Dear Parent or Guardian,

This year I am excited to introduce the Being a WriterTM program to your child. Being a Writer is a program designed to help students build their writing and social skills. The students hear and discuss examples of good writing and write pieces in a variety of genres. They learn a process they can use to take a piece of writing from an idea to a first draft to a final published piece. The program is also helping our class become a community of writers in which everyone feels welcome.

At the end of each unit in the Being a Writer program, you will receive a letter telling you about the most recent writing and social skills your child has learned. Each letter will also include ways to support your child’s growth as a writer.

Our class has just finished the first unit of the program, which focuses on motivating and inspiring the students as writers. They heard and discussed examples of good writing, learned about the writing practices of professional authors, and wrote freely for increasing lengths of time about topics that interest them.

During the first unit, the students practiced the social skills of listening respectfully to the thinking of others, sharing their own thinking, and showing interest in and appreciation for others’ writing. These skills are helping the students build a supportive writing community.

In Unit 2, each student will select a piece of writing he or she drafted in Unit 1 to revise and publish. In the meantime, here are some ways to support your child’s development as a writer:

• Ask your child questions about the writing he or she is doing in class, such as: – How do you get ideas for your writing?
– What kinds of things do you want to write this year?
– How do you want to improve as a writer this year?

• Show your child that you value the written word by setting aside time to read and discuss stories, poems, articles, and other types of writing together.

I hope your family enjoys reading and discussing your child’s writing in the coming year.

Sincerely, 
Kimberly Cleary