teaches the Common Core Standards with writing prompts.

Coffee! Must have coffee! I stayed up WAY too late last night, working on my latest TpT item. I couldn't rest until it was finished and now, (with a half pot of coffee down) I'm so glad I didn't. I am so proud of this Common Core State Standards Writing Prompts Resource (With Pictures), I couldn't wait to post it and blog about it here. In fact, it makes me want to be back in the classroom in the worst way.

 

Last year, my fifth grade team and I fumbled our way through the Writing Workshop, as it was fairly new to our school. I was more familiar with the model, having taught using the America's Choice Model in GA. However, adding the new Common Core State Standards to the mix, and using what little materials and books we had, it was quite a task to write an entirely new curriculum for our fifth grade students.

I proudly report, we had a successful year and felt pretty darn good about our workshops in the end. Of course, as all fabulous teachers do, we spent a LOT of time reflecting on what was working and what needed improvements.

One of the biggest revelations we had at the end of the year was to give more prompts and less student choice in the future. WHAT!?! Wait a minute! Isn't that completely opposite of what most great teachers are trying to do these days? Yes, maybe it is. But, you have to do what works best for your students. I'm not saying to take away all student choice. Absolutely not! In fact, if you stepped into my classroom, you would definitely notice the abundance of choices my students have. Last year, however, it became a little too much for them to handle, and it was very difficult for us, as teachers, to keep track of it all during our workshops. So, we decided that we would still give students choices in what they wanted to write about, but we would narrow down the options with carefully chosen prompts.

That's where this resource fits in beautifully! I've compiled and written prompts that are best suited for grades 3 through 5. However, several could work great for grades 2 through 6. The prompts are categorized by the CCSS writing genres; informative/expository, opinion/persuasive, and narrative writing. Each genre includes 25 color-coded prompts + 5 blank cards to add your own.

The best part; RUBRICS! I've included a rubric for each grade level (3, 4, & 5) for each genre. That's 9 rubrics to use in assessing the students' writing. I've also included posters of all the common core writing standards that are covered across the three grade levels. There is a checklist for students to keep track of the prompts they've used, and posters describing each genre and the importance of using prompts.

Like I said, I'm pretty proud of this resource. I only wish I had the time to create it last year! I hope others can find it as useful as I know it is.