Writing Units
Unit 1: Building a Community of Writers
We will begin building a community of writers by immersing our students in rich literature. Students will learn the structure of the Writing Workshop and guidelines for a successful literary year.
Students will begin the year with a writer's notebook in which they will make entries about their lives. Our mini-lessons will teach students many strategies for making entries.
Unit 2: Personal Narrative/Memoir
Students will continue to use the writing process and write true stories from their lives. In this unit students will focus on choosing a seed idea that is focused on a small moment. We will work on adding details by stretching out this moment, replacing tired words with strong words, and sentence structure.
Unit 3: Non-Fiction
Students will use research skills and technology skills to create and design a 12 month calendar. In this unit students will choose a nonfiction topic of interest to research, and then will explore 12 subtopics. They will then synthesize this information to write a paragraph on each subtopic. Afterward we will find a graphic to insert into each paragraph.
Unit 4: Fictional Narrative
In this unit we will study short fiction and develop an understanding of how this genre works. Students will study examples of fiction and work to identify the techniques fictional writers use. In their writer's notebooks students will work to develop characters, make timelines of possible plots and explore possible leads/beginnings. Students will develop their stories by playing with dialogue and narration.
Unit 5: Writing for the Ohio Achievement Test
Students will apply the skills they have learned in writer's workshop to develop a clear understanding of a writing prompt. We will spend time learning the structure and format of the Ohio Achievement Tests. Students will generate ideas from things they have read, support an idea with evidence from the text, and sort information into categories.
Unit 6: Poetry
This unit begins with a genre study where students will spend time reading different poems and selecting a few mentor poems that shows their taste in poetry. Students will then work on creating original poems that have deliberate white space, experiment with the musical tools of poetry, and use the different voices of poetry.
Unit 7: Non-fiction
This unit will begin by immersing students in non-fiction literature. Students will then create a "Wonder Book" where they will make a list of topics they are interested in learning more about. Students will narrow their topic, research, and create a museum exhibit that showcases their knowledge.
Unit 8: End of the Year Project
At the end of the year students will come together as a community of writers. Students will put together a writing portfolio that will highlight the work they have accomplished this year. We will spend time reading different pieces, reflecting on the strategies we have learned and thinking about how we have grown as writers.
Students will also create an "All About" me presentation on Power point. This presentation will include details from the student's past, present and future dreams.