First Day Writing Prompt for First Graders
First Day Writing Prompt for Second Graders
Early First Grade Writing Lessons: Once I get into my curriculum (all rules and procedures are settling into place, etc), I begin a year-long process of writing. There are several things that help my first graders to be successful writers. A few important topics are interactive writing and shared writing, as well as modeled and independent writing. The following will explain some specific ways we receive instruction on modeled and independent writing.
With my first graders, I have found that it is best for me to show them right away that they CAN write. I do this very early in the year (September) and I show them that they can be successful writers. Many of them do not think they can write. I show them that they can by choosing a topic, say apples, and allowing them to help me brainstorm as many things as we know about apples. We will read books about apples and learn even more.We write down our responses on a large piece of chart paper (we use circle maps). We then use another piece of chart paper to categorize our ideas into clear groups. For instance, if we had brainstormed apples, we could then group our findings into groups such as can, are, look, feel, taste, etc. I usually use only three groups at this point in the year. We use a tree map (graphic organizer) or you could just use the paper and fold it into thirds - higher level kids could make their own this way. At the top would be the title (Apples) and written on the three sections would be three categories (look, can, etc.). Click here for example.
Once we have our findings grouped into clear categories, I model how to write using these sentences. I model how to use the first group (the "look" group) to make a sentence. ex: "Apples look red." At this stage, I usually make one sentence for each category - so three sentences total. This is enough for first graders at this stage. I model how NOT to do things also. I model how to not just copy the tree map that I made, or whatever graphic organizer I used, because some children will do this. And I model how to not just write WORDS. We are making sentences here and I model this too. I then allow the students to copy down the sentences that I made and try to read it back to themselves (higher level students can create their own sentences). We do this exact lesson over the course of a few days to a week, using various topics (apples, dogs, etc.). I continue to model right and wrong and, eventually, I expect them to NOT copy my sentences (I erase them), but to create their own.
Now, of course, the students become very successful at this and, in no time, can write several sentences on their paper but.....they are not phonetically writing. They are basically just copying the words from the tree map to make a simple sentence. So, to balance this, I make sure that we are having mini lessons on just writing words onto white boards and practicing how to hear sounds in words so that we can write them. I will also give them simple dictation sentences and increase those in difficulty. For example, I will say "I like my dog" and they will write it down on their paper.
Within a short amount of time, I will combine all of these efforts and expect them to write on their own without solely depending on the use of the above tree map lesson (we will still use that lesson to organize our thoughts but we will wean ourselves away from having to use it to spell our words. My point at the beginning of the year is to show them right away that they can easily write a paper regarding a topic they have information about.