Writing Workshop

 Using the Units of Study developed by Lucy Calkins, children will be exploring the following: (These units of study also coincide with the Reading Units of Study)

• Unit 1: Small Moments: Writing with Focus, Detail, and Dialogue. In this unit students take the everyday events of their  lives and make them into focused, well-structured stories. Next they learn to make their characters come to life by making them talk, think, and interact 

• Unit 2: Nonfiction Chapter Books, students enter the world of informational writing as they combine pictures and charts with content-specific vocabulary.

•  Unit 3: Writing Reviews, students create persuasive reviews of all sorts—pizza restaurant reviews, TV show reviews, ice cream flavor reviews, and finally book reviews that hook the reader, clearly express the writer’s opinion, and bolster their argument in convincing ways. 

• Unit 4: From Scenes to Series: Writing Fiction: Here students learn to “show, not tell” and use action, dialogue, and feelings to create a whole series of fiction books modeled after Henry and Mudge.