in a fair, even-handed manner.

Writers typically focus on six traits, with presentation—or the appearance of writing— sometimes considered an additional trait.

Ideas—the meaning and development of the message.

Organization—the structure of the writing.

Voice—the tone of the writing, which reveals the writer’s personality and affects the audience’s interpretation of the message.

Word Choice—the words the writer uses to convey the message.

Sentence Fluency—the flow and rhythm of the writing.

Conventions—the correctness of the grammar, spelling, mechanics, and usage.

Presentation—the appearance of the writing.

The Writing WorkshopSince writing is an involved process that children accomplish at varying speeds, it is usually a good idea to set aside a block of time for them to work on their writing. One time-tested model that has worked well in classrooms is the Writing Workshop. In this model, during a set period of time, children work individually and collaboratively (with classmates and/or with the teacher) on different writing activities. Two of these activities are for children to comment on interactive writing produced during class time or to collaborate in reviewing each other’s manuscripts. One effective technique used in many workshops as a way for children to comment on aspects of each other’s writing is to use the language of the traits when they comment.

Some tasks are started and finished during a workshop, while others are ongoing. A writing workshop can serve many writing-related functions:

Children can work on a class writing assignment (ongoing or quickly accomplished).

Children can engage in independent writing, jotting down or consulting

The Writing TraitsAlong with understanding the writing process, children will benefit from having a beginning understanding of the characteristics, or traits, of good writing covered in the Common Core Writing Handbook. The “Traits of Writing” is an approach in which children analyze their writing for the characteristics, or qualities, of what good writing looks like. These qualities include ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions.

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Ideas Do I have a good topic?

Organization Are my words and

sentences in an order

that makes sense?

Voice Do I sound interested

about my topic?

Word Choice Did I choose the best

words?

Sentence

Fluency

Did I use different

kinds of sentences?

Conventions Are my spelling,

grammar,

capitalization, and

punctuation correct?

Traits Checklist

When you write, ask these questions.

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INTRODUCTION

The Writing Traits

All good writing has six

traits. These are things that

make your writing strong.

The Traits of Good Writing

Word Choice

Conventions

Ideas

Voice

Sentence Fluency

Organization

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Untitled-107 12 1/28/2012 3:41:46 AM

ideas in their writing log or journal, starting or working on pieces of their own devising.

As previously mentioned, children can engage in peer-conferencing, giving one another advice about a piece of writing or sharing writing ideas.

Children can select pieces for inclusion in their writing portfolio, where they keep their best work.

Teachers can conference with individual children, reviewing student writing and discussing a given student’s strengths and weaknesses as well as instructional progress.

Teachers can engage in small-group instruction with children who need extra help with practice in specific areas of writing.

Writing Workshops are often most effective when they adhere to a dependable schedule and follow a

set of clearly posted guidelines (for example, keep voices down, point out the good things about someone’s writing as well as comment on parts that might be revised, listen politely, put away materials when the workshop is over). In addition, children should know what areas of the classroom they can use during the workshop and should have free access to writing materials, including their handbooks.

Introduce the TraitsShare the Writing Traits overview pages with children. Discuss each trait briefly and explain to children that their handbooks contain more information on the traits, which they can use to help them as they plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish their writing.

When you use the minilessons to instruct children on different topics in writing, use the language of the traits with them. Encourage them to use it, too, any time they interact with text.

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Follow your teacher’s directions.

.

.

.

2You Do

Use your plan. Write personal narrative

sentences. If you like, write about nature.

Name

1We Do

I went

It was

I

Personal Narrative Sentences • 45

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WRITING FORMS

At the Lake

I went swimming at the lake last

week.

The water was freezing cold!

Mom wrapped me in a warm towel

when I got out.

A personal narrative sentence tells

a true story about you. It uses the words

I or me.

Parts of a Personal Narrative Sentence

A topic sentence tells the

main idea.

Detail sentences tell what

happened.

Some details tell who or what.

Sentences

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Corrective Feedback

Focus Trait: Ideas

Remind children that the details in their writing are all ideas that should be about their topic. On the board write:

We went to the beach. There were lots of shells. My dog is brown. I built a sand castle.

Point out the detail that does not fit. Replace the sentence with one that fits the topic, the beach. Write:

We went to the beach. There were lots of shells. I swam in the water. I built a sand castle.

Encourage children to ask themselves these ques-tions as they write:

Is every sentence about the main idea?

Are there any sentences that do not fit the topic?

THEN . . . have them brainstorm a list of places they have visited, such as a zoo, museum, beach, or circus. Have them fold a piece of paper into four squares and write the sentence I went to the ___. in a top box. Encourage children to write a sentence in each box about three different things they saw at the place, such as zebra, lion, penguin for zoo. Then have them put the sentences together to create a personal narrative about a single topic.

IF . . . children are having trouble writing about one topic,

Grade 1 • 45

37

Objective: Punctuate sentences correctly.

Guiding Question: How do I use punctuation to show a complete idea?

Teach/Model —I DoHave children turn to handbook p. 44. Review the material. Discuss the punctuation in the model. Write the question on the board, How was my swim? Point out that a question mark ends an asking sentence. On the board or on chart paper, write a short personal narrative about an event the class has experienced together, leaving out the punctuation, such as I went to the nature center It was amazing to see the insects up close I want to visit there again. Have children identify the sentences and add punctuation to them.

Guided Practice—We Do

1We Do Have children turn to the frame on handbook

p. 45. Together, choose an event the entire class has attended and discuss ideas for sentences about it. Guide children to write complete sentences about the event, making sure there are capitals at the beginning and correct punctuation at the end. Have children write in their books as you write on the board.

Practice/Apply—You Do

2You Do INDEPENDENT Read the directions with

children. Have them use their plans from Lesson 16 or another plan they created, using Graphic Organizer 3.

Conference/EvaluateDuring the writing process, circulate and offer encouragement and help as needed. Evaluate using the rubric on p. 96.

Punctuating Sentences

Minilesson 32

WRITING FORMS

Objective: Write personal narrative sentences about one topic.

Guiding Question: How do write a complete idea about myself?

Teach/Model —I DoRead aloud the definition, list, and model on hand-book p. 44. Point out the words I and me. Explain that the story is a personal narrative. It is a true story about the author. Tell children that, when they write personal narratives about themselves, they are the authors, so they will use the words I and me. Point out that the personal narrative on p. 44 is about one main idea. Suggest some details the author might have added to support the main idea, such as I sat in the sun until I warmed up or Next time, I won’t be the first to jump into the lake!

Guided Practice—We DoAsk children to name places or events the class has attended together, such as visiting another classroom, going to a play, or exploring outdoors. Write the places on the board. Guide children to share words and phrases that describe what each place was like and what they did there, such as exciting to see the birds. Record the words and phrases.

Practice/Apply—You DoCOLLABORATIVE Have partners choose one place from the list. Ask them to work together to write a complete idea about one place.

INDEPENDENT Have children think of a place they have been, using the list or an idea of their own. Have them write a personal narrative sentence that shows a complete idea.

Conference/EvaluateCirculate as children work, reminding them to use I and me in their personal narrative sentence.

Writing a Complete Idea

Minilesson 31

Sentences

44 • Writing for Common Core

Common Core State Standard: W.1.3 Common Core State Standard: W.1.3

36

Headline

SentencesSentencesSentencesSentencesSentences

HeadlineHeadlineHeadlineSample Lesson Writing Forms

Follow your teacher’s directions.

.

.

.

2You Do

Use your plan. Write personal

narrative sentences. You can write

about something you like to do.

Name

1We Do

My family

First, we

Later,

Personal Narrative Sentences • 47

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WRITING FORMS

My Cousins

Yesterday I went to my cousin’s house.

First, we put on a puppet show.

After that, we played football in the

park.

A personal narrative sentence tells

about something real that happened

to you. It has the words I, me, or we.

Parts of a Personal Narrative Sentence

A topic sentence tells what all

the sentences will be about.

Detail sentences tell what

happened and in what order.

Details may tell where or when

things happened.

Sentences

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Corrective Feedback

Focus Trait: Ideas

Recall with children that a personal narrative is a true story about them and that it should have one big idea. Write the following personal narratives on the board. Have children talk about the big idea for each one:

1) I went to a party. We played games. I lost every one. We had cake. I dropped mine on the floor.

2) I went to a party. I lost every game, but I got a great prize. It was funny when I dropped my cake. The dog ate it! I got another piece that was even bigger!

Ask children what they think the writer of each one wanted the reader to know.

THEN . . . list words and phrases on a chart telling when and where, such as park, basement, zoo, class, at the game, on the field, last night, yesterday, this morning, today, earlier, etc. Post the chart where children can see it when writing. Remind them to use the chart to add details to their sentences that tell when and where things happen.

IF . . . children are not adding details that tell when and where,

Grade 1 • 47

39

Objective: Revise sentences to tell when and where.

Guiding Question: How do I revise sentences to tell when and where things happened?

Teach/Model —I DoRead aloud the definition, list, and model on hand-book p. 46. Remind children that a personal narrative tells something that happened to them. Point out I, me, and we in the model. Explain that good writers add details that tell where and when events happen. Point out the word Yesterday that tells when and the words house and park that tell where. Suggest a revision for the second sentence that tells where, such as First, we put on a puppet show in the living room.

Guided Practice—We DoWrite a short personal narrative on the board about the first day of school, such as Our First Day of School: First, we came in. We played. Then, we learned. Guide children to revise sentences by adding details that tell when and where, such as First, we came into the classroom and sat on the rug. After lunch, we played games in the gym. Then, we learned about classroom rules. Write the revised sentences on the board next to the original sentences. Have children compare the two.

Practice/Apply—You DoCOLLABORATIVE Have partners choose one of the original sentences from the board and revise it dif-ferently. Ask them to collaborate and add details that tell when and where.

INDEPENDENT Have individuals write a personal narrative sentence about the first day of school. Remind them to include a detail about when or where.

Conference/EvaluateCirculate and offer support as children work. Encourage them to add details that tell times and places events happened.

Revising Sentences

Minilesson 34

WRITING FORMS

Objective: Write sentences that show the order of events.

Guiding Question: How do I write sentences that tell the order things happened?

Teach/Model —I DoHave children turn to handbook p. 46 and read it aloud. Point out the time-order words yesterday, first, and after that in the model. On the board or chart paper, brainstorm other words or phrases that tell order, such as then, next, later, soon, etc. Work with children to draft sentences about going fishing, using time-order words, such as: Last week, my family went fishing. First, we put worms on the hooks. Later, I felt a tug. Write the sentences on the board and read them together.

Guided Practice—We Do

1We Do Have children turn to the frame on handbook

p. 47. Together, brainstorm places children have gone with their families and record them on the board, such as zoo, museum, beach, lake. Have children choose one place as the topic for the frame. Guide them to write sentences about the place they chose, paying attention to the time-order clues provided. Remind children to use capitals and end punctuation. Have children write in their books as you write on the board.

Practice/Apply—You Do

2You Do INDEPENDENT Read the directions to

children. Have them use their plans from Lesson 17 or another plan they create, using Graphic Organizer 3.

Conference/EvaluateDuring the writing process, circulate and offer encouragement and help as needed. Evaluate using the rubric on p. 96.

Drafting Sentences

Minilesson 33

Sentences

46 • Writing for Common Core

Common Core State Standard: W.1.3 Common Core State Standard: W.1.3

38

Sample Lesson Writing Forms

Here is how Ben used his plan. He wrote

sentences about a book from his friend

Allie.

Allie gave me a book.

The book is about a mouse.

It has lots of pictures.

I think it is very funny.

about a mouse

lots of pictures funny

new book from Allie

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When you draft, you use full sentences to

write what you planned.

Parts of Draf ting

Look at the ideas in your word web.

Write about these ideas.

Use full sentences.

Draf tingWRITING STRATEGIES •T H E W R I T I N G P R O C E S S

throw it lots of funkick it

ball from Grandma

October 12, 2012

Dear Grandma,

Thank you for the ball.

I can throw it.

Love,

Jenny

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Objective: Understand how to use a graphic organizer to draft sentences.

Guiding Question: How can I use my prewriting plan to draft sentences?

Teach/ModelRemind children that a graphic organizer is used as a guide for writing a first draft. Explain that a first draft does not have to be perfect because you will fix mistakes later.

Practice/ApplyHave children discuss how the students in both models used the key idea and details from the organizer to draft sentences.

Going from Organizer to Draft

Minilesson 64

Objective: Understand how to use the drafting handbook pages.

Guiding Question: How can I use organizers to help me draft?

Teach/ModelRead p. 76 with children. Explain that the example shows how a writer used the prewriting graphic organizer to write a rough draft of a letter. Each detail in the organizer became a sentence in the draft.

Practice/ApplyTogether, read the example on p. 77. Discuss how this organizer was used to write sentences about the topic. Work together to write an additional sentence based on the organizer.

Introducing Drafting

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WRITING STRATEGY

Drafting

Common Core State Standard: W.1.5Common Core State Standard: W.1.5

Writing for Common Core • 75

my trip to the zoo

letter to grandma

poem about a whale

The five stages of writing are prewriting,

drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.

This lesson tells about prewriting.

Parts of Prewriting

List ideas to write about.

Choose the idea you like best.

Fill in a word web.

Ideas

PrewritingWRITING STRATEGIES • T H E W R I T I N G P R O C E S S

throw it lots of funkick it

ball from Grandma

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There are more organizers you can use to

help fill out your ideas. Use them to plan

your writing.

Flow Chart

Went to see elephants

Next, to ape house

Ended at petting zoo

Whales

live in the sea

Elephant

live on the land

mammals

weigh over a

ton

Both

Venn Diagram to Compare and Contrast

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Objective: Understand how to use graphic organizers for prewriting.

Guiding Question: How can I turn my ideas into prewriting?

Teach/ModelExplain to children that the key points the writer plans to write about are shown in each graphic organizer. The writer uses the organizer to arrange his or her ideas. Later, the writer will be able to use the prewriting ideas to write a draft.

Practice/ApplyHave children read the graphic organizers on p. 75. Discuss how each organizer fits the purpose of the writing. Work with them to brainstorm possible ideas to add to the organizers.

Turning Ideas into Prewriting

Minilesson 62

Objective: Understand how to organize ideas for prewriting.

Guiding Question: How can I use these pages to help me organize my ideas?

Teach/ModelRead p. 74 with children. Explain that the list shows the writer’s ideas. Discuss how the word web is organized. Explain that the word web shows an idea at the top and specific points the writer will write about below.

Practice/ApplyRead the examples on p. 75. Discuss how the writer used the flow chart to show a sequence of events and a Venn diagram to compare/contrast.

Introducing Prewriting

Minilesson 61

WRITING STRATEGY

Prewriting

Common Core State Standard: W.1.5Common Core State Standard: W.1.5

74 • Writing for Common Core40 41

Sample Lesson

Writing Models