What are they teaching kids these days?

Have you ever wondered what they are teaching students in schools today? At Lake Contrary we teach students non-fiction writing during writer's workshop. Writer's workshop is a lesson model for teaching students to write. It is made up of three parts: mini-lesson, independent writing, and author share.

The mini-lesson is a 10-20 minute lesson on a specific objective in writing. This may be grammar, the craft of writing, editing skills, or figurative language. There are many objectives a teacher covers and varies with the writing genre (such a poetry, memoir, research report, etc.) Independent writing is when students pre-write, write, research, edit or revise their paper. The teacher conferences with students one-on-one, takes anecdotal notes, or meets with small groups about their drafts. Author share concludes the lessons and provides students time to share and give feedback on the latest version of their writing.

Here is an example of a 1st grade non-fiction writing piece:

This student began by writing a table of contents for her self selected topic, butterflies. Our first graders were encouraged to ask questions about their topic, research using a plethora of resources, and answer the questions in their book.

Here the student writes the heading and sentence to answer her guiding question.

Notice in the picture the use of bolded words, labels, and illustrations. Just like real non-fiction books!

Finally, the student concludes with her glossary.

When completed you will fine finished works along with rough drafts, rubrics, anchor charts, and objectives posted in our hallways. Students love to share their writing with fellow students, teachers, and parents!