Mrs. L.A.'s WRITERS - You can start a new document in Google Drive anytime to make a space for your own writing.
Fiction WorkshopNarrative / Realistic Fiction
Our first Writing Unit focuses on Realistic Fiction. Students took inspiration from real life to create stories with well developed characters, clear settings, and detailed action. The goal of this unit is to help students improve their use of descriptive language when writing and to support our deep comprehension when we read fiction. After bringing a realistic fiction piece through the writing process, students have the freedom to work on other narratives. We will continue to develop our narrative writing skills through short prompts. Students will also construct narratives in the graphic novel style and use the narrative structure to create short animations. Resources for FICTION WRITERS:
Story writers work in many different genres. One of the favorites with many in our class is Graphic Novel writing. Check out "Dave MacDonald's Kids Make Comics" videos for some great tips. You can see them on YouTube.
Gene Luen Yang is an award-winning graphic novelist. You can see a video of how he works HERE I'll keep checking for more resources for comic & Graphic novel writers and I'll add them here. Stay tuned! |
Nonfiction WorkshopPersonal Narrative
This unit is designed for students to develop their persuasive writing skills but it also gives them an opportunity to write about a topic they care about. The unit is framed as "Writing to Change the World" and students see how the way they construct an argument can have a big impact on a reader. Writing is a powerful tool for change. Students will hone their persuasive skills throughout the school year through writing in STEM and Social Studies. Resources for Nonfiction Writers:
Check out some of these great websites for finding facts that might be helpful for your nonfiction writing: National Geographic for Kids The National Zoo BrainPop Jr Science for Kids The Smithsonian Institute for Kids Writing About Reading
Throughout the learning day, students write about their reading. They may respond to a character in fiction, find the main idea in an information text, or compare the work of two different authors. This sort of writing inspires students to think deeply about what they read and strengthens reading comprehension.
Literary Essay
This unit brings the work of writing about reading to a deeper level. Fourth graders are introduced to the essay form in our earlier personal essay unit and now apply that structure to writing about their reading. The unit includes strategies for close reading and synthesizing student thinking with what the text says. This is an important style of writing as students move forward into middle school. Much of the work for the Literary Essay will take place in small groups so that students can work with texts that are a good match for their skills and interests. |