Writing 1

Getting ready to write (sitting tall, pencil grip and the three writing lines), then tidying every capital and lowercase letter in stroke families: straight, slanting, curved, tall, round, tail and hump letters. Letter size, sitting on the line and finger spaces, the whole alphabet side by side, look-alike letters like b and d, and a handwriting check compared with the first-day sample.

• 1 · Welcome to Writing 1: grip, posture and the writing routine
• 2 · Straight-line capitals: L, T, I, H, E, F
• 3 · Slanting capitals: A, V, W, M, N
• 4 · Slanting capitals: K, X, Y, Z
• 5 · Curved capitals: C, O, G, Q, S
• 6 · Capitals with a line and a curve: B, D, P, R, U, J
• 7 · Lowercase letters i, l, t, k, f
• 8 · Lowercase round letters: c, o, a, d
• 9 · Lowercase letters e, s, g, q
• 10 · Lowercase letters h, n, m, r, b
• 11 · Lowercase letters p, j, y, u, v
• 12 · Lowercase letters w, x, z, and size and spacing
• 13 · Printing the whole alphabet in order
• 14 · Look-alike letters: b and d, p and q, m and n
• 15 · Handwriting check: the alphabet and my name

Capital letters for names, spelling by sound with sound boxes, word families and tricky words like said and they. Telling, asking, exciting and command sentences with their end marks, blends, digraphs and endings like ck and ng, nouns (common, proper and whose it is), verbs, and stretching sentences with where and when. A whole-sentence speaking game, too. Ends with a dictation and sentence-writing check.

• 16 · Writing my name and capitalizing names
• 17 · Stretch and spell short-vowel words: cat, hat, sat
• 18 · Spelling more short-vowel words: e, i, o, u
• 19 · Word families: -at, -an, -ig, -op, -ug
• 20 · Tricky words: the, a, I, is, to, you
• 21 · More tricky words: was, said, are, have, do, they
• 22 · What makes a sentence? Capital letter, spaces and an end mark
• 23 · Telling sentences about me
• 24 · Asking sentences and question marks
• 25 · Exciting sentences and exclamation points
• 26 · Telling someone what to do: command sentences
• 27 · Four kinds of sentences: sort, punctuate and write
• 28 · Blends at the start and end of words: st, bl, tr, nd, mp
• 29 · Naming words: people, places, animals and things
• 30 · Special names need capitals: people, pets, places, days and months
• 31 · Whose is it? Mia's dog and my cat
• 32 · Action words: verbs
• 33 · Digraphs: sh, ch, th, wh
• 34 · A noun plus a verb makes a sentence
• 35 · Making sentences longer: who, what, where, when
• 36 · Ending spellings: ck, ng, nk, ll, ss
• 37 · Checking end marks
• 38 · Writing sentences about a picture
• 39 · Unit 2 review: sounds, words and sentences
• 40 · Unit 2 assessment: dictation and sentence writing

Order and time words, retelling a fable, then one small true moment told as events in order with details and a closing, plus describing, sense and feeling words, verbs for past, present and future, and pronouns. Then made-up stories: characters, setting, a problem and how it is solved, beginning, middle and end, speech bubbles and said, a fable and a three-panel comic, finishing with a short story written alone.

• 41 · Order words: first, next, then, last
• 42 · More time words: before, after, finally, yesterday
• 43 · Retelling a story in order
• 44 · My day in order
• 45 · Quick writes in a journal
• 46 · Choosing one small moment to write about
• 47 · Telling two events in order
• 48 · A fun memory: writing it down
• 49 · Adding details: who, what, where
• 50 · Describing words: adjectives
• 51 · Describing with the five senses
• 52 · Writing a descriptive paragraph
• 53 · Words that show feelings
• 54 · Writing about how I felt
• 55 · Writing about a hard time
• 56 · Verbs that tell when: today, yesterday, tomorrow
• 57 · Past tense in my writing: -ed and went, saw, ate
• 58 · Pronouns: I, me, he, she, it, we, they
• 59 · More pronouns: my, your, our, their, anyone, everything
• 60 · A good ending: closure
• 61 · Project: write and publish a personal narrative
• 62 · Characters: who is in the story?
• 63 · Setting: where and when
• 64 · Events: what happens
• 65 · Putting it together: a mini story
• 66 · Choosing a story idea
• 67 · Planning a story
• 68 · The beginning of a story
• 69 · The middle of a story
• 70 · The ending of a story
• 71 · Characters talk: speech bubbles and 'said'
• 72 · Fables: animal characters and a lesson
• 73 · Writing a fable
• 74 · Comic strips: telling a story in pictures and words
• 75 · Unit 3 review: telling what happened
• 76 · Unit 3 assessment: write a short narrative

Facts versus made-up sentences, fact sentences, titles, labels and captions, gathering and sorting facts, and a facts paragraph with a closing. Plurals with matching verbs, a, an, this and those, position words like during and beyond, and commas in dates and lists. Comparing two animals, a weather report, asking questions and finding answers in a short owl article, a mini report and an illustrated all-about book.

• 77 · What is informational writing? Facts about real things
• 78 · Writing facts in complete sentences
• 79 · Titles: naming your topic
• 80 · Labels and captions
• 81 · Gathering and grouping facts before I write
• 82 · Telling more about my topic: what it is, does and has
• 83 · More than one: plural nouns with -s and -es
• 84 · Verbs that match: he hops, they hop
• 85 · Little words: a, an, the, this, that, these, those
• 86 · Where and when words: prepositions
• 87 · Commas in dates and lists
• 88 · Lists
• 89 · An informational paragraph: title, facts, closing
• 90 · A closing sentence
• 91 · Alike and different: comparing two animals
• 92 · Writing an alike-and-different paragraph
• 93 · A weather report: facts from observing
• 94 · What I learned: writing from experience
• 95 · Asking questions to learn more
• 96 · Finding answers
• 97 · A mini report
• 98 · Project: all-about book, planning
• 99 · Project: all-about book, writing the pages
• 100 · Project: all-about book, title page and sharing
• 101 · Unit 4 review: facts and nouns
• 102 · Unit 4 assessment: write a fact paragraph

Steps in order with action words, comparing three how-to pages, an old lemonade recipe and map directions. Then a shared research project on planting a bean or washing hands: notes from two sources, steps written in order, tested by a family member, fixed and published as a how-to book, by hand or typed.

• 103 · What is a how-to? Steps in order
• 104 · Reading how-to pages: how are they alike?
• 105 · Recipes: ingredients and steps
• 106 · Directions: left, right, next to
• 107 · Choose a topic and explore how-to pages about it
• 108 · Collect the steps from the pages
• 109 · Write the steps in order
• 110 · Test the instructions and fix them
• 111 · Publish your how-to book
• 112 · Unit 5 review: how-to writing
• 113 · Unit 5 assessment: write four steps

Fact or opinion, opinion sentences, favorites with reasons, and the joining words because, and, but, or and so. Writing about a book (a fable read aloud), then a full opinion piece with reasons and an ending, shared with a listener, revised and published.

• 114 · Facts and opinions: telling them apart
• 115 · What is an opinion?
• 116 · Writing an opinion sentence
• 117 · My favorite things and why
• 118 · Giving reasons
• 119 · Because: explaining why
• 120 · Joining sentences: and, but, or, so
• 121 · Writing about a book: name the book and say what you think
• 122 · An opinion paragraph: opinion, reasons and closing
• 123 · Ending an opinion
• 124 · Project: write and share an opinion piece
• 125 · Unit 6 review: opinion writing
• 126 · Unit 6 assessment: write an opinion

Silent e, vowel teams (ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, ow, oe, oo), adding -ing and -ed, ar, or, er, ir and ur, compound words, clapping long words into chunks, and six more tricky words. Then spelling tools for the child's own writing and a dictation check.

• 127 · Silent e
• 128 · Vowel teams: ai, ay, ee, ea
• 129 · Vowel teams: oa, ow, oe, oo
• 130 · Adding -ing
• 131 · Adding -ed
• 132 · Spelling r-controlled vowels: ar, or, er, ir, ur
• 133 · Compound words
• 134 · Chunking longer words
• 135 · Even more tricky words: where, there, some, come, were, want
• 136 · Spelling strategies in my own writing
• 137 · Unit 7 review: spelling patterns
• 138 · Unit 7 assessment: dictation

Capitals for days, months and names, commas in dates and lists, and fix-it practice with nouns, pronouns, verbs, describing words, joining words and little words in the child's own sentences. Answering a question from a short ladybug article in a complete sentence, a ten-minute quick write, dictation, rhyming word families, and two short poems with a rhyming couplet to write. Ends with an editing and sentence-writing check.

• 139 · Capitals in dates and names: days and months
• 140 · Commas in dates and lists: in my own sentences
• 141 · Nouns and pronouns in my writing
• 142 · Verbs and adjectives in my writing
• 143 · Joining and expanding sentences
• 144 · Little words in my writing: a, an, this, that, in, on, under
• 145 · Writing an answer from a book
• 146 · A ten-minute quick write
• 147 · Dictation: sentences with tricky words and patterns
• 148 · Rhyming words and spelling families
• 149 · What is a poem?
• 150 · Writing a rhyming couplet
• 151 · Unit 8 review: conventions, sentences and poems
• 152 · Unit 8 assessment: edit and write sentences

Revising versus editing, joining short sentences, cutting off-topic sentences, a partner's star and question, an editing checklist and reading aloud to catch mistakes. Typing a page on a keyboard or tablet and publishing it with a partner, then editing a short paragraph alone.

• 153 · Revising and editing: two ways to improve a piece
• 154 · Combining short sentences
• 155 · Revising practice
• 156 · Partner feedback: answering a friend's questions
• 157 · An editing checklist
• 158 · Reading your writing aloud
• 159 · Keyboard and tablet tools: typing a page
• 160 · Publishing with technology, with a partner
• 161 · Unit 9 review: revising, editing and publishing
• 162 · Unit 9 assessment: edit a short paragraph

A letter, a thank-you note, an invitation and a postcard, a kind note, and labels and signs for home. Two review days and an end-of-year check with a piece written alone, then a portfolio: the best story, facts piece and opinion piece or poem, revised, illustrated, given a cover, practiced aloud and shared with family.

• 163 · Writing a letter
• 164 · Thank-you notes
• 165 · Invitations and postcards
• 166 · A kind note
• 167 · Writing around the house: labels and signs
• 168 · Cumulative review: sentences and punctuation
• 169 · Cumulative review: story and description
• 170 · End-of-year writing check
• 171 · Building a writing portfolio
• 172 · Portfolio: a story I'm proud of
• 173 · Portfolio: an informational piece
• 174 · Portfolio: an opinion piece or a poem
• 175 · Editing and revising the portfolio
• 176 · Illustrating the portfolio
• 177 · Making a cover page
• 178 · Practicing reading aloud
• 179 · Sharing the portfolio
• 180 · Writing 1 celebration