First Graders Celebrate Writing At Authors’ Tea

By Tanjua Damon

Writer’s Workshop at Sandy Hook School proved to be a year full of adventure for first graders who learned not only about the mechanics of writing but also the craft of writing. And to show the writing journey, first graders presented their portfolios to their families during an Authors’ Tea at the school.

Dressed in sophisticated fashion, first grade students presented many of the stories they had created throughout the year for their families on April 27. The group of first graders spent the year working on various styles of writing from lists to memoirs to letter writing to revisions.

“We really wanted to take a closer look at writing workshop,” Jacqueline McMahon said. “We would really like to structure writer’s workshop for mechanics, but also for the craft of good writing.”

The teachers used Touchstone Texts to show good writing and to give students an example of the kind of writing a particular piece was being created for in their portfolio.

“The children come to us with a strong foundation in writing,” Patricia Vitarelli said. “Now we want them to focus on one topic. Touchstone Texts exemplify qualities of good writing.”

Students worked on writing lists that pertained to a particular topic. The list writing ranged from “to do lists” to a recipe or directions on how to do something to how to get somewhere.

Memoir writing was also used; students could create stories about their own personal experiences or people who were special to them. The first graders published books about “Stories From the Heart,” and did a class book related to Jamie Lee Curtis’ When I Was Little.

“We had the students write about things they know,” Ms Vitarelli said. “We talked about how writers write about things they know about.”

Then students worked on the craft of writing, learning to develop strong lead sentences, using three statements to add to the idea, and to incorporate dialogue into their stories, providing interaction between characters.

“The children really had a chance as a craft to draw the reader in,” Ms McMahon said. “It’s a great technique to teach children because so often they make these big statements. This allows the children to elaborate as to why. There is really more to that big idea and they can substantiate it.”

Students also spent time rewriting and reworking previously written pieces. The revision allowed for students to understand that improvements can always be made to a piece of work and that writings can be looked at as works in progress to refine and reshape beginnings, middles, or ends of any story.

“There’s no such thing as I’m done or the end. You can always make the story a little stronger, a little more interesting,” Ms Vitarelli said. “Students really see that the whole rewriting is not a painful process. Those changes can make the story stronger. Kids really have a lot of incentive in that process.”

Letter writing was another area students learned. The students wrote post cards, thank you letters, and friendly letters, wrote to pen pals and sent a persuasive letter home. The style combined the use of mechanics and craft.

“Children were able to experience that writing as an authentic piece of writing,” Kristen Snopkowski said.

Memoirs revisited allowed students to have a finished published piece creating a story that was later put in a hard cover book with a dedication page, title page, and an “About the Author” page.

“They truly feel like authors,” Ms McMahon said.