Chapter 8. Writing
Nandita Gurjar and Sohyun Meacham
“I can shake off everything as I write, my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” – Anne Frank
Keywords: writing development, writing process, writing workshop, prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, mentor text, mini lessons, writing strategies, conferring
Iowa Core Standards for Writing
Kindergarten
- Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is…).
- Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
- Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.
- With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
- With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
- Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).
- With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
First Grade
- Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure. (W.1.1)
- Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure. (W.1.2)
- Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure. (W.1.3)
- With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed. (W.1.5)
- With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers. (W.1.6)
- Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of “how-to” books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions). (W.1.7)
- With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. (W.1.8)
Second Grade
- Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to