Writing, Writing, Everywhere!

A professor once told me, "Writing is the primary basis upon which your work, your learning, and your intellect will be judged—in college, in the workplace, and in the community." He pushed us outside of our comfort zone to create thematic units in which writing was incorporated. He proved to our class that writing is all around us and that in order for our students to succeed they need to be able to write and write well!

This way of thinking has stuck with me in my career. It is our job as teachers to prepare our students for the 21st century. This means that we are preparing them (even in first and second grade) for college and their future careers. 

We have been focusing on writing in all content areas, even in math! The kids are learning to love writing and I can see their writing skills improving in their every day work. The writing program that our district recently adopted has been a GREAT way to get my students excited about writing and to teach them how to write. Currently we are working on the informational unit and have been focusing on transitioning from a story-telling voice to a teaching voice in our writing. Another focus for my students has been using domain-specific vocabulary in their stories. 

Here is an example of a student's informational writing.This student has become an expert on Pompeii. He LOVES to broaden his research channels (World Book Online, National Geographic, fiction stories, etc.) and improve his writing skills by creating a non-fiction chapter book on this topic. This is his introduction page!