Curriculum Information

Below you'll find information about the Writing Activities Hive. 

Types of Writing

The types of writing in the Writing Activities Hive include:

• Fictional Writing
• How-To Writing
• Inquiry Projects
• Journal Writing
• Letter Writing
• Opinion Writing
• Personal Narrative Writing
• Poetry
• Report Writing

List of Writing Activity Topics

The resources in the Writing Activities Hive focus on the following topics:

• Animals
• Apples
• Arctic Animals
• At the Beach
• Bats
• Bears
• Bubble Gum
• Butterflies
• Butterfly Life Cycle
• Camping
• Coral Reef Animals
• Dinosaurs
• Fairy Tales
• Farm Animals
• Field Days
• Five Senses
• Forest Animals
• Frogs
• Fun On Wheels
• Habitats
• Healthy Choices
• Hot Chocolate
• Ice Cream
• Illness and Disease – Types
• Illness and Disease – Words
• Insects
• Kites
• Living and Non-Living Things
• Magnets
• Nocturnal Animals
• Owls
• Penguins
• Pets
• Picnics
• Pirates
• Plants
• Popcorn
• Puddles and Umbrellas
• Pumpkins
• Robots
• Scarecrows
• Science Investigations
• Seasons
• Simple Machines
• Snowmen
• Soil
• Space
• Spiders
• Summer Sports
• Superheroes
• Under the Sea
• Water
• Water Parks
• Weather – Instruments
• Weather – Storms
• Weather – Words
• Zoo Animals

Types of Writing Activities

You’ll find both digital and printable writing activities. The activities include:

• Digital Activities
  • Assessments and Goal Setting
  • Posters
  • Writing Projects

• Printable Activities
  • Assessments and Goal Setting
  • Posters
  • Writing Projects

Ideas For Using Writing Activity Resources

You can use the writing activities in your classroom:

• as part of your regular language arts program,
• during your content area classes,
• as a bell ringer activity,
• for homework practice,
• as an activity for early finishers, or
• in a literacy center.

Season and Holiday Writing Activities

There are a number of writing activity resources that can be used around the following seasons and holidays:

Seasons

• Fall
• Spring
• Summer
• Winter

Holidays

• Back To School
• Christmas
• Earth Day
• Easter
• End of Year
• Father’s Day
• Halloween
• Mother’s Day
• New Year’s Day
• Patrick’s Day
• Thanksgiving
• Valentine’s Day

Common Core Standards

The activities in the Vocabulary Hive address the following Common Core Standards:

Grade 1 Writing Standards

• W.1.1 – Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.
• W.1.2 – Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
• W.1.3 – Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.
• W.1.5 – With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
• W.1.6 – With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
• W.1.7 – Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g. explore a number of “how-to” books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions).
• W.1.8 – With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Grade 2 Writing Standards

• W.2.1 – Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g. because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.
• W.2.2 – Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
• W.2.3 – Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.
• W.2.5 – With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
• W.2.6 – With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
• W.2.7 – Participate in share research and writing projects (e.g. read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).
• W.2.8 – Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Grade 3 Writing Standards

• W.3.1 – Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.
• W.3.1.a – Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons.
• W.3.1.b – Provide reasons that support the opinion.
• W.3.1.c – Use linking words and phrases (e.g. because, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons.
• W.3.1.d – Provide a concluding statement or section.
• W.3.2 – Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
• W.3.2.a – Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding comprehension.
• W.3.2.b – Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.
• W.3.2.c – Use linking words and phrases (e.g. also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of information.
• W.3.2.d – Provide a concluding statement or section.
• W.3.3 – Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
• W.3.3.a – Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfold naturally.
• W.3.3.b – Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations.
• W.3.3.c – Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.
• W.3.3.d – Provide a sense of closure.
• W.3.4 – With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.
• W.3.5 – With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
• W.3.6 – With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
• W.3.7 – Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.
• W.3.8 – Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
• W.3.10 – Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences).

Year Plan Sample (based on 40-week school year)

The sample year plan lists one way you could incorporate a variety of writing activities into your language arts lessons using different motivating topics or themes. You could also incorporate topics in Science, Social Studies, and Health into your year plan.

The year plan sample is based on a 40-week school year and could be used in your Grade 1, 2 or 3 classrooms. This year plan is meant to be an example of how you could structure your writing activities for the school year. Be sure to create a year plan that meets your planning needs and the needs of your students.

*** If you’ve downloaded the vocabulary year plan, the topics are the same.