Writing

Paragraph Format

We will learn the below paragraph format throughout the year.(We will teach the students the colors for these as well)

Title:

Topic Sentence: The main topic of the composition is stated.

Reason/Detail/Fact : Give the reader a main reason, detail or fact that relates to and supports the topic sentence.

Use transitions (First,... First of all,... In addition,... Also,...) to start these sentences.

Explain/Example: Give an example for the statement made in the reason/detail/fact sentence.

Concluding Sentence: The topic is restated to remind the reader what the composition was about.

The following is an example of the format of a paragraph:

Pandas

My favorite animal is the Giant Panda for two reasons. (First of all), I like the panda because it looks so cute and cuddly. The panda's black and white body colors are simple, make it stand out, and look soft. Its sad looking face makes me want to hug it and make it happy. (In addition), I am fond of the giant panda because it is endangered.We all should try to preserve the animals, like the panda, that are in danger of extinction. Clearly, the Giant Panda is the animal I like best.

The Writing Process

We will learn about the writing process by working through publication. We will select a paragraph draft to develop, reread our work critically, ask ourselves questions about our writing, revise, proofread, and finally publish our writing.

Animal Research

We will immerse ourselves in information about animals and choose an animal to research further. We will write, revise, and publish a piece of informational nonfiction about an animal.

Personal Narratives

We will explore the genre of personal narrative and write about significant topics and events from our lives. We will explore what goes into a good personal narrative including sensory details to make stories come alive. We will hear, discuss, and write personal narratives. We will ask one another questions about our writing and give feedback in helpful and respectful ways. We will also practice giving our full attention to the person who is speaking and expressing interest in other people's writing.

Writing About Reading

We will use prompts to push our thinking about our reading.

We will write about character traits, character change, and try to find the authors main idea in our writing. We will learn to give proof from the text for our thinking. We will practice writing summaries, including problem, solution, setting, and characters.

Poetry Writing

We will experiment with different poetry formats after analyzing published poetry.

Fictional Writing

We will explore fiction writing and draft, revise, and publish our own stories. Through reading different kinds of fiction stories and exploring the way authors put stories together, we will learn how to integrate elements of character, setting, and plot into our own stories.