2nd Grade Writing Unit 01 Launching with Nonfiction - The Reading ...

Writing Curricular Calendar, Second Grade, 2011-2012 9You will presumably also want to remind children to write with periods and capitals that signalthe endings and beginnings of sentences. This concept is not a simple one, and although theCommon Core State Standards expect that your students will have already gained command oversuch conventions in first grade, you will want to revisit this concept, particularly if you noticethat students are not regularly attending to such things in their writing. If needed you will want toremind your writers to think of a sentence as a thought, then to write that thought down in a rush,then add the period. Moving to the next thought, you will want to begin to write it using a capitalletter. The Common Core also expects that your writers will come to you already using commasto separate single words in a series, so again you might need to revisit this convention with thosewriters who have not yet grasped this concept, perhaps through small group instruction. Eitherway you address such conventions, be sure that these are not only seen as things to check whileediting as students get ready to publish, but rather these are important aspects of writing, andfrom this day on, your children will want to do this always when they write.Be sure you don’t get overly invested in making September’s published pieces perfect. Don’tfeel that the pieces themselves need to be more focused, more detailed, and more compellingthan they are. These are little kids at the start of the year and their work will not be perfect. Ifyou prop the work up so that it matches your high standards, then the work will not representwhat your children can do, and later you and others will not be able to look at the progression ofpublished pieces to see ways in which children are growing. This is September, and much of thisunit has been consumed with empowering your kids to remember all that they come to secondgrade knowing how to do, so relax. You may choose to have your own private authorcelebration, and then hang the finished work within the safe confines of your own classroom ifyou need to do so in order to let the children’s own work stand.We recommend the simplest possible publishing party so that you get onto the next unit by thestart of your second month of school. Perhaps just put writers into small circles where each onehas a turn to read aloud, with the listeners chiming in after each author reads. Then gather thekids alongside the bulletin board where each writer leaves his or her work in the appropriatesquare, perhaps saying, as he or she does, “I’m proud of the way I….” You could, alternatively,be the one to say what it is that you want to celebrate in each author’s piece.Unit One – Launching with NonfictionReading and Writing Project, 2011 ©DRAFT