Writing Workshop

Writing

By the time children enter fifth grade, they will have been introduced to most if not all of the new skills expected of fifth-graders. The sequence of fifth grade units consolidates those skills and introduces the learning objectives called for in the sixth-grade standards: how to conduct research using primary sources, how to write narratives that are reflective and theme-based, and how to write argument essays that use counterargument to clarify a position.

Unit 1, Narrative Craft, helps students deliberately use their knowledge of narrative craft to make their stories more thematic.

In Unit 2, The Lens of History: Research Reports, students draw inspiration and understanding from mentor texts, historical accounts, primary source documents, maps, and timelines to write focused research reports that engage and teach readers.

Building on these new skills, Unit 3, Shaping Texts: From Essay and Narrative to Memoir helps students grasp that form follows content, learning to take insights about their lives and decide whether these are best expressed in narratives, in essays, or in a hybrid genre created especially to convey the writer’s content.

In the concluding unit of this series, The Research-Based Argument Essay, fifth-graders learn to build powerful arguments that convincingly balance evidence and analysis to persuade readers to action.

Each unit will:

• foster high-level thinking through regular chances to synthesize, analyze, and critique;

• build writing independence and fluency;

• provide a ladder of exemplar texts that model writing progressions

• develop and refine strategies for writing across the curriculum;

• include strategic performance assessments to help monitor mastery and differentiate instruction.