SECOND GRADE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR PROMPT
Once routines and procedures are going smooth, we will do the same type of graphic organizer/tree map lesson that the first graders do (please see first grade writing). We will use the tree map to brainstorm a topic and form sentences (please see example). Again, we will quickly know who is a struggling writer and who is a strong writer. At this stage, they should be able to use a tree map to make sentences. If they cannot, we will need to do a lot of work in writing.
Most second graders will be successful at using a tree map to form complete sentences. We will go over what makes a complete sentence and when to use periods and capitals. Once we have finished reviewing simple sentences and what we learned in first grade, we will move on.
The next stage will be for the students to use the tree map to organize thoughts, not to form sentences (please see example). This would be stage two and students will use the tree map to plan out their writing paper. They will use the word "and" as well as pronouns such as "they", "she", "he", etc. I will explain to them what a big bang beginning sentence is as well as a big bang ending sentence. I will model this entire process and expect for them to use beginning and ending sentences, capitals, correct punctuation and more. We will work on this for quite some time and will eventually be ready to form a complete paragraph. In addition to this form of writing, we will still be working with words and stretching them out to be able to write them. We will listen for chunks in words to help us spell and we will look for spelling patterns (if we know how to spell "book", we know how to spell "cook"). We will also work on our "no-excuse" words, which we must memorize how to spell.
Please see October Writing for what we will do next!