Grade

3 Writing

Course Description

Writing is taught through a workshop model of instruction in the Lower School. This involves a short mini-lesson with explicit
instruction, followed by time for students to practice the skills and concepts being taught. Students have the opportunity to conference
with their teacher and in small groups or partners to share writing. Reading of literature and information texts is frequently integrated,
as these texts serve as a model for excellent writing.

Syllabus Overview

Time Unit Description

Grade Q1
3

Launching the
Writers Workshop:
Creating True Stories
Students will practice
the procedures of
writers workshop, as
they take personal
narrative story ideas
through different
stages of the writing
process.

Key Learning Objectives

Develop and strengthen writing through
planning, drafting, revising and editing.

Write personal narratives from real
experiences or events with clear event
sequences.

Write using a storytellers voice, with
strong word choice, step-by-step actions,
thoughts, and feelings.

Use and understand the conventions of
writing dialogue.

Create a sense of closure to the stories they
write.

Key
Assessments
1:1 writing
conferences

Writing Checklists

Narrative piece
assessed by rubric

Key Resources
Launching the Writers
Workshop by Lucy
Calkins

http://www.literacy-
builders.com/teaching-
literature/text-
launching-writing-
workshop

I-Charts

Grade Q2
3

Information Writing
Students will write
multi-paragraph
explanatory texts
about topics on which
they become experts.

Grade Q3
3

Once Upon a Time

Students first adapt
and then write their
own fairy tales,
learning to use
cohesive details, point
of view, and story
structure.

Write informative texts to examine a topic

and convey ideas and information clearly.

Write organized, indented paragraphs,
containing a topic sentence, at least three
supporting details, and a closing/transition
sentence when appropriate.

Use transition/linking words and phrases
to aid organization and to connect ideas.

Use technology to produce and publish
writing, as well as to interact and
collaborate with others.
Understanding the basic structures of plot
(setting, rising action, climax, and
resolution), and use this knowledge to plan
and develop stories.

Establish a situation and introduce a
narrator and/or characters.

Use temporal words and phrases to signal
event order.

Develop characters using dialogue,
descriptions of actions, thoughts and
feelings to show their responses to
situations.

Explanatory test pre-

assessment

1:1 Writing
conferences

Checklist to assess
what students have
learned

Explanatory Essay
assessed using a
rubric

Breathing Life into

Essays by Lucy Calkins

Authors: Byrd Baylor,
Meish Goldish, Gail
Gibbons, Bobbie
Kalman

1:1 writing
conferences

Writing Checklist

Fairy tale assessed
using a rubric

Once Upon a Time, by

Lucy Calkins

Grade Q4
3

Opinion Writing
Students will write to
share their opinion on
various topics, using
reasons to support
their point of view.

Incorporate detailed descriptions that

show, rather than tell, about scenes and
events in a story.
Clearly introduce a topic, considering the
intended audience.

State an opinion on a topic and provide
reasons that support the opinion.

Use linking words and phrases to connect
opinions and reasons.

Provide a concluding statement or section.

Topic brainstorm
about opinions
ideas

1:1 writing
conferences

Checklist on what we
have learned

Opinion piece on a
topic assessed with a
rubric

Breathing Life into

Essays, by Lucy Calkins