TE 802 Fall 2023 – Assignment 3 1

TE 802 Assignment Three: Teaching Writing in a Responsive Way

During collaborative lead teaching (CLT), the teaching of literacy will be an important
component, and you are expected to take a lead role in teaching literacy during this time. We
want to ensure you have an opportunity to create a sequence that features writing
instruction in addition to your experience with teaching reading, as core reading
programs often only include cursory writing experiences, if any at all. We recognize many
districts use a core reading program, and teachers are often expected to adhere closely to the
program. Therefore, this writing instruction can take place during the literacy block, writing
workshop time, or a subject matter block into which writing can be integrated. For example, you
could create a Writing Sequence focused on social studies content (e.g., interviews, oral
histories, biographies) or science (e.g., informational text, using discussion to support writing an
argument about an environmental dilemma).

Therefore, during CLT, you will teach a 10-day Writing Sequence to your class. This assignment
will help you design an outline of your writing sequence, reflect daily on your teaching, and
make changes during the sequence based on your assessment of students’ learning. By
completing this assignment, you will show that you can select appropriate mentor texts,
articulate criteria for success within a genre, create instruction where the purpose is
meaningful, scaffold student learning throughout the writing process, and use student
work to make instructional decisions throughout the writing sequence.

For this assignment, you will:

1. Discuss with your MT what genre (e.g., poetry, informative, narrative, opinion) and
content you should build your Writing Sequence around. Below are some questions for
you to consider as you make that choice. (Week 6: Oct. 5)
a. What skills or benchmarks do you need to address from specific curricula or the
CCSS?
b. Will this piece have an audience other than the teacher?
c. In what ways can you make this writing authentic and meaningful for the
students?
d. Is there content from other subject areas you should incorporate?
e. Are there mentor texts your MT wants you to use?
f. Is there anything else that you need to incorporate or consider relative to
teaching this genre?

2. Bring to TE 802 a class set of student work samples. This does not need to be a
“polished” piece of writing. It may be a snapshot of a day’s writing. If possible, please
bring samples of writing similar to your sequence’s planned instruction. (Week 6: Oct. 5)

3. Use literature and resources from your MSU literacy courses, as well as what is
available to you in your mentor teacher’s classroom, to develop lesson ideas that might
improve student writing in the genre you are teaching and choose mentor texts to help
guide the students’ learning. (Week 7: Oct. 12)

4. Use your assessment of students’ strengths and areas for growth and consider the goals
of the curriculum to create an outline of your 10-day writing sequence, using the outline
template provided. (Week 8: Oct. 19)
TE 802 Fall 2023 – Assignment 3 2

5. While teaching the sequence, you will use student work to reflect on your teaching in
writing each day and change the sequence in response to what your students need in
order to support them in meeting the criteria for success.

6. Final reflection
a. Using the “comments” feature, annotate your Writing Sequence. Pick 3 major
changes you made to your plan and answer the 3 following questions for each
change…
i. What was the change? (Or what change would you make?)
ii. Why did the change happen? (Or why would you make this change?)
iii. Was the change a good idea? Why or why not?
b. What did the students’ work tell you about your strengths and areas of
improvement as a teacher? (I.e., what did it tell you that you needed to keep
doing as a teacher because students were successful / responded well and what
did it tell you that you needed to change because students were not successful /
did not respond well?)
c. What did the students’ work tell you about next steps for their learning? How did
you respond to this during conferences and the lesson itself?
d. Based on your students’ work in this unit, what would the next (i.e., a hypothetical
future) writing sequence cover? Why?
e. Briefly describe the following: What do you want to remember for the future
about…
i. Formative assessment / analyzing student work? Why?
ii. Teaching writing? Why?
iii. The connections between reading and writing (such as through using
mentor texts)? Why?

Due Dates

October 29 @ 11:55PM – Submit a final copy of your Initial Planning & Rationale (#1-5) to D2L
– Specify the day you start collaborative lead teaching

November 29 @ 11:55PM – Submit final version of writing sequence including daily reflections
and final reflection to D2L
TE 802 Fall 2023 – Assignment 3
Writing Sequence Initial Planning and Rationale
Name: Kathryn Severino
Start date of Literacy CLT:
Tentative Due Date for Assignment 3: 12/6
*Consider when you will finish teaching all 10 lessons.
Genre and Audience:
What genre are students writing and who will
the audience be?
Writing Sequence Goals (2):
Consider what you want students to be able
to know and/or do by the end of the writing
sequence and what will they need to
know/learn to accomplish that. Be realistic—
these goals should be attainable (and
measurable) by the end of a 10-lesson
sequence. These goals also need to be
focused on the development of ideas, not on
spelling, grammar, and mechanics. (You will
help students improve their spelling,
grammar, and mechanics through occasional,
brief teaching points throughout the
sequence, but the development of ideas is
the most critical part of writing.)
Criteria for Success (Rubric):
Define the criteria for success for each goal
and then describe what it will look like if
students meet these criteria at the 3 different
levels of success (see example on page 5).
3
Grade Level: 1
Students will write a personal narrative
sentence to share information about
themselves for their peers to read.
Goal 1:
Students will be able to write one complete
personal narrative sentence including a
subject and predicate to share something
about themselves.
Why did you choose this goal?
I chose this goal because we haven’t done
much writing in my class yet, so I want the
students to be able to write more than just
one word at a time. I think having them write
one sentence is a good goal.
Goal 2:
Students will be able to draw a picture based
on the sentences they write or images they
see.
Why did you choose this goal?
I picked this goal because during our UFLI
decodable passages, students get to listen to
the story read after reading it together, but
when they go to draw the picture, it often
doesn’t relate to the text. I want them to learn
and be able to create images that match the
words.
Goal 1: Students will be able to write one
complete personal narrative sentence
including a subject and predicate to share
something about themselves.
CRITERIA for Exceeds Target
Student wrote one or more complete (capital
letter, subject, predicate, punctuation) that
share information about themselves.
TE 802 Fall 2023 – Assignment 3
Connection to CCSS Writing Standards:
Paste no more than 3 Common Core State
Standards for Writing that your students will
work towards during this Writing Sequence.
Highlight the applicable parts of the
standards that connect with the writing goals
and your instr+uctional plan.
4
CRITERIA for Meets Target
Student wrote one sentence that shared
information about themselves. The sentence
might not be complete, but it is very close.
CRITERIA for Needs Support
Student wrote individual words that don’t
combine to make a complete idea/sentence.
Students don’t write all the parts of a
sentence.
Goal 2:
Students will be able to draw a picture based
on the sentences they write or images they
see.
CRITERIA for Exceeds Target
Student draws an image that shows the
information they wrote about in their sentence
or the image they see. Multiple details in the
sentence/picture are seen in the drawing.
CRITERIA for Meets Target
Student draws an image that shows one
detail in the sentence/picture.
CRITERIA for Needs Support
Student draws a picture that isn’t connected
to the image or sentence. They just drew
anyting that came to mind.
W.1.3. Write narratives in which they
recount two or more appropriately
sequenced events, include some details
regarding what happened, use temporal
words to signal event order, and provide
some sense of closure.
L.1.2. Demonstrate command of the
conventions of standard English
TE 802 Fall 2023 – Assignment 3 5

capitalization, punctuation, and spelling

when writing.

Mentor Texts:
List the mentor texts you have chosen (title
and author). For each mentor text, explain Punctuation Celebration by Elsa Knight Bruno
how that text helps your students meet the
writing goals. Also explain how each text will A Squiggly Story by Andrew Larsen
be relevant for your students based on their
interests, cultural knowledge, linguistic
knowledge, and/or background knowledge
and experiences. Remember, it is also
powerful when you write your own mentor
texts and when you use students’ writing (with
their permission) as mentor texts too.

Student Needs and Knowledge:
Briefly describe specific students in your class
who may need additional support for writing
(for content, to maintain focus/motivation, to
produce more writing or conversely, to slow
down and revise, etc.)
Also think about any other academic, social,
and/or linguistic supports that students may
need during the lessons (or funds of
knowledge that they will bring to the lessons).
(Note that students may not need all three
types of support, so be sure your ideas listed
below are specific to each student’s needs.)
There are probably 5-8 students in my class
who are going to need support to maintain
focus/motivation and to get started on writing.
Most of these students could verbally tell me
what they would write but will struggle to write
it. A lot of this is because they are still
working on letter formation and letter sound
correspondence. This same group of
students will need support to produce writing
in general because they might need a
reminder about what certain letters look like.

Criteria for Success Example:

Writing Sequence Goal

● Students will write a personal narrative with sensory detail.

CRITERIA for Exceeds Target

Students describe multiple elements of the narrative (i.e., setting, characters,
events, etc.) with multiple details and senses. The reader feels like they are
experiencing the event themselves.

CRITERIA for Meets Target

Students describe one or two elements of the narrative (i.e., setting,
TE 802 Fall 2023 – Assignment 3 6

characters, events, etc.) with a few details and/or senses.

CRITERIA for Needs Support

Students include one or two sensory details.
TE 802 (Section 2) – Fall 2019 – Assignment 3 7
Writing Sequence

Name Kathryn Severino Grade 1st Genre: Sentence writing/writing about themselves

Complete the following table with your plan for your writing sequence. You will also complete three detailed lesson plans with detailed, step-by-step
instructions, for three of the days of this lesson sequence. See examples of a grade 1 and grade 4 detailed lesson plans below.

NOTE: Any changes you make to your outline based on your reflections should be done in a different color font than the original so your
instructor can see the changes. Please do not delete your original work. We want to see evidence of how the writing sequence evolves over time so
don’t worry about how different things are! The point of this assignment is that you are reflecting on your teaching and your students’ work and making
changes to your instruction along the way, so we expect to see multiple changes throughout.

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

Date: Date: Date: Date: Date:

10/26 11/2 11/6 11/8 11/13

Daily Objective: Daily Objective: Daily Objective: Daily Objective: Daily Objective:
I will label a picture of a shark I I will write sentences using subject I will write a sentence using a
I will use sounds to spell words I I will draw a picture of myself have drawn. and predicate. sentence stem.
don’t’ know how to spell and label some parts of it.

Mini-Lesson Focus:
Working on how to use best guess
spelling to spell words they don’t know
how to spell
Spell untaught words phonetically
Mentor Text:
A Squiggly Story by Andrew
Larsen
Mini-Lesson Focus:
Spell untaught words phonetically
Know and use various text features
Mentor Text:
A Squiggly Story by Andrew
Larsen
Mini-Lesson Focus:
Spell untaught words phonetically
Know and use various text features
Mentor Text:
A Squiggly Story by Andrew
Larsen
Mini-Lesson Focus:
Produce and expand complete
simple and compound declarative,
interrogative, imperative, and
exclamatory sentences in response
to prompts.
Mentor Text:
A Squiggly Story by Andrew
Larsen
Mini-Lesson Focus:
Produce and expand complete
simple and compound declarative,
interrogative, imperative, and
exclamatory sentences in response
to prompts.
Use end punctuation for sentences.
Mentor Text:
Punctuation Celebration by
Elsa Knight Bruno

Planning for Conferring &/or Planning for Conferring &/or Planning for Conferring &/or Planning for Conferring &/or Planning for Conferring &/or
Small-Group Instruction: Small-Group Instruction: Small-Group Instruction: Small-Group Instruction: Small-Group Instruction:

First, I will read the mentor text, A
Squiggly Story by Andrew Larsen and
we will talk about the message of the
story- even if you don’t know the exact
way to spell the words you want to
write, you can find another way to
Show picture of a labeled house
and have students turn and talk
about what they notice about
this picture? Then, talk about
the labels (if no one brings them
up). Labels name something
First, we will review what a label
is. Then we will read labels of a
toucan and introduce learning
about a shark and labeling its body
parts. We will talk about a great
white shark and the fins, teeth,
First, we will talk about what a
sentence is and what makes up a
sentence. We will talk about the
subject and predicate in a sentence
and what each of them does. We
will also talk about each sentence
First, we will review the parts of a
sentence, capital letters, and
punctuation. Then we will
introduce sentence stems.
I do- I will write a sentence using
TE 802 (Section 2) – Fall 2019 – Assignment 3
share your ideas. Then, we will
transition into the writing lesson for the
day which is labeling pictures using
best guess spelling.
I do- showing students how I use best
guess spelling to write the name of an
animal pictured
We do- as a class, we will tap out the
name of objects and use best guess
spelling to spell that
You do- students will draw a picture of
the given animals and then will use
best guess spelling to label them
Assessment (How will you
quickly evaluate students’
progress?):
Look at the work they are doing
as I walk around the room and
see what they are doing. I can
also check their writers
notebook and look at the work
after they complete it.
Teaching Notes / Resources:
Punctuation Celebration by
Elsa Knight Bruno
Writing Journal
Brief Daily Reflection:
This lesson went well! The students
were very engaged and loved the
picture book. Every single student tried
to write something on their paper. This
isn’t something we see often in my
class. Some students needed small
group assistance but were able to write
something down. This activity was
challenging for students who are still
and tell us what things are.
I do- watch me label the picture
of a teacher with student help. I
will label the parts after a
student tells me what it is,
modeling best guess spelling
while I do that.
We do- We will label the parts of
an apple together.
You do- Students will draw a
picture of them doing something
they love. Then, they will label
at least 3 parts of the pictures
Assessment (How will you
quickly evaluate students’
progress?):
Look at the work they are doing
as I walk around the room and
see what they are doing. I can
also check their writers
notebook and look at the work
after they complete it.
Teaching Notes / Resources:
Brief Daily Reflection:
I liked this lesson and labeling
activity. Students continued to do
well using best guess spelling.
Some students took too long on
drawing their person and didn’t
label much. I should have set a
timer to let them draw/color and
then had them transition to
labeling. The labeling did go well,
gills, and eyes they have/what they
are used for.
We do- As a class, we will draw
and label the parts of a shark. The
students will do it with me on their
paper.
Assessment (How will you
quickly evaluate students’
progress?):
Look at the work they are doing
as I walk around the room and
see what they are doing. I can
also check their writers
notebook and look at the work
after they complete it.
Teaching Notes / Resources:
Brief Daily Reflection:
I think changing this lesson worked
well. Students all were able to write
something down on their paper. I
think having the word bank that I
did for students to pick really
helped. I think this was a good
scaffold to introduce writing
sentences. I tried to start hinting at
making sure the picture they drew
starting with a capital and ending
with punctuation. Then, we will go
through some examples and
students will tell me if it is a
complete sentence or not.
I do- I will write a sentence based
on a picture. I will ask students
what a possible subject and
predicate could be based on the
image. Then, I will model best
guess spelling and write a sentence.
We do- We will write a subject and
predicate to make a sentence based
on the pictures. They will do this in
their journals
Assessment (How will you
quickly evaluate students’
progress?):
Look at the work they are doing
as I walk around the room and
see what they are doing. I can
also check their writers
notebook and look at the work
after they complete it.
Teaching Notes / Resources:
Brief Daily Reflection:
Students did well with this activity.
Writing our first two sentences as a
whole class was a good idea. We
were able to come up with and
write sentences together as a class.
Students continued to utilize best
guess spelling to help them which
shows that they are using skills I
previously taught them.
8
the sentence stem and model
writing a sentence on the lines.
We do- As a class, we will read the
sentence stem and then brainstorm
ideas about how to complete it. We
will then pick one to finish the
sentence.
You do- students will complete 2
sentence stems on their own
Assessment (How will you
quickly evaluate students’
progress?):
Look at the work they are doing
as I walk around the room and
see what they are doing. I can
also check their writers
notebook and look at the work
after they complete it.
Teaching Notes / Resources:
Brief Daily Reflection:
This lesson went well. One area
that students struggled a little bit
with was using the sentence stem.
Sometimes, when we shared out
possible sentences, students would
replace the sentence stem with
something else, but would describe
the picture. I was really excited to
TE 802 (Section 2) – Fall 2019 – Assignment 3 9
learning their letter sounds. but a lot of the body words are matched their sentence since that is see students using the pictures to
challenging to spell. a goal for the unit. create sentences!
TE 802 (Section 2) – Fall 2019 – Assignment 3
Day 6
Date:
11/14
Daily Objective:
I will write a sentence that tells about a
a picture and will use a period at the
end.
Mini-Lesson Focus:
Produce and expand complete
simple and compound declarative,
interrogative, imperative, and
exclamatory sentences in response
to prompts.
Use end punctuation for sentences.
Mentor Text:
Punctuation Celebration by
Elsa Knight Bruno
Planning for Conferring &/or
Small-Group Instruction:
First, as a whole class we will
review the different kinds of
punctuation the end of a
sentence and when you use
each one. Then, we will focus
on periods for the day. We will
talk about how they talk about
something. I will then read the
page in the mentor text that
goes over periods, and we will
have a short discussion after.
Day 7
Date:
11/15
Daily Objective:
I will write a sentence that asks a
question and will use a question
mark at the end.
Mini-Lesson Focus:
Produce and expand complete
simple and compound declarative,
interrogative, imperative, and
exclamatory sentences in response
to prompts.
Use end punctuation for sentences.
Mentor Text:
Punctuation Celebration by
Elsa Knight Bruno
Planning for Conferring &/or
Small-Group Instruction:
First, as a whole class we will
review the different kinds of
punctuation the end of a
sentence and when you use
each one. Then, we will go over
writing sentences that asks
questions. We will look at a
picture and ask questions about
it.
I do- I will write a sentence that
asks a question based on a
Day 8
Date:
11/17
Daily Objective:
I will write a sentence that shows a
strong feeling and will use an
exclamation mark at the end.
Mini-Lesson Focus:
Produce and expand complete
simple and compound declarative,
interrogative, imperative, and
exclamatory sentences in response
to prompts.
Use end punctuation for sentences.
Mentor Text:
Punctuation Celebration by
Elsa Knight Bruno
Planning for Conferring &/or
Small-Group Instruction:
First, as a whole class we will
review the different kinds of
punctuation the end of a
sentence and when you use
each one. Then, we will go over
writing sentences that use
strong feelings. We will look at
the example sentence that
shows the difference in tone
when you read a sentence with
a period vs an exclamation
point. Then, we will talk about
Day 9
Date:
11/27
Daily Objective:
I will write a sentence about a
picture with a capital, spaces
between words, and ending
punctuation.
Mini-Lesson Focus:
Demonstrate command of the
conventions of standard English
capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
Mentor Text:
We are going to create our
own mentor text by writing a
sentence or two together as a
class and reviewing the
different conventions of a
sentence.
Planning for Conferring &/or
Small-Group Instruction:
I do- I will write a sentence
about the picture I see on the
board, emphasizing capital
letters, word spacing, best
guess spelling, and punctuation.
We do- I will have students turn
and talk to a friend about what
they see in the photo. Then, a
few students will share a
potential sentence. I will pick
one and write it.
10
Day 10
Date:
11/29
Daily Objective:
I will write a sentence based on the
prompt “What are you thankful
for” and include all of the parts of a
sentence (capital letter,
punctuation, space between words,
etc).
My sentence will match the picture
I draw.
Mini-Lesson Focus:
Demonstrate command of the
conventions of standard English
capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
Mentor Text:
Planning for Conferring &/or
Small-Group Instruction:
We went over the important parts
of a sentence that we have been
focusing on (capital letter, spacing,
and punctuation. Then, we talked
about what we were thankful for by
doing a turn and talk and then
sharing out whole class.
After this, I completed my own “I
am thankful for” sentence by
calling on students to help me spell
the words. Then, students were
given their own sheet of paper and
TE 802 (Section 2) – Fall 2019 – Assignment 3
I do- I will write a sentence
based on the picture that I see.
We do- I will have a few
students in the class share out a
sentence we could write and
then pick one to write on the
board.
You do- Students will then get
the chance to write a sentence
about a picture they draw. We
will go over the mechanics of a
sentence and what they should
be including.
Assessment (How will you
quickly evaluate students’
progress?):
I will walk around the room as
they are completing their work
and see how they are doing. I
will also have students show me
their work when they are
completed. For students who
might need additional support, I
can pull them over to my table
and help them. This will also
allow me to see what they
already know.
Teaching Notes / Resources:
Brief Daily Reflection:
Students really understood the
lesson on periods since it is
picture.
We do- I will have a few
students in the class share out a
question sentence we could
write and then pick one to write
on the board.
You do- Students will write a
sentence about a picture they
see. We will go over the
mechanics of a sentence and
what they should be including.
Assessment (How will you
quickly evaluate students’
progress?):
I will walk around the room as
they are completing their work
and see how they are doing. I
will also have students show me
their work when they are
completed. For students who
might need additional support, I
can pull them over to my table
and help them. This will also
allow me to see what they
already know.
Teaching Notes / Resources:
Brief Daily Reflection:
The students struggled more than I
thought they would be coming up
the emotions that you would
write about that would allow you
to use an exclamation point.
I do- I will write a sentence that
has strong feeling in it based on
the picture on the board. (I cut
this part out because the kids
were very antsy and I didn’t
want to have them sitting on the
carpet for that long.
We do- I will have a few
students in the class share out a
strong feeling sentence we
could write and then pick one to
write on the board.
You do- Students will write a
sentence about a picture they
see. We will go over the
mechanics of a sentence and
what they should be including.
This sentence will have to
include an exclamation mark
and be a strong feeling
sentence.
Assessment (How will you
quickly evaluate students’
progress?):
I will walk around the room as
they are completing their work
and see how they are doing. I
will also have students show me
their work when they are
completed. For students who
might need additional support, I
can pull them over to my table
and help them. This will also
allow me to see what they
already know.
Teaching Notes / Resources:
Brief Daily Reflection:
Students all wrote a very similar
sentence. Students mostly wrote “I
You do- Students will look at a
picture and come up with a
question about it. Before they
write the sentence, we will come
up with some ideas as a class
about what they could write
about.
Assessment (How will you
quickly evaluate students’
progress?)
I will walk around the room as
they are completing their work
and see how they are doing. I
will also have students show me
their work when they are
completed. For students who
might need additional support, I
can pull them over to my table
and help them. This will also
allow me to see what they
already know.
Teaching Notes / Resources:
Brief Daily Reflection:
This day, students weren’t
motivated to write the sentence. If I
11
they went back to work
individually.
Students had to write a sentence
about what they were thankful for
and once they checked with a
teacher, they were allowed to draw
a picture showing that.
I had a scaffold available for some
students that had the sentence stem
“I am thankful for” that they had to
trace and then only write what they
were thankful for.
Assessment (How will you
quickly evaluate students’
progress?):
I will look at their final writing
pieces of the unit and see what
their sentences look like. I will
pay close attention to capital
letters, word spacing, and
punctuation.
Teaching Notes / Resources:
Brief Daily Reflection:
This lesson went so well! All
students were able to complete the
TE 802 (Section 2) – Fall 2019 – Assignment 3
something they are all familiar
with. This day was more about
focusing on writing a complete
sentence based on a picture
they wanted to draw, which they
all successfully did. The same 6
students are needing additional
support to write sentence but
the rest of the class is able to do
this independently.
with questions. They wanted to just
describe the photos and I had to
remind them multiple times about
asking something about the picture,
not just telling what is going on.
The students did understand the use
of the question mark. The day after
this lesson, our UFLI assessment
had a question sentence on it and
many students knew to end it with
a question mark which shows they
understand the concept.
love ____” and then one of the
images (either cake or shark). I
think they did understand the
exclamation point, but I would
want them to expand their
sentences next time we work on
writing sentences with exclamation
points.
were to do this again, I might select
a different picture than the one the
curriculum used. I want the picture
to be something that students could
relate to or get more excited about.
Additionally, I think the words
needed to describe the picture
might have been a little too
challenging which made the
students discouraged when trying
to write.
12
assignment (even if they need the
scaffold) and were able to include a
capital letter, spacing, and
punctuation in their sentence. The
students loved the prompt and were
excited. We are going to turn their
sentences and drawings into a class
“thankful for” book!

Final Reflection (after you have taught all of your lessons)

1. Using the “comments” feature, annotate your Writing Sequence. Pick 3 major changes you made to your plan and answer the 3
following questions for each change…
a. What was the change? (Or what change would you make?)
b. Why did the change happen? (Or why would you make this change?)
c. Was the change a good idea? Why or why not?

2. What did the students’ work tell you about your strengths and areas of improvement as a teacher? (I.e., what did it tell you that you
needed to keep doing as a teacher because students were successful / responded well, and what did it tell you that you needed to
change because students were not successful / did not respond well?)
My students’ work taught me that I was able to successfully teach them the basic parts of a sentence. They all knew that
they had to use a capital letter at the beginning, spacing between their words, and punctuation at the end of their sentences. The
biggest struggle throughout the unit was how to spell words. I think that as a teacher, the areas of improvement must focus on
teaching student letter sound and name correspondence so that tapping out words and best guess spelling can be more
successful. Additionally, this showed me that the more you can make lesson engaging and relatable for students, the better
work, and outcomes you will see. The days that students really enjoyed the images/drawings or liked what they were writing
about, the lessons went smoother and there was more participation. I think this unit made me feel more comfortable straying
from the curriculum because I can see the impacts it has on engagement.

3. What did the students’ work tell you about next steps for their learning? How did you respond to this during conferences and the
lesson itself?
The students’ work told me that some are ready to move on to the next step while some needed additional support.
During the lesson, those students who are ready to be pushed to complete more challenging tasks, I often asked to
add additional sentences or make sure that they really used best guess spelling. Having students who were ready to move
on write more than one sentence, pushed them to higher levels. For students who needed additional support, I worked with
them one-on-one or in small groups at the kidney tables during the lesson. During this time, I helped them use best guess
spelling to write the words in the sentence. I think the biggest challenge for students during this writing unit was that when
they went to tap out a word, they didn’t know that letter that made this sound. This makes sense because the students who
TE 802 (Section 2) – Fall 2019 – Assignment 3 13
struggled during this unit were those who are still working on letter sound and name recognition. During the lesson, I tried
to challenge those who were ready for the next step while providing additional support to those who needed it.

4. Based on your students’ work in this unit, what would be some important teaching points for the next (i.e., a hypothetical future) writing
sequence? Why?

The next steps for student learning ranges. They all knew that they had to use a capital letter at the beginning, spacing
between their words, and punctuation at the end of their sentences. The biggest struggle throughout the unit was how to spell
words. I think that as a teacher, the areas of improvement must focus on teaching student letter sound and name
correspondence so that tapping out words and best guess spelling can be more successful. For our higher performing students,
I think many of them are ready to move on to writing more than one sentence about a topic and adding more descriptive words. I
would like to see students in the future be able to write something based off something we read, and then draw a picture based
on this. This would allow students to have background knowledge which would help them write more. In the future, some
important teaching points that I would want to focus on is adding more details to their writing. They could add “because” and
explain their sentence more or add more describe words (adjectives/adverbs). I would want to focus on this because students
now have a better understanding of the basics of writing and could strength and add details to the sentences they already have.
I think encouraging students to write more than one sentence could also be a teaching goal. This would increase their stamina
and have them become even better writers.

5. Briefly describe the following: What do you want to remember for the future about…
a. Formative assessment / analyzing student work? Why?
I want to remember that it isn’t fair to judge a student by a single day of work. Everyone has off days, so you need to
make sure that you are looking at their work instead of an isolated piece of work. I want to remember this because I think it’s
so easy and common in our educational system to take one test, a few hours of a student’s day, and base their abilities off
that. However, students are so much more than that. I also want to remember that it is perfectly acceptable to provide
scaffolding to help students reach the goal of the lesson. Just because students are still working on their handwriting and
letter formation, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get the chance to write sentence (with sentence stem or tracing help). They still
have ideas that they want to share but might need some additional assistance to do so. I want to remember this because I
think sometimes you worry about making it too “easy” but students need to be met where they are, while also still working
towards grade level standards. Scaffolding allows you to accomplish this and allow students to feel successful in the
classroom.
b. Teaching writing? Why?
I want to remember that sometimes you are going to have to go back to the basics of writing and that is acceptable.
My students are not as fluent with reading or writing as they should be at this point in their learning careers. While I could
have just picked up where they are “supposed” to be, leaving many of them behind, by going back to the basics and really
drilling into their heads the parts of a sentence, I was able to see growth in all students and feel more comfortable about their
ability to write. It is important to challenge students, but teaching materials simply because that’s where they are “supposed
to be” isn’t a good enough reason. While this may get some push back from administration, if you have data to back up your
instructional choices, it is worth the discussion. Writing takes time and is a difficult skill to master, especially if students are
TE 802 (Section 2) – Fall 2019 – Assignment 3 14
still working on letter sound recognition. I was worried about how this writing unit would go, but I am proud and excited
about the work my students were able to complete and the growth they showed.

c. The connections between reading and writing (such as the connections that occur through using mentor texts)? Why?

I want to remember that giving students a mentor text before asking them to write can help motivate them and set an
example for their work. The first book I read, A Squiggly Story, focused on the ideas that even if you don’t know all the sounds or
how to write, you are still able to tell your story. I decided to start my unit off with this book because there is a lack of motivation for
students in my class who think that they “can’t do” activities. I wanted to show them that even if they don’t know how to spell or
write letters perfectly, they are still able to share their thoughts and stories, just like the boy in the book. Throughout my lessons, I
connected struggling but still trying to the book. Students were really engaged during the reading of the book and were motivated
by the reminders I gave back to the book. The other mentor text I used, Punctuation Celebration, was a really great way to
introduce punctuation but also for students to see how the punctuation is used. The students really understood the punctuation
marks and the book is a part of that success. Being able to model their work after a text is helpful when first introducing a writing
concept because it gives them an idea of what is expected and a goal to reach for. It limits students having to come up with what to
write and how to write it, because they already have written text to model after from the reading/mentor text.
 TE 802 (Section 2) – Fall 2019 – Assignment 3
Sample Detailed Lesson Plans: Grade 1
Day 1
Date: xx/xx/20xx
Daily Objective:
Students will use details in their “small
moment” (narrative) story.
Mini-Lesson Focus:
Planning stories to include details
Mentor Text:
A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams
Instruction Step by Step:
Read examples from A Chair for My
Mother (walked past yellow and red tulips)
● Tell student the goal for today!
● Model (I do) Plan story aloud
without details: We heard the fire
alarm. We walked outside to our
spot. We sat down. Think aloud
(story is missing details). Model
planning with details: We heard
the noisy fire alarm blasting in
the hallway…
● Shared (We do): Continue to
revise the story together (e.g.,
What details could we add about
how we moved through the
hallway to go outside?)
● Independent (You do): Have
students write independently for
30 minutes.
Share: Point out examples of especially
descriptive details in students’ writing.
Planning for Conferring:
Meet with Sandra, Tahn, Collin, Shaniqua
individually
Assessment:
Collect students’ notebooks and take
anecdotal notes on students’ use of
details to show (not just tell) in their
narrative. Code for proficient, needs some
support, needs lesson retaught.
Teaching Notes / Resources:
A Chair for My Mother
Chart paper, Markers, Conf. notebook
Resources: Lessons adapted from Calkins, L., & FirstHand (Firm). (2003). Units of study for primary writing: A yearlong curriculum.
Portsmouth, NH: FirstHand.
Day 2
Date: xx/xx/20xx
Daily Objective:
Students will write stories with a beginning,
middle, and end.
Mini-Lesson Focus:
Planning stories aloud before writing them
by “telling them across fingers” (telling 1
event for each finger on 1 hand)
Mentor Text:
A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams
Instruction Step by Step:
Share that “small moment” stories have a
beginning, middle, and end. Discuss
beginning, middle, and end of A Chair for
My Mother. Introduce strategy of planning a
story aloud by telling one event for each
finger on one hand.
● Tell student the goal for today!
● Model (I do): Plan story aloud,
pointing to your thumb for the first
event, moving to your index finger
for the next, and so on.
● Shared (We do): Remind students
of a recent event the whole class
experienced (e.g., assembly, party,
field trip, guest speaker). Have
students turn and talk with a
partner, working together to tell the
story of that event across their
fingers. Remind students to make
sure there is a beginning, middle,
and end to the story.
● Independent (You do): Have
students write independently for 30
minutes.
Share: Point out examples of students’
writing with a clear beginning, middle, and
end.
Planning for Conferring:
Meet with Ahmed, Mayra, Keegan, Jose
individually
Assessment:
Collect students’ notebooks and take
anecdotal notes on beginning/ middle/end
sequence. Code for proficient, needs some
support, needs lesson retaught.
Teaching Notes / Resources:
A Chair for My Mother
Conf. notebook
15
Day 3
Date: xx/xx/20xx
Daily Objective:
Students will write familiar words with
automaticity.
Mini-Lesson Focus:
Writing some words “in a snap” instead
of stretching out these words
Mentor Text:
Beginning to a narrative story you’ve
started (1-2 sentences)
Instruction Step by Step:
Read beginning of new story aloud.
Point out the words that you just knew
(e.g., high-frequency words) and didn’t
need to stretch out. Explain that you
can write these “in a snap” without
stretching them out slowly. Emphasize
that this will help students get their
ideas down on paper more quickly—
before they forget them!
● Tell student the goal for
today!
● Model (I do): Add to your
story, modeling writing some
words in a snap while
stretching out more difficult
words.
● Shared (We do): Continue
modeling by planning words
aloud before writing them. Ask
students to snap (or clap) if
they hear a word they can
spell in a snap. Call on a
volunteer to come write that
word or have students tell you
the spelling chorally.
● Independent (You do): Have
students write independently
for 30 minutes.
Share: Students share examples of
words they could write in a snap.
Planning for Conferring:
Meet with Alicia, Ian, DeAndre, Simone
individually
Assessment:
Collect students’ notebooks and take
anecdotal notes on spelling of familiar
words (e.g., high-frequency words that
have been studied). Code for proficient,
needs some support, needs lesson
retaught.
Teaching Notes / Resources:
Beginning of narrative story (teacher-
created mentor text)
Chart paper, Markers, Conf. notebook
 TE 802 (Section 2) – Fall 2019 – Assignment 3 16

Brief Daily Reflection: Brief Daily Reflection: Brief Daily Reflection:

Sample Detailed Lesson Plans: Grade 4

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
Date: xx/xx/20xx
Daily Objective:
Students will be able to describe the main
character/s in their narrative using gesture
Mini-Lesson Focus: Using active verbs to
describe people’s gestures (physical
actions)/show versus tell
Mentor Text:
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Instruction Step by Step
Read example from Owl Moon (shadow
bounced behind me)
● Tell student the goal for today!
● Model (I do): Model with
paragraph about my sister and I
hiking Long’s Peak (a fourteener)
● Shared (We do): Do example
sentences together: We were
tired. We were cold. We were
exhilarated. For each one, ask:
How can I use active
verbs/gestures to show my
readers how we are feeling?
(e.g., Breath by heavy breath, we
put one foot in front of the other
without talking.)
● Independent (You do): Have
them write independently for 30
minutes.
Share: Focus on active verbs/showing
versus telling
Plan for Conferring: Meet with Sandra,
Tahn, Collin, Shaniqua individually
Assessment:
Collect students’ notebooks and take
anecdotal notes on students’ use of active
verbs as a way of describing the main
character. Code for proficient, needs some
support, needs lesson retaught.
Teaching Notes:
Will need:
Owl Moon
Chart paper
Markers
Conf. notebook
Resources: Lesson adapted from
Fletcher, Portalupi (2007) Craft Lessons:
Teaching Writing K-8. Stenhouse
Publishers, p.105.
Brief Daily Reflection:
 TE 802 (Section 2) – Fall 2019 – Assignment 3 17

Assignment 3 (Teaching Writing Responsively) Rubric

Assignment Detail 4 3 2 1

Clear & Detailed: Student clearly develops Very clear Mostly clear Kind-of clear Not very
ideas with an appropriate length/amount of & detailed & detailed – & detailed – clear &
details so the reader understands the message. a few gaps some gaps detailed

In general…. Excellent Good Developing Beginning

Points
Element of the Assignment Available
(4 pt. per bullet)
Planning and Rationale
● Thoughtful selection of mentor texts (i.e., rationale speaks to content goals
and knowledge of students)
● Thoughtful rationale for 2 writing sequence goals
20
● Clear criteria for success for 2 writing sequence goals
● The goals and CCSS standards are aligned
● Plan demonstrates a thoughtful awareness of students’ needs and funds of
knowledge
Writing Sequence Plan with Ongoing Reflection & Responsiveness
● Each lesson/day of the sequence includes all components (e.g., date, daily
objective, minilesson focus, mentor text, etc.) from the template
● Instruction matches the daily objective and the mini-lesson focus
● The daily objectives and mini-lesson foci work towards the overall writing
sequence goals
● Instruction always involves one of the following: analyzing author’s craft in a
text, thinking-aloud while modeling some aspect of writing, showing a piece of
student work as a positive model
● Student writing samples are collected at least at two points in time (e.g., 28
beginning, middle, end) so that students’ growth and development as writers
across the unit can be analyzed
● Daily reflections include a sense of how the lesson went, what was learned
about the students from the formative assessment(s), and what will be done in
the next lesson in response to what students’ need to meet the goals of the
unit
● Instructional decisions and changes are clearly documented (in a different
color font) and well supported by data collected during each day’s lesson
(e.g., formative assessments, conferring)
Final Reflection – Clear answers with enough detail to the following questions:
● Annotated writing sequence explaining 3 major changes
● What students’ work told you about your teaching
● What students’ work told you about their learning
28
● Important teaching points for future writing sequences
● Take-aways about formative assessment / analyzing student work
● Take-aways about teaching writing
● Take-aways about the reading-writing connection
Correct spelling, grammar, and mechanics. 4
Total Points 80