Writing Project Update

Project One Completed:

The IMA students finished their first guided literary nonfiction projects and you can see their stories on our class wiki (http://imaexplorers.wikispaces.com) Our literary nonfiction book study and first supported writing projects (the cottontail or coyote story) now lead into independent literary nonfiction projects based on the standards for our grade levels.  For their second project, each student selected a topic of interest, planned a story, and are currently conducting research to support the story.  In our first project, students focused on learning how to organize and set a purpose for their story.  During the second project, IMA writers will focus on the craft of writing and will learn to create interesting leads and use active words and descriptive language to bring life and details to their writing. 

This is such an exciting time for the IMA writers!  Their extended reading and writing projects have made such a difference in their literacy development.  The careful selection of vivid words and scientific vocabulary, writing stories with a structure and purpose, while becoming digital writers are just a few of the positive benefits of this unit so far.  We will share our second writing projects with you as they develop, so keep checking our wiki.

Looking Ahead:  Our next unit will combine the power of biographies with narrative writing as students learn to create stories about their own lives.  Memoirs, personal narratives, and creative narratives are a challenge, but the children are ready to try new forms of writing.  Our continuing poetry studies will focus on narrative poems that reflect personal aspects of readers and writers' lives.