Early Learning - 2nd Grade for ME Unit 1 - Week 1 Day 4 Writing Basics - Individual Construction: Telling and Writing Stories

Aug 28, 2026

Unit 1 Week 1 Day 4 centers on writing basics for second graders through individual construction of true personal stories. Students plan and rehearse a short, fluid narrative from their own lives, using pictures and words to communicate a clear beginning, middle with details, and end. Learners also practice asking and answering questions to clarify comprehension and deepen understanding while working with partners and writing in notebooks. Ongoing assessment focuses on storytelling effectiveness and partner understanding.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

Unit 1: How We Learn in Our School Communities

Week 1 Day 4: Writing Basics

Individual Construction: Telling and Writing Stories

Vocabulary and Objectives

Opening and Modeling

Individual Construction (8 minutes)

Individual Construction (12 minutes)

Closing and Standards

Ongoing Assessment

Unit 1: How We Learn in Our School Communities WEEK 1 Day 4 Writing Basics Individual Construction: Telling and Writing Stories | Content
Objective | I can tell and write a true story about my life. (W.3. 2) | | --- | --- | | Language
Objective | I can ask questions to understand a story. (SL.2.2. b) | | Vocabulary | communicate: to share ideas with each other
information: facts or details about a subject
purpose: the reason for doing or creating something | | Materials and Preparation | ● A Letter to My Teacher, Deborah Hopkinson
● writing notebooks, one for each child
● writing tools
Plan and rehearse a short, true, personal story. Ensure that the story can be told succinctly and fluidly. Make notes if useful. | | Opening
1 minute | We have been talking about communicating in diferent ways, for diferent purposes. One way that people communicate is through storytelling. | | Modeling
8 minutes | People tell diferent types of stories for diferent purposes.
Sometimes we tell true stories about ourselves, and sometimes we tell stories we make up. In A Letter to My Teacher the narrator tells stories about her own experiences in second grade.
In our class this year we are going to tell lots of stories to eachother! Today I would like to tell you a true story about myself, so that you can get to know me better.
Model telling a story to a partner. After telling the story, invite the child partner to ask a question to clarify their understanding. | Writing U1 W1 D4 Focus on Second/ 2nd Grade for ME | Boston Public Schools Department of Early Childhood P-2/ Maine Department of Education | Individual Construction
8 minutes | Now it’s your turn! First you will think of a story that you would like to tell your partner. It could be about something you did this weekend or something you like to do with your family—anything that will help your partner get to know you better. Take a moment to think. When you have an idea for your story, put a silent thumbsup in front of your chest.
Model the silent signal. Allow children time to prepare for telling their stories.
Introduce the routine for choosing who will talk first.
The first partner will tell their story, and the second partner will aska question. Then the second partner will tell their story, and the first partner will ask a question.
As the children tell stories to their partners, circulate to support them. | | --- | --- | | Individual Construction
12 minutes | Hold up a writing notebook.
Today you get to try out a new material for writing—a writing notebook! Each person will have a notebook. Each page has space for illustration and lines to write on.
Introduce class-specific routines for using writing notebooks.
Now you will use pictures and words to write the story you told your partner. Think about how you will communicate your story withdrawing and writing. What will you draw? What words will you write?
Distribute or indicate the location of writing notebooks and writing tools, and send the children to write. As children write, circulate to support them, by (for example)
● asking questions to help generate ideas;
● helping children segment and encode sounds in words;
● directing children to classroom resources for writing words. | | Closing
1 minute | Today we communicated true stories about ourselves. Tomorrow we will communicate information. | | Standards | W.3.2: Use a combination of drawing, and writing to communicate a topic with a beginning, middle (including details) and an end.
SL.2.2.b: Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue. | | Ongoing assessment | As children work in pairs, circulate to take notes about how children work in pairs and the effectiveness of their storytelling.
Are children following the routines for talking with a partner? | Writing U1 W1 D4

FAQs

What is the main objective for students in this lesson?

Students tell and write a true story about their life. They also practice asking questions to better understand a story.

How do students work with partners during storytelling?

Partners take turns telling their stories. The listener asks a question, then roles switch for the next story.

What do students do in their writing notebooks?

Students use pictures and words to write the personal story they told their partner, including a clear beginning, middle with details, and an end.

Aug 28, 2026

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