Grade 1 Writing

Writing Programs

Brave Writer Writing Projects

There are 10 creative project ideas in every level, one for each month of the school year. Also, learn how writing can be a part of life through conversation and activities such as poetry tea times, nature study, and art appreciation. This writing series could be combined with Brave Writer Mechanics and Literature. PDF only.

WriteShop

WriteShop is a gentle, scripted program for teaching writing at home. It offers flexible, incremental lessons with creative projects and hands-on activities to support a wide range of student interests and abilities. EHK12Library: WriteShop Primary B Teachers Guide [Grades 1/2]

More Writing Resources

NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program - A free curriculum to help students write their own novel. It was created to support students participating in National Novel Writing Month which is held every November, but it can be done any time of year!
Rory's Story Cubes - These are fun oral storytelling games, but they are also helpful for sparking creative writing. Older students may write their stories out themselves, but younger students could create illustrated wordless picture books or dictate their stories for a parent to write down. Choose from many different story cube sets.
The Newspaper Clipping Generator - Get kids writing with a free newspaper clipping generator and other fun tools! No sign-up or log-in required!
Thoughtful Learning English Language Arts Books - Write One is the student handbook for 1st grade. It does not include assignments, but those can be found in the Write One Teacher's Guide available for free online. Find out more in the Instructions for Using the Teacher's Guides.
Writing with Ease workbook series - Created for homeschooling families, this is an easy-to-use scripted writing program written by Susan Wise Bauer. Levels one through four correspond roughly to grades on to four, but may be a bit on the advanced side. Each workbook contains both instructions and student pages. Students gain reading comprehension and writing skills by learning to summarize the literature and informational reading passages which are included in the text. No creative or persuasive writing instruction is provided.
Spectrum Writing Workbook Grade 1 - Spectrum Writing is a popular supplemental workbook series. The grade 1 book is 112 pages.
ReadWorks.org - ReadWorks offers a large collection of online articles with open-ended response questions so student can write about what they read. The articles are filterable by grade level reading ability. ReadWorks also provides Article-A-Day text sets students can use as resources for writing personal books of knowledge. Free account registration is required.
Evan Moor: Write a Super Sentence (Grades 1-3)
Learning Without Tears: Building Writers workbooks (Grades K-5)
FCRR Student Center Activities: Kindergarten and First Grade - Activities for writing about what you read; provides help for summarizing and includes graphic organizers
From Phonics to Reading student workbook - This is a resource for teaching reading, but the student workbook also contains a variety of interesting writing opportunities
Writing Strategies by Jennifer Serravallo - Writing Strategies has 18 activities involving drawing, plus many other ideas as well.

Positive Feedback

Praise can be a lot more motivating and effective that red correction marks! Check the CRC Positive Feedback page for 10 suggestions about positive things to look for in your student's writing.

Writing Strategies & Project Ideas

Dictation - Students often will be able to describe something, but then have trouble remembering what they have just said when attempting to write it down. Fortunately, dictation can help; just slowly repeat their words back to them as they write.
Drawing - Drawing (or another visual creation like a collage) can provide a great entry point into writing. Try asking students to write about their image and then prompt them for more details. For example: "Tell me more about what is happening here," or "What is this character thinking?"
Games - Try checking Pinterest for "writing games" as a starting place for ideas.
Handwriting & Copywork
Lists - Of Bugs, toys, cars, and more! List can be an easy way to get kids writing.
Picture or photo labeling - Students can practice writing and create a photo journal at the same time!
Sand writing or shaving cream writing - Using fingers instead of a pencil can be fun for young students whose hands tire quickly.
Scribing - A young child's ideas are usually quite a bit more sophisticated than their spelling ability and writing stamina, so a parent can act as the student's scribe.
Speech Bubbles - Remove or cover the words from a comic book or graphic novel and have students create their own story or dialogue.
Words for wordless picture books - Learning A-Z is one resource for wordless picture books. Ask in the library for help and more ideas.