Writing in 1st & 2nd Grade

Writing in 1st & 2nd Grade

Students in first and second grade are learning how to express themselves on paper and become more confident writers. Many foundational writing skills are acquired during these years. Students learn about different types of words (i.e. nouns, verbs, adjectives) and how to write in full sentences to get their ideas across. There are 3 types of writing that we teach: narrative, informative, and opinion. In each writing genre there is a specific purpose and audience for this writing.



Writing rubrics (grading guides) help us determine where students are in their writing development. We use the Lucy Calkins writing series as a guide. In these rubrics, you can see how children are scored on a continuum. They may score above, below, or at their grade level, depending on the skill being assessed. These skills are all assigned points and then scored at the end to give the teacher an overall score. If you are interested in which writing skills are being assessed, please check out the following links: 

• First Grade Narrative Writing
• First Grade Information Writing
• First Grade Opinion Writing

• Second Grade Narrative Writing
• Second Grade Information Writing
• Second Grade Opinion Writing

In addition, our Supervisory Union Literacy Steering Committee (composed of administrators and teachers) have created writing Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and Performance Indicators (formerly known as Non-Negotiables) for our students. Performance Indicators are specific skills and areas of study where a heavy instructional focus is placed. You can see these through these links:

• First Grade Writing Non-Negotiables
• Second Grade Writing Non-Negotiables

When teaching writing in first and second grade there are also other factors at hand:

Handwriting

As students emerge in their writing, we use a program called "Handwriting Without Tears" to help build a motor memory for writing letters. The program scaffolds letter writing so that letters that are formed in similar ways are learned together. The idea is that if students form letters in the most efficient way, the process of writing becomes more seamless.

Spelling

First and second graders can have varied levels of knowledge of spelling patterns. When writing, students are asked to use everything they know about letters and word patterns to help them write. We do not expect all words to be spelled correctly! By encouraging students to write the sounds they hear we are developing their independence and confidence as writers. The more they write, the more they learn!


We also support children in learning more about spelling patterns through developmentally paced spelling groups so each child gets what he or she needs. We use the Wilson Fundations program as a guide for our work. This is a developmentally scaffolded program that builds from one skill to another--from single sounds to simple consonant-vowel-consonant (ie. p-a-t) to simple blends (ie. st-e-p) and beyond.


We also study high frequency words that do not always follow conventional spelling rules (i.e. who, they, many, people). Learning these words so they are automatic is important so writers can spend less energy remembering the spelling and more energy organizing their ideas and writing unfamiliar words.