Let's Start Writing!

We are full into the swing of things here in Mrs. Jones' Class!

Yesterday during writing we talked about the rules and expectations of writing and we practiced some sustained writing time in our journals. Today, I wanted to kick things off with a fun lesson!

I saw the book, Rocket Writes a Story, the other day at Target and I had to grab it! It is so cute and inspired me to create a fun, little lesson for my class.

 To prepare, I cut out the word cards and taped them up around the room. I read the story aloud and we talked about how words can inspire us to write all sorts of different stories. Then, I modeled walking around with my collecting sheet and choosing 4 words that inspired me! Next, I modeled writing my own short story using the four words I chose:

“There once was a queenwho had a pet dog, Max. The queen and Max were going on a boattrip. When they were on the boat, it started to rain and the queen found an umbrellato keep her dry.”

I then prompted students to ask more questions about my story to help me add more (just like the owl and teacher from the story).

Example questions:

Where was the queen going? What did Max look like? Did Max get wet in the rain? Was there a storm or just a little rain?, etc.

When I finished my modeled lesson, I passed out the collecting sheets and let students try it themselves!

We have lots to work on, but what else would you expect during the first full week of first grade?! Overall, I am so proud of their hard work and I am using these as their beginning of the year writing assessments. I already can't wait to see their progress as the year continues :)

Since it was such a hit in my classroom, I decided to make it into a freebie for you! Click on the image below to download the lesson for yourself.

Happy writing!