Units of Study -Writing Workshop

This year we will be using Units of Study by Lucy Calkins to teach Writing as well. This program follows a workshop model.

We will work on Opinion, Informational and Narrative Writing. .

In addition, students will use Writing Response Journals, create projects and complete research.

Personal Narrative

Peer Editing Checklist for PERSONAL NARRATIVE

STEP 1

  1. Read your essay out loud to your partner. Fix any mistakes you notice.
  2. Then your partner will read his or her paper to you.

STEP 2

  1. Exchange papers.
  2. Use a colored pen to WRITE YOUR NAME AT THE TOP OF YOUR PARTNER’S PAPER.
  3. Then, ON YOUR OWN, revise and edit your partner’s paper.
  4. Put a _ beside each section of dialogue in the story.
  5. Underline each simile or metaphor in the story.
  6. Draw a squiggle line under each precise word, vivid verb, or example of onomatopoeia in the story.
  7. If your partner is missing one or more of these things, work with them to add these to the narrative

STEP 3

Check carefully for these FIVE things.
  1. CAPITALS Do all proper names start with capital letters? Do all city and country names start with capital letters? Do all religion names start with capital letters? Does every sentence start with a capital letter?
  2. SENTENCES • Does every sentence have a subject, verb, and contain a complete thought?
  • Are there any run-on sentences that need to be divided into smaller sentences?
  • Are there any sentence fragments that need to be fixed?
  • Does every sentence end with punctuation (usually a period)?

3. Check THERE, THEIR and THEY'RE in the paper.

  • THERE is a place. Example: Put the book over there. Use THERE before the verbs is, are, was, were. Example: There are many stars in the sky. There was no reason to act like that.
  • THEIR is a possessive pronoun. Example: Put their books on the shelf.
  • THEY’RE is a contraction for “they are.” Only use they’re if you can substitute the words “they are.” Example: They’re going home after school.

4, APOSTROPHES You must have apostrophes in CONTRACTIONS Examples: isn’t, don’t, doesn’t, can’t, shouldn’t, I’m, they’ve

5. APOSTROPHES You must have apostrophes to show POSSESSION of NOUNS. Possession is when some one owns something or it belongs to someone. Examples: Anne’s diary – (singular: add ’s) the boys’ voices – (plural ending in “s”: add only ’ ) the children’s lessons – (plural NOT ending in “s”: add ’s)

6. THEME Is there an OBVIOUS THEME (thread) that runs through the essay? What is it?

The theme is ____________________________________________________________________________________ OR CHECKMARK: ____ I’m not sure if there is a theme ____ There is not a theme.

STEP 4

  1. Return the paper to the writer.
  2. Give them a compliment about something they did well and tell them what you liked about their paper.
  3. Explain any corrections you marked in step 2 or 3. 4.
  4. Give them a suggestion of something they could do to make the paper even better.