Fourth Grade Writer s Workshop Units of Study. Unit 5 Two Sides to Every Story

Transcription

1 Fourth Grade Writer s Workshop Units of Study Unit 5 Two Sides to Every Story

2 Overview Classificatory (Science) / Persuasive (Talk me into it!) This unit will help students write about self-chosen subjects that they are studying in classificatory and persuasive styles of writing. Teachers will carefully select topics for study that will help students progress toward proficient classificatory and persuasive writing. It is probably essential for students to learn to gather information so that what they have to say is clear. The teacher will help the student write on a topic from different angles such as an opposing point of view (persuasive) and comparing ideas, subjects, or experiences (classificatory). Page 1

3 Mini-Lesson Sequence Day Mini-Lessons Page # 1 Spelling EO# Prewriting Persuasive EO# Drafting Persuasive EO# Revising Persuasive EO# Editing Persuasive EO# Introduction to Classificatory EO# Prewriting/Drafting Classificatory EO# Revising Classificatory EO# Editing Classificatory Publishing Legible Handwriting EO# 2 17 *** Generating Ideas from Literature 18 Page 2

4 Mini-Lesson Planning Sheet Lesson # : (This is the focus and should reflect a Standard) : (This is the purpose for the lesson from the student s point of view) What I noticed : (This is direct instruction that includes the teacher giving information, gathering information from students, and/or creating an anchor chart) : (This is guided practice and includes eye to eye- knee to knee; thinking, writing, visualizing, group discussion) : (This is independent practice) As you go to write today : (This is feedback and closure of the workshop.) What did you learn as writers today? Page 3

5 Lesson 1 Spelling The learner will check spelling. Students, I have noticed many of you need more help with editing as you are getting ready to publish. Today, I am going to share with you a strategy to help you get ready for our conference before you publish. On this chart, I have my personal narrative about the hot, summer day. I have copied this out of my notebook. What do you notice? Yes, lazie is circled. The teacher will show the strategy of writing the word, then attempting two alternative spellings before deciding on the final spelling. Teacher passes out Spelling Check sheet, has students re-read to find misspelled words and allows them to work through the process in pairs. As you prepare for your conference before you publish, I encourage you to use the Spelling Check sheet to help you. You will attach it to your published piece. With their spelling partner, students will use the Spelling Check sheet and explain the process. **The process can be used from beginning to end not just at editing. Page 4

6 Spelling Check Name Unit Date Genre My entry word (copied from Writer s Notebook) 1 st Correction Try 2 nd Correction Try Final Choice (Ex.) lazie laze lazy lazy lazy Teacher Check ** You may ask a friend to help you with your 2 nd correction attempt. Page 5

7 Lesson 2 Prewriting Persuasive Persuasive writing Class you are truly wonderful authors. Today, we re going to change our frame of writing a little bit from what we know. Up to now, we have written stories, responses, letters, poetry, informatives, and personal narratives. Wow, that s a great accomplishment. Now we re going to work on a persuasive writing. In a persuasive writing, a writer is trying to convince the audience to agree with their position. The teacher will make two charts on chart paper with the title Good and Bad About Pets. Example. Good Things About a Pet Cat Cute and cuddly Makes you feel loved Curls up with you when you nap Bad Things About a Pet Cat Sheds a lot of hair Scratch Smelly litter boxes The teacher will get responses from students and will place on good or bad side. Look at the chart above for some possible answers. The learner will get with partners and will discuss the good things about a dog for 5 minutes. Then they ll switch and talk about the bad things about a dog for a few minutes. As you go to write today, on one page brainstorm the good things about a dog. Then on the back, brainstorm the bad things about a dog. Were you able to jog more ideas by brainstorming this way? Did one side have more that the other? Is that the position you take on the subject? *Persuasive books are: Earrings by Judith Viorst The True Story of the Three Little Pigs Page 6

8 Lesson 3 Drafting Persuasive Persuasive Writing Let s review, what s persuasive writing? Yes, it s when you persuade your audience to agree with what you want them to agree with. Today, we re going to choose a side and start a draft on this side. You re going to write to persuade your mom on either getting a dog or not getting a dog. When you write, how are you going to convince her one way or the other? The teacher will review our charts on good and bad things about cats with the class. Any new ideas can be added to the charts. The learner will partner up and roll play. One student will play the child trying to convince mom about not getting a dog for little brother. The other partner will play Mom trying to convince child that it would be great for little brother. As you go write today remember the reasons that were brought up in roll playing. Choose one side and convince your audience to believe the same. Look at what your format should look like. Introduction Paragraph 1-reason 1 Paragraph 2-reason 2 Paragraph 3-reason 3(the best reason) Closing In what ways did you find this easy or difficult? Yes, it can be hard if you try to flip flop sides. You ve got to stick to one side and follow it through. Page 7

9 Lesson 4 Revising Persuasive The learner will revise their classificatory and persuasive pieces. What I noticed is that most of you are finishing your writing and now it s time to reread our piece and revisit it. What to look for and improve on: See Young Author s Revising Questions. Eye to eye, knee to knee with a partner will read aloud each others pieces. Each partner will offer suggestions as to what the other can do to improve their writing. As you go to revise today use the Young Author s Revising Questions to help you. Have your partner read your piece and give suggestions on things you could revise. Page 8

10 Young Author s Revising Questions Name Date Answering these revision questions will help you improve your rough drafts. 1. Does the beginning grab or hook the reader s attention? 2. Are there any unanswered questions? Did I answer WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW? 3. Can I substitute a more interesting word for a boring one? 4. Can I add more information to amplify a thought or idea? 5. Is there a statement that needs more explanation with reasons, details or examples? 6. Do my readers need more description to be able to picture what I m writing about? 7. Do most of my sentences start with different beginnings? 8. Is there a fresher, more interesting way to say something? 9. Did I use similes, metaphors, strong verbs, specific emotion words, sensory words, onomatopoeia or dialogue to make my writing colorful and enjoyable for my readers? 10. Does every sentence focus on the topic? 11. Did I use transitional phrases and words between thoughts and ideas? 12. Does the ending bring this piece to a smooth finish? Page 9

11 Lesson 5 Editing Persuasive Persuasive writing Class, today we re moving on to the editing process. Some of you are still not using your editing checklist to guide you through this process. The teacher will review the editor s checklist with the class. They should be familiar with this checklist because they ve had it in their writer s notebook for a few six weeks. The learner will pull out their checklist from their writer s notebook and go over it with a partner. As you go edit today, go through each box in your editor s checklist. Make corrections as you need to. How did the editor s checklist help you make corrections? Page 10

12 Lesson 6 Introduction to Classificatory Introduction to Classificatory writing (comparative) What I noticed that in writing I don t always want to write a story. Sometimes I have ideas about topics that I want to share with a reader. Today I will show you a new kind of writing. A classificatory: The teacher will discuss with class 1. compares two viewpoints a. good/bad b. advantages/disadvantages c. like/dislike d. alike/different 2. does not have characters 3. does not tell a story 4. contains your ideas The teacher will brainstorm ideas that compare two viewpoints as a class. Discuss and compare examples of good/bad using a T-chart. As you go to write today, brainstorm and list topics you would like to compare. Ex. Good and bad about homework, how cats and dogs are alike and different, advantages and disadvantages of a big brother/sister. Share some ideas to compare and some of the viewpoints for each side with the group. (Example- I thought of comparing the advantages and disadvantages of electricity. An advantage is ) Try to tie Science and Social Studies topics with this genre. *Book idea: The Pain and the Great One by Judy Blume Page 11

13 Lesson 7 Prewriting/Drafting Classificatory Brainstorming Classificatory writing ideas During our reading we sometimes think to ourselves, Oh, I d hate to do that! or I m glad that s not me! And you have reasons for feeling that way. Let s look at some journal entries a little girl named Amelia wrote about moving. Read Amelia s Notebook by Marissa Moss. A nine-year old girl writes in her journal about moving to a new home, beginning a new school, and making new friends. On a chart make a list of topics to write a classificatory about. Examples: Like/dislike about moving Advantages/disadvantages of making new friends How two schools are alike/different Good/bad about a new bedroom Think about what topics you would like to compare. As you go to write today, plan on a T-chart to make entries with two different viewpoints on a topic. When you have 3 or 4 ideas on each side of your t-chart, begin your piece. Share your T-chart with a partner and with your teacher. Page 12

14 Lesson 8 Revising Classificatory The learner will revise their classificatory and persuasive pieces. What I noticed is that most of you are finishing your writing and now it s time to reread our piece and revisit it. What to look for and improve on: See Young Author s Revising Questions. Eye to eye, knee to knee with a partner will read aloud each others pieces. Each partner will offer suggestions as to what the other can do to improve their writing. As you go to revise today use the Young Author s Revising Questions to help you. Have your partner read your piece and give suggestions on things you could revise. Page 13

15 Young Author s Revising Questions Name Date Answering these revision questions will help you improve your rough drafts Does the beginning grab or hook the reader s attention? 14. Are there any unanswered questions? Did I answer WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW? 15. Can I substitute a more interesting word for a boring one? 16. Can I add more information to amplify a thought or idea? 17. Is there a statement that needs more explanation with reasons, details or examples? 18. Do my readers need more description to be able to picture what I m writing about? 19. Do most of my sentences start with different beginnings? Is there a fresher, more interesting way to say something? 21. Did I use similes, metaphors, strong verbs, specific emotion words, sensory words, onomatopoeia or dialogue to make my writing colorful and enjoyable for my readers? ideas? 24. Does every sentence focus on the topic? Did I use transitional phrases and words between thoughts and Does the ending bring this piece to a smooth finish? Page 14

16 Lesson 9 Editing Classificatory The learner will edit their finished piece for persuasive and/or classificatory. (Editing may take more than one day.) What I noticed is that writing doesn t have to be absolutely perfect in order to publish; but, it should not be full of errors. We want our readers to be able to read it and enjoy it. Display the anchor chart Editing Checklist. Editing means checking and correcting spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. Tell students that editing does take time. Also, tell students they will read their piece several times and each time they will look for a particular type of error. Eye to eye, knee to knee, sit with your partner and read your piece aloud. Discuss errors. Go through the editing checklist and circle errors you and your partner find. (It is best to do only two a day.) As you go to write today make corrections to your piece. 1. What did you learn about editing today? 2. Did you find errors that surprised you? *Editing Checklist Page 15

17 Name Date Editing Checklist READ Your Story To: Check for misspelled words. Circle words that are possible spelling errors. RE-READ Your Story To: Check for errors in punctuation. (Look at rules) RE-READ Your Story To: Check for capitalization. (Look at rules) RE-READ Your Story To: Check that your sentences are clear. (Three dog run.) Page 16

18 Lesson 10 Legible Handwriting To Be Done as a Continuous Lesson The learner will write legibly by selecting cursive or manuscript, as appropriate. Writers, I have noticed the beautiful penmanship you are using in your writings. Your manuscript handwriting looks wonderful! Today, we will begin practicing cursive handwriting, so that when you are ready, you can begin doing your writings in cursive. The teacher will model cursive writing strokes on chart paper or an overhead transparency. The teacher will then demonstrate how to connect the strokes to form words. The teacher will place a cursive alphabet and several cursive strokes charts around the room for students to use. Students can practice cursive writing strokes on a dry erase board or writing tablet. As you prepare to begin using your handwriting workbooks, remember to use the correct cursive writing strokes I showed you. Take your time when you begin to connect the strokes so that your words are legible. Use the charts if you need help in remembering the strokes. The teacher will check handwriting workbooks to make sure students are using the correct strokes. The teacher will provide more modeling if necessary. Page 17

19 **Generating Ideas from Literature Using Literature to talk, think, tell stories and generate ideas. Use this lesson anytime during a unit to help students develop more ideas to write about. Students will be marinated in literature as a model for writing and to stimulate their thinking about topics. You know that as readers and writers we love books, authors, reading aloud and independently. We use books to look at and talk about what good writers do, but before we use books to help us with writing, we want to enjoy and respond to them as readers, so today, I will read to you and we will think out loud together as readers and writers. The teacher will introduce the book by asking students what they already know about the author, title, book, or subject. The teacher will use the cover, a picture walk and/or thinking out loud to encourage students to engage in the book. Periodically, throughout the text, the teacher will ask questions such as: What connections do you have? What does this remind you of? Does this author give you some ideas that would help your writing? Close your eyes and make movies or picture in your head that help you as a reader and a writer- What are those pictures? The teacher can create a list, add to a list or heart map or other graphic organizer that helps students think about topics that are important to them. Partners can share stories or ideas that they think about and list them in their notebooks. Today as you go write you can: 1. List ideas 2. Write short pieces about some ideas you have 3. Pick an idea and write about it 4. Pick a piece you want to write more about and get busy Page 18

20 Everyone can share their topics. Everyone can show their work. Partners can discuss their writing work today Thumbs up for if it is easy today Thumbs down it was hard today Page 19