Your child might talk at home about "writing workshop." This is the time of the day that we focus on learning to write. As a part of each session we will focus on skills that are pertinent to writing development. One day we might collect ideas for topics. Another day we might focus on standard forms of writing and look at the use of punctuation as a way to help the reader understand our message more clearly. Still another day we might learn about parts of speech and specific rules of grammar. All of these lessons have a common goal and that is to help your child's writing develop more fully.

Each day your child will have many opportunities to write. This writing experience may include responding to a piece of literature, explaining how to solve a problem using mathematics, recording observations or data, creating personal narratives, poems, or other common forms of writing.

The writing program is based in part on the John Collins writing approach, which utilizes five types of writing and focus correction areas:

	Type One writing is the type we use just to get ideas down on paper. It is not a composition, but rather a "quick-write" to generate ideas, express an opinion, make a prediction, reflect on an event, and it is used to practice spontaneous writing. Type One writing is not graded.  Students are encouraged to "just" write and not to worry about spelling or punctuation.
	Type Two writing is also considered a quick-write. However, with Type Two writing, your child will be answering a specific question about something we are learning in class. In evaluating this type of writing, I will be looking for content of the writing, not the writing itself.
	Type Three writing is more formal. It is writing that has substantive content and meets up to three additional, specific standards. That is, Type Three writing is done with focus correction areas. With this type of writing, writers must create a draft, read it out loud, and review it to answer these questions: Does it sound write? Is it easy to read? Did I achieve my goals? Have I carefully checked my focus correction areas? Revising and editing are done on the first draft.
	Type Four writing is the same as Type Three but with two additional steps. The paper is read out loud and critiqued by another student or the teacher, and then a second draft of the paper is prepared. The teacher reviews this paper and then places it into the cumulative writing folder.
	Type Five writing is of publishable quality and does not have focus correction areas. That is, it is a paper that can go outside the classroom to any audience without explanation or qualification. Multiple drafts are required to achieve this kind of writing.  (This type of writing is only done when children have had many opportunities to practice Type Three and Four writings.)

Taken from: Developing an Effective Writing Program for the Elementary Grades by Gary B. Chadwell, Collins Education Associates LLC;1999.

On each Type Three and Type Four writing we will concentrate on a few key aspects of writing, such as end punctuation or the use of topic and concluding sentences. These are called focus correction areas or FCAs.   Focus correcting is based on the belief that student writing improves more quickly when the student works to improve a few writing skills at a time. The FCAs are always discussed and taught before writing begins, and you will know immediately what they are because they are written at the top of your child's paper.

As a writer your child has many things to think about. First and foremost a writer needs to focus on what he or she wants to communicate. We will be talking in class about what writers do and why. We will use literature to help us learn about writers, writing styles, and writing purposes. Your child will be asked to think about his or her intended audience. Children in school write for many types of audiences including themselves, classmates, families, and teachers. As a writer your child will recognize that there are different purposes for writing and different forms writing can take.

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