Writing At Home

Your children will be learning to write in our class! Fourth Grade is heavy on writing, and we will be focusing more on the structure of writing throughout the school year. Even though we will be focusing specifically on writing forms (expository, narrative, personal and persuasive essays, nonfiction and fiction writing) it is important to practice with your student throughout the school year on writing fluency. Here is what they will be doing and how you can help them.

•They will be selecting a topic to write about. You can help them each morning by asking: What will you write about today?

•They will be revising and editing their writing. You can help by asking: Did you go back and make changes? What changes did you make to your paper? Did you add adjectives? Use sensory language? Elaborate on your topic?

•They will be writing imaginative stories that build a plot to a climax and contain details about the characters and setting. You can help by asking them to tell you about their characters and setting in their story. You can also help by reviewing with them the steps in a plot diagram, and asking them to identify where each part of their story falls on that diagram.

•They will be writing in a Dream Journals that will be due every Friday. In them, they will answer the prompt of the week, writing about their own personal experiences, hopes, dreams, etc. You can help by keeping an open communication about their writing, encouraging them to elaborate on each prompt, and talking to them about the things that are important to them. Dream Journals will be the only writing that comes home to work on. All other essays (expository/narrative/persuasive) will not come home with your child.

•They will be publishing some of their work. You can help by reading through their published writing if they bring it home and celebrating their accomplishment. Encouraging them and loving on them throughout the writing process will make a bigger difference than anything else.

•They will be writing letters to their friends/family members, focusing on the different parts of a letter. You can help by encouraging them to write things like thank you notes or letters to their friends and family.

•You can help your student broaden their imagination, improve their spelling and mechanics, and build on their vocabulary, by having your student read to you every night from a book on their reading level.

When you see their work, you can help by talking to them about the content, what it is about. Here are some comments and questions that help a young author:

I like this… (picture, label, letter, word)

Can you tell me more about……?

What else do you know about this?

What will you next piece be about?

You, their audience and readers, will need to bear with them as they learn their craft. Receive their writing in the same spirit of encouragement that you do their music, art, and sports performances. That will help them become the best that they can be. Attached with this letter is a glossary with terms included in it to help you better understand our Writer’s Workshop at school.

I hope all of this is valuable information for you, and I look forward to growing throughout the school year with your young author! Please feel free to email me at megan.patterson@allenisd.org with any questions you may have!