ABSTRACT
A word about notebooks: Often teachers ask to see the whole process of a piece as it goes through the notebook, into a draft, and out as a finished piece. Before revisions are made to the draft, students use the notebooks to try out various revisions. Then they transfer changes from the notebook to the draft. Nonfiction writing is a huge genre. It includes everything from memoir and poetry to informational texts and essays. The Common Core State Standards address the breadth of the nonfiction genre through the way writing expectations are categorized: opinion/argument; informational; and narrative. Students in kindergarten through second grade often write a lot of “all about” books. As students reach the third- through fifth-grade level, writers need to build on their ability to use what they know all about and help them focus and angle their pieces.
