Leap Into Literacy: Grade 1
February/March
Writing Reviews
First graders will dive into opinion writing in Unit 3 of Writing Workshop: Writing Reviews. In this exciting unit of study, students will focus on the power and purpose of writing while creating reviews of toys, food, games, sports, and ultimately books!
Teachers can prepare students for developing and supporting their opinions by reading mentor texts with strong persuasive voices. Take a look at the image below of recommended literature for mentor text selection.
Teachers may also consider offering students opportunities to take positions and have debates about topics. Use the list of topics below to inspire class discussions, debates, and partner talk.
Opinion Writing Topics
Lesson Ideas for Small Group Instruction
Children's Books For Teaching Persuasive Writing
Readers Get to Know Characters by Performing Their Books
This If...Then... unit gives readers the chance to become best friends with their favorite characters! Readers identify feelings using meaning and story structure.
You will want to consider students who have not moved on to D/E books and be sure the focus stays on word solving and using meaning, syntax, and print to figure out unknown words.
A Summary of Bends in the Road for the Unit
Bend 1: Readers Have Ways to Get to Know a Character - think of them as friends for life! Pay attention to their feelings as well as other story elements to get to know characters.
Bend 2: Partners Pretend They Are Characters and Perform Books in Clubs to Become Character Experts - role playing in partnerships and then in book clubs. Readers will dramatize stories to extend their thinking about the characters.
Bend 3: Giving the Gift of Reading - Readers prepare a read-aloud to celebrate.
Readers' Theater
March 3, 2018: TC's Saturday Reunion!
On this day, over 125 workshops will be presented on topics such as: developing state of the art classroom libraries, supporting units of study, managing workshop instruction, teaching K-2 kids to write persuasive speeches and reviews, argument reading and writing, the best new fiction books, guided reading, phonics, writing about reading, using learning progressions to ratchet up the level of teaching, and more. See the TCRWP website for more information.
A Level Is A Teaching Tool, Not A Child's Label
Differentiate Your Reading Instruction
The research is compelling: When teachers differentiate reading instruction, students learn more. Reading instruction is most effective when it is adapted based on individual needs and interests. In this brief Heinemann video, co-authors Lynn Bigelman and Debra Peterson explain how pre-assessment can be used to group students for reading instruction.