We write A LOT of stories in second grade! The students are full of creative ideas and are learning how to turn them into excellent stories. In second grade we use the 6+1 traits of writing. The 6+1 Traits are:
Ideas * Organization * Voice * Word Choice * Sentence Fluency * Conventions * Presentation
In second grade ideas are the topics we come up with and write about. We might write a story about our family, special times with friends, pets, special trips, memories of school, or a sport we play.
Organization is how we put our writing together. In second grade we will learn that every story has a beginning, middle, and end and needs to flow in a logical sequence.
Our voice is the unique way we tell the story, it is how our personality shines through in our work.
In second grade we begin to take all the awesome vocabulary words that we are learning and use them in our writing. Something that was "good" might become "amazing," "spectacular," or "incredible." The "big" dog might become "gigantic," "enormous" or "humongous." Word choice means taking worn out words and trading them for more sophisticated and more descriptive words which really make our story come to life.
Sentence fluency is how the sentences in our stories sound to the ear, not just how they looks on paper. In second grade we are learning what make a good sentence, and what makes a better sentence. We learn about beginning sentences in a variety of ways, using sentences of varying lengths, and making sure our sentences flow together to make an excellent story.
Conventions are the mechanics of the story. This is where Writer's Workshop connects to our Language Arts series. In second grade we begin the year learning about different types of sentences. We learn about capitalization, punctuation makes, parts of speech, and many other aspects of the English language. When we write stories we remember to always begin them with capital letters, end them with correct punctuation marks and use commas, quotation marks and capital letters appropriately.
Presentation is when we take our stories and publish them. We use our best handwriting and even illustrate our stories. We also share our finished products with our classmates.
In second grade, the focus of Writer's Workshop is on the writing process, rather than the final product. We are learning how to become better writers, rather than just writing to create specific stories. Students have a lot of freedom to develop their own unique and creative pieces. We try and write almost every day and from the very beginning students learn that, as writers, "when you think you're done, you've only just begun." Students may write several pieces before we choose one and turn it into a published story.
Here are some pictures of our class decorating our writing journals.
