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Skills that students will need to be able to write well in second grade are phonemic and phonological skills. This will help them when sounding out words. They should also have a basic knowledge of using a dictionary and a thesaurus to expand their language usage. The student needs to know the structure of writing, including how the introduction and conclusion tie into each other. The writer needs to be able to add key details in a piece to make the writing stronger. Using complete sentences, conventions, and correct English grammar will help the writer's fluency. This includes using correct collective nouns, capitalization, punctuation, adverbs and adjectives to enhance meaning, and correct spelling patterns. Figurative language for advancing writing is a skill that students should have along with vocabulary knowledge. Students should also be able to demonstrate tone and clarity when sharing their writing to an audience as well.

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A mini-lesson is usually a whole group activity that teaches a new, needed writing skill. This is not a full length lesson. It generally only lasts about 10 minutes. Pre-assessing prior to the lesson is necessary to see what skills they know and what they need to work on.

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Descriptive writing generally has some semblance of background knowledge to it but is not required. The writer may need to research their topic some so that there is knowledge about the topic that can be described in detail. This may require steps to be described in detail and explain why and how it all works and ties together. Language is a key factor for descriptive writing. There is a relationship between explanation and description that includes vivid wording and topic specific language. This kind of language may also include figurative language to better familiarize the reader with the whole topic or give a mental visual (Gunning, 2020),

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Informative or Explanatory writing consists of clear and concise ideas with opening topic sentences. These writing pieces have facts and research to help support the information being given. The writer uses correct language and vivid or level 3 specific words. The writer needs to use descriptive language and elaborate on the language with supporting details. The writer may use prompts to write about for specific topics and break those topics down into sub-categories (Gunning, 2020). An Informational or Explanatory piece should have an introduction opening, transitional words, and a strong closing paragraph or sentence to tie it all together.

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W.2.1- Students will learn how to write their opinions and give supporting reasons for their opinion. Students will use linking words and a strong conclusion to connect the opinion to the reasoning.
W.2.2- Students will use their knowledge on a topic to write an explanatory or informative piece and use facts to support their topic.
W.2.3- Students will use personal experiences to recount and sequence events to write a narrative that includes feelings and temporal words.
W.2.5- Students will revise and edit writing after it has been peer reviewed and reviewed by an adult in order to improve their writing skills.
W.2.7- Students will pick a topic to research and learn how to produce a report that includes observations or facts, individually or in a shared group.
W.2.8- Students will recall information from personal experience or use researched information to answer a given question.

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Guided writing is done in a small group setting at the stage of writing that the group is at. This requires writing samples with the specific strategy and peer writing samples. Modeling is also a key feature for this process. A scaffolded practice is necessary for the students to have a non-consequential attempt at the writing to understand the strategy. This strategy will follow the writing process, including revisions and editing. Modeling details and specifics in this strategy is also a good way to get the students to start developing advanced writing skills. All of this is done with the help of a teacher or a paraprofessional and can take 20 minutes (Gunning, 2016).

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Argumentative or Opinion writing is where the writer makes their position or stance known. This could be a response to current events, disagreement or agreement with and issue, justifying their opinion on a topic, or simply an open letter to an editor. Writers as young as 7 or 8 can begin producing nonargumentative opinion writing that has details or facts to support their opinions. From ages 9-10, writers may produce simple arguments for their position. Ages 11-14 will write arguments or opinions that have reasoning behind their position and are well organized. Argumentative writing also needs to state the opinion or stance while rebutting counterclaims. A warrant is used in these types of writing to state how the evidence supports the position taken (Gunning, 2020).

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Writing and reading go hand in hand. Students excel at writing more if they can "read like a writer" (Gunning, 2016). When reading, techniques the writer is using are picked up and the reader can, in turn, use these techniques to enhance their own writing. The reader can pick these up from books, journals, discussions, or even from when the teacher is reading. The teacher can use mentor texts to help students revise and edit their writing using techniques found in the text. Exposing students to quality writing will help them formulate how writing should sound and look. This strategy works best with the "I do, we do, you do" technique.

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Informational Writing- Includes clear and complete sentences, a beginning sentence with a main idea that entices the reader, incorporating details and facts, and effective ending that wraps up the main idea, vivid wording that can be obtained through a thesaurus, research on the topic, figurative language, advanced writing strategies, like rhetorical questions, complex, compound, and simple sentences, various forms of writing, transitions and transitional words between paragraphs, headings and subheadings on longer pieces, no tangents, correctly using the conventions and spelling of the English language and tools that assist with such (Gunning, 2016).
Narrative Writing- Includes a story with beginning, middle, and end sections, character development with vivid descriptions, action parts, and dialogue, developing setting and plot, a convincing or entertaining ending, character dialogue that is natural sounding, suspense and climax, using fictional techniques to develop writing in an entertaining fashion (Gunning, 2016).
*Why are objectives needed?
Objectives are needed so that students can make sure they are developing their writing well. Without a goal in mind, there is little to strive for. Objectives help keep the students on track with their writing so that it is interesting and detailed for the reader. Objectives are the basis for an outline, which gives the student a way to create a rough draft for their writing.
*Where are objectives created from?
Objectives are actions for writing. The come from the writing process and breakdown of components that a piece needs to have based on what kind of writing it is. Objectives cannot be given without teaching and modeling how to obtain them effectively.
*How can objectives be used to form rubrics and checklists?
Objectives can be used as a way to measure student understanding. Using the objectives for writing on a rubric or checklist will help the students and teacher be able to check the work and make sure that all the components are being addressed. Depending on the writing, the teacher can use the objectives to assess how the student's writing is developing and make note of target areas that are not being addressed so as to reteach. The students can use objectives to self-assess as they write a piece.

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Narrative writing describes characters, setting, and plot. Narratives can be fiction or non-fiction but there must be a sequence of events with a beginning, middle, and end. Most narratives have dialogue and build up to the climax of the story with a strong or surprising ending. This type of writing gives the reader a vivid description of the events that are taking place and may even give different points of view (Gunning, 2020).

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The standard writing time for a Writer's Workshop is 30 minutes or more. This should happen at least 3-5 school days a week. This time is allotted for students to work on writing that they have started (whether for pleasure or assigned), have time to conference with the teacher or other classmates, meet in small groups or for guided writing sessions, and plan what they will be writing about and how they will structure it. A teacher should be monitoring the progress and helping or encouraging where needed. This may mean helping brainstorm introduction or conclusion ideas or helping the students develop details. There may need to be a break in the session to regroup the students and revitalize their enthusiasm and remind them of the target goal and the process they should be using (Gunning, 2016).

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Sharing can be a daunting idea for some students, especially ones that are not confident in their writing. Starting in small groups may be beneficial for shy or unconfident writers. This is also an opportunity for the class to build a sense of community and build each other's confidence (Gunning, 2016). Sharing also gives the students an opportunity to present and learn how to speak to an audience using correct tone. The teacher can use this as a class discussion prompt as well. By scaffolding and asking questions to the students about what was read, it helps the students identify key details from the writing.

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Careful planning and consideration goes into a successful writing workshop. The classroom needs to be organized to accommodate a writer's workshop by having the necessary tools available (pencils, paper, crayons, thesauruses, dictionaries, etc.). Older students and students that have been taught how to use technology for editing should also have access to those resources. The teacher should have a portfolio or a folder set up for each student's writing so as to monitor the progress and development of writing as it is taught, modeled, and practiced. The students also need to be aware of the procedures, rules, and routines that go into a writer's workshop. This should be practiced repeatedly before letting them loose to use it.  The teacher will need to walk around and monitor progress and do consistent check -ins and conferences with students to make sure that the productivity level is staying consistent and help if the student is having "writer's block". A log can be useful for the teacher to monitor student progress and how their writing is developing in the writer's workshop and see where an additional mini-lesson or small group may be needed for certain topic areas (Gunning, 2016).

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Conferences are for students to touch base with peers or the teacher to review their writing and receive helpful feedback that will improve their writing. The student go over their writing and the teacher or peer will make suggestions of how to improve the writing piece. This is also a great opportunity to get to know the writer a bit better and see the perspective they are writing from. At this time, the teacher may note specific concerns or do a progress monitoring check for students that may be struggling with the concept of writing. This process can take 5-10 minutes and should be weekly (Gunning, 2016).

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In 3rd grade, students can start using word-processing programs to enhance their writing. Programs for word-processing help the students be able to achieve proper revising and editing skills. After the students compose their writing, there are computer programs available to help students be able to publish their writing. Along with the word-processing programs, technology provides a valuable resource to help students research different topics and find ways to vary sentence structure. The use of technology when writing is a tool students will need for the rest of their educational and potential professional careers.

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Helping ELs, Struggling Writers and Achieving Writers

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Helping ELs, Struggling Writers and Achieving Writers

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EL students have a disadvantage learning the writing process in a new language. They may not have the foundational skills mastered to write in English just yet. Many EL students have had expose to English writing and some may find it easier to write than to speak the language. This has to do with response time. Speaking is a instant response, whereas writing can take time and tools to achieve. All of the conventions of English and spelling need to be taught before writing, along with proper sentence structure and conjunctions. Knowledge of vocabulary usage and ability to understand and utilize a thesaurus or dictionary is also needed so the EL student can obtain this vocabulary. There are 7 steps to help EL students become successful writers: Language background, guidance and scaffolding by teacher and peers, guidance with composing paragraphs and descriptions, frames of enumeration, composition of enumeration/ description with the use of a writing guide, partner composition of enumeration or description that leads to independent writing.
Struggling writers have a hard time focusing their writing or grasping concepts that pertain to the objectives behind the writing. Self-regulated Strategy Development has four factors to help struggling students achieve their writing goals. Pre-assessment is used to determine a student's goals. The steps of the writing process are taught and modeled along with self-regulatory practices that help the students check that they are covering each step. Mnemonic strategies can help students remember these steps. The Self-regulatory Strategy Development has shown to be successful in helping students with learning disabilities achieve their writing goals and remember the writing process. Quality instruction and explicit lesson planning will also help struggling writers turn into achieving writers when the steps are followed (Gunning. 2016).

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Skills need to be taught step by step to students before they can be successful writers. Handwriting, spelling, typing, and basic conventions need to be practiced so they are automatic skills that the students can use immediately. Starting with simple sentences, the teacher needs to show students how to expand and build on their sentences by adding parts of speech that will help give their sentence detail and depth. Mechanics of language is a tool that students will obtain and be able to identify as they become more fluent with writing. Encouraging students to sound out words is wonderful, but teachers also need to encourage students to use their resources to correct their spelling and grammar as the writing is edited. This helps the students become independent writers and will help them develop their writing from mediocre to meeting goal.