In this introductory writing course we will be establishing trust, confidence, routines, and expectations as we embark on our writing journey together. I believe that participation and risk taking are essential for helping little learners develop a passion and interest in the essential skill of writing. This class will be an exciting and fun time of each day where mistakes are encouraged and the expectation is that students try their best. My most important goal is that students pick up writing tools and write each and every day. 

Students will choose to write about a topic that is of interest to them. Students will learn to write by writing. I will model writing, we will do shared writing together, independent writing, and use published picture books as mentor texts. 

Each time we meet students will share a piece of writing that they completed prior to coming to class, I will  teach a short mini-lesson (mentor text, shared writing, modeling examples of good writing, demonstrating partnering skills), we will learn about the prewriting process and each child will share what they will be writing that day, then students will use the remainder of the time to write. When time allows, we will reflect on the writing of our peers by "noticing and naming" writing qualities that they used. 

Week of February 26th- Writing is just telling on paper
Week of March 5th-Choosing a Topic
Week of March 12th- Noticing Details (setting, characters clothes)
Week of March 19th- Moving from lists to a focused Idea
Week of March 26th- Introduction to Narrative Stories/ Making Books
Week of April 2nd- The Story Hand
Week of April 9th- Make your story come alive and make your reader feel like you are right there
Week of April 16th-Reread and point to where the words go
Week of April 23rd- Drawing from different points of view
Week of April 30th- Adding Speech Bubbles
Week of May 7th- Am I Really Done? Checklist
Week of May 14th- Reading about Procedural Texts; Generate idea lists
Week of May 21st- Importance of Naming the activity; Act out the steps
Week of May 28th- Using words to keep the steps in order; Making pictures clear
Week of June 4th- Using exact words to make your ideas clear; Use labels to add clarity
Week of June 11th- "How to make" texts have materials list; Explore recipes
Week of June 18th- Spelling strategies for longer words; Adding cautions and tips for readers
Week of June 25th- Using the word wall; Capitalization
Week of July 2nd- Writing for a Reason: Explore Your Point of View, Generate Ideas
Week of July 9th- Generate Ideas- Solving Problems, Making Solutions; Writing Review and Recommendations
Week of July 16th- Making Word Choices, Spacing
Week of July 23rd- Writing a Letter, Where will your Writing Go?
Week of July 30th- How is the text is written helps convey meaning; Make it sound like you (voice)
Week of August 6th- Did you remember to include 
why in your writing? Spelling Strategies
Week of August 13th- Add your Voice; Using the Word Wall
Week of August 20th- Capital Letters, Publish a piece of writing you are proud of!

Background knowledge 
Learners should be familiar with letters and most letter sounds.  At the beginning, their writing may be one or two phonetic words.  We will work up to writing a letter for each sound we hear and eventually they will be writing complete sentences.  For the ones that can write a complete sentence, we will work on adding details.  They do not need to know how to spell the words correctly.  Phonetic spelling is encouraged because it gives me, as the teacher, great insight into where each student is in their writing development.

This class is geared toward Preschool, Kindergarten, and First grade students but all will be welcomed if they are just learning the writing process or feel they may benefit from developmental writing instruction. 

The homework for this course is independent writing and will take 5-20 minutes a day to complete.  We will be working to increase our writing stamina and keeping track of our growth over time.