Writing

The primary goal of the literacy program at Huckleberry is for students to become proficient readers and writers who enjoy literate lives and have the skills and strategies to become life-long readers and writers. Our program relies on students, teachers, and parents all working together towards this goal.

Second grade literacy instruction at Huckleberry Hill School is designed to embed the Common Core State Standards in a balanced literacy approach to reading, writing, word study, and speaking and listening. Using a workshop approach teachers facilitate a learning environment that helps each student access the Common Core State Standards and grow to appreciate the value of a literate life.

Writing occurs throughout the day in all areas of the curriculum, including the content areas. Formal instruction occurs in narrative, expository, and persuasive or opinion. Students develop spelling skills, semantic knowledge, and writing mechanics which they apply daily in their writing. The instructional model of writers' workshop gives children the opportunity to draft, revise, and edit their own writing pieces as they practice a strategy or skill taught by the teacher in a focused mini-lesson. Assessment is ongoing and is used to guide instruction of the class and individual students. Such assessment includes analyzing students’ journal writing and responses to writing prompts.

Units of Study:

Second grade students are engaged in writing through implementation of the following units of study:

• • Lessons from the Masters: Improving Narrative Writing

  • Lab Reports and Science Books

  • Writing About Reading

  • Poetry: Big Thoughts in Small Packages

Major Concepts and Strategies:

In writing workshop students develop the skills to be effective writers. They learn to:

Pre-write:

• • Orally explain thoughts, feelings, etc.

  • Use visuals to generate ideas

  • Use literature to generate ideas

  • Generate ideas for writing in groups and independently

  • Use free-writing to develop fluency and ideas

  • Use reference materials to gather information for writing

  • Plan a piece of writing

  • Use a variety of graphic organizers when planning (web, outline, list, etc.)

Draft:

Content/Organization:

• • Use different purposes for writing: narrative, informative/explanatory, opinion

  • Write a piece on a given topic and select their own topic

  • Select an appropriate title for a piece of writing

  • Write in complete sentences

  • Stay on topic

  • Develop supporting details for a topic

  • Write a rough draft with fluency

  • Maintain a logical sequence of events

  • Organize written pieces into beginning/introduction, middle, and end/conclusion

  • Develop a sequential and logical pattern for a written piece

  • Write about content areas of the curriculum

  • Reread the draft

Style:

• • Expand simple sentences with adjectives and adverbs

  • Write complete sentences

  • Vary sentence structure

  • Use a variety of words to develop richness of vocabulary

  • Use originality and creativity in writing

  • Begin to develop clarity and preciseness of language

  • Use appropriate details in description

Revise:

• • Read their own work aloud to others for response

  • Clarify meaning, expand word choice, or add details (with help)

  • See work as a product that can be changed and improved

  • Remodel sentences and paragraphs

  • Use reference resources when revising, such as a dictionary and a thesaurus

  • Restructure a piece with a specific focus (with help)

  • Consider responses of the teacher and/or peers when revising

Edit:

• • Correct for capitalization and punctuation

  • Correct for spelling

  • Write legibly in manuscript

  • Proofread their own writing for legibility

  • Correct fragments and run-on sentences (with help)

  • Use correction symbols appropriate to second grade level

  • Work cooperatively in pairs

  • Indent paragraphs (with help)

  • Use margins appropriately

  • Proofread for clarity

Publish:

• • Write legibly

  • Use technology to produce final written products

Students continue to develop and improve their narrative writing skills by writing their own stories and by using a variety of writing strategies. Students also complete different kinds of writing such as personal narratives, opinion pieces, poetry,, and shared research.

How can parents/guardians help their children with writing?

Children can write letters to relatives who live far away. They can write “thank you” notes for gifts. They can write grocery lists. They can be encouraged to write in a diary or writer’s notebook. They can keep a journal at home, write poems, and share their writing with the family.

Spelling and Word Work