How Writers Work (Personal Narrative)

In the How Writers Work unit of study, a writing workshop is established in the classroom. This unit will help students to understand the writing process and get to know how and why writers write in the ways they do. They will find out many different reasons for writing and have the chance to build their own writing identities.

Students will:

• Identify reasons why writers write
• Recognize that writing is a process that takes time and hard work
• Use descriptive details and other narrative techniques when developing and organizing narrative texts
• Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, researching, revising, editing and publishing

Nonfiction (Informational/Explanatory)

In the Literary Nonfiction unit of study, students will be introduced to how nonfiction writers think, how they work, the kinds of books they create, and decisions they make about content, including illustrations and charts.

Students will:

• Learn to identify common nonfiction text features—tables of contents, headings, subheadings, glossaries, bibliographies—and use one or more of these in their own writing.
• Discover and apply different structures with which to organize informational writing, including using an overarching question to explore, using a sequential list of questions to explore, using a journey structure, and using a “how-to” structure.
• Explore how to use their own voices in their nonfiction writing and discover ways to find informational topics they are interested in writing about.

Feature Article with Editorial (Opinion)

In the Feature Article unit of study, students are introduced to pieces that profile people, examine a topic, analyze events, explore trends, evoke an emotional response, and cover in-depth stories.

Students will:

• Determine the purpose of feature articles
• Read and analyze the characteristics of feature articles
• Incorporate those characteristics into their own writing
• Conduct research using several sources
• Develop plans to organize their research
• Publish a clear and coherent feature article
• Use punctuation and sentence length to add voice to their writing

Author Study: C. Rylant (Fictional Narrative)

In the Author Study unit of study, students will be introduced to Cynthia Rylant. She is an exemplary mentor author because she inspires students to write about their passions. Fourth grade writers love her lyrical, soulful texts and heartfelt remembrances. The collection of literature in this unit models a variety of craft strategies for

Students will:

• Choose a topic for their story that is meaningful to them
• Focus on using using a variety of writing techniques to enhance their writing including: sentence variety, description using one’s senses, interesting verbs, the choice of proper nouns over general ones, personification, and repetition to create rhythm.
• Use illustrations to help tell their story
• Use the correct verb tense throughout their story