Introduction to WriteWell©

St. Clair County RESA499 Range Road

Marysville, MI 48040

810-364-8990www.sccresa.org

Agenda/Outcomes

To learn about the structure of WriteWell© sessions and units

of study.

To explore the WriteWell© curriculum online resources.

Grounding Activity

•Think-Pair-Share

What:

•Allows for individual reflection and small group discussion; gets all voices in the room; sets the stage for the day

Why:

•Write a response to the following question: What are your strengths as a writing teacher?

•Share with a partner

How:

“Writing is the foundation of reading; it may be the most basic way to learn about reading…when writers read, they use insights they have acquired when they compose… when our students write, they learn how reading is put together because they can do it. They learn the essence of print.” 

When Writers Read, Jane Hansen, 1987

• Expect students to compose arguments (6+) and opinions (K-5), informative/explanatory pieces, and narrative texts.

• Focus on the use of reason and evidence to substantiate an argument or claim.

• Emphasize ability to conduct research – short projects and sustained inquiry.

• Require students to incorporate technology as they create, refine, and collaborate on writing.

• Include student writing samples that illustrate the criteria required to meet the standards (See Appendix C for writing samples).

Common Core State Standards: Writing

Common Core State Standards: Writing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt_2jI010WU&feature=related

Appendix C

Appendix C:• Annotated writing samples

that illustrate the criteria required to meet Common Core State Standards for particular types of writing—argument, informative/explanatory text and narrative—in a given grade.

• Each of the samples exhibits at least the level of quality required to meet the Writing standards for that grade.

http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_C.pdf

Imagine…

Students who want to write Students who do write Teachers who want to teach

writing Teachers who teach writing

vs. assign writing

Kelly Gallagher, Author and Teacherhttp://www.kellygallagher.org/index.html

“Assigning writing is

easy. Teaching writing is

really hard.”

“We need to teach our

students to read like writers and

write like readers.”

Current Research

70% of all students in grades 4-12 are low achieving writers.

9th grade students in the lowest

25% of their class are twenty

times more likely

to drop out.

50% of high

school graduates

are not ready for college level

composition courses.

The most effective strategy to improve writing…

Increase the amount and quality of writing.

What is the WriteWell© Curriculum?

It is a carefully sequenced, coherent K-12 writing curriculum designed to:

span the grade levels

meet the needs of all students

increase writing proficiency at every grade

use effective, researched based instructional practices

WriteWell©

Philosophy of Writing

Only teach what writers

do.

Teach the writer not the

piece of writing.

Writing is telling what you see and

what you think about it.

It is both external and

internal.

We learn about writing

through describing

writing not by having

someone prescribing

writing.

Why WriteWell©?

Increase writing proficiency for life endeavors

Increase test scores

Coordinate and refine writing

instruction

Create a unified writing program

K-12

Increase use of research-based

instructional practices during

writing instruction

Who Developed WriteWell©?

St. Clair County K-12 ELA general education and special education teachers

St. Clair County RESA ELA consultants Victoria Les and Jeff Beal

St. Clair County literacy leaders

How was WriteWell© Developed?

Create skill, author, and genre units of study for each grade that are 1-5

week(s) long

Develop one-page lessons

Use writer’s workshop approach that requires 45

to 60 minutes of daily instruction

Create common assessments and

evaluation tools for each grade level

Create differentiated lessons

How is WriteWell© Packaged?

WriteWell© is a web-based, password-protected curriculum at the St. Clair County RESA websiteCurriculum includes interactive PDFs, is downloadable, and is continuously updated

Includes embedded websites

WriteWell© Follows Writer’s Workshop Format

Mini-Lesson(10-15 min.)

Independent Practice with Conferring

(30-40 min.)

Sharing( 5-10 min.)

Successful Implementation of Writer’s Workshop

          

How Often

• Everyday• Everyday• Everyday

How Long

• KDG – 45 minutes

• 1st Grade – 45 minutes extending to 60 minutes

• 2nd – 12th Grades – 60 minutes

When

• Beginning the first day of school

• A single block of time at the same time everyday

Management

• Same format used everyday

• Same rules and procedures used everyday

• Keep it simple

Why

• Consistency

• Consistency

• Consistency

Writing Mini-Lesson10-15 Minutes

Connection

• Students learn the importance of today’s instruction

• Students hear the teaching point

Teach

• Students are shown how writers go about doing the teaching point

Engage

• Students practice what writers do• Teacher

model• Class

model• Students

work

Link

• Students hear the teacher reinforce today’s lesson

• Students are reminded that today’s lesson can be used everyday when they write

Independent Practice with Conferring

30-40 Minutes

Students work independently while the teacher meets with small groups or individual students• Conferring Talking Cards

Possible mid-workshop teaching point

• Occur naturally when the teacher notices something that needs clarification or further explanation to help students as they write

ConferringResearch

• Ask “What are you working on as a writer?”

• Have the student read aloud his/her work

Decide

• Synthesize what is learned

• Decide what to compliment: “What has this child done that I can name and make a fuss over?”

• Decide what to teach: “What does this child use but misuse? or “What is nearly there in his or her writing that I can help them with right now?”

Compliment

• Point out writing strategies the child used well

• Say “I like how you…”(give specific example)

Teach

• Teach only one thing

• Teach to the compliment

• Teach to today’s teaching point

• Negotiate a strategy

When choosing your teaching point think: Of all the options I have, what can I teach that will make the biggest difference for this writer?

Conferring Look ForsWhat to look for when deciding what to confer

about…

• Structure– Focused– Beginning, middle, end– Moves across time or space

• Meaningful– Writer cares about it– Reader learns from it

• Narrative strategies• Conventions that enhance

– All caps – WOW– Bold – Wow– End marks – Wow!!!– Italics – Wow!– Stacked Words - One!

Two!

Three!

Sharing5-10 Minutes• Notice• Question• Personal Connection• Compliment and Suggestion (glow & grow)

Partner

Small Group

Whole Group

New Language Minilessons

Language Minilesson Key Points

Aligned to CCSS

Weekly concepts taught

approximately five minutes a day

Follows Jeff Anderson’s format

PowerPoint to match each weekly

lesson

MEAP and WriteWell©

Moved below the line for those who would still like to use it

Test Prep Units of Study embedded in units (starting in grade 2)

Generate many seed ideas in writer’s notebook “What Should I Write About?”

section

Target! Aim! Score! (beginning, middle, end)

CD with Student Writing & MEAP Released Anchor Papers: http://tinyurl.com/cvraun

New Pre and Post Assessments

Same Assessment to be given at the

beginning of the year and the end of the

year

Use to show growthSee Sample

Rubrics

WriteWell© Units of Study Across the Grades

Scope and Sequence• Includes the products and processes in

GLCEs• Aligns with Common Core State

Standards (continued alignment Summer 2012)Target! Aim! Score!

• Target! Aim! Score! is part of the WriteWell© curriculum

• Designed to prepare your students for success on statewide assessments

Table of Contents

Target!

• Grade Level Goals

Units of Study

• Getting Ready for Statewide Assessments

• Notebooking

• Author, Genre, and Skill units

Score!

• Formative assessments

• Determine students’ ability to write on demand

Rubrics

• Narrative

• Informational

• Peer Response to the student writing sample

http://www.sccresa.org/toolsforschools/curriculumtools/writewell/introductiontowritewell/writewell2ndgrade/

Three Types of Units

Genre

Author Study

Skill

Navigating the Website

• WriteWell© – http://www.sccresa.org/toolsforschools/c

urriculumtools/writewell/

– Select logo

– Enter school log in and password:Temporary Log in:Temporary Password:

www.sccresa.org

How Units of Study Tend to Go

Immerse in the genre

Identify distinguishing features of the

genre

Choose an idea to write

about

Choose a mentor text to help you write

Plan your draft

Draft long and fast

Revise Edit Publish/Celebrate

Structure of a Unit

Example Unit

K-12 units formatted the same

Unit Review

What do you

notice?

Student Examples: Digital Presentations

•http://animoto.com/play/4CwCrdpw36QIT5TjyI9SCA

1st Grade

•http://portal.sliderocket.com/AXBTH/child-abuse

7th Grade

•http://prezi.com/43h_edm9y4t4/big-bird/

7th Grade

Teachers Teaching WriteWell

• Video Library – All grade levels– Various lessons

Kindergarten2nd grade10th grade

Online Exploration

Skim & Scan the Units

Review the Table of Contents

Log In and Select Your Grade

Lunch Break

"A writer's notebook works just like an incubator; a protective place to keep your infant idea safe and warm, a place for it to grow while it is too young, too new, to survive on its own."

Ralph Fletcher

Notebooking

http://www.sccresa.org/toolsforschools/curriculumtools/writewell/

100-page composition

book

Number front pages only

Plastic stick-on tabs

Copy of Notebook Sections handout

What Should I Write?• Three…

– Times you laughed really hard– Times you were in physical pain– Memorable Moments– Topics that interest you

• Circle the one that you could tell the best story about

• Tell your story to a partner• Write your story in the writing section of

your notebook• Share

What Should I Write?

What Should I Write?• Play the contrast game. Write five minutes

on one side and then five minutes on the other side: I want… I don’t want…

I remember… I don’t remember…

I do… I don’t…

Last summer… This summer…

Last Saturday… Next Saturday…

A scary place… A safe place…

What Should I Write?

Draw a heart on a notebook page.

Fill the heart with the things you know about

and care about.

Draw lines to separate your ideas.

What Should I Write?

6 + 1 Writing Traits

• One Day in the Life of Bubble Gum• The Secret Knowledge of Grown-ups• Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street

Craft• Ba-Da-Bing – Gretchen Bernabei

Ba DaBing

Example: As I stepped onto the red carpet of the darkened room, I noticed a wall lined with lit candles and an old woman hunched in the far corner at a round table and I thought maybe now I’ll get some answers.

Craft• Let’s create a Ba-Da-Bing together.

• Copy the example(s) into the craft section of your writer’s notebook.

• Return to your writing and add a Ba-Da-Bing to your piece.

• Share

Craft

Writing/Literary Terms

• Students may have an understanding of personification.– Create a definition collectively– Write in notebook

• Mentor text example “Fishing in the Air”

www.tinyurl.com/examplepersonification

Writing/Literary Terms

Example: And the shoes, which had been

shoes, became, in an instant, two old friends that had not been together in

a very long time.

Writing/Literary Terms• Let’s try one together…

And the _____ which had been _____ became, in an instant, _____.

• Go to the writing section of your notebook and revise part of your writing to include personification.

• Share

Spelling Demons

• Write at least three words, spelled correctly, that are your biggest challenge words.

What are your spelling demons?

available anonymous knowledgeable

Writing

The heart of the writer’s notebook.

Where the writer plays with writing on a daily basis.

Editing•Commas in a list (author’s craft – show not

tell):

•What do you notice? •Let’s create one together…•Return to your piece and add commas in a list•Share

Inside, it smells like grade school – boredom, paste,

Lysoled vomit.

ReadingConnections

• Reflect on who you are as a reader

• Reflect on how you view and think about what you are reading

Craft Examples

• Reading with a writer’s eye:• Leads• Endings• Word choice• Narrative

strategies• Conventions

that enhance

Planning for Implementation

Review the Table of

Contents

Consider your daily and

yearly schedule

Ensure that there are no

long gaps within a unit

Determine the instructional order of the

units

“No writing is ever finished, it

is just due.”

Kelly Gallagher, Author and High School Teacher, April 12, 2011, Macomb ISD Presentation