Lesson Name: FIrst 20 Days of Writing- Week 1 Literacy Lesson

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Grading Period: 1 9 Weeks, Week 1 Grade level: 1st Grade Writing

Suggested Pacing: General Ed/ESL: 5 Days (60 minutes daily)

Dual Language: Adjust according to your recommended Language Arts minutes.
Also refer to ELD components.

Lesson Components

Lesson Objectives:
The students will begin participating in Writer’s Workshop. They will learn the necessary procedures and how to use
the tools in the classroom to support their own writing. The students will learn how to choose ideas and start to
expand on topics with words and illustrations.

Language Objectives:
The students will, generate topics by talking with partners & teacher, listen to ideas from peers, and write about
their topic of choice in the form of words and illustrations.

English Language Proficiency Standards: Mandated by Texas Administrative Code (19 TAC §74.4), click on the link for
English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) to support English Language Learners. Teachers should use the ELPS
to help write language objectives. Language objectives coordinate with the lesson’s content.

Prior Learning:
Students will need to know the basic vocabulary associated with concepts of print (words, illustrations, etc).

Standards(Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills):

1.17 Writing/Writing Process. Students use elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and
publishing) to compose text.
1.17A plan a first draft by generating ideas for writing (e.g., drawing, sharing ideas, listing key ideas);
1.17B develop drafts by sequencing ideas through writing sentences;
1.17C revise drafts by adding or deleting a word, phrase, or sentence;
1.17D edit drafts for grammar, punctuation, and spelling using a teacher-developed rubric; and
1.17E publish and share writing with others.

1.18 Writing/Literary Texts. Students write literary texts to express their ideas and feelings about real or imagined
people, events, and ideas. Students are expected to:
1.18A write brief stories that include a beginning, middle, and end;

College and Career Readiness:

Compose a variety of texts that demonstrate clear focus, the logical development of ideas in well-organized pieces,
and the use of appropriate language that advances the author’s purpose

Essential Questions:
· How do authors choose their topics?
· How do authors incorporate illustrations to enhance their meaning?

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· ¿Cómo escogen los autores sus temas?
· ¿Cómo incorporan ilustraciones los autores para mejorar su intención?

Vocabulary Essential: writer, author, illustration, topic / escritor, autor, ilustración, tema
Supporting: tools / herramientas

Lesson ● Gather writing folder or notebooks (whichever you prefer for the students to use to
Preparation collect their ideas) and materials to personalize them.
● Organize your writing area so that supplies are readily accessible for the students to use
independently.

Find copies of the following book titles, select a few of your favorite books to read or use some of
the titles from your reading lessons:
Written Anything Good Lately? By Susan Allen
Querido Pedrín by Alma Flor Ada
No David! By David Shannon/!No David! By David Shannon
Tuesday by David Wiesner/ Martes by David Wiesner

Anchors of
Support
Our Writer’s Workshop Schedule Nuestro horario de taller de escritores

Writers’ Meeting (10 minutes) Reunión de escritores (10 minutos)

Writing Time (25 minutes) Tiempo de escritura (25 minutos)
Sharing Time (5 minutes) Tiempo de compartir (5 minutos)

When I’m Finished… Cuando he terminado puedo...

o Add to the picture o Agregar un dibujo
o Add to the words o Agregar unas palabras
o Start a new piece o Empiezo una nueva escritura

Writer’s Workshop
Looks Like Sounds Like

Writers writing Writers using one inch voices

Writers sharing tools Writers talking about their ideas

Writers thinking

Taller de escritura
Se ve como Suena como

Escritores escribiendo Escritores usando voz baja

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 Escritores compartiendo Escritores hablando de sus ideas
herramientas

Escritores pensando

Differentiation Special Education: Provide students with specific instructions regarding tools to help them write
Strategies words (e.g. letter sound cards, ABC books, picture dictionaries, word wall, etc). Refer to the
student’s IEP for other routinely offered accommodations.
English Language Learners: For students who are just beginning to learn English, allow them to
choose to write in their native language or English. Provide students with specific instructions
regarding tools to help them write words (e.g. letter sound cards, ABC books, picture dictionaries,
word wall, resources in their native language, etc).
Extension for Learning: For students who are comfortable writing at the beginning of the year,
provide them with modified paper that has more room for them to write and grow their ideas.

English Language Proficiency Standards: Mandated by Texas Administrative Code (19 TAC §74.4), click on the link for
English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) to support English Language Learners.

Lesson Cycle

Lesson Stages Day 1: Starting the Writer’s Workshop

Writing Focus Lesson:

● Explain that every day the children will work in a Writing Workshop and that the
workshop will always begin with a meeting. Tell the children they are going to become
writers.
● Introduce students to their Writing Notebooks/ folders/spirals. This will be the special
place where they will keep their writing.

Engage: Begin by asking the students “What do writers write about?”/ ¿Qué escriben los
autores?
Record their answers on the chart paper.
● Tell them that they are going to begin their work as writers today to do all kinds of
writing like real writers do.

Read the poem Things I Like to Do/Las cosas que me gusta hacer by Pam Schiller and RAfael
Lara-Alecio

These are the things I like to do

Read a book
Paint a picture
Ride a tricycle
Eat an ice cream cone
Play with a ball

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 Swing
Build with blocks
Swim
Take a bath
Eat Pancakes
Hold a frog
What do you like to do?

Las cosas que me gusta hacer

Leer un libro,
Pintar un cuadro,
Montar en bicicleta,
Comer un helado,
Jugar con una pelota,
Nadar,
Construir con bloques,
Columpiarme,
Tomar un baño, y
Comer panqueques
!Y me gusta atrapar una rana saltarina!

Collaborative Groups: (Students work with partners) Social & Emotional Learning
● “Writers sometimes write about things they like to do. /A veces los autores escriben
sobre cosas que les gusta hacer.
Ask students What do you like to do?”
● Students discuss with a partner their ideas to personalize their writing notebooks.

Independent Writing:
● Students personalize their writing notebooks to promote a sense of excitement and
Formative ownership. Students can draw or decorate the front cover of their writing notebook.
Assessment →
● Teacher should watch and softly speak to all students as they work to personalize their
writing notebooks. Show interest in the pictures, colors, words/letters they have
chosen to use. Draw connections between their markings and illustrations and the
stories they will write in these notebooks. Make sure to encourage each student’s work
as a writer.

● Share/Reflect: Gather the whole group together to allow students to share how they
decorated their notebooks with one another. You may want to add on to the chart with
more ideas from students. This chart will serve as a bank of ideas for a future mini-
lesson

Choose a Brain Break activity between transitions or when you see students need a
wiggle break.

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 Go Noodle Brain break: Brain breaks are quick ways to get students moving, motivated or re-
energized. Brain breaks are also great for creating classroom environment & community. It’s
free to sign up for a Go Noodle account.
https://app.gonoodle.com/channels/awesome-sauce/alpha-groove?s=category&t=ELA

Day 2: Writing in the Writer’s Workshop

Anchor Chart:

Writer’s Workshop looks like: Writer’s Workshop sounds like:

Writers writing Writers using one inch voices

Writers sharing tools Writers talking about their ideas

Formative Writers thinking Teacher talking with students about their

Assessment → writing

El taller de escritura se ve como: El taller de escritura suena como:

Escritores escribiendo Escritores usando voz baja

Escritores compartiendo herramientas Escritores hablando de sus ideas

Writing Focus Lesson:

● Show the children how you go about choosing a topic you know and care about.
● Show them that you begin by thinking about your subject, and then you sketch it from
the image in your mind.
● Next, show the children that using words aloud, you say the whole idea that you’ll
write. Then, you write your idea one word at a time.
● Model organizing your writing on the page with attention to spacing, directionality,
skipping lines, adding a name and date.
● Establish where the students will work in the classroom, practice your attention getting
signal, and provide clear expectations for their voice levels (Quiet Zone vs. Silent
Zone.) / (Zona Tranquila vs. Zona en Silencio)
● Explain to the students that what you’ve demonstrated is what they will now do.

Collaborative Groups: (Students work with partners)

Students discuss ideas to write about with a partner. Have students take turns sharing out with
a partner. Partner A talks while Partner B listens. Partner B talks while Partner A listens. You
may want to model this with two students before having students share.

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 Darse vuelta y hablar

1. Sentarse con las piernas cruzadas.

2. Mirar a los ojos.

3. Un amigo hablo , el otro escucho

4. Cambiar/Tomar turnos.

Independent Writing:
● Students illustrate & write on their own in their Writer’s Notebook. Remind them to
sketch their thoughts and write their ideas, while paying attention to spacing.

Teacher should watch and softly speak to all students as they work to personalize their writing
notebooks. Show interest in the pictures, colors, words/letters they have chosen to use. Draw
connections between their markings and illustrations and the stories they will write in these
notebooks. Make sure to encourage each student’s work as a writer.

Choose a Brain Break activity between transitions or when you see students need a
wiggle break.
GoNoodle Brain break: Brain breaks are quick ways to get students moving, motivated or re-
energized. Brain breaks are also great for creating classroom environment & community. It’s
free to sign up for a GoNoodle account.
https://app.gonoodle.com/channels/awesome-sauce/alpha-groove?s=category&t=ELA

Share/Reflect: Gather the whole group together to allow students to share what they wrote
today. (Even if they only drew a picture, we still refer to it as their writing.) You may choose to

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 have students share in partners or in small groups of 3 or 4 so that everyone gets a chance to
share.

Day 3: Carrying On Independently As Writers

Writing Focus Lesson:
● Remind the children that today and every day the writing workshop will begin with a
mini-lesson. Remind them of what happens in a mini-lesson.
● Tell the children what you’ll teach them today: What writers do when they think
they’re done.
● Reenact the process of writing yesterday’s story, showing the children that when you
are done, you decide to add on to the writing, to the picture, or you write a new story.
● Name what you’ve done that you hope your children will do now and always:

When I’m Finished… Cuando ya termino…

o I add to the picture o Yo agrego al dibujo

o I add to the words o Yo agrego a las palabras
o I start a new piece of writing o Yo empiezo una nueva pieza
de escritura

Collaborative Groups: (Students work with partners) Social & Emotional Learning
● The students will discuss with a partner their ideas to write about today. Students will
choose one idea to write about and complete that entry in their Writer’s Notebook.

Independent Writing:
● The students will try the new skill on their own. They will either add to the picture, add
to the words, or start a new entry.

Walk around and observe students during this time. Ask the students to tell you the story they
have written (whether the story is in pictures, letters, or words.) Listen for details that the
writer says but are not included in the picture, letters, or words. Suggest that the writer add
these details to their story. Continue to show enthusiasm for all the writers in the room.

Brain break: Brain breaks are quick ways to get students moving, motivated or re-
energized. Brain breaks are also great for creating classroom environment & community. It’s
free to sign up for a GoNoodle account. https://app.gonoodle.com/channels/koo-koo-kanga-
roo/zap-it?s=Channel&t=Koo%20Koo%20Kanga%20Roo

Share/Reflect: Gather the whole group together to sum up, share, and celebrate. This is a
teaching time for the teacher and can be used to talk about workshop expectations and
noticings by the teacher or students. Ask students what were things they tried when they
thought they were done with their writing and illustrations.

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 Day 4: Establishing Expectations and Using Supplies Independently

Writing Focus Lesson:

● Tell the children that writers not only write on topics they care about, but writers also
have special writing tools.
● Teach the students how the supply system will work. Demonstrate how the tools
should be used. Tell the students this will be the daily system for using supplies in
writing workshop.
● Create a ‘Looks Like/Sounds Like’ / “Se ve como/Suena como” chart with the students
and revisit this chart during the writing period to point out things that are going well
and things that need to be improved.

Collaborative Groups:: (Students work with partners) Social & Emotional Learning
● Allow the students to work with partners to practice getting and using supplies.

Mini-lesson:
Teacher can refer back to the chart listing things individual students like or like to do. The
teacher can model from her/his own idea and show students how to begin with a picture and
then add words using some of the supplies students will have access to.

Independent Writing:
● The students will complete a journal entry in their Writer’s Notebook using the supply
system. Stop writers briefly to address a teaching point: Beginning a criteria chart for
their writing. Your criteria chart may look like this:

Writing in our Writer’s Notebook:

● Write about topics you know and care about.
● Write using pictures, letters, and words.
● Follow our guidelines for using the writing tools.

Escribiendo en nuestra libreta de escritura:

● Escribo acerca de temas que me gusta.
● Uso dibujos, letras y palabras cuando escribo.
● Sigo las reglas para usar las herramientas de
escritura.

Walk around and observe students. Some students will need assistance with orally telling more
about their story. You can use questions such as the following to elicit more details in their oral
retellings.

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 - What picture do you have in your mind?
- Where does your story take place?
- Who was there?
- ¿Qué imagen tienes en tu mente?
- ¿Dónde toma lugar tu cuento?
- ¿Quién estuvo allí?

- How can you draw that part in this picture?

- What words can you add to write that part of the story?
- ¿Cómo puedes dibujar ese parte del dibujo?
- ¿Qué palabras o etiquetas puedes añadir?

Share/Reflect:
● Gather the whole group together to go over the Writing Workshop routine with the
students. Praise the class for being great writers and using the supply system following
the class guidelines.

Choose a Brain Break activity between transitions or when you see students need a
wiggle break. Go Noodle Brain break: Brain breaks are quick ways to get students moving,
motivated or re-energized. Brain breaks are also great for creating classroom environment &
community. It’s free to sign up for a Go Noodle account.
https://app.gonoodle.com/channels/awesome-sauce/alpha-groove?s=category&t=ELA

Day 5: Telling Stories in Illustrations

Writing Focus Lesson:
● Introduce an example from your read aloud during reading of how an expert author
uses detailed illustrations to help tell a story.
● Tell the students that you’ll teach them how to approach writing with an idea in mind.
Demonstrate this concept by selecting an event the entire class has experienced. (See
video for demonstration lesson).
● Then tell the story through drawings and adding details that you envision.
● Have the students join in to help you add parts of the story to the illustration.

Collaborative Groups: (Students work with partners) Social & Emotional Learning
● Remind the students to get a picture in their minds before they write, and then to add
details they envision to their drawings.
● The students will discuss with a partner one idea and how they can describe it through
an illustration with details.

Independent Writing:
● The students will then draw with detail the idea they discussed with their partner and
write it in their Writer’s Notebook. Add: ‘When you think you are done, add on to the
picture, add on to the words, or write a new story.’ to your criteria chart.

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 As you walk around and observe students, some may need assistance with orally telling more
about their story. You can use questions such as the following to elicit more details in their oral
retellings.
- What picture do you have in your mind?
- Where does your story take place?
- Who was there?
- ¿Qué imagen tienes en tu mente?
- ¿Dónde toma lugar tu cuento?
- ¿Quién estuvo allí?

- How can you draw that part in this picture?

- What words can you add to write that part of the story?
- ¿Cómo puedes dibujar ese parte del dibujo?
- ¿Qué palabras o etiquetas puedes añadir?

Share/Reflect:
● Gather the whole group together to study an illustration that contains enough details
to tell a story in itself.
● Remind the students to do the same kind of studying with their own pictures and add
details when working in their Writer’s Notebooks.

Closure Activity Have the students share with the whole group what they learned about themselves as writers
this week and what they plan to work on next week.

Check for Formative: Anecdotal records from writing conferences with individual writers
Understanding
(Evaluation) Summative: Evaluations of students finished writing samples using teacher-generated rubrics.

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