Inside the Workshop

Week of November 9th - In writing workshop, we are working on quickly “sketching” rather than drawing and putting more emphasis on writing words.   Last week, we talked about stretching and sounding out words.  The children are to say the words slowly, stretch out the sounds, and write all of the letters and sounds that they hear.  This week the children will be focusing on planning out what they want to write and adding details.  We have been talking about how important it is for authors to give details in order for the readers to create a more vivid mental image of what they are reading. In writing workshop, we will decide what the most important part of the story is and focus our attention on that.  We will also practice leaving appropriate spacing between words as we continue with our small moments.  We call this “leaving a finger space”. 

Week of November 2nd - In writing workshop, we will continue with our unit of study on small moments.  The children will be working on “zooming in” on one small moment and stretching that moment across several pages.  We will compare a one page bare bones story to a more detailed version written across several pages.  Our emphasis this week will also be to say words slowly, stretch out the sounds, and write all of the letters and sounds that we hear. 

Week of October 26th - In writing workshop, we will begin our new unit of study on small moments.  The children will be writing about true “small moments” from their lives.  They will practice stretching the stories across several pages because the moment is so important to them.  Please help your child think of ideas for writing small moments.  Remember that instead of focusing on a “big moment” such as a birthday party have them zoom in on a “small moment” like cutting the cake and being able to describe that in detail.

Week of October 19th - In writing workshop this week, our focus will be on widening our writing possibilities to include lists, letters, notes, and cards.  We will talk about the purpose of these types of writings and spend a day on each one.  The children will learn how to make a bulleted list, write a heading and salutation for letters and cards and choose the purpose or recipient of each.

Week of October 12th - This week the children will be choosing a piece which will be fixed up (checked for missing words, spelling) and fancied up (illustrations colored, title and cover page) for our first writing celebration on Friday.  I am pleased with the quality and quantity of work the children have produced in writing workshop thus far.   

Week of October 5th - In writing workshop, the children will begin transitioning into writing stories across pages like real authors do.  They will go back to older pieces they have written to see if they can be made into a longer story.  Remember that you can help your child with story ideas by helping them recall events that have happened in their lives.  It can be something big (losing a tooth, birthday parties) to something small (feeding the cat, taking a walk).

Week of September 29th - The children are stretching and sounding out words.  They are spelling the best they can and moving on.  We will also practice using our sight word books and offices to help us spell sight words and other words such as color, shape, and number words.

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