Units of Study
1st Nine Weeks: Unit 1 - Narrative Writing
This unit focuses heavily on creating a community of writers. It begins with reviewing the writing process by writing true stories. Students will write stories about events they have experienced while using a storytelling tone and keeping events in order. They then progress to writing realistic fiction stories with a heavy emphasis on including dialogue, descriptive details, strong word choice, and being sure to focus on the "heart" of the story. Students will revise and edit drafts while thinking about their purpose and audience.
2nd Nine Weeks: Unit 2 - Opinion Essay
This unit begins with students writing "The Best of" awards for items from a collection. Students will focus on stating their opinion and supporting it with specific details. They then progress to writing opinion essays about various topics of importance. Students will learn to write thesis statements and support them with reasons and examples. Paragraphing, word choice, transitions, and tone are all very important components of our opinion essays. Students will revise and edit drafts while thinking about their purpose and audience.
3rd Nine Weeks: Unit 3 - Literary Essay
This unit takes all of the knowledge of opinion essay writing and ramps it up. Students will read a story, form an opinion about either the character or theme, and write a literary essay. Their essay will follow the same structure of their opinion essay, however, the examples they include will be quotes from the story. Students will learn how to include words from a published text in their own essays effectively. Students will revise and edit drafts while thinking about their purpose and audience.
Link to the Writing Rubric for this unit. (Since this is a continuation of opinion writing, it is the same rubric as the 2nd Nine Weeks rubric.)
3rd Nine Weeks: Unit 4 - Historical Fiction
The Bringing History to Life unit provides an opportunity for students to stretch their writing skills by writing about fictional characters within a historical setting. This unit is paired with Historical Fiction Clubs in the reading workshop because it provides considerable immersion in the genre for students, educates them on a historical time period, and models exemplar text samples.
4th Nine Weeks: Unit 5 - Poetry
During the poetry unit, students will learn the form and structure of several different types of poems. Students will be writing a poem a day being sure to follow the correct form and structure. They will learn about stanzas, lines, rhyme, rhythm, and figurative language. Students will also focus on word choice to make sure they are painting a picture for the reader.