ENG61: English Writing Workshop Grade 5- 6 Part1

Course Description

In this course, students will learn about the purpose of writing and its audience, the process of writing, main ideas and details, staying on topic, writing a paragraph and active voice. Students will apply this knowledge to three different types of writing. Students will be guided through a step-by-step process to teach them how to write a story, how to write to inform, and how to write about an argument. This writing course follows Common Core state standards.

Writing a Story:
Students will write a descriptive paragraph, personal narrative, and a story. Students will start the unit by identifying and practicing how to write with sensory details, adjectives and adverbs. Then, students will use what they have practiced to create a descriptive writing piece and a personal narrative. After that, students will review what makes a story: parts of a story, setting, characters, dialogue, point of view. Students will explore and brainstorm ideas on how to create a historical fiction and science fiction story. Finally, students will choose one of the ideas they’ve written about and create a story using the writing process. 

Writing to Inform:
Students will learn multiple ways to write to inform readers by writing three different pieces of writing (How-to instructions, Comparing literature, Informational writing). Students will start the unit by reviewing direction, position, and time-order words and writing a final paper on explaining to someone how to do something. Then, students will identify and do various exercises on the following topics: cause and effect relationships, reporting an event, spatial organization, the language of comparison, and comparing characters. After that, students will write a final paper by comparing two different literature (books) using what they have learned. 

Writing an Argument:
Students will write a persuasive argument paper about an issue they’re passionate about. In order to write their argumentative paper, students will identify what persuasive writing is. Then, students will practice writing facts, opinions, bias and emotional appeals. After that, students will write about problems and solutions, identifying and making a claim. Finally, students will put everything they’ve learned together to write a persuasive argumentative paper. 


Topic 1 Introduction
  • The writing process
  • Purposes for writing
  • Audience
  • Write a paragraph
  • Main ideas and details
  • Staying on topic
  • Active voice
Topic 2 Writing a Story Part 1
  • Sensory details
  • Adjectives and adverbs
  • Describing objects
  • The writing process: Descriptive writing
  • Personal narrative
  • Sequence of events
  • The writing process: Personal narrative
Topic 3 Writing a Story Part 2
  • Parts of a story
  • Setting
  • Characters
  • Dialogue
  • Point of view
  • Story ideas
  • The writing process: Story
Topic 4 Writing to Inform Part 1
  • Explanatory writing
  • Directions
  • The writing process: How-to instructions
  • Cause and effect relationships
  • Report an event
  • Spatial organization
  • The language of comparison
  • Comparing characters