Our Published Writing!

302 has been busy publishing our Personal Narratives. After going through the entire Writing Process– collecting entries, choosing a seed idea, drafting, revising, and editing…our pieces are finally ready for an audience.  We plan on sharing these polished pieces with our sixth grade buddies this week.  I am proud of the students for really working hard to revise their drafts- many students really lingered with their work and made revisions by adding greater detail and dialogue. Many students have also revised by organizing their writing into paragraphs. In personal narrative, deciding where to place a paragraph is a craft choice. I have taught students some possibilities:

Writers begin a new paragraph when:

Paragraphing is a crucial skill that writers need to give their writing organization and structure.  You may have noticed that students have been writing a paragraph in response to a prompt for homework.  For this type of writing, we have provided a structure for students to use:

Please understand that this is a “recipe” for writing a clear paragraph, structured to organize a main idea and supporting details. It’s not the only way to write a paragraph! Writing is structured different ways, for different purposes, and different audiences. While I want the students to practice this structure and use it when it’s appropriate (such as on the State tests), it’s certainly not the only way they should write.

Upcoming Dates and Reminders:

PLEASE SEND TRIP SLIPS AND TRIP MONEY IN ASAP!

January 26th– Trip to the Recycling Center (We will be taking the subway!)- Please sign the Permission Slip AND the Recycling Center Waiver.

February 7th : BAM for “The Magic City” (all trip slips and money were submitted for this back in the Fall)

February 27th: College of Staten Island for the performance- “The Dragon’s Tale” ($10)

March 7th-  Astronaut Adventures at the NY Center for Aerospace.  ($4)

I sent out an email about chaperones for the Recycling Center Trip- I will send out another for chaperones for BAM and “The Dragon’s Tale” at CSI  this week.