Writing

In fourth and fifth grade students complete writing in the following areas: personal narrative, opinion/persuasive, expository/informative, and poetry.

The Writing Process

The writing process is a series of steps that students follow to produce their best writing. The steps are:

Prewriting- plan your writing, brainstorm and organize ideas- use a graphic organizer

Writing- write a first draft or rough draft

Revising- make changes to improve your writing- student uses a revision checklist

Editing- proofread and correct errors (spelling, grammar, capitalization, punctuation)- student uses an editing checklist

Publishing- write and present your final copy

6 Traits of Writing

Ideas: choose a strong topic; use strong details to make writing interesting; stick to topic so writing is clear and makes sense; stretch ideas to include lots and lots of information to support topic.

Organization: writing has an inviting introduction; ideas are organized so writing makes sense; use transition words effectively; ideas flow smoothly from one idea to the next; writing has a strong ending.

Voice: Writer is personally engaged with the topic and imparts a personal tone and flavor, writing sounds like the writer and engages the reader, writer's personality shines through writing, writing is honest and personal, writer's style, wit, spirit, passion, personality, attitude and opinions shine to connect effectively with the reader and the writing comes alive.

Word Choice: choose words carefully; use rich, precise, colorful language to paint a picture in reader's mind; use juicy words to make writing sparkle; use specific nouns, vivid verbs and awesome adjectives.

Conventions: use capital letters and appropriate punctuation; leave space between words; accurate spelling; proper grammar.

Sentence Fluency: writing flows smoothly and is easy to read; each sentence starts differently; effective use of long and short sentences