4th Grade Writing and the Approaching FCAT Writes

With the fourth grade FCAT Writes approaching quickly (February 9-11 is our window), we have been pounding narratives and expository essays into the ground (that's an idiom by the way) for several months. While at times it seems like too much "test prep," effective writing is usally effective writing so I'm confident that the way we've spent our time has been worthwhile. I enjoy teaching writing much more than I enjoyed teaching reading, though maybe that's because I associate teaching reading with all that my first year of teaching entailed. Some of what we write in class is nonfiction, but we encourage them to use imagination when necessary. Some of the strategies and skills we've been working on are listed below:

-Starting with an interesting "grabber"
-Developing a thesis (for essays, obviously)
-Identing and forming paragraphs
-Capitalizing proper nouns
-Coming up with reasons for our thesis
-Supporting our reasons with evidence and personal examples
-Concluding with "takeaways" and/or "zingers"
-Developing characters (for narratives)
-Describing setting (for narratives)
-"Showing" rather than "telling"
-Including a major problem and solution (for narratives)
-Incorporating sensory details
-Integrating dialogue and punctuating correctly
-Integrating similes and metaphors
-Using transitional phrases
-Strengthening the adjectives and verbs that we use
-Using "million dollar words"
-Writing in complete sentences

With that said, I end up doing a lot of modeling. The following is a personal narrative I wrote that was a big hit with the students. You can score me on the six-point FCAT Writing Rubric if you'd like. The prompt was: "You show up to school, but none of the teachers are there, only students. The doors to the building are open. Now, tell the story of what happened that day."

Not Worth It

The morning had chilled our bones like most January mornings, and frost covered the grass. We showed up to school ready to learn and bother our teachers. But the parking lot was empty, and it didn't seem like any of the teachers were around.

It gets much worse, though. We tried the doorknob: it was unlocked! The hallways appeared dark and deserted. Naturally, we strolled right in.

The truth is, we explored the darkness, seeking treasures. In Mrs. Franklin's room, we found and drank Pepsis out of her small, white refrigerator. In Ms. Mayfield's room, we struck gold again, consuming her plastic bag of miniture Reeses peanut butter cups.

My five friends--Raekwon, Terrance, Antonio, Lamier, and Anthony--next spread out for some hide-and-seek. I'll never forget the horror of a the flashlight shining in my eyes and seeing the gold badge of a Jacksonville police officer. Apparently someone had seen us enter the building and called the cops. The ride home in a squad car filled me with dread, as I anticipated my parents' anger. Predictably, they expressed a furiousness like no other. "What were you thinking?!!" they screamed.

So learn from my mistake: a few pieces of candy and some games are not worth getting in trouble with the police. I'm still grounded!

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After FCAT, I hope to create a blog for my students to publish their own work, so I'll keep you posted about that.