Writing and Representing strategies and skills provide opportunities for learners to communicate with their peers and other meaningful audiences within and beyond their community using paper and digital formats. The process of writing includes planning, organizing, revising, refining, and sharing feedback. Throughout this process, ongoing problem solving and critical thinking strategies, applicable to subject areas and to life develop.
Essential Learning Outcome 5
Learners will generate, gather and organize thoughts to explore, clarify and reflect on ideas, feelings and experiences as they create a written or representative draft, independently and collaboratively, for a range of audiences and purposes.
Grade Level Expectations
Specific Curriculum Outcomes
5.1-5.4 Generate and gather thoughts to explore ideas, feelings and experiences.
5.5-5.7 Use organisational strategies to arrange thoughts to explore, clarify and reflect on ideas, feelings and experiences.
5.8-5.16 Create a written or representative draft.
Key Learning Strategies
Pre-writing strategies: Provide each learner with a writer's notebook to track brainstorming, drafting, revising and editing.
Starting with a Prompt and a Picture Poster: Discuss writing prompts and have learners create posters with drawings about their topic.
Brainstorming: Participate in teacher-directed brainstorming to generate ideas for writing.
Organising the Brainstorm: Demonstrate how to use graphic organizers to place ideas in logical order.
Interactive Writing of a Draft: Use Interactive Writing to provide differentiated opportunities for learners to contribute to a class or group story.
Assessment Approaches
The Writing Journal: Provides ongoing evidence of progress.
Formative Writing Rubric: The Northwestern Illustrated Rubric provides insight into writing development stages.
Purpose of Writing Treasure Hunt: Learners gather writing samples and explain their purpose.
Observation during prewriting: Teacher observes and guides learners as they gather ideas.
Peer Assessment: Learners work in small groups to create sentences about a picture and provide feedback.
Additional Resources and Materials
For Teachers
Interactive Writing resources and examples
Northwestern Illustrated Writing Rubric
Graphic organizers for brainstorming
Videos about learning to spell
Dolch word lists for grade-appropriate spelling
Writing process activities (CUPS: Capitalization, Usage, Punctuation, Spelling)
For Students
Writer's notebooks
Sensory words usage worksheets
Home writing activities (list making, family stories, bookmaking)
Field notes templates
Message board activities
"I can" book templates
Writing Process Overview
The writing process in Grade 1 focuses on developing an understanding of the purpose and use of the Traits of Writing:
ELO 5: Brainstorming and Writing the First Draft - Think ideas out loud or draw them before writing.
ELO 6: Revising - After completing the first draft, reread and perhaps share it before revising.
ELO 7: Editing - Writing the final version using best efforts at spelling and visual presentation.
