Typical Curriculum Sequence for Developing Written Expression Skills

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Kindergarten

Develops ability to hold and use pencils; traces/copies/writes letters, name, and simple sight words; writes short "stories" using dashes for words or invented spellings

First Grade

Uses traditional as well as invented spellings; works on copying letters and words; writes simple sentences; begins to write short poems, invitations, compositions; tries to use words that describe what the child sees, hears, feels as well as how things look, act, feel; capitalizes the first word of a sentence, first and last names, names of streets/towns/the school, and I; adds a period at the end of sentences and after numbers in a list; prints on the line

Second Grade

Writes letters legibly and uses appropriate size; understands how writing should be laid out (e.g., margins); combines short sentences into paragraphs; spelling and grammatical expression continue to improve; uses words with similar and opposite meanings in writing; alphabetizes; capitalizes imp011ant words in book titles, proper names, Mr./ Mrs'; Miss/ Ms.; adds question mark at the end of a question; adds comma after salutation and closing of a letter; adds comma between the month/year and city/state; avoids running sentences together with" and"; begins to use cursive; begins to develop proofreading skills

Third Grade

Writes with both printing and cursive; writes short passages expressing a central idea; sequences ideas well and uses expanded vocabulary; identifies/uses various sentence forms (e.g., declarative, interrogative/exclamatory); combines short, choppy sentences into longer ones; uses interesting beginning and ending sentences; avoids run-on sentences; uses synonyms; distinguishes meaning and spelling of homonyms; uses the prefix "un" and the suffix "less"; capitalizes month/day/common holidays/first word in a line of verse/"Dear"/"Sincerely;" adds period after abbreviations/initials; uses apostrophe in common contractions (e.g., isn't); adds commas in a list; indents; spells many words in sight vocabulary (including irregular words such as "eight"); proofreads own and others' work

Fourth Grade

Writes in cursive; develops interesting paragraphs and a sense of the writing process (outline first, write, revise); chooses words that appeal to the senses or that precisely explain a point; capitalizes names of cities/states/organizations; uses apostrophe to show possession, hyphen to divide word at end of line, exclamation point, colon after salutation, quotation marks, comma before quotation in a sentence, period after outline items or Roman numerals; uses command sentences; avoids sentence fragments; selects appropriate title; makes simple outline; writes/tells stories that have character and plot

Fifth Grade

Varies type of sentences, including imperative; subjects and verbs agree; uses compound subjects and predicates; ideas are clearly stated in more than one paragraph; keeps to the topic; uses antonyms/ prefixes/suffixes/contractions/compound words/ words with sensory images/rhyme and rhythm; greater precision in choice of words; uses dictionary for definitions/syllables/pronunciation; capitalizes names of streets/places/persons/ countries/ oceans/trade names/beginning items in outlines/titles with a name (e.g., President Roosevelt); uses quotation marks or underlining for titles; classifies words by parts of speech; uses subheads in outlines; writes from outline; writes dialogue; recognizes topic sentences; enjoys writing/receiving letters; keeps a diary

Middle School

Develops increasing sophistication in ideas and expression; accurate/effective/appropriate choice of words and phrases; edits to improve style and effect; avoids wordiness and unnecessary repetition; uses complex sentences; avoids vagueness and omissions; develops paragraphs with details/reasons/examples/ comparisons; checks for accuracy of statements; connects ideas with transition words; develops paragraphs with topic sentences; adds introduction and conclusion; checks reasoning; uses several sources to prepare a report; makes a bibliography; capitalizes first word of a quote/adjectives of race and nationality; punctuates appropriately; learns to use footnotes; learns note taking skills