unit 1: launching writing gripping fictional stories … english grammar and usage when ......

Writing Unit Overview

Writing

Grade 3

Unit 1: Launching Writing Gripping Fictional Stories with Meaning and Significance

Time Frame:. September 1st – September 26

Key Vocabulary:

Elaborate

Fictional Stories

Scene

Revise

Tension

Essential Questions:

How do fiction writers write with volume?

How do we write a story that is gripping to our readers?

Suggested Mentor Texts:

Shortcut by Donald Crews

Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto

Koala Lou by Mem Fox

The Ghost-Eye Tree by Bill Martin

Pinky and Rex series by James Howes

Junie B Jones series by Barbara Park

Horrible Harry series by Suzie Kline

Technology:

SMARTboard

Toy Story 3 clip (garbage incinerator scene)

Common Core State Standards Teaching Points/Lesson Activity Description Assessment

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.4 With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and

Bend 1

Writers generate seed ideas for fictional stories by: thinking of “one time whens” from books they have read; start with small moments from one’s own life instead of from literature. (take a few days)

Writers choose one idea to write about. One way to do this is by: make your idea into a scene instead of a summary; story tell to your partner, and then write, write, write.

Writers keep their readers on the edge of their seats by zooming in

Initial Assessment – On demand writing prompt

Formative Assessments–

Conferences

Writing Goals

purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 3 here.)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.6 With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

on a strong emotion, create a time when that fictional character experienced that strong emotion, make your reader think “Oh my goodness, I can’t wait to turn the page!” and by zooming in with details that add tension.

Bend 2

Writers write stories that come alive and brim with meaning by acting out the stories, make changes and revise to add more, adding what the character thinks as well as what the character is doing.

Writers create tension in their pieces by including obstacles, complicating problems, and challenging situations, by making it hard for the character to get what he or she wants and creating several bumps in the road.

Bend 3

Writers reflect on their writing before starting a new piece, by asking themselves, “What did I do in my last story that made it so good?”, using all that they know when writing, and creating a plan of what they will do today.

Good writers revise their pieces by elaborating and making sure they are creating scenes using dialogue and small actions, thinking of the life lessons their character learns, and checking for capitalization, and punctuation.

Celebrate our writing by reading aloud and having book talks.

Teacher Observations

Writing Journals

Writing pieces

Student assessment using the Narrative Writing Checklist

End of Unit Assessment – On demand writing prompt

Performance Task if created.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships (e.g., After dinner that night we went looking for them).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.2 Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.3 Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.5

Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.


Writing

Grade 3

Unit 2 : Crafting True Stories

Time Frame:. September 29 – October 24 (4 weeks)

Key Vocabulary:

Personal Narrative

Craft

Dialogue

Elaborate

Dialogue


How can we develop our personal narratives?

How can we bring our stories to life?


Come on Rain! By Karen Hesse

Technology:

SMARTboard


CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3.a Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.3.a Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3.b Use dialogue and descriptions of actions,

Bend 1

Writers make New Year’s resolutions. We think about the kind of writing we want to make and set goals for ourselves to write in the way we imagine.

One strategy for generating ideas for true stories is to think of a person who matters, then to brainstorm small moments spent with that person.

Writers sometimes think of a place, list small moments that happened I that place, and then write about one of these moments.

Writers draw readers in by telling their stories in scenes rather than summaries.



Conferences

Writing Goals


Writing Journals

thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations


CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.1.e Form and use the simple (e.g., I walked; I walk; I will walk) verb tenses.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.1.i Produce simple, compound, and complex sentences.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2.c Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2.e Use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for adding suffixes to base words (e.g., sitting, smiled, cries, happiness).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2.f Use spelling patterns and generalizations (e.g., word families, position-based spellings, syllable patterns, ending rules, meaningful word parts) in writing words.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2.g Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1.b Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g.,

Writers sometimes pause to consider what’s going well in their writing and what they might try next to take their writing up a level.

Writers don’t wait to edit. We take a minute as we write to make sure our writing is as clear as possible for their readers.

Bend 2

Writers story-tell and generate alternate leads as ways to rehearse a story.

Writers draft by writing fast and furiously, working to capture the mental movie on the page.

One way writers revise is by studying other author’s craft and naming what the author does so they can try it in their own writing.

Writers revise by asking, “What’s the most important part of this story?”

Writers can revise their stories by grouping related sentences into paragraphs and then elaborating on those paragraphs.

Writers can revise their stories by grouping related sentences into paragraphs and then elaborating on those paragraphs.

Bend 3

Writers draw on all they have learned to become their own job captains.

Writers revise as they write, stopping at times to ask themselves, “Does this show all I know?” and if not, they revise their writing right then.

Writers replay life events in ways that let readers feel the experience.

Writers think carefully about the kinds of details they add to their writing, balancing dialogue with actions, thoughts, and details

Writing pieces



gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.3 Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.6 Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 3 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.)

about the setting.

Writers correctly punctuate dialogue.

Bend 4

Revision can bring writing to a new level so that it rings with clarity and purpose.

Writers deliberately craft the endings of their stories. We can learn techniques to improve our own work by studying published writing.

Writers edit to make their own writing exactly how they intend it to be for readers, using checklists to help them.

Writers celebrate being a community of flourishing writers and share students’ writing with the public.

WRITING UNIT OVERVIEW

WRITING

Grade 3

Unit: 3: Writers Develop Characters Setting and Plot Writing Realistic Fiction

Time Frame: October 27 – November 21 (4 weeks)

Key Vocabulary:

Plan

Draft

Revision


How do we craft a fiction piece?

How do we structure our story so we can hook our reader?

Mentor Texts:

Brave Irene

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

Pinky and Rex Series

Ruby the Copy Cat

Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelt

Technology:

SMARTboard



CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.4 With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for

We get ideas for fiction, just as we get ideas for personal narratives and essays, by paying attention to the moments and issues in our own lives.

Writers collect ideas for stories not only by finding bits of life or entries that could grow into whole stories, but also paying attention to the stories we wish existed in the world. One way we can do this is by thinking, “How can I write a story for people like me, so we can see ourselves in books?

Fiction writers don’t just go from choosing a story idea to writing a draft. Instead a fiction writer lives with a story idea for a time. We use thinking on the page strategies that fiction writers use to live



Conferences


Writing Journals

Writing pieces

writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)






CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning word and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of

with our characters and to rehearse for our drafts.

Every fiction writer needs to know what their characters want. We show what our characters want by putting examples of this into little small moments, into what fiction writers call scenes.

After we develop our characters, we draft possible story mountains. It is the fiction writer’s job to make every part so interesting that the reader can’t wait to turn the page. We make the problem worse and worse as the story goes on.

When a writer is most fired up to write, most ready to charge into page after page of writing, we force ourselves to pause. We pause, rewind, and then we listen to what we’ve written, and revise it.

We can become the characters, and writing is a bit like a drama, happening to us. One way to help us with this is with a sense of story structure. Writers can stretch out the story by having the character’s trouble grow worse and worse. The character will try to deal with the bumps in the road.

Writers take our time with endings, weighing and considering, drafting and revising until we find one that fits. We know that a just right ending will feel as if it is tailored exactly to fit our particular story. We know this ending will tie up loose ends, resolve the unresolved difficulties, and bring home the story’s meaning.

Even when we move heaven and earth to write our drafts really well, we will shift from drafting to revision. Revision means to see again. Writers put on special lenses, lenses that allow us to reread our writing with one particular question or concern in mind.

There is a place that we as writers can go to get new lenses to view our drafts. We can go to stories that resemble the ones we hope to write. We can go to a part in the story where we see ourselves getting hooked. Re-seeing can lead us to rewriting.

Before or after you edit your draft for other concerns, you will want to read you draft, checking on your spelling and punctuation.

Student Goals



strategies.





CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.


WRITNG UNIT OVERVIEW

WRITING

Grade 3

Unit: 4: The Art of Information Writing

Time Frame: November 24 – January 16 (6 weeks)

Key Vocabulary:

Subtopics

Organizational Structures

Transitional Phrases

Perspective

Revision

Inquiry

Brainstorm


How do we structure an information piece?

How can we pick a topic that is our area of expertise?

Mentor Texts:

Dangerous Animals by Melissa Stewart

Deadliest Animals

VIP Pass to a Pro Baseball Game Day

Technology:

SMARTboard

TED talk videos

Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First?” clip


CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and

Bend 1

Information writers are teachers. Information writers organize information as they write, like organizing for teaching a course.


information clearly.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.4 With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)


CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage

Writers often brainstorm several different ways to organize their information writing. Writers structure subtopics which is an important part of planning.

When writers consider different organizational structures, we can allow ourselves to think about a topic in new ways.

Writers of information books take all the information they have and layer those pieces, one on top of the other, to teach their readers as much as they can about their topics.

The organizational skills writers use for their tables of contents ca help them plan their chapters as well.

Bend 2

Writers use mentor texts as a way to learn more about elaboration and apply these ideas to their own writing.

Writers connect the information in their chapters using different transitional strategies and phrases. One way to do this is to look at a mentor text for ideas about how best to transition in their own information books.

Writers balance interesting facts with an engaging style. Writers use revision strategies that encompass both structure and word choice that will enhance their voices in their drafts.

Information writers are actually researchers. We use resources for finding more information to enhance our informational books.

As writers revise, they look back at what they’ve already done, making sure they are carrying over all they have learned into their new writing.

Writers use an inquiry process that asks them to consider introduction strategies of mentor texts.

Bend 3

Writers review their information writing using a checklist and then


Conferences


Writing Journals

Writing pieces

Student Goals



when writing or speaking.



CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning word and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.



how to make a plan for revision.

Writers use additional revision strategies for clearing up confusion in their work, including imagining a different perspective and role-playing with a partner.

There are ways text features can enhance their information writing. Writers choose the most appropriate features for their books.

Writers do research to make sure that all the facts in their writing are correct. If their facts are not correct, writers go back and revise them.

When information writers are editing, they keep a close eye on the way they use paragraphs.

Bend 4

Writers transfer the skills they’ve learned in this unit to plan and draft for a content-specific information text.

Writers need to compare their plans for their drafts, reminding them of different strategies to revise either the original plan or the writing.

The skills they used to write their information books can be transferred to other sorts of information writing and can be used quickly, on the run. Writers reimagine the text they have already written as a speech, a brochure, or an article.

Writers draw on all they know as they finish up their projects.

Writers teach each other about their topics, sharing with an audience all the knowledge and expertise they have gained.





CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or

concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.4 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.5 Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.6 Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.7 Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.8 Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical

texts, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.


Writing

Grade 3

Unit 5 : Once Upon a Time: Adapting and Writing Fairy Tales

Time Frame: January 19 – February 13th (4 weeks)

Key Vocabulary:

Fairy tales

Narration

Revision

Elaboration

Adapting


How do we write our own adaptation of a fairy tale?

How can we glue the scenes of our stories together?


Cinderella

Little Red Riding Hood

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

Price Cinders by Babette Cole

Technology:

SMARTboard




CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.5 With guidance and support from peers and

Bend 1

Writers create their own fairy tales by adapting classic ones. Writers study several versions of a classic fairy tale and then ask themselves, “Why might the author have made these versions?”

Writers adapt fairy tales in meaningful ways. When changes are made, they must be important changes that affect other elements of the story rippling throughout.

Writers story-tell or act out their stories to help as they plan their drafts and as they write their drafts.

Writers can rehearse for writing by storytelling or acting out each scene.



Conferences

Writing Goals


Writing Journals

adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 3 here.)


CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided cate

gories.




Writers often weave narration through fairy tales as a way to establish background, tie together scenes, and teach a moral or end a story.

Writers check their work and plan for future projects.

Bend 2

Writers rely on each other and themselves to independently plan not only their stories but their writing process.

Writers make fairy tales sound like fairy tales by using special language – in this case, by adding refrains.

Writers make significant revisions as they draft, using other author’s writing as mentor texts.

Writers balance their dialogue by adding accompanying actions.

Writers of fairy tales use figurative language, “painting a picture” in their reader’s minds.

Writers read stories aloud, identifying choppy or abrupt sentences and smoothing them out by simplifying long winded ones or complicating simplistic ones.

Bend 3

Writers look back on their own writing, thinking about which processes and strategies worked for them before, and which didn’t, to help them write their current piece.

To make scenes even more meaningful, writers not only include a character’s actions but also objects important to the character.

Writers elaborate as they draft by revealing how writers balance out telling sentences with showing sentences.

Writers revise their fairy tales and tether the magic in their stories to the heart of the story, the beginning and/or end of the story.

Writing pieces







CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being (e.g., quizzed, whined, stammered) and that are basic to a particular topic (e.g., wildlife, conservation, and endangered when discussing animal preservation).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing

Writers show their readers how to read a piece by varying the pace of the writing.

Writers reread their writing, looking for parts that need to be fixed up and edited. One thing writers do to help them edit is to look for where patterns of good writing are broken.

Writers form small storytelling circles, sharing their fairy tales with a younger audience. We lean in on our storytelling background to bring their fairy tales to life.

their own clearly.








CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.5 Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.6 Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

WRITNG UNIT OVERVIEW

WRITING

Grade 3

Unit:6: Writers Efficiently Interact with Short Texts in Order to Interpret and Respond

Time Frame: February 16 – March 6 (3 weeks)

Key Vocabulary:

Essayist

Thesis

Analysis

Cite

Introductory Paragraph


How can I write an essay that states a strong opinion about a piece of literature and supports it clearly with reasons and evidence from the text?

How can I explore ideas about literature that help me develop a thesis statement to grow into an essay?

How can I draft, revise, and edit an essay that clearly supports my idea about a text?

How can I use everything I know to write a second literary essay, this time working with more independence?

Mentor Texts:

Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case by Donald J. Sobol

The Stories Julian Tells by Ann Cameron

Technology:

SMARTboard


CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and

As literary essayists, it can be particularly effective to zoom in on one image, line or passage of a text that stays with you. Writers often copy these images or lines into their notebooks and then write to discover what, exactly, makes that one part so significant to the story as a whole.

One trick that a literary essayist calls upon is knowing in advance



information clearly.







that there are some parts of a story that tend to provide a rich ground for analysis. These include moments of a character change, times when a character learns a lesson, and moments when a character faces personal or social issues.

Essayists don’t just develop ideas, but we write to support them. One way we can further our ideas is by mining out texts for examples that support our initial idea. We might cite a particular bit of text that relates to our idea and then write “this shows” to elaborate on the connection between our idea and the example.

Writers reread their notebook entries to find seed ideas that is central to the story and is proactive and refers back to the opinions we created in our last unit.

Bend 2

Writers quote from a text and then push themselves to explain what the quote means and how it relates to their thesis.

One way we can make our essays sound more cohesive is by using transitional phrases at the beginning of paragraphs and between examples. Essayists often use phrases such as, “In the beginning…” “However” or “Later in the book…”

Writers write an introductory paragraph that includes a tiny summary of the story and then presents the thesis statement.

One way writers edit their pieces is to look for consistent verb tense throughout their essay. For example, as a writer, you may notice you sometimes switch from present to past tense. Choose one, and make sure your writing is consistent.

Bend 3

You can choose the planning strategy that best suits you and the essay you are going to be writing. This includes planning across the pages of a booklet, using a folder system, or any other system that works for you.

Conferences


Writing Journals

Writing pieces

Student Goals







CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.


CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.5 Use text features and search tools (e.g., key

words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.





Writing

Grade 3

Unit 7: Changing the World: Persuasive speeches, petitions, and editorials.

Time Frame: March 9 – April 17 (6 weeks)

Key Vocabulary:

Persuade

Opinion

Clause

Claim

Petition

Editorial

Categorizing


How can we write in ways that move others to action and new thinking?

How can we become more adept at opinion writing?


News articles like: http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indpeth/bullying_news/index.asp?article=battlingsr&topic=0

Petition written by Bailey Shoemaker Richards and Stephanie Cole: Tell LEGO to stop selling out girls!

Technology:

SMARTboard

Research links for students:

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/kidspage/

http://www.sierraclub.org/education/newsletter/8.pdf

http://tiki.onewold.net/global_warming/climate9.html

http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indpeth/bullying_news/index.asp?article=battlingsr&topic=0


CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts,

Bend One Initial Assessment – On

supporting a point of view with reasons.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1.a Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1.b Provide reasons that support the opinion.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1.c Use linking words and phrases (e.g., because, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1.d Provide a concluding statement or section.



CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.


Writers will immerse in the genre of opinion speech writing, teaching them how to flash-draft a speech.

Writers of opinion speeches take time thinking about their message. We gather, choose, and try out different ideas for changes we’d like to see in the world.

Opinion writers write about people who deserve the attention, or about places, things, or ideas that do. Opinion writers think about “what’s beautiful?”

Writers address the audience directly to be more persuasive to their audience.

Writers don’t just wait until they finish writing to edit. As we write, we consider our audience and take time to spell what they know by heart correctly to make sure our pieces are clear.

Whenever writers want to get better at something, it helps to pause, self-assess their writing, and make plans for future work.

Bend 2

Writers collect evidence for our opinions first by gathering all we know about our topic and then by planning for our research.

Writers organize and categorize their evidence.

One way to make our speeches more persuasive is to provide examples to show what we are saying. Some of these examples are mini stories.

Writers embrace the notion of writing for an

demand writing prompt


Conferences


Writing Journals

Writing pieces




CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3.a Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

audience by considering what effect they want their speeches to have and selecting the most convincing material.

Writers use paragraphs to organize our drafts and use transition words to construct a cohesive draft.

Writers think about what makes an effective and powerful speech and we revise in light of our observations.

Writers use an editing checklist to proofread our writing, taking our time and working with another writing partner to make sure we catch all the errors in our writing.

Bend 3

There are different forms of opinion writing, including persuasive speeches, letters, and petitions, and that writers tailor their writing to fit the qualities of each form of opinion writing.

One way that writers hold themselves accountable for meeting deadlines is by making work plans.

Writers conduct surveys and interviews to collect evidence for their opinions.

Writers revise their introductions and conclusions, trying out several different ones, before deciding which will have the biggest impact on their audience.

Writers take note of the progress they have made, assessing their work against a checklist or goal sheet and setting new goals for themselves as

writers.

Bend 4

Writers address a cause from different angles by considering different audiences who can help us.

Doing background reading on a cause can help them change their ideas. .

Writers don’t wait until the revision stage of the writing process to make sure their writing reflects all they know and can do. Writers revise as they draft.

Writers make sure their writing is free of errors so that their readers take them seriously and are convinced of their opinion.

Writers have a real audience in mind for their opinions, and they share their speeches, petitions, and editorials with this audience as a call to action.

WRITING UNIT OVERVIEW

WRITING

Grade 3

Unit: 8: Informational Writing: Reading, Research, and Writing in the Content Areas

Time Frame: April 27 – June 11

Key Vocabulary:

Expertise

Table of Contents

Structures

Subheadings

Diagrams


How do we write to develop expertise and grow ideas?

How do we plan and write chapters?

Mentor Texts:

Use primary documents and books on a topic of your choice. (suggested: sources on a specific country).

Technology:

SMARTboard


CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.4 With guidance and support from adults,

Bend 1

Writers use their notebooks as places to gather information about their topics. Methods to capture what they are learning include observational writing, sketching, boxes-and bullets format, and questioning.

Writers think more deeply about their topics by going back and writing about what they think about the information that they have



Conferences

produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)



CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.



gathered.

Bend 2

Writers plan using a table of contents and write their chapters (in their own words by closing their books) using their table of contents

Bend 3

Writers use mentor texts to spotlight different structures to help writers think about what they want to say and which the best way to say it is.

Writers revise old chapters by asking a question and answering it, giving an example, and comparing or contrasting a detail to something the reader may know.

Bend 4

Information writers revise with a lens for the characteristics of information writing, including headings and subheadings, diagrams, and introductions and conclusions.

Writers present their information books and teach all they learned to others.

Writing Goals


Writing Journals

Writing pieces

Use of table of contents to structure writing








CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting

details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.






CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time,

sequence, and cause/effect.


CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.5 Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.6 Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.7 Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.8 Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

unit 1: launching writing gripping fictional stories … english grammar and usage when ......

Documents