Writing

Text Types and Pruposes

W.1.1

Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are   writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide  some sense of closure.

W.1.2

Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.

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.

Production and Distribution of Writing

W.1.4

Doesn't start until 3rd grade.

W.1.5

With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions  and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.

W.1.6

With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce  and publish writing, including in collaboration  with peers.

Digital Tools for kids to use

Ipads
Computers
Cameras
Laptops/Cromebooks

For first grade, students should be learning how to:
Type
Change font size
Change font
style
Insert a picture
Research topics online
(Kidrex.com is a great website for kids)
and Print

Project Ideas

Animals - The first project I like to give students is letting them choose an animal that they do not know a lot about and letting them research it and write about it.  I have students do this project independently so they can learn how to research on their own and so they can practice all of the typing, changing font size/style and inserting a picture.  I do a mini lesson on one thing at a time before we go to the computer lab and let them practice it.  Like one lesson would be for changing font size.  Take it very slow and encourage them to help the person sitting next to them if they are having trouble.
Weather, Presidents and Planets - Listed below under W.1.7

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

W.1.7

Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of  “how-to” books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of  instructions).

Shared Writing Project Ideas

Presidents- Before president's day, we begin out president's day group research project.  This is the first project that they do as a shared writing project, so I give a lot of examples on how to do this. I usually have students work in groups of 2 for this project.  Each group is allowed to pick their president.  They are allowed to search their president on Kidrex.com, a kid friendly search engine.  We work together as a class to come up with questions that we want to answer to know about the presidents.  Usually these are like: Are they still alive? Do they have any kids? and so on.  They do their research on ipads, computers and if they can find any books about them in our library.
Weather - I team up students to do a report on a type of weather they choose.  I require a title page, text size/style changed, a picture inserted and at least 5 facts about the type of weather.
Planets- At the end of the year we do a research project on the planets.  I assign groups and have each group draw for what planet they will research and report on.  They do their research on ipads, books and on regular computers.  When doing research they are allowed to use Kidrex.com, a search engine that is "safe" for kids to search on the internet.  They are required to have a title page with a picture inserted and one page for each person in their group with a picture inserted on each page.  One thing I make sure to have them talk with their partners about is what facts they have and that they do not put the same facts on their page as their partners.  They are required to read over each others page and help them when they are having trouble with inserting a picture or changing font style or size. 

W.1.8

With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or  gather information from provided sources to answer a question.