Artifact 4- Narrative Writing

Standards Addressed: 1. Knowledge of Subject Matter  2. Knowledge of Human Development & Learning  3. Adapting Instruction for Individual Needs  4. Multiple Instructional Strategies  5. Classroom Motivation & Management Skills  6. Communication Skills  7. Instructional Planning Skills  8. Assessment of Student Learning 10. Partnerships

 Throughout trimester three my first grade students learned about the writing process and writing narratives. It was amazing to see how engaged the students were with this topic! We planned and wrote stories as a whole group focusing on constructing a beginning/middle/end, introducing a character, telling when/where, and using transitions. After this work as a whole class, students were given the topic to write a story about an imaginary creature. I was thrilled with how engaged the kids were with this topic, most wrote more than what I had required.

As with all of our class writing assignments, students write a first draft and then individually meet with me so I can check for spelling/grammatical errors and to respond to questions about their writing.  Following this little conference they are able to complete a final draft with an illustration. Typically in first grade writing this is where we would end, but to further delve into the writing process, I created a checklist for students to use as they revise their storie. After going through their checklist individually, we discussed the value of having a friend look at our stories.  I pointed out how a friend can sometimes catch errors that we could otherwise miss, and that because we are the writer our story makes sense but another person may not understand what we are writing about.  At this point I paired students with a writing buddy who followed the same checklist but then wrote one compliment about what the writer did well, and one question they had about the story.

As I collected all of the pieces that went into this lesson (drafts, checklists, etc.) I was impressed at the thoughtful compliments and questions that students came up with for their buddy's story.  I think that this is a much more positive experience because there is no criticism or negativity.  Even my least confident writers could go through this process knowing that their story would not be made fun of by their buddy.  I attribute this to the sense of community that my mentor and I have built and the ways I set clear expectations. 

This lesson was fantastic for gaining student's interest in writing and teaching the writing process.  It gave student's an authentic purpose because they were writing for an audience.  It met student's needs at all of their individual levels.  I plan to continue to use this process for teaching writing and am excited to see how it evolves as I gain more and more experience.

Link to Writing Checklists:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ed9p82bug3niu3e/Writer%27s%20checklist.docx
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4141651nstj3ncq/Buddy%20Writer%27s%20checklist.docx

First students create a quick sketch of what their story will be about.

Next they write a 1st draft and meet with me for a mini writing conference.  I ask them questions about their story and help them with spelling/grammar.

Once the student has finished their final draft they fill out a Writer's Checklist that tells me whether they have self-assessed their writing for the things I will be looking for (i.e. handwriting, a beginning/middle/end, punctuation).

Finally I select a writing buddy to read each student's story and fill out a second checklist.  In addition they must give one thoughtful compliment and ask an applicable question.

Finally I collect all of these pieces and put them together.  I go over each piece and fill out a rubric of my own to assess the student.