First Grade writers are marking the start of 2023 with an assignment all about resolutions. This week, literacy exercises and class read-alouds looked at some differences between non-fiction, informational texts and narrative fiction. Building off their “Hopes & Dreams” exercises from the start of the year, and inspired by real-life changemakers like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., first graders are using all phases of the writing process to produce a paragraph that shares one of their goals or intentions for 2023. After brainstorming at least three ideas about goals they wanted to set, students planned their paragraph structure, wrote a rough draft, received teacher feedback, made revisions, and are now working on writing the final draft.
Expanding an idea with a “how” sentence, and writing opening and closing sentences develop students’ growing understanding of paragraph organization, and build their skills to write non-fiction sentences that connect logically. Connecting multiple sentences in their writing also provides additional opportunities to practice already learned skills of using finger spaces, beginning sentences with a capital letter, and ending with punctuation. Their authentic investment in writing for the purpose of sharing their goals with classmates and teachers was palpable on Thursday as they chattered excitedly about resolutions ranging from “figuring out multiplication” to “learning cursive” and “doing a full back bend” to “beating my video game.” We can’t wait to help them achieve their dreams this year!