A Curricular Plan for the Writing Workshop
By Lucy Calkins and Colleagues from TCRWP
Grade Kindergarten Unit Map
Time: October
Unit #2: Approximating Small Moments (Week
5, 4 Weeks)
Overview:
Students will generate true, sequenced, cohesive stories from their lives, and then record these stories
across the pages of booklets. They will create and label drawings to hold onto meaning, and use story
language to write. As they storytell out loud, draw pictures to plan, and write the words that tell their
stories, they will learn strategies for checking that they are expressing themselves clearly. They will
work with partners to rehearse and storytell, listening to each other before they write and helping each
other add more important details to their stories.
Students will learn more high frequency words and spelling strategies to help them add words to their
booklets. The focus will shift from making writing that is easier to read, to making wring that is easier to
understand and love. Students will learn to craft stronger story beginnings and endings, and to add
dialogue. They will try out revision strategies on their old pieces and narrative-improving strategies on
new pieces, writing clearer and more detailed stories. Students will also reflect on their writing by
asking, “How do I know that I am done?”
Students will choose one of their stories to make even better, thing it through the writing process. They
will practice reading their stories and talking about their process to prepare for a celebration to share
their work.
Part One: Launching the Unit-and the Writing
o
Draw and write stories of their lives in pre stapled booklets
o
Draw and write a story a day
o
Variety of stapled booklets
o
Touch each page, saying aloud the words that go with it
o
Work a day or two on a book then start a new one independently
o
Draw in detail or sketch
o
First bare bones then add details
o
Move to stories with beginning, middle and end
o
Smaller focus
o
Partnerships rehearse and story tell
Part Two: Writers Work Hard to Tell Stories Using Many Words and Pictures
o
Label lots of things on every page
o
Say words slowly and record a mark for each sound
o
Improvement in spelling and control of the conventions
Part Three: Writers Ask, “Can I Add More to My Story?”
o
Add more to your story
o
Reflect
o
Compare own writing to class exemplar or mentor piece
o
Connect to Reading Workshop
o
Offer suggestions to peer on ways of strengthening their writing
o
Clarify thoughts and ideas
o
Partner talk charts
o
Tools, key words and symbols to scaffold partner feedback
7/10/12
1
Part Four: Getting Ready for Publication: revise, Edit, and Publish
o
Choose one story to make better
o
Prepare to publish
o
Reread piece and add forgotten details, labels
o
Fancy it up
o
Celebration
During this unit:
 Writers not only write stories that tell one thing that they did, then the next thing, then the next
in order, they also write them in ways that are easy for other people to read.
 Writers can draw on tools to make their writing stronger. They can use tools to help them with
word choice and voice clarity.
 A personal narrative becomes better when the writer elaborates by adding details into the
drawing or the words-and uses what he or she knows to make the story readable.
 Prepare stapled booklets
 Gather class exemplars and mentor writing pieces
 Teach phonics lessons
 Immerse children in a culture of storytelling
 Gather mentor texts
 Prepare writing tools (word wall, alphabet chart, names chart, partner talk charts, visuals, key
words)
 Author’s chair
Stage 1 – Common Core State Standards and Indicators– What must students know and be able to do?
Writing
W.01. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion
pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing
about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite
book is...).
W.02 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose
informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and
supply some information about the topic.
W.03 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event
or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they
occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.
W.05 With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions
from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
Language Standards
LS.o1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing
or speaking
LS.01a Print many upper-and lowercase letters.
LS.01b Use frequently occurring nouns and verbs.
LS.02c Demonstrate command of conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
LS.02d Spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships.
Speaking and Listening Standards
SL.01 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and
texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
SL.01a Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.q., listening to others and taking turns speaking
7/10/12
2
about the topics and texts under discussion).
SL.01b Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges
SL.06 Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.
Essential Questions for Students
Guiding Questions for Teachers

How can I write true stories that other
1. How can I teach my writers to generate
true stories about their own lives and make
people can actually read? How can I
their pieces easy to read?
use the tools in the room and
2. How can I provide my writers with tools to
everything I know about clear writing
make their writing stronger, building their
to make my story as clear and fun to
make my story as clear and fun to read ability to write words and write with clarity?
3. How can I help my writers to add more to
as it can be?
their stories, including narrative elements

How can I use a partner to help make
such as dialogue and character feelings to
my stories better?
make their stories really come alive?
4. How can I help my students celebrate their
writing, teaching them how t make it easy for
others to read?
Stage 2– Common Assessment – What is the evidence of understanding?
Universal Screen
Formative Assessment Strategies
Writing on Demand
Writing on Demand
-pre unit assessment
-post unit assessment
Individual conferences
Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Levels
Formative: DOK 3 Strategic Thinking: Teacher
Observation
Observe and take notes on students behaviors as they
read, talk and write. This will help monitor the way
students approach their work, and provide data to
develop ways to help them through the writing
process.
Formative: DOK 3 Strategic Thinking: Writing
Conference
In a writing conference, the teacher observes and/or
interviews, researching especially to understand what
the writer can do, can almost do, and cannot yet do,
and to understand the new work that a writer is
attempting to do, and the challenges the writer is
confronting.
1. The teacher approaches a conference, already
recalling what he or she knows about the
student as a writer. The teacher may look
back on notes from previous conferences small
group work, and assessments, and/or may
7/10/12
3
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
watch for a bit to notice patterns in what the
writer is already engaged in doing.
The teacher may begin by saying to the writer
what he or she has already noticed, asking the
writer to say more about that or the teacher
may begin by recalling the last conversation
held with the writer. Of, the teacher may
begin simply by asking the writer about his or
her work as a writer.
The write talks. The teacher uses gestures,
follow-up questions, and active listening to
coax the writer to say more, to elaborate, and
to provide examples.
The teacher develops a tentative theory about
the student as a writer and about the new
work the student is doing and could be doing.
Based on this, the teacher decides what he or
she could compliment and could teach the
writer.
The teacher compliments the writer, making
sure to name what the writer is doing well in
such a way that the writer transfer that to
other days, other writing pieces.
The teacher then sets the writer up to work
towards a new goal. The teacher makes the
goal as concrete, specific, and alluring as
possible, showing the writer the specific
strategies he or she could use in order to make
progress towards this new goal. The writer
may get started working towards the new
goal, with the teacher coaching into this work.
The teacher assures the writer of future
follow-up work.
Formative: DOK 3 Strategic Thinking: Final Drafts,
Drafting Packets, & Reflections
At the end of this unit, students will turn in their final
drafts of personal narratives, plus the drafting packet
that includes their initial drafts and revisions. Students
will also be asked to write or dictate a reflection,
answering these or similar questions:
1. What was the most successful strategy that I
tried during this unit of study? What made
this strategy work for me? How did it help my
writing?
2. In what ways is my final draft a more powerful
7/10/12
4
personal narrative/memoir than my first draft?
What did I do as a writer to improve my
storytelling and my use of conventions during
revision and editing>
3. What do I still have to work on as a narrative
writer? What parts of narrative writing are
still tricky for me?
4. In my next piece of narrative writing, what will
I try that will push me to write an even better
story than I’ve written this time?
These questions will require students to analyze their
own work across the unit, to evaluate where they have
made progress and offer a window into how they have
Internalized the teaching: what they understand about
narrative writing and what makes it powerful.
The final drafts themselves, along with the drafting
packets, will offer a final opportunity to take stock of
students’ narrative writing abilities, using the Narrative
Continuum once again, and to assess their use of the
writing process, noting how they took advantage of
instruction and class and home time to improve their
stories from their inception in the writing notebook
until their publication as final drafts.
Common Assessment
WOD (Writing on Demand)
Stage 3 – Instruction – What learning experiences will lead to understanding?
Key Terms/Vocabulary
Skills: Content Skills
Revise
Novice:
Structure
Label
Sketch
-Students draw pictures on each page
Write
-Students tell about each picture, but
the pictures are not connected in a
True story
Stretch it out,
story
Small moment
Elaboration and Show Don't Tell
-Students do not show scenes in the
Details
Across the pages
picture or text
7/10/12
5
-Students revise when they add more
to the drawing
-Students may not show a character
-Students do not show setting in the
drawings
Concept of Writing
-Students read the meaning of the
picture
-Students do not match letters to
sounds when writing words
Meaning and Significance
-Students make marks on the page
that do not have meaning
-Students make marks that show they
know how to draw
-The meaning of the story may change
each time it's being read
Publishing and Collaborating:
Intermediate:
Structure
-Students make pictures and attempt
to write
-Students read their story to tell what the pictures and text mean
-Students tell about a topic or event
without writing the step-by-step order
Elaboration and Show Don't Tell
-Students show character(s) using
drawings that are not moving
-Students show some objects in their
pictures (tv, car or house)
-Students read the book by saying one
sentence on each page
-Students add details when they read
the text
-Students show feelings using the faces
in the drawing
-Students do not add dialogue or
thoughts
-Students sometimes show the setting
in the pictures or what the character
does
Concept of Writing
-Students label pictures and write
letters instead of words
-Students may not write left to write or
top to bottom
Meaning and Significance
-Students chose a topic to draw and
write about
7/10/12
Act out
Reread
Rewrite
Add more
Speech bubbles
Action
6
Publishing and Collaborating:
-Students know they should read,
share and publish writing
Proficient:
Structure
-Students draw a sequence of pictures
-Students write briefly about the
sequence of events
-Students tell events in order with a
beginning, middle and end
Elaboration and Show Don't Tell
-Students wrote their reaction to what
happened
-Students recall a sequence of actions
Includes details by adding to picture or
text
-Students add dialogue to tell
-Students tell the setting when they
write what the character did in
sequence
Concept of Writing
-Students use more than one letter to
represent each word
-Students use spacing between most of
the words
-Students revised, expanded and
shared their writing
Meaning and Significance
-Students write about meaningful
experiences
Publishing and Collaborating:
-Students explore a variety of digital
tools to publish
-Students share with their peers
Above Proficient:
Structure
-Students draw a sequence of pictures
-Students write a sequence of micro
events
-Students tell a focused 'small moment'
-Students tell a story that happens over a short period of time
-Students add an ending using a
reaction with feeling or an action
Elaboration and Show Don't Tell
-Students write action in smaller steps
-Students write the action or steps
using several sentences
-Students add feeling and thoughts the
narrator has
7/10/12
7
-Students add character traits to the
drawings
-Students add dialogue using speech
bubbles
-Students tell feelings, but do not show
them
Concept of Writing
-Students write words using most of
the letters
-Students put spaces between many of
the words
-Students tell a story for an audience
-Students add some sound effects
-Students add feelings using
punctuation
Meaning and Significance
-Students write about small ordinary
moments
Publishing and Collaborating:
-Students use a variety of digital tools
to publish
-Students share with their peers
One Possible Sequence of Teaching Points
(A Note To Teachers: Below is a series of teaching points that could be used during whole class
minilessons, mid-workshop teaching points, teaching shares and to support small group instruction.
Please remember that this is one possible sequence of teaching points. Teachers will alter this list,
especially by adding to it, based on the students in your class. You may decide to spend more time on
some things and not others. Make sure not to extend the unit beyond its time frame. )
Part One: Launching the Unit—and the Writing
How can I teach my writers to generate true stories about their own lives and make
their pieces easy to read?
■ “Today I want to teach you that when writers write Small Moment stories, we take one small moment
and we stretch it out. We include tiny little details that make the story come to life. We don’t just tell the
story in a sentence or two, we include the itty bitty details so that our story goes across the pages and we
show our story with our words.” (See Session I, “Understanding a Small Moment
Story” in Small Moments: Personal Narrative.)
■ “Today I want to teach you another way we can plan our stories. Sometimes we can work with a writing
partner to plan for future stories we want to write. We can use our writing partner to ‘try on’ the stories
we want to tell by sitting, knee-to knee, and then tell our story using our best storytelling language.” (See
Session III, “Establishing Long-Term Partnerships” in Small Moments: Personal Narrative.)
7/10/12
8
■ “Today I want to teach you that when writers write Small Moment stories, we take one moment and
stretch it across the pages of a book just like the authors of some of our favorite books do. One way we
can get ready to write the story across pages is to touch each page of our booklet and say aloud the story.
This will help us remember what we want to write as well as how our story will go across pages.” (See
Session IV, “Stretching One Small Moment” in Small Moments:
Personal Narrative.)
■ “Today writers, I want to teach you that when we want to tell stories from our lives, one thing we can
do is think about things we do a lot. Then we can think of one time we did that thing, draw what we did,
then tell our story. We can touch each page of our booklet and tell the story out loud. Then on each page
we draw what we did so we don’t forget our story, then we can go back to write the words.”
“Writers write all the sounds that they hear in words so that other people can read our stories. When we
want to hear more sounds and write a word, we say the word slowly, writing all the sounds that we hear.”
 Tip: “First, we say the word, listen to the sound, and write the letter that makes the sound we
hear Then we reread what we’ve written, say the rest of the word, listen for the next sound, and
write the letter that makes that sound. We repeat it several times until we’ve heard and written all
the sounds in the word.” (See Session V, “Stretching and Writing Words” in Small Moments:
Personal Narrative.)
■ “Today I want to teach you that writers go back and read over our stories when we think we are done.
We do this to make sure that it says everything we want it to say and to help us remember what we have
written.”
 Tip: “We point to and read the pictures, and we read the words. In this way, we help ourselves
remember our stories and are able to check to see if we included all of the important details.”
Part Two: Writers Work Hard to Tell Stories Using Many Words and Pictures
How can I provide my writers with tools to make their writing stronger, building their
ability to write words and write with clarity?
■ “Today I want to teach you that writers try to remember and write all that happened in their stories. One
thing we can do to make sure we include all of the details is to act out each part and then put what we act
out onto the paper.”
 Tip:“We put this down in detailed pictures and words to describe these actions.”
■ “Today I want to teach you that when writers write stories, we try to write them in a way that helps our
readers feel like they were right there. One way to do this is to think about where we were, who we were
with, and what we were doing on each page and then we include those details in our pictures and our
words.”
 Tip: “We might picture what is happening in our minds, or act out what is happening, and then
draw what our face and body are doing. Then, we can add words to label each action.”
■ “Today, I want to show you that when we are trying to stretch out our words and we aren’t sure what
letters go with the sounds that we hear, we can use our friends’ names or other words we already know
how to spell to help us. We say the word slowly; listen for the first sound we hear, then think, ‘Whose
7/10/12
9
name starts with that sound?’ Then we look at the name chart to figure out what letter makes that sound.”
 Tip: “If you don’t know a name that starts with the sound you hear you might ask, ‘Are there any
words that I know that start with that same sound?’ Then you might turn to the word wall or your
alphabet chart to find the letter that matches the sound you hear.”
■ “Writers, we’ve been learning about how we try to write our stories so that the reader feels like they
were right there with us. We know that we do this by including all the important details both in the picture
and in the words. Today I’m going to teach you that writers can plan the details that we will include in the
story before we write the words on the page. One way to do this is to picture our small moment in our
mind and tell the story to our partner before we write anything down, trying to include all the details.”
 Tip: “Our partners can help us plan how the story will go across the pages of our book.” (See
Session VII, “Planning Details” in Small Moments: Personal Narrative) “Sometimes when we
are writing we forget to write all the words that we want to say. Today I want to teach you that we
can plan our sentences out loud to help us remember. We can then point to where we want each
word to go on the page. Finally, we can write the first word and go back and reread it to
remember what comes next.”
 Tip: “We keep writing and rereading until we write all of the words in our sentence. This way we
will make sure to write all of the words that we want to say in our story.”
Part Three: Writers Ask, “Can I Add More to My Story?”
How can I help my writers to add more to their stories, including narrative elements
such as dialogue and character feelings to make their stories really come alive?
■ “Writers, we’ve been stretching our stories across pages, telling all that happened to us in our small
moments. Another way you can stretch your stories out across pages is by not only telling what
happened—the outside story—but you can tell your feelings or thoughts about what happened—the inside
story.” (See Session XII, “Revealing Internal Stories” in Small Moments: Personal Narrative.)
■ “Today I want to teach you another way that writers make our stories come to life. We often write
about what people said in our stories. This helps our readers to get a really clear picture of all that is
happening.”
 Tip: “One thing that might help us to add people talking is to touch each person in the picture
and remember what they said and make them ‘talk.’ Then we can add a speech bubble near the
heads of the people in our stories so that when we reread our stories we can remember that this
person or that person was talking on this page, or in this part of our story. You can actually write
the words that the people said right in the speech bubbles.”
■ “Today I want to teach you that writers think very seriously about whether we are really done with our
writing. As a matter of fact, before we put anything on the done side, we reread it, thinking about all the
things we know about writing stories.”
 Example: “We think about if we showed feelings or said lots about the place and what happened,
and ask ourselves, ‘Did I try all that here? Can I say more in my pictures? Can I say more in my
words?’ Then we take the time to add to our stories, making each page matter.”
7/10/12
10
■ “Today I want to teach you that when writers are trying to decide if we are done, we can look at the
examples of writing around us. In our classroom we can look at the story we wrote together to see what
we included, then we can look at our own writing, to ask, ‘Did I do that in my story?’ If the answer is no,
then we might decide to go back to our story to say more.”
 Tip: “Then we may look at another part of the story we wrote together to ask ourselves again,
‘Did I do that?’ Then ask ‘Is there a place where I might add that to my story?’ We can keep
adding to our own stories until our own writing is as filled as the examples in the classroom.”
■ “Today I want to teach you that when we meet with partners, we treat our books in writing workshop
the same way we treat books in reading workshop, and we can try some of the same things that we do in
reading workshop! Just like in reading, we can first look at our partner’s cover and think ‘What will this
story be about?’ Then as we read our partner’s book, we can think ‘Do all these pages go together with
the title?’ If the cover doesn’t match the story, or some of the pages seem like they don’t belong we can
help our partner to make their story better by giving them suggestions to help fix their stories up.”
Part Four: Getting Ready for Publication: Revise, Edit, and Publish
How can I help my students celebrate their writing, teaching them how t make it easy
for others to read?
■ “Today I want to teach you that once writers choose one story to publish, we go
back to revise it adding as much as we can so that others can really understand and enjoy our books. One
way to do this is to add lots of labels to the pictures. Specifically, we want to be sure we have labeled all
of the people and objects in our stories, so others know who is who and what is what.”
■ “When we publish our books we want to be sure that others can read our writing. Today I am going to
teach you a way that we can help each other make our writing more readable. We can work with our
writing partners, helping each other to edit our work. One partner will act as the editor while the other
reads her book. The editor’s job is to go through the piece with his or her partner to help fix it up!”
 Tip: “The editor and the writer will first reread the story really carefully one sentence at a time.
Then the writer can ask his or her partner (the editor), ‘Does this make sense? How can we fix
it? What can we add?’ Then we fix whatever needs fixing together and switch jobs.” (See
Session XIV, “Revising and Editing with Partners” in Small Moments: Personal Narrative.)
■ “Writers, we’ve all learned so much about catching Small Moments from our lives and writing about
them, stretching them across pages of a book and writing clearly so that our readers can picture the story
in their minds. Today we will celebrate by reading our stories to our reading buddies who will listen and
then give us compliments so that we can hear what others like about our books.” (See
Session XV, “Reading Aloud for Visitors: An Author’s Celebration” in Small Moments: Personal
Narrative.)
Resources:
7/10/12
11
Calkins, Lucy and Colleagues. 2011. A Curricular Plan for the Writing Workshop Grade K. Portsmouth,
NH: Heinemann.
Calkins, Lucy and Kathleen Tolan. 2010. Building a Reading Life: Stamina, Fluency and Engagement.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Text Used (fiction, non-fiction, on-line, media, etc…)

Video, “Big Lessons from Small Writers”

Kindergarten Units of Study, Unit 2: Approximating Small Moments

Reading Writing Project Writing Continuum

Texts by literary scholar Shirley Brice Heath

Developmental Spelling Inventory by Donald Bear

Letter and Sound Identification

On Demand Writing Assessment
Materials Used

Possible Mentor Texts: Shortcut by Donald Crews, A Day with Daddy by Nikki Grimes and The
Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Possible Charts: rules/habits/routines of writing workshop, planning pages, stretching ideas over
a few pages, how to draw our story ideas, partner talk, ideas to write about

1 page with a large box and one line (adapt paper to more lines according to observation)

Writing Center: writing pens, stapler, date stamp, differentiated paper baskets

Writing folders (pictures – send home lists of things they can send pictures of)

Word wall with names
Professional Texts

Please see forthcoming book aligned o this unit from Units of Study for Teaching Writing, Grade
by Grade: A Yearlong Workshop Curriculum, Grade K.

Matteson, David M. and Freeman, Deborah K. 2005. Assessing and Teaching Beginning Writers:
Every Picture Tells a Story. New York: Richard C. Owen Publishers.

McCarrier, Andrea, Pinnell, Gay Su and Fountas, Irene C. 2000. Interactive Writing: How
Language and Literacy Come Together, K-2. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

McGee, Lea M. and Morrow, Lesley M. 2005. Teaching Literacy in Kindergarten. New York:
Guilford Press.

Ray, Katie and Cleveland, L. 2004. Writing Workshop with our Youngest Writers. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinmenann.
Mentor Texts
Determined by personal preference
Websites and Technology
Differentiated Instructions: Small Group
Finding opportunities for small group instruction is essential for all of your kindergarten children, right
from the start.
.
7/10/12
12