FIRST AND SECOND GRADE EXPLICIT WRITING CURRICULUM with WRITING PROMPTS

Are you ready to get stellar results through explicit and systematic writing instruction? If so, these completely done-for-you 1st-grade and 2nd-grade writing curriculums each include a year's worth of structured writing lessons, prompts, and activities for teaching opinion writing, informational writing, personal narrative writing, and beginning-of-the-year writing skills in first grade and second grade.

With this curriculum, we literally take your hand and walk you through, step-by-step, teaching writing every day of the year.

Teaching writing truly will become the easiest, and most joyful, part of your day.

o say goodbye to teacher overwhelm and hello to your newfound confidence as an amazing teacher of writing.

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Each of these yearlong writing curriculums includes 160 digital step-by-step lesson plans, all the blackline masters you'll need, colorful posters, experiences for students to write about, ebooks, and daily step-by-step directions to make your teacher's life as stress-free as possible.

We are talking NO PREP for opinion, informative, and beginning-of-the-year writing units and minimal prep for personal narrative writing. Each unit will take no more than 5 minutes of planning each day!

Talk about a time saver!

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These Standards Aligned resources set ALL learners up to become confident, successful writers. They're written in an organized, systematic format that helps students gradually learn how to write interesting sentences, opinion papers, informative papers, and personal narratives.

You'll LOVE how easy it is to implement.

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A unique feature of this writing curriculum is that it includes eBooks and common experiences for background building so all students have something to write about.

ALL the resources you need are included in this unit (except for a few supplies needed for the personal narrative unit)!

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WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY ABOUT TEACHING WRITING?

While there is a massive amount of research on best practice in reading, that is not the case with writing.

A few books we recommend you read if you want to learn more about best practice in writing instruction using evidence-based strategies are:

• The Writing Revolution by Judith C. Hochman and Natalie Wexler
• The Writing Rope by Joan Sedita
• Best Practices in Writing Instruction by Steve Graham, Charles A MacArthur, and Michael Hebert

What we do know is that writing is an extremely complex skill that requires time and solid instruction. (Graham et al., 2012)

Additionally...

• Writing should be taught systematically and explicitly
• Writing instruction should be carefully scaffolded

Our curriculums provide teachers with DAILY scripted lessons that are explicit, systematic, and scaffolded. Students are so successful because of the gradual release of responsibility, explicit instruction, and daily writing practice where they implement the use of skills taught.

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WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THIS RESOURCE for EACH GRADE LEVEL?

160 DIGITAL LESSON PLANS – No need to search for your lesson plans or spend an enormous amount of time reading them each day. We have them right on the slides - making your teaching life stress-free.

Digital Lessons Include:

· “I Will” Statements – To keep students laser-focused on the objective of the day. We use “I will” statements instead of “I can” statements as they hold the students more accountable

· Writing Chats – To introduce topics and build background information and vocabulary

· Watch Me Slides – For the teacher to show the objective through thinking aloud and modeling. This is oftentimes interactive to keep student engagement high.

· Our Turn Slides – For students to practice the new skill with you.

· Your Turn Slides – For students to independently practice the skill learned.

PRINTABLE PAGES – After each writing skill has been explicitly taught and practiced, students are held responsible for their learning by engaging in a writing assignment aligned to the day's learning target. Extra generic, printable pages are included in the Opinion, Informative, and Personal Narrative units to offer you quick and easy resources to differentiate assignments for your students.

OBSERVATION CHECKLISTS – Great for formative assessment! As you walk around and observe students, record your findings. These easy-to-use checklists help you remember who is meeting targeted standards and who needs extra help. These checklists are helpful tools to refer to when planning for parent-teacher conferences.

WRITING RUBRICS – Each unit includes a writing rubric that is perfect for grading and discussing goals and progress with students and parents.

POSTERS - Each unit contains a set of posters to display in your classroom for students to refer to. There is a total of 138 posters.

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HERE IS A GLIMPSE OF THE FOCUS FOR EACH FIRST-GRADE UNIT:

Building the Foundation:

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 1 – Draw detailed pictures using shapes & lines

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 2 – Label pictures using best-guess spelling

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 3 – Write complete sentences

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 4 – Write complete sentences & lists

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 5 – Write stronger sentences

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 6 – Write more than one sentence on a topic

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 7 – Write more than one sentence to answer a question

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 8 – Respond to questions to strengthen writing

Informational Writing:

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 1 – Identify and write facts and opinions

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 2 – Write factual sentences

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 3 – Write a topic sentence and factual sentences

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 4 – Closing sentences, note-taking, informative writing

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 5 – Write an informative paper

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 6 – Write an informative paper

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 7 – Write an informative paper

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 8 – Write an informative paper

Opinion Writing:

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 1 – Distinguish fact from opinion

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 2 – Write an opinion statement and reasons for it

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 3 – Use opinion sentence starters

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 4 – Write an opinion paper with a closing sentence

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 5 – Practice opinion writing independently (linking words)

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 6 – Practice opinion writing independently

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 7 – Practice opinion writing independently

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 8 – Practice opinion writing independently

Personal Narrative Writing:

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 1 – Exposure to features of a personal narrative (what a personal narrative is; beginning/middle/end; temporal words; closure)

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 2 – Together, make a story plan for a class personal narrative (Quick Sketch)

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 3 – Together, make and use a story plan to write a class personal narrative (lesson on adding details)

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 4 – After teacher modeling, write a personal narrative with details (specific actions the character does, feelings, adjectives)

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 5 – Make a story plan and write a personal narrative

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 6 – Make a story plan and write a personal narrative

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 7 – Make a story plan and write a personal narrative

· WRITING FOCUS WEEK 8 – Make a story plan and write a personal narrative

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HERE IS A GLIMPSE OF THE FOCUS FOR EACH SECOND-GRADE UNIT:

Building the Foundation - Each Week's WRITING FOCUS

• WEEK 1 - Write complete sentences with a subject and predicate
• WEEK 2 - Write statements, questions, and exclamatory sentences
• WEEK 3 - Recall information from experiences or gather information to write answers to questions
• WEEK 4 - Write expanded sentences by adding a when, where, why, and/or what
• WEEK 5 - Write expanded sentences by adding adjectives and adverbs
• WEEK 6 - Identify parts of a paragraph & complete unfinished paragraphs
• WEEK 7 - Write paragraphs with a topic sentence, interesting details, and a closing sentence
• WEEK 8 - Edit and revise their own writing & be introduced to peer editing

Information Writing - Each Week's Writing Focus

• WEEK 1 - Identify and write facts and opinions
• WEEK 2 - Note-taking, idea webs, and writing factual sentences
• WEEK 3 - Topic sentences, closing, sentences, and elaboration
• WEEK 4 - Create an informative writing piece
• WEEK 5 - Create an informative writing piece
• WEEK 6 - Create an informative writing piece/revise and edit
• WEEK 7 - Create an informative writing piece/revise and edit
• WEEK 8 - Create an informative writing piece/peer revise and edit

Opinion Writing - Each week's writing focus

• WEEK 1 - Facts, opinions, and reasons
• WEEK 2 - Opinion statement, reasons with linking words, & concluding statement
• WEEK 3 - Elaborate on reasons by providing examples and evidence
• WEEK 4 - Revise and edit writing
• WEEK 5 - Write opinion pieces about books/revise and edit
• WEEK 6 - Practice opinion writing/revise and edit
• WEEK 7 - Practice opinion writing/peer revision and editing
• WEEK 8 - Practice opinion writing

Personal Narrative Writing:

• WEEK 1 – Features of a personal narrative
• WEEK 2 – With guidance, use a story plan to write a class personal narrative
• WEEK 3 – Write a personal narrative; begin to revise and edit
• WEEK 4 – Zoom in on a smaller moment; describe actions to strengthen writing
• WEEK 5 – Describe actions and feelings to strengthen writing; introduce dialogue
• WEEK 6 – Write a personal narrative that begins with a story hook
• WEEK 7 – Include adjectives and adverbs in a personal narrative
• WEEK 8 – Write a personal narrative/peer revise and edit

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WHY EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION FOR WRITING?

It’s simple… IT WORKS!

Explicit instruction (also called direct instruction) works for all writers…not just the stronger ones. It’s a strategy that allows teachers to scaffold learning by giving structured, sequenced lessons targeting specific skills or standards. It’s teacher-led with a gradual release of responsibility to students. This method truly allows all students to succeed.

If you are thinking, that doesn’t sound like Writer’s Workshop, you’re right. It’s not. Years ago, we implemented Writer’s Workshop in our classrooms, but it didn’t work for us… or our students.

The biggest problem was that it was very difficult to manage and keep students on track. It was also a planning nightmare trying to find mini-lessons to match our students’ diverse needs. And to make matters worse, when we gave mini-lessons students didn’t necessarily practice the targeted skill because they were at a different stage of the writing process.

We were disappointed, frustrated, and knew we had to do something different.

We decided to put structure and intentionality into our teaching. We clearly state what students will be working on, give thoughtful instruction through modeling and discussion, and provide time to practice as we observe and guide. It is so simple to manage and gives students the support they need. The result? Students are now writing better than ever! This method truly works!

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WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF USING THIS STRUCTURED WRITING RESOURCE?

❤️ The entry point for each writing unit is assessable to all learners.

❤️ Lessons are carefully and thoughtfully scaffolded, ensuring success for all.

❤️ The Watch Me, Our Turn, Your Turn format sets your first-grade writers up for success.

❤️ Your students will be highly engaged and motivated to write.

❤️ Experiences and background information is brought to students to ensure ALL students have something to write about.

❤️ At the completion of these units, your students will be confident, successful writers of opinion, informative, and personal narrative papers.

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WHO IS THE RESOURCE FOR?

• First and second-grade teachers looking for strong, yet easy-to-implement, writing curriculums that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards and are fun for kids.

• Special Education Teachers who need to teach students the basics of beginning sentences, opinion writing, informative writing, and personal narrative writing using a direct instruction approach.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Do students complete a writing assignment each day?

Yes, students engage in a writing activity each day. The assignments are highly engaging and help hold students accountable for their learning.

Does this follow a Writers’ Workshop model?

No. Students are explicitly taught a writing skill each day, then they practice the skill taught.

Can this be used with Google Slides?

Yes! We have included a link to a Google Slides version in this resource.

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TEACHERS LIKE YOU SAID:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If I could reach through the computer and hug you both I would! I create all of my resources that I use in my room. Writing is the only component I'm missing and I don't have the time to create it. Thank goodness! This is soooo AMAZING and I would have missed out! You have thought of everything and my students are loving it. I feel like it is just the right amount each day, and I love all of the reviewing and scaffolding that is included. My lesson plans are done for the year and I can't thank you enough. I will be recommending this resource to anyone that will listen to me. Great work! P.S. RAISE the PRICE. I would have paid triple what you are asking for this product. HANDS DOWN...my favorite TpT purchase.

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"I have hated teaching writing for 14 years. I've never been able to find something that worked for me. I've bought so many writing curriculums from tpt. They were all wonderful resources with great thought and detail put into them. However, none of them helped me stop hating teaching writing. This resource is different. I got it because of the whole "no planning, extra time" piece. But wow. Writing is now my favorite part of the day. These lessons are so direct and explicit. The kids know exactly what to expect and do. I now know what has been wrong with my writing time for all these years. It's the workshop approach. It doesn't work for me. If it does for you, great. But if you are like me and writing time is torture, try this out. It will forever change the way you write in your classroom." -HAPPY TEACHER

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This is hands-down the best writing resource I have used. It has been a complete game-changer in my classroom. The stress of planning and teaching writing is gone and my students LOVE writing time! Thank you so much! - Kimberly

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LOVE THIS RESOURCE! I feel like I am actually being productive while teaching writing this year and I can see a HUGE difference in my students' skills! Writing has been one of my struggles and this has been a game-changer! I love it so much that I convinced my team to give it a try as well as the 1st-grade team to grab a copy of the 1st-grade writing unit! CAN'T WAIT for the rest of 2nd grade to be ready! I am also excited to see how next year goes after having first grade go through their version of the writing program this year (yay vertical teaming)!!! - Erin

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Team Primary Bliss Teaching