Writer's Workshop: Whole-Class Projects
_Rationale
The next whole-class writing project we are building to is Residential Schools: Newspaper Articles Exploring Causes and Consequences. This project integrates our class's current Social Studies inquiry into Residential Schools with our study of Text Structures and Genres. The following activities are to be done as short mini-lessons to build an understanding of features of expository writing to prepare students to begin the Residential Schools: Newspaper Articles Exploring Causes and Consequences project.
Activity Description
Activity #1: Features of News Articles
Activity #2: Voice
Activity #3: Causes and Consequences
The primary purpose of an article is to inform the public about something that happened. Understanding the precursors to an event and the consequences is an important aspect of writing news articles.
Activity #4: Pre-Writing to Organize Ideas
This activity builds on student research done during our Residential Schools inquiry during Social Studies.
PROCESS NOTES:
Assessment
The next whole-class writing project we are building to is Residential Schools: Newspaper Articles Exploring Causes and Consequences. This project integrates our class's current Social Studies inquiry into Residential Schools with our study of Text Structures and Genres. The following activities are to be done as short mini-lessons to build an understanding of features of expository writing to prepare students to begin the Residential Schools: Newspaper Articles Exploring Causes and Consequences project.
Activity Description
Activity #1: Features of News Articles
- Pass out copies of a short news article to students.
- Have students work in small groups to create a list of important features of a news article.
- Bring groups together to discuss and compile an anchor chart of features.
- Release students to dissect their most recent Current Event Study article, noting features on the list and other things they notice.
Activity #2: Voice
- Start the block asking students to write a short recount of a personal story (losing a tooth, breaking a bone, getting a surprise...etc) and give students 5 minutes to quickly jot down their story.
- Present a short, prepared first-person recount of a personal story and a news article's coverage of the same story. In a whole-class discussion, compare the differences in voice and sentence structure. Release students to rewrite their stories in the style of a news article.
Activity #3: Causes and Consequences
The primary purpose of an article is to inform the public about something that happened. Understanding the precursors to an event and the consequences is an important aspect of writing news articles.
- Using a particularly interesting article from Current Event Study, model for the class how to identify the causes and consequences associated with the story using the Q Chart.
- Release students into pairs to work on identifying the causes and consequences of a Current Event Study article of their choice.
Activity #4: Pre-Writing to Organize Ideas
This activity builds on student research done during our Residential Schools inquiry during Social Studies.
- Model for students how to use a graphic organizer during pre-writing to organize their ideas and information.
- Each student will use an event from their time period and the associated causes and consequences as the basis for their article.
PROCESS NOTES:
- After the initial mini-lessons, students will most likely work on free writing projects during Writer's Workshop
- After Activity #4, students will be ready to work independently on their projects, checking in as needed to edit, revise, and conference
- This entire project will be completed over 3-4 weeks with the first two activities taking place in the first week
- Since this project is heavily integrated with Social Studies, it's progression depends on the pace of the Social Studies inquiry. Maintaining personal writing projects during Writer's Workshop ensures that there is always real writing for students to work on.
Assessment
- Students will keep all of the artifacts from Writer's Workshop in their portfolios to track their progress with the project
- Give students feedback during conferences to help them move forward
- Use the mnemonic V.O.I.C.E. to guide students through the writing, editing, and revision process, and to guide assessment
Ontario Curriculum Connections
Balanced Literacy Food Groups: Writing Processes & Strategies, Text Structures & Genres
Language Arts: Writing
Balanced Literacy Food Groups: Writing Processes & Strategies, Text Structures & Genres
Language Arts: Writing
Purpose and Audience
1.1 identify the topic, purpose, and audience for a variety of writing forms |
Organizing Ideas
1.5 identify and order main ideas and sup- porting details and group them into units that could be used to develop a structured, multi-paragraph piece of writing, using a variety of strategies |
Voice
2.2 establish a distinctive voice in their writing appropriate to the subject and audience |
Point of View
2.5 identify their point of view and other possible points of view; determine, when appropriate, if their own view is balanced and supported by the evidence; and adjust their thinking and expression if appropriate |
Social Studies: Communities in Canada, Past and Present
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