Great Writing - Go no farther than Halecrest!

Today I had the chance of visiting two first grade classes that had both recently finished a non-fiction writing piece. I was impressed with the variety of writing that the students had produced as well as the detail and organization of the paragraphs. While talking to the students and subsequently, the teachers, I found several elements that contributed to these wonderful examples of independent writing. The teachers had included both fiction and non fiction read alouds or shared reading as a springboard to discussion. Modeled and shared writing was the next step in getting students more experience with the content and language they would need to write on their own. Students then had a chance to discuss what they were going to write before putting pen to paper. All of this prewriting made for some high level first grade writing, including English Learners. Whale Done Teachers and students!