Columbus, Ohio

Open Court

Professional Development

Guide

AuthorMarsha Roit

WritingWriting

Copyright © 2002 by SRA/McGraw-Hill.

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United StatesCopyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced ordistributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a databaseor retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, unless otherwise indicated.

Send all inquiries to:SRA/McGraw-Hill8787 Orion PlaceColumbus, Ohio 43240

Printed in the United States of America.

ISBN 0-07-571265-2

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AcknowledgmentsThis book would not have been possible without the efforts of the teach-ers and young authors at Cactus View Elementary School, Phoenix, AZ;North Ranch Elementary School, Scottsdale, AZ; Hamilton ElementarySchool, Chicago, IL; Glenmount Elementary School, Baltimore, MD; RedOak Elementary School, Red Oak, NC; Hutchinson Elementary School,Greensburg, PA; Salazar Elementary School, Alice, TX; and GardendaleElementary School, San Antonio, TX. Your contributions are truly appre-ciated. And, thank you to all the teachers and students over the yearswho have allowed me into their classrooms and shared so many of theideas that are in this guide today.

Student writing samples have not been edited.

Photo Credits: p. 5, ©Andy Sacks/Tony Stone Images; p. 8, ©Robert E. Daemmrich/Tony StoneImages; p. 10, ©Charles Gupton/The Stock Market; p. 13, ©Robert E. Daemmrich/Tony Stone Images; p. 18, ©Michael Heron/The Stock Market; p. 21, ©Peter Cade/TonyStone Images; p. 36, Image Bank; p. 25, ©Rob Lewine/The Stock Market; p. 29,

©Ian Shaw/Tony Stone Images; p. 32, ©Jeff M. Dunn/Stock Boston; p. 33, ©Peter Cade/Tony Stone Images; p. 40, ©Michael Krasowitz/FPG International

www.sra4kids.com

Table of ContentsTable of Contents

Introduction to Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Elements of Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

The Writing Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Writing Genres and Forms of Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Structures of Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Writer’s Craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Writing Traits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics for Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The Study of English Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Spelling and Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Beginnings of Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Early Writing Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Teaching Strategies for Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Writing Process Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Prewriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Drafting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Revising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Editing/Proofreading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

What Does Writing Instruction Look Like in the Classroom? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Instruction and Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Writing Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Writing Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Providing Feedback: Writing Conferences and Seminars . . . . . . . . 22

Writing Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Writing Conference Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Seminar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Table of ContentsTable of Contents(continued)

Evaluating the Process: Learning from Writing . . . . . . . . . 30

Evaluation Through Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Evaluation Through Seminar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Evaluation Using Writing Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Writing Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Rubrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Alternative Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Questions Teachers Ask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Questions Teachers Ask about the Developmental Nature of Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Questions Teachers Ask about Planning, Revising, Editing, and Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Questions Teachers Ask about Managing Writing in the Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Questions Teachers Ask about Managing Writing Conferences and Seminar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Questions Teachers Ask about Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Let the Writers Speak for Themselves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Writing 1

Introduction to Writing

Writing is a complicated process. A writer flu-ently uses handwriting, spelling, vocabulary,grammar, usage, and mechanics skills with ideasto create readable text. A writer must know howto generate content, or ideas, and understandgenre structures in order to effectively presentideas in writing. Familiarity with the structuresof writing and different genres, audiences, andpurposes is necessary to write appropriately, aswell. The art of writing well also involves writer’scraft, the ability to manipulate words and sen-tences for effect.

Many students never progress beyond pro-ducing a written text that duplicates theireveryday speech patterns.

Mature writers, however, take compositionbeyond conversation. They understand theimportance of audience and purpose for writing.They organize their thoughts, eliminating thosethat do not advance their main ideas, and elabo-rating on those that do, to ensure that their read-ers can follow a logical progression of ideas in anessay or story. Mature writers also know and canuse the conventions of grammar, usage, spelling,and mechanics, enabling them to produce clearand precise texts. They proofread and edit toensure that they have used conventions correctly,so their readers are not distracted by errors.

As strange as it may seem, the better awriter is, the harder he or she works at writing.It does not get easier with more expertise. Itjust gets better. The best writers are not thebest because they are naturally talented. Theyare the best usually because they work thehardest. Good writers really do take more time

than others in the planning and revising stagesof the writing process. Poorer writers makewriting look easy by writing without planningand typically build a composition sentence bysentence. They turn in their papers with no oronly a few cursory corrections. A good writercares about his or her message, the purpose forwriting, and the audience.

Introduction to Writing

The best writers are not the bestbecause they are naturally talented.They are the best usually because theywork the hardest.

Many adult writers believe that writinghelps them think. For them, writing is a way oftransforming knowledge into something morepersonal and/or useful. Most children have littleexperience with writing as a self-initiated,enjoyable activity that helps them think. Thechallenge in teaching writing is showing chil-dren how it is used by those who cherish it andby those who have made writing a profession.

An environment with an emphasis on writ-ing provides a multifaceted context for thedevelopment of higher-order thinking. Studentslearn to plan, which allows them to work outideas in their heads; to set goals, which pro-motes interest and the ability to monitorprogress; and to revise content, which engagesthem in reworking and rethinking activities thatelevate writing from a craft to a tool for discov-ery and knowledge transformation.

2 Writing

Elements of Writing

The Writing ProcessWriters spend time thinking about and planningtheir topics. They choose their own topics froma number of sources, including their interests—what they care about, dream about, or haveexperienced—and what they have yet to learn.They also know how to become personallyinvested in an assigned topic. Writers considertheir audience, let their ideas grow in theirminds, and develop and conduct research, ifnecessary, before they ever begin writing.

• Writers draft or put their ideas into words.They get their ideas down on paper, oftenin a rough form.

• Writers revise and revisit their work. Theytake another look to see if it makes senseand to see if it says what they want it tosay. They check to be sure the meaning isclear for the reader.

• Writers edit their work. Good writersrecognize the importance of writingconventions—grammar, mechanics, andspelling—that allow the reader tounderstand and enjoy published works.

• Writers go public. They publish their workin books, newspapers, magazines,anthologies, and so on.

All writers need feedback throughout thewriting process. They need reactions to ideas,drafts, and revisions before it is too late tomake changes.

Writing Genres and Forms of Writing

There are several different genres studentsare typically asked to write. These usually includemany creative stories and a few reports. The onlynarrative writing most adults do, however, mightbe summaries of meetings. The bulk of adult writ-ing consists of writing reports, letters, analyses,memos, and proposals. College students as welltypically write research reports or critiques. A lit-erate student needs to be able to choose and writein appropriate genres. These may include:

• Narrative writing is story writing, that hasa beginning, middle, and end. It includesrealistic fiction, historical fiction,biography, science fiction, fantasy, folktale,myth, and legend.

• Expository writing is informational writing.It includes research reports, summary,analysis essay, and explanation of a process.

• Descriptive writing is observationalwriting that includes details. It includesobservation reports and descriptiveparagraphs that may be part of narrative orexpository writing.

• Poetry writing involves paying particularattention to word choice and rhythm.Poetry may be free form, rhyming, or avariety of other forms.

• Personal writing is functional writing tohelp record ideas, thoughts, or feelings orto communicate with others. It includes e-mail, journals, lists, and messages.

• Persuasive writing involves thedevelopment of a persuasive argument. Itincludes persuasive essays, advertisements,posters, editorials, and letters to the editor.

Writing is a recursive process: authorsmove back and forth through writingactivities—from planning to drafting torevising and back—to create their finalpieces.

Writing is a recursive process: authors moveback and forth through writing activities—fromplanning to drafting to revising and back—to create their final pieces. It is a process of think-ing, experimenting, and evaluating.

Each genre has its own structure. For example:

• A personal narrative is probably bestordered as a straightforward chronologicalretelling of events. Dialogue may help totell the story.

• An explanation of a process should betold in a step-by-step order. The draftshould include as much information aspossible; each step must be clear.

• A persuasive piece appeals to feelings andlogic. It requires facts as well as expertopinions.

• The order of details in a descriptive

piece must be easy to follow—from leftto right, top to bottom, or whatever ordermakes sense.

• A fictional story must include detailsdescribing characters, setting, and thecharacters’ actions. Dialogue and suspensealso help to tell the story.

Writer’s CraftWriter’s craft involves the elements a writeruses to add drama, suspense, or surprise to awritten work. These elements may include fore-shadowing, use of figurative language, dialogue,enhancement of setting, or use of description toaffect the mood and tone. Writer’s craft mayalso include adding description, detail, and evi-dence to nonfictional writing. Literature is com-prised of excellent models of writer’s craft thatcan be then taught and practiced within thecontext of the Writing Process Strategies.

Writing 3

Structures of writing should be taughtwithin the context of the WritingProcess rather than in isolation, sothat students integrate their practiceof writing structures as they developdifferent writing genres.

Structures of WritingStructures of writing involve the effective devel-opment of sentences, paragraphs, and composi-tions. Structures of writing should be taughtwithin the context of the Writing Process ratherthan in isolation, so that students integrate theirpractice of writing structures as they developdifferent writing genres.

4 Writing

Writing TraitsWriting traits are those elements and qualitiesin a composition that enhance the effectivenessof the writing. These include:

• Ideas/Content. Not only the quality of theidea, but the development, support, andfocus of the idea make a strongcomposition.

• Organization. In quality writing, theorganization develops the central idea. Theorder and structure move the readerthrough the text easily. The beginninggrabs the reader’s attention and theconclusion adds impact.

• Voice. Voice is the overall tone of a pieceof writing. Good writers choose a voiceappropriate for the topic, purpose, andaudience. As students develop writingskills, a unique style begins to emerge.The writing is expressive, engaging, orsincere, demonstrating a strongcommitment to the topic.

• Word Choice. In quality writing wordsconvey the intended message in aninteresting, precise, and natural wayappropriate to audience and purpose.

• Sentence Fluency. Sentence fluencyenhances the flow and rhythm of acomposition. In good writing sentencepatterns are somewhat varied, contributingto ease in oral reading.

• Conventions. Good writers demonstrateconsistent use and awareness of Englishlanguage conventions.

• Presentation. A quality piece of writingincludes an impressive presentation withattention to format, style, illustration,and clarity.

Grammar, Usage, andMechanics for Writing

The Study of English ConventionsOver the years the study of grammar, usage, andmechanics has gone in and out of favor. In thepast century much research has been done todemonstrate the effectiveness of traditionaltypes of instruction in the conventions of Eng-lish. Experience and research have shown thatlearning grammatical terms and completinggrammar exercises have little effect on the stu-dent’s practical application of these skills in thecontext of speaking or writing. These skills, inand of themselves, do not play a significant rolein the way students use language to generateand express their ideas, particularly during theprewriting and drafting phases of the writingprocess. In fact, emphasis on correct conven-tions has been shown to have a damaging effectwhen it is the sole focus of writing instruction. Ifstudents are evaluated only on the proper use ofspelling, grammar, and punctuation, they tend towrite fewer and less complex sentences.

Knowledge of English conventions is, how-ever, vitally important in the editing and proof-reading phases of the writing process. A paperriddled with mistakes in grammar, usage, or

Writing 5

mechanics is quickly discounted. Many imma-ture writers never revise or edit. They finish thelast sentence and turn their papers in to theteacher. Mature writers employ their knowl-edge of English language conventions in theediting phase to refine and polish their ideas.

Grammar is the sound, structure, and meaningsystem of language. People who speak the samelanguage are able to communicate because theyintuitively know the grammar system of thatlanguage, or the rules of making meaning. Alllanguages have grammar, and yet each languagehas its own grammar.

Traditional grammar study usually involvestwo areas:

• Parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives,adverbs, pronouns, infinitives, conjunctions)are typically considered the content ofgrammar. The parts of speech involve theform of English words.

• Sentence structure (subjects, predicates,objects, clauses, phrases) is also includedin grammar study. Sentence structureinvolves the function of English.

Mechanics involves the conventions of punctu-ation and capitalization. Punctuation helpsreaders understand writers’ messages. Inspeech, students can produce sentences as eas-ily and unconsciously as they can walk. In writ-ing, however, punctuation identifies what is andwhat is not a sentence.

In English there are about twelve punctuationmarks (period, comma, quotation marks, questionmark, exclamation point, colon, semicolon, hyphen,ellipsis, parentheses, brackets, dash). Most imma-ture writers use only three: period, comma, andquestion mark. The experienced writer or poet withcommand of punctuation adds both flexibility andmeaning to his or her sentences through the use ofpunctuation.

Usage Language varies over time, acrossnational and geographical boundaries, by gen-der, across age groups, and by socioeconomicstatus. When the variation occurs within a givenlanguage, the different versions of the same lan-guage are called dialects. Every language has aprestige dialect associated with education andfinancial success. In the United States, thisdialect is known as Standard English and is thelanguage of school and business.

Mature writers employ theirknowledge of English languageconventions in the editing phase torefine and polish their ideas.

The study of grammar, usage, and mechan-ics is important for two reasons:

1. Educated people need to know andunderstand the structure of their language,which in large part defines their culture.

2. Knowledge of grammar gives teachers andstudents a common vocabulary for talkingabout language and makes discussions ofwriting tasks more efficient and clear.

The key issue in learning grammar, usage,and mechanics is how to teach it. On the onehand, teaching these skills in isolation fromwriting has been shown to be ineffective andeven detrimental if too much emphasis is placedon them. On the other hand, not teaching theseskills and having students write without concernfor conventions is equally ineffective. Theanswer is to teach the skills in a context thatallows students to directly apply them in a read-ing or writing activity. Students should be taughtconventions, such as punctuation or subject/verb agreement so that they can use them withenough fluency that they do not belabor sen-tence construction to the detriment of theirideas as they draft. They should then be taughtto proofread for those conventions. As theylearn to apply their knowledge of conventionsduring the final stages of the writing process,they will begin to see that correcting errors is aneditorial, rather than a composing skill.

6 Writing

Usage involves the word choices peoplemake when speaking certain dialects. Wordchoices that are perfectly acceptable in conver-sation among friends may be unacceptable inwriting. Usage is often the most obvious indica-tor of the difference between conversation andcomposition. Errors in word usage can make awriter seem ignorant and thus jeopardize his orher credibility, no matter how valid or impor-tant his or her overall message might be. If thedialect children have learned is not the formallanguage of school settings or if it is not Eng-lish, children must master another dialect orlanguage in order to write Standard English.

skills. Learning to spell requires much exposureto text and writing, and for many it requires amethodical presentation of English spelling pat-terns. Just as the goal of phonics instruction isto enable students to read fluently, the goal ofspelling instruction is to enable students towrite fluently so they can concentrate on theirideas rather than their spelling.

If the dialect children have learned isnot the formal language of schoolsettings or if it is not English,children must master another dialector language in order to writeStandard English.

In a balanced literacy program, English Lan-guage Conventions are taught in two ways. First,the skills are presented in a logical sequence. Askill is introduced with appropriate models andthen practiced in reading and writing on subse-quent days to ensure that skills are not taught inisolation. Second, short lessons are tailored tospecific skills that support a particular form ofwriting or that reinforce a skill students may behaving difficulty implementing. With practice,students should be able to apply their knowledgeof conventions to any writing they do.

Spelling and WritingSpelling is a fundamental skill in written com-munication. Although a writer may have won-derful ideas, he or she may find it difficult tocommunicate those ideas without spelling

The most important finding inspelling research in the past thirtyyears is that students learn to spell ina predictable developmentalsequence, much as they learn to read.

The most important finding in spellingresearch in the past thirty years is that studentslearn to spell in a predictable developmentalsequence, much as they learn to read. Itappears to take the average child from three tosix years to progress through the developmen-tal stages and emerge as a fairly competent,mature speller.

Beginnings of WritingYoung children come to school knowing a lotabout writing. Just watch any young child with acrayon and paper making lines and squiggles andpictures. Upon completion the youngster proudlyshares the piece by telling a story. This emergingwriter knows that writing communicates and thatauthors use marks (letters) and pictures to sharethoughts and ideas. Our roles as teachers ofyoung writers are to coach, encourage, and helpchildren move toward conventional writing.

Writing is developmental. Often during theearly stages, we are transcribers as childrendraw, then dictate, their stories to us. As chil-dren learn about our alphabet and begin con-necting letters and sounds, they should be

prompted to do their own writing, using lettersand incomplete spelling. Each child’s progressis going to be unique. Some may skip a stage orphase; some may seem to spend forever doingthe same thing; and some may continue to useincomplete spelling even into second grade.

Young authors in kindergarten and firstgrade progress through a series of stages orphases, which are all precursors to more con-ventional, or standard, writing.

Early Writing Observations• Scribble writing—lines and scribbles about

which the writer tells a story

• Drawing stories (pictures) and tellingabout them

• Random letters

• Randomly using uppercase and lowercaseletters and numbers

• Using groups of letters with spaces inbetween

• Copying words and sentences from booksand labels in the classroom

• Using beginning and ending consonantsand single letters to labels parts of picturesor to write sentences

Writing 7

• Attempting to spell. In addition tobeginning and ending sounds, vowels areadded and the words can be read (withsome deciphering) by adults.

• Using conventional spellings for high-frequency words

Teaching Strategies for WritingThe teacher’s role in writing instruction is criti-cal. Practice makes permanent, not perfect. Ifyoung writers write a lot, badly, their bad writingbecomes permanent. People do not become bet-ter writers by writing a lot. They become betterwriters by writing well a lot. Teachers teachthem how to do it. Merely promoting writingdeludes children into believing that enthusiasmis sufficient in learning to write. It is not suffi-cient and it might not even be necessary. Certainteaching strategies have been shown to be par-ticularly effective in teaching writing.

Teacher Modeling Students understand andlearn best when they have good models to fol-low. Models for the different forms of writingappear in literature. Teachers or other studentsmust provide the models for the writing process,as well. Teachers can also model the writingprocess for students every time they write.

Writing Frequency In many classrooms stu-dents write fewer than four compositions in ayear. This gives them little practice writing andpromotes a fear of writing. Students should bewriting frequently to develop writing fluency. Tosimplify the assessment of writing, rubrics canbe established beforehand so that each compo-sition is evaluated on only a few traits.

Genre The different genres and forms ofwriting should be explicitly described and mod-eled. Too much elementary school writing iscreative story writing. Yet story writing does not

8 Writing

prepare students to ask and answer questions,write coherent directions, or send a thank younote. Exploring different genres and their struc-tures gives students experience and practicewriting a variety of different forms.

Feedback The most effective writing instruc-tion is the feedback good teachers give to indi-vidual student work. Unfortunately many teach-ers simply mark errors in spelling, grammar,usage, and mechanics and do not comment onthe traits of writing: ideas, organization, voice,and so on. Conference questions and assessmentshould provide questions that teachers can con-sider to offer constructive and meaningful feed-back to students.

know they don’t have to recopy the entire com-position. They will certainly find it neater to usethe delete key of a word processor than to cor-rect their mistakes by erasing or crossing out.In addition, word processing tools such as spelland grammar checkers, and multimedia presen-tation features add to the finished product.

Writing Process Strategies

PrewritingPrewriting is that phase of the writing processwhen students think through an idea they wantto write about. To improve their writing, stu-dents should think about their ideas, discussthem, and plan how they want readers torespond. It is important for students to taketime before writing to plan ahead so that theycan proceed from one phase of the writingprocess to another without spending unneces-sary time making decisions that should havebeen made earlier. Prewriting is the most time-consuming phase of the writing process, but itmay be the most important.

Good Student Writers:

• Listen to advice about time requirementsand plan time accordingly.

• Spend time choosing, thinking about, andplanning the topic.

• Spend time narrowing the topic.

• Determine the purpose for writing.

• Consider the audience and what readersalready know about the topic.

• Conduct research, if necessary, beforewriting.

• Get information from a lot of differentsources.

• Use models for different types of writing,but develop individual plans.

The most effective writing instructionis the feedback good teachers give toindividual student work.

Clear Assignments A well-written assign-ment makes clear to students what they aresupposed to do, how they are supposed to do it,who the students are writing for, and what con-stitutes a successful composition. When stu-dents have this information, they can plan,organize, and produce more effective work.

Instruction Students need specific examples,instruction, and practice with different forms ofwriting and on different phases of the writingprocess. With instruction, modeling, practice, andfeedback, students will see that some people arenot “just born with a talent for writing.”

Using a Word Processor Many studentsenjoy drafting on a computer more than draft-ing on paper. Once they have mastered the key-board they may find it easier to think as theywrite. Their first attempts look less sloppy, andthey are often more willing to make changesand experiment as they draft. They are morelikely to rearrange, add, or delete text if they

Writing 9

• Organize the resource information.

• Make a plan for writing that shows how theideas will be organized.

• Elaborate on a plan and evaluate and alterideas as writing proceeds.

Writing IdeasStudents can make notes of writing ideas at anytime, with a special time being set aside follow-ing the discussion of each reading selection.The writing ideas students get from a discus-sion might be concerned with the topic of theselection they just read or with an aspect of theauthor’s style. You should keep such a list ofwriting ideas also, and think aloud occasionallyas you make writing-idea notes.

The class can brainstorm about where toget ideas for writing (books, personal experi-ences, family, places children have gone, thingsthey want to learn more about, things they liketo do, and so on). Then a list of ideas can bestarted and kept prominently displayed in theclassroom. Teacher modeling of writing inspira-tion and getting ideas is valuable.

Professional writers keep journals and/ornotebooks of writing ideas. Writers put downall kinds of ideas—some good, some not sogood—because they never know when theseideas will be useful. For example, a writermight jot down a few lines of dialogue over-heard on a bus, a brief description of a tree, or aline from a popular song. The writer may neveruse these bits in a story. Or, he or she may findmonths later that this is perfect for a characterbeing developed in a story.

Prewriting DecisionsStudents must make many decisions during theprewriting phase of the writing process. Moststudents can benefit from talking with a part-ner or a small group of classmates about thesedecisions. They may want to discuss some ofthe following points.

• Genre of each writing piece. Havingdecided to use a writing idea such as “amisunderstanding on the first day ofschool,” the student must decide how touse it—for example, as a personalnarrative, a realistic fiction story, a poem, afantasy story, a play, a letter, or whatever.

• Audience Although students’ writingpieces will be shared with classmates andwith you, some may ultimately beintended for other audiences. Forexample, a student might write a letter toa congressperson or write an article toadult readers in his or her community.

• Writing Purpose Each student shouldwrite a sentence that tells the purpose of thepiece he or she plans to write. The purposestatement should name the intendedaudience and the effect the writer hopes tohave on that audience. For example, a writermay want to describe her first day in school.The intended audience is kindergartenstudents, and she intends her story to behumorous. Her purpose statement wouldread, “I want to write a funny story for littlestudents about my first day in kindergarten.”

• Planning Some writers may find ithelpful to brainstorm with a partner orsmall group to list words and phrases theymight use in a piece of writing. Sometimesthis list can be organized into webs ofrelated ideas or details. This kind ofprewriting activity might be particularlyuseful for planning a descriptive piece. Forplanning a comparison/ contrast piece, awriter might use another kind of visualorganizer, such as a Venn diagram.Students planning fiction pieces might usea story map or plot-line diagram.

10 Writing

DraftingDuring the drafting phase of the writing processstudents shape their planning notes into mainideas and details. They devote their time andeffort to getting words down on paper. Whetherstudents are drafting on scrap paper or on com-puter screens, your role is to encourage eachwriter to “get it all down.” You must also pro-vide a suitable writing environment with theexpectation that there will be revisions to thedraft and to the original plan.

Students should try to get their ideas downon paper as quickly and as completely as possi-ble. As they turn their notes into sentences andparagraphs, students should keep in mind theirintended audience and their reasons for writingeach particular piece.

Allow adequate time for drafting. Studentsmay not all work at the same pace. Some stu-dents may work on one part of a piece at a time,revising the first part before they draft the sec-ond. Others may write the whole piece in onesitting. In a classroom full of drafters, then,some students will be thinking, some mutteringto themselves, some writing, and some readingwhat they have written. Keep in mind that somestudents will not be able to concentrate on theirwriting for more than 15 to 20 minutes. How-ever, allow more time for those who need it.

Remind students not to be limited by theirnotes as they write their drafts. Students willfind that the very act of writing can cause themto think in new ways. They will think of newconnections between ideas and of new detailsto add that will develop their ideas. Some ofthem may even decide to change their topics.This is all part of the excitement of shapingideas into sentences.

Modeling DraftingUsing a board, a large chart, or an overhead

transparency, teachers can model drafting forthe students by turning their own prewriting

notes into sentences and paragraphs. Teachersshould think aloud as they put their ideas intowords, working quickly. Teachers can demon-strate the following as they model.

• Use your plan and your notes fromresearch to add details.

• Write on every other line so that you willhave room to make revisions.

• Write on only one side of a page so thatwhen you revise you can see all of yourdraft at once.

• Leave a blank space when you havedifficulty thinking of the best word.

• Put parentheses around words that shouldbe replaced.

• Use abbreviations and invented spellings.

• Cross out words or sentences or drawarrows to indicate that they should bemoved to a different place.

• Use a caret to insert new words.

• Think aloud.

• Indicate that an idea is not complete andwill need more detail or research.

• Make adjustments in the plan or outlinewhen it isn’t working.

• As you draft, keep in mind your purposefor writing this piece and your intendedaudience.

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Good Student Writers:

• Express all of their ideas in the first draft.

• Stop and think about what is being writtenwhile drafting.

• Evaluate and alter ideas while drafting.

• Change or elaborate on original planswhile drafting.

• Discover that they need more informationabout certain parts of their writing.

• Learn a lot more about the topic while drafting.

TipsSometimes the hardest part of drafting is get-ting the first sentence down on paper. It mayhelp a student who feels stuck even before sheor he starts writing to begin a story in the mid-dle or to write the word “Draft” in big letters atthe top of the paper.

If a student feels stuck during drafting, heor she may need to go back and try a differentprewriting technique.

After an initial fifteen or twenty minutes ofimposed silence, some students may work bet-ter and come up with more ideas if they shareas they write.

You may find that it is difficult to get studentsto “loosen up” as they draft. Remember, most stu-dents have been encouraged to be neat and toerase mistakes when they write. It may help toshare some of your own drafts with students.

RevisingThe purpose of revising is to make sure that apiece of writing expresses the writer’s ideasclearly and completely. It has been said thatthere is no good writing, just good rewriting. Amajor distinction between good writers and poorwriters is the amount of time and effort they putinto revision. Poor writers look for spelling andgrammatical errors if they do read their work.

Revising is a difficult concept for studentsto understand, let alone do. It often is ignored,misunderstood, or left to the teacher to dobefore handing back the corrected copies. Revis-ing involves critical thinking. Writers revise bystepping back and reexamining their own work.The revision process allows authors to evaluatethe clarity of content and ideas in their work.Besides considering the ideas in a piece of writ-ing, a writer also considers whether the piecefulfills the requirements of its genre and concen-trates on paragraphs, sentences, and words.

The revision process allows authorsto evaluate the clarity of content andideas in their work.

Writers may revise at any time in the writ-ing process. Some authors draft and revisesimultaneously; others prefer to complete adraft and then revise.

A good time to introduce the concept ofrevising is during writing conferences by askingstudents to clarify or extend a sentence. Ini-tially, help students by asking them to expandon where something happened, when it hap-pened, why it happened, or how it happened.One common reason students don’t revise isthat they think this means recopying every-thing. Revising can be done without recopying.

Initially authors should be encouraged totake responsibility for two or three of theserevision techniques and to attempt more as theylearn new skills. Remember, revising will lookdifferent for different children. Emergent writ-ers may revise pictures by adding details orlabels. As they start more conventional writing,young authors usually will revise by addinginformation to the ends of their stories. As theirunderstanding grows, they will begin revisingby inserting information as they elaborate ontheir ideas.

12 Writing

Modeling RevisingStudents understand and learn best when theyhave good models to follow. Teachers can use arough draft and model revising in this way:

1. Read through the entire compositionquickly, thinking aloud and taking quicknotes about things to change. This allowsyou to get a sense of the entire work beforetrying to work on details. It helps you see ifthings have to be moved or if logic is faulty.For example,• This doesn’t make sense.

• I forgot to finish this sentence.

• I don’t have a very good beginning.

• This paragraph makes a better ending

than the one I have.

2. Read through a second time and addressspecifics. Think aloud. For example,• I think I should move this to the end.

• I need a better word here.

• This is good. I’ll keep it as it is.

• I should say more about this. I’ll add

more details to describe this.

• Now this idea doesn’t fit. I’ll cross it out.

3. Demonstrate some shortcuts for revising.Make arrows to show how to move wordsor sentences.

4. Elicit and discuss any suggestions from thestudents for further revisions. Makeadditional changes, if necessary, based ontheir suggestions. Remind students thatduring the revision phase of the writingprocess, it is important to get feedbackfrom others.

5. Explain that you may revise this draft morethan once—writing is a recursive process.

• About a narrative:

✓ Does my first sentence get my readers’

attention?

✓ Are events in the story told in an order

that makes sense?

✓ Have I included dialogue to help move

the story along?

✓ Does the story have a clear focus?

• About a description:

✓ Have I used details that appeal to the

senses?

• About a comparison/contrast piece:

✓ Have I written a separate paragraph for

each subject discussed?

• About an explanation:

✓ Will readers understand what I am

saying?

✓ Are the steps of the explanation in a

clear order?

✓ Have I made effective use of signal words?

✓ Have I included enough information?

• About fiction:

✓ Have I described my characters and

setting?

✓ Does the plot include a problem, build to

a climax, and then describe the

resolution of the problem?

• About persuasive writing:

✓ Have I made my position clear?

✓ Does my evidence support my position?

✓ Have I used opinions as well as facts,

and have I said whose opinions I used?

✓ Have I directed my writing to my

audience?

6. Help students understand the value ofasking questions such as the following asthey revise.

• About each paragraph:

✓ Does each sentence belong in it?

✓ Does each sentence connect smoothly

with the next?

✓ Does each sentence say something about

the main idea?

• About each sentence:

✓ Do the sentences read smoothly?

✓ Have I combined sentences that were

too short?

✓ Have I broken sentences that were too

long into two shorter sentences?

✓ Have I varied the beginnings of the

sentences?

• About the words:

✓ Have I changed words that were

repeated too often?

✓ Do transition words connect ideas?

Good Student Writers:

• Look back and evaluate what has beenwritten.

• Consider audience, purpose, and form.

• Read the draft repeatedly from a reader’sperspective.

• Identify problems with focus, givingenough information, clarity, and order.

• Think of solutions to problems andunderstand when solutions will and willnot work.

• Recognize when and how the text needs tobe reorganized.

• Eliminate sentences or paragraphs thatdon’t fit the main idea.

• Identify ideas that need elaboration.

• Do more research if needed to support oradd ideas.

• Identify and eliminate unnecessary details.

• Combine or extend sentences using how,when, where, and why questions.

• Elaborate, using dialogue, narrativetechniques, and descriptive language.

• Check to see if sentences and paragraphsare in a logical order.

• Ask for feedback from peer and teacherconferences.

• Take advantage of classroom and outsideresources.

• Check the accuracy of facts and details.

• Give credit for any ideas from other peopleor sources.

• Present and support personal points ofview and ideas.

Tips• Use the student Writing Folder to review

student progress. Check first drafts againstrevised versions to see how each student isable to apply revision strategies.

• If a student doesn’t see anything that needsto be changed or doesn’t want to changeanything, get him or her to do something tothe paper—number the details in adescription or the steps in a process, circleexact words, underline the best parts of thepaper. Once a paper is marked, the studentmay not be so reluctant to change it.

• One reason many students do not like torevise is that they think they must recopyeverything. This is not always necessary.Sometimes writers can cut and pastesections that they want to move. Or theycan use carets and deletion marks to showadditions to and subtractions from a piece.

• Give an especially reluctant student adeadline by which she or he must revise apiece or lose the chance to publish it.

• Students will hopefully be writing in otherclasses and on a variety of topics. Revisiontechniques can be used to improve writingin any curricular area. Stress to studentsthe importance of focusing on theirintended audience as they revise.

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14 Writing

Editing/ProofreadingAfter a piece of writing has been revised forcontent and style, students must read it care-fully line by line to make sure that it containsno errors. This activity, the fourth phase of thewriting process, is called editing or proofread-ing and is a critical step that must occur beforea piece of writing can be published. Studentscan begin proofreading a piece when they feelthat it has been sufficiently revised.

Writing that is free of grammatical,spelling, and technical mistakes is clearer andeasier for readers to understand. By proofread-ing their pieces, students will also notice whicherrors they make repeatedly and will learn notto make them in the future. In editing, thewriter concentrates on cleaning up the surfaceerrors after meaning has been developed andideas are clarified. This is done so the readercan focus on understanding and enjoying astory. Students should apply the same editingskills to any writing they do.

Students should be expected to proofreadat a level appropriate to their grade. Youngauthors should not be held responsible forskills they have not yet learned. Older studentswill be able to check for a greater variety oferrors than younger students and should beexpected to take greater responsibility for theirproofreading. Older students will have mas-tered many more grammatical, mechanical,usage, and spelling skills and can be expectedto perform accordingly. When you spot an errorrelated to a skill beyond a student’s level, makeclear to the student that you do not expect heror him to be responsible for the mistake, but doexplain that the error still needs to be cor-rected. The following suggestions may be usefulas you introduce proofreading to the studentsand help them develop their proofreading skills.

• Spelling List Encourage students to keep alist of frequently misspelled words. If astudent notes the same type of mistakes over

and over in writing, suggest that the studentreview the rules. Then praise the studentwhen the problem has been resolved.

• Colored Pencil Suggest that students usea colored pencil to mark errors so they canread corrections easily.

• Proofreading Tips If some students findthe proofreading process intimidating,suggest that they read their work severaltimes and check for only a few types oferrors each time. If children are havingdifficulty spotting errors in sentencestructure, suggest that they read theparagraph backward, last sentence to first.This process may help students look ateach sentence individually.

• Student Ownership Be careful not totake ownership of the writing away fromthe students. Students always mustunderstand that the pieces are theirs. Tryto resist the temptation to rewrite students’work. The student’s voice, with his or herown vocabulary, should come through inthe piece.

• Revising If a significant error is noticed atthe proofreading stage, suggest that thestudent revise the piece once more.

• Letting Go Some students have troubleletting go of a piece; that is, they cannotstop revising and proofreading. If this is aproblem, encourage the students topublish. Often affirmation andencouragement are all a student needs tobuild enough confidence to stop revising. Ifolder students have this problem, set apublication deadline. Tell them thatprofessional writers and editors work withsuch deadlines. Teachers should use theirown judgment to determine how flexiblethe deadline is in each case.

• Proofreading Marks Students should usestandard proofreading marks to indicate thechanges they wish to make. Explain to

students that these marks are a kind of codeused to show which alterations to makewithout a long explanation. Students mayalso be interested to know that professionalwriters, editors, and proofreaders use thesesame marks. You may want to review thesemarks one by one, illustrating on the boardhow to use them. For example, they mayinsert a word or a phrase by using a caret(^). If students wish to insert more text thanwill fit above the line, they may write in themargin or attach another sheet of paper. Itmay be a good idea, when such extensivecorrections are made, for students toproofread their final copy carefully to makesure they have included all their alterations.

• Teacher Modeling Teachers can modelgood proofreading skills for the studentsby proofreading a piece of their ownwriting. Be sure to include specific errors(misspelled words, incorrect capitalization,repeated words, incorrect paragraphindentation, and so on) so that all theproofreading marks are used.

• Peer Input Input from peers is an effectiveway to strengthen proofreading skills. Aftera student has proofread a piece of writing,suggest that he or she ask a classmate toproofread it again. The classmate should usea different colored pen or pencil to mark anynew changes. After each paper has beenreturned, remind the students to review thechanges marked by their classmate to makesure they want to make these changes.Students who are proofreading a classmate’spaper should be encouraged to noticestrengths as well as errors in a piece.

• Sentence Lifting is a very effectivemethod of showing students how toproofread their own work. Becausestudents are working on their ownsentences, they will be more inclined to

both pay attention to what is going onand better understand the correctionsthat are made.

•• Choose several pieces of student writingand look for common errors.

•• On an overhead, write several sentences.Include at least one sentence that has noerrors.

•• Tell students that you are going toconcentrate on one type of error at atime. For example, first you willconcentrate on spelling.

•• Ask students to read the first sentenceand point out any words they feel arespelled incorrectly. Do not erase errors.Cross them out and write the correctlyspelled word above the crossed-out word.

•• Next move to a different type of error.Ask students to check for capitalizationand punctuation.

•• Continue in this way, correcting errorsas you go through the sample sentences.

• Using Word Processing Software If thestudents are using a word processingprogram to write their pieces, they maywish to run a spell check on theirdocument. Caution them, however, thateven the most sophisticated softwarecannot catch every spelling error. Thesoftware will not catch misuse ofhomophones and other words if themisused words appear in the software’sdictionary. For example, if a student typesform instead of from, the software will notregister a mistake because form is also aword. Circulate as students areproofreading on their own or in pairs. Thefollowing are questions to consider as youevaluate students’ proofreading:

•• Are students able to check referenceswhen they are unsure of a spelling orusage?

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16 Writing

•• Are students criticizing each other’swork constructively?

•• Does a student no longer omit endpunctuation because he or she noticedthis error repeatedly during proofreading?

•• Note students who are having difficulty.You may wish to address thesedifficulties during individual conferences.

Proofreading ChecklistHave students use a proofreading checklist sim-ilar to the one shown here to help them remem-ber the steps for effective proofreading.

❑✓ Read each sentence.

❑✓ Does each sentence begin with a capitalletter and end with correct punctuation?

❑✓ Do you notice any fragments or run-onsentences?

❑✓ Are words missing from the sentence?

❑✓ Is any punctuation or capitalizationmissing from within the sentence?

❑✓ Do you notice any incorrect grammar orincorrect word usage in the sentence?

❑✓ Do you notice any misspelled words?

❑✓ Are the paragraphs indented?

Good Student Writers:

• Edit the work to allow the reader tounderstand and enjoy the work.

• Correct most errors in English languageconventions.

• Use resources or seek assistance toaddress any uncertainties in Englishlanguage conventions.

PublishingPublishing is the process of bringing private writ-ing to the reading public. The purpose of writingis to communicate. Unless students are writing ina journal, they will want to present their writing

to the public. Such sharing helps students tolearn about themselves and others, provides anopportunity for them to take pride in their hardwork, and thus motivates them to further writing.

Publishing their work helps motivatestudents to improve such skills asspelling, grammar, and handwriting.

Publishing their work helps motivate stu-dents to improve such skills as spelling, gram-mar, and handwriting. Publishing can be as sim-ple as displaying papers on a bulletin board oras elaborate as creating a class newspaper. Pub-lishing will not—indeed should not—alwaysrequire large blocks of class time. Students willwish to spend more time elaborately presentingtheir favorite pieces and less time on otherworks. If students take an inordinate amount oftime to publish their work, you may want tocoach them on how to speed up the process.

Good Student Writers:

• Present the work in a way that makes iteasy to read and understand.

• Consider format, style, illustration, as wellas clarity in the presentation of the work.

• Show pride in the finished work.

Preparing the Final CopyWhen students feel that they have thoroughlyproofread their pieces, they should copy thework onto another sheet of paper using theirbest handwriting, or type the work on a com-puter or typewriter. They should then check thiscopy against the proofread copy to make surethat they made all the changes correctly and didnot introduce any new errors. You may need toproofread and correct students’ papers one finaltime before publishing to make sure that theyhave caught all errors.

Publishing ChoicesIn publishing, students need to decide

• how to prepare the piece for publication.

• what form the published work should take.

• whether to illustrate their writing withphotographs, drawings, or charts withcaptions, as necessary.

• where to place text in relation to any artthey are using.

Students should be aware that the waythey present their ideas, which includes thepackage the ideas come in, greatly influencesthe effectiveness of their communication.

If a student is publishing a fairy tale or astory intended for younger children, she or hemay wish to read the story aloud to a class ofyounger students. You could establish that dur-ing the last 15 minutes of the school day, stu-dents who have recently finished stories orother appropriate pieces could read their workto other classes.

If a student is publishing an article on asubject that might interest people in the schoolor community, suggest that he or she thinkabout submitting the article to a school or com-munity newspaper or magazine.

If a student is publishing something re-lated to the explorable concepts of a unit inthe student anthology, suggest that she or heconsider displaying the piece on the Concept/Question Board.

Remind students that they will need tomake decisions about the following elements:

• size and shape of finished product

• hard or soft cover (if book)

• placement of and captions for art

• arrangement of text (especially for poetry)

• size and style of type or writing

Students also must decide whether theywish to include a dedication, a table of contents

(useful in a long, nonfiction piece), a glossary (fortechnical pieces), a bibliography (for researchpapers), an author biography (for back cover ofbook), or a summary (for back cover of book).

If several students have written relatedpieces and are unsure of how to publish, theymay wish to work together to create a newspa-per or an anthology. A desktop-publishing pro-gram designed for children is especially usefulin designing and laying out a newspaper.Encourage students to publish at least onepiece as a group during the year.

Getting CreativeEncourage students to use their imaginationswhen publishing. Let them know that theymay try many feasible methods of presentingtheir material. Some students may need someguidance and suggestions for how to publishand how best to use the supplies in the Pub-lishing Center.

One traditional way to publish is to make abook. Suggest the following ways to make a book.

• A simple book is made by stapling togetherthe pages, including the front and backcovers, on the left side.

• An accordion book is made by pleating along piece of paper.

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• A plank book is made by binding togetherheavy pages of cardboard or thin wood witha string looped through holes in the pages.

Many methods are available to students forpublishing their work besides making a book.Encourage the children to try new ways to pre-sent their work, especially if students alwayspublish in the same two or three ways. Remindthem that a creative or unusual presentationhelps to capture and hold an audience’s atten-tion. Students might

• present their piece as a pamphlet.

• perform a play or puppet show for the class.

• participate in a writing contest.

• submit an article or letter to the editor of amagazine or newspaper.

• read a piece to music.

• perform a dance to a reading of a piece of writing.

• display writing on a bulletin board insideor outside the classroom.

• present a reading on videotape or audiotape.

• present the piece in a letter to a friend,relative, or pen pal.

• give a speech or dramatic reading for the class.

• make a comic book.

• present a mock radio or TV interview.

• include a piece in an anthology.

• include a piece in a class newspaper.

Students also can be creative with the designfor their publication. In order to make their pub-lished work more interesting, students might

• make a very large or very small book.

• make a book in an unusual shape, such asa triangle or a circle.

• arrange text unusually, such as in a circleor at the very top or bottom of the page.

The following devices can be particularlyappropriate for poetry.

• Paste pages on a cylindrical (such as acoffee can) or cubical (such as a small box)container. This technique allows studentsto place items related to the piece insidethe container.

• Write passages in all capital or all smallletters to change emphasis.

• Write in different colored ink to changeemphasis.

Publishing CenterThe Publishing Center in the classroom is estab-lished to help students publish their writing. It isstocked with materials for creating finished pub-lications. Make sure the students understandwhat materials are available to them and howthey should be used. Instruct them to work qui-etly in the center. You may want to post a sign-up sheet if you notice many students competingfor supplies. Supplies could include

• lined and unlined paper in several colorsand sizes.

• writing tools such as pens, pencils, coloredpencils, markers, and crayons.

• supplies for lettering such as stencils,cutout letters, and models of calligraphy orother fancy alphabets.

• art supplies such as tracing paper, books ofclip art, water-based paints, paintbrushes,sponges, colored construction paper, tissuepaper, magazines for clipping pictures, andrubber stamps and ink pads.

• materials for book covers such as card-board, posterboard, wallpaper or fabric(out-of-date sample books and roll ends areoften available free), and wrapping paper.

• binding materials such as yarn, string, anddental floss.

• other supplies such as scissors, stapler,ruler, three-ring punch, paste or glue, clearadhesive tape, and correction fluid.

• a typewriter or a computer and printer.

Computers and PublishingMany classrooms now include computerscapable of word processing and desktop pub-lishing. If such equipment is accessible, yourstudents can produce a professional lookingbook or newspaper quite easily. Younger stu-dents may need extra help typing and usingthe software. Instruct them in how to use theequipment as needed. If a few children havetrouble, ask other classmates to help or, ifappropriate, have an older student come in totutor them. If available, teachers may wish touse a word processing program designedspecifically for children. Post a sign-up sheetfor the computer if many children want to usethis publishing method.

The Finished ProductWhen students are ready with their publi-cations, check them over quickly to make surethere are no glaring errors before they presentthem to the public. Remember, this is studentwork and changes should not be made unless aserious problem is found.

Encourage students to put publishedworks in the classroom library so that otherscan read them and use them as a reference.They can make their book more like a librarybook by making a checkout card for the bookand placing it in an envelope pasted in the frontor back of their book.

Students will want to take their workhome to share with families. Finished publica-tions provide tangible proof of studentprogress and are thus an important part of thehome/school connection.

Students should select their best work fortheir assessment portfolio. If a chosen piece is

Writing 19

in the library or at home, they can place a photo-copy or a note in the portfolio indicating wherethe original is. Students might want to keep listsof all their published works in their portfolios.

Tips• It is important to offer students an op-

portunity to present and celebrate theirpublished work. Schedule class time forstudent performances and presentations asneeded. If several students are ready atonce, you may wish to invite other classesor family members to a group presentation.You could help the children prepare aprogram for the event.

20 Writing

• Displays inside and outside the classroomare useful ways for students to presenttheir work. An exhibit in a common schoolarea, such as the library or lobby, makes itpossible for students to share their workwith a larger audience. Public libraries,community centers, town halls, and banksare often interested in displaying workfrom the community’s children.

• To further recognize student achievement,you may wish to select a “Writer of theWeek.” Items for display might include alist of the writer’s published works, his orher photograph, an autobiographicalsketch, a brief interview, the student’sfavorite book by a professional author, andpages from the various stages of one of thestudent’s pieces.

• Another way to celebrate student writing isto hold a Young Authors’ Exhibition orConference in the school, a public library,or a local community center. This faircould include booths, exhibits, specialpresentations, and entertainment.Individual students, classrooms, gradelevels, or entire schools could submit theirbest published work in categories such asfiction, essay, research, poetry, drama,biography, and interview. Work would beshared through readings, panels,discussions, and displays. Prizes could beawarded for excellence (rather than “best”)in the different categories as well as inillustration, design, and general creativity.All participants could be given a smallprize or certificate of participation. Thiskind of event is fun for all who participateand helps bring the community together.

Publishing ChecklistThe following checklist will help students whenthey are publishing their work. (Not every ques-tion applies to every form of publishing.)

❑✓ Have I revised my work to make it better?

❑✓ Have I proofread it carefully?

❑✓ Have I decided upon my illustrations?

❑✓ Have I recopied my piece carefully andillustrated it?

❑✓ Have I numbered the pages?

❑✓ Have I made a cover that tells the title andmy name?

Tips• You will read through the piece, and tell

the student if any corrections still need tobe made. You may also make somesuggestions about the best way to publish apiece if a student has trouble coming upwith an idea.

• Make suggestions and give criticism asneeded, but remember that students mustretain ownership of their publishing. Leavefinal decisions about form and design oftheir work up to individual students.

• Remind students to think about theirintended audience when they are deciding onthe form for their published piece. Will theform they have selected present their ideaseffectively to the people they want to reach?

What Does WritingInstruction Look Like in the Classroom?

Instruction and ModelingThe following activities are hallmarks of a qual-ity writing program.

• Instruction Teachers teach thefundamentals of the skills of writing(grammar, usage, mechanics, spelling,penmanship); the forms and structures ofwriting (genre, structures of writing,writer’s craft); and the writing process(getting ideas, planning, drafting, revising,editing/proofreading, publishing).

• Models of Good Writing Teachers providemodels of good writing in each form.

• Teacher Model Teachers model allphases of the writing process.

• Writing Frequency Students practicewriting in different forms frequently,applying the skills in the context of writing.

• Assessment Multiple measures ofassessment are used, including portfolioand on-demand writing, as well asassessment of writing.

In addition, the following elements pro-mote writing fluency and literacy.

Writing AreaA Writing Area, Writing Folders, and somesimple rules not only eliminate managementproblems but also foster independence,encourage risk taking, and cultivate sharing.Work on these as a class at the beginning of theyear and feel free to make changes as neededthroughout the year.

A Writing Area promotes independenceand provides teachers with more time to holdconferences with students. You may find that

one Writing Area may become congested, butseveral different areas may reduce student jamsand competition for resources. Students canwork alone or in small groups. Have studentsparticipate in setting up these areas so they feelinvolved. It is important that students knowwhat materials are in each center and how touse them.

Materials or Supply Area This area containsa variety of writing materials including pencils,pens, crayons, and unlined paper of differentsizes that can be used for drafting as well as forfinal copies. This is a good opportunity to userecycled paper in your school. Also, computerpaper that has alternating green and white linesis great for drafting.

Help Area The materials in this area supportindependent writing. This is a good place tokeep a list of “How to Develop Good Ideas forWriting,” as well as books and magazines forauthors to browse through for ideas. Checklistsfor revising and editing, as well as informationabout genre and literary techniques, enable writ-ers to monitor and check work in progress.After the reading and discussion of a particulargenre, let the students know that the informa-tion will be at the Help Area in the Writing Area,and encourage them to use it any time duringwriting. This is also a good place to keep a list ofrevising and proofreading symbols and dictio-naries.

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22 Writing

Publishing Area This area contains a varietyof materials, including cardboard, folders, tag-board, construction paper, and wallpaper sam-ples for covers; magazines for photos; paints,crayons, and markers for illustrating; stencils fortitles; and string, yarn, dental floss, staplers, andpunches for binding. Students can bring in pic-tures of themselves to use for their biographicalsketches. Many teachers enlist the help of theschool librarian for circulation cards and pock-ets for students to put on their newly publishedbooks. Samples of favorite commercially pub-lished books like pop-up books, picture books,and books of different shapes can be included toprovide ideas. Materials here are unlimited.

Reading Area Some teachers like to have aseparate Reading Area. Often when children areat a loss for writing ideas, browsing throughcommercially published books or student-published books, as well as magazines andnewspapers, can stimulate writers to find newtopics to write about.

Writing FoldersWriting Folders help keep writing organized.Every student should have a Writing Folder inwhich to keep drafts, revisions, and pieces thatneed a rest. Students also may want to keep alist of ideas for writing, as well as checklists forrevising and editing. Folders can be used byteachers for evaluation and for showing parentshow their children are growing and exploringdifferent types of writing. Many young authorslike to personalize their folders. This can serveas an introductory writing activity.

One concern teachers often express is thatfolders get messy, and they wonder if a note-book might work better. Notebooks, unfortu-nately, do not serve the same purpose that fold-ers do. Notebooks discourage students fromlooking back and comparing drafts. It’s nice tohave earlier drafts right there next to the pageon which the writer is working.

Following are a few simple hints to helpstudents manage their folders.

• Have students put their names and dateson each piece and have them note whetherit’s a first draft, a revision, or an editedpiece. If it is a revision, use a paper clip tohold the draft and revision together.

• Students may want to list the titles of theirworks somewhere on their Writing Folders.

• Periodically, authors may want to gothrough their folders and clean them out byremoving drafts of published works orpieces that no longer interest the author.Students should be thoughtful and notthrow everything away. Small-groupconferences in which students talk aboutwhy they are keeping some items andthrowing others away may be helpful.

• Keep all the students’ folders in a centrallocation, like a file drawer or a plasticstorage container, to help avoid foldersgetting mutilated and papers falling outof desks.

Regular feedback encourages youngauthors to solve problems and makemeaningful changes throughout thewriting process.

Providing Feedback:Writing Conferences and SeminarsFeedback is one of the most powerful tools forhelping writers. Writers want to know how theirworks in progress sound to someone else, if theirstories make sense, if there is any incorrect ormisleading information, and where and how tomake changes. In Open Court, opportunities forfeedback occur naturally throughout the processas teachers confer with authors during writing and

as teachers and peers react to authors’ storiesduring Seminar. Regular feedback encouragesyoung authors to solve problems and make mean-ingful changes throughout the writing process.This is in marked contrast to feedback that comesonly in the final stages when the proud author,after all the hard work has been done, may beoverwhelmed and discouraged by teacher andpeer feedback. Both writing conferences andseminars provide students with the opportunityto discuss their work in progress, to share ideasfor improvement, and to solve problems.

benefit the whole class. This is a perfect time togather students together and have one studentpresent the problem and its possible solution tothe others. These are naturally occurring oppor-tunities. Once, when a teacher was conferringwith a third grader who was revising a piece, thestudent decided to add several sentences.Unfortunately, there was not enough room onthe paper and the young author, with a look ofdismay, said to the teacher, “I have no room.This means copying this page all over again.”Sharing a simple trick of the trade, the teachersuggested that the student write the new sen-tences on a separate piece of paper and mark it“A.” Then, the student made a caret, or insertionmark, with an “A” in a circle above it to showwhere the new sentences would go. This was arevelation. All kinds of things can be addedwithout recopying! The teacher had the studentshare this new technique with the rest of theclass, many of whom eagerly applied it to theirown revision activities. The teacher not onlycaptured the moment wisely, but also, by lettingthe young author do the teaching, encouragedownership and made the technique relevant.

Writing 23

Conferences offer an excellentopportunity for the teacher andstudents to evaluate jointly eachstudent’s progress and to set goals for future growth.

Peer conferencing should beencouraged during Workshop.

Writing ConferencesWriting conferences help students identify andsolve problems, evaluate their writing, andmake changes. Teachers may initiate confer-ences, but writers should be encouraged to callconferences on an as-needed basis. Becauseconferences can be held at various timesthroughout the writing process, the focus willvary. Conferences held during the early stageshelp students identify and refine a topic or iden-tify research references. During revision, con-ferences can help students learn to elaborateand reorganize a piece, and during the finalstages, to edit and proofread stories before theyare published. Conferences offer an excellentopportunity for the teacher and students toevaluate jointly each student’s progress and toset goals for future growth.

As teachers circulate throughout the roomworking with students, they often notice com-mon problems, a discussion of which would

In order to support conferences, you mightwant to set aside a special area of the classroomfor you to work with students or for students towork with each other. During the year, peerconferencing should be encouraged duringWorkshop. As students engage in peer confer-encing, note which students are participating,the types of questions they ask, and the com-ments they make.

Writing conferences are useful during allphases of the writing process, but they are cru-cial during the revising phase. Writing confer-ences give you an opportunity to observe the

24 Writing

students as they evaluate their writing, solveproblems, make decisions about their work,and take responsibility for the development andcompletion of their work.

ProceduresThe basic procedure for writing conferences isas follows.

1. Have the student read his or her first draftaloud. Offer a specific comment.

2. Encourage the student to review feedbackreceived on his or her draft during peerconferencing or Seminar and to thinkaloud about possible changes.

3. Identify positive elements of the work.

4. Ask questions that will help the studentclarify her or his thinking about how torevise. (Try not to lead the student withcontent questions. You want to teach howto revise, not what to write.)

5. Review strategies and references that the student could use to improve her or his work.

6. Conclude the conference by having thestudent state his or her plan or goal forcontinuing work on the piece.

• To open communication with the

writer:

✓ How is the writing going?

✓ Tell me about your piece.

✓ How did you get your ideas?

• To validate the writer’s work and give

encouragement:

✓ I like the part where . . .

✓ I like how you open your piece by . . .

✓ I like your description of . . .

• To get the writer to think about clarity

of meaning:

✓ I wonder about . . .

✓ What happened after . . .?

✓ Why did . . .?

• To get the writer to think about direc-

tion and about writing strategies:

✓ What do you plan to do with your

piece?

✓ How will you go about doing that?

✓ What could I do to help you?

Concentrate on one phase of the writingprocess at a time. Pay particular attention torevising content, proofreading, or publishing.

Remember to keep conferences brief andto the point. Teachers should prepare theircomments in advance if they call the confer-ence. Usually, a student will request the confer-ence. Be sure to confer regularly with every stu-dent if only to check that each one is continuingto write, revise, and publish.

Revision StrategyThe following are some strategies to use toencourage students to revise.

• Have students explain how they got theirideas.

• Have students think aloud about how theywill address the feedback they havereceived.

Writing conferences give you anopportunity to observe the studentsas they evaluate their writing, solveproblems, make decisions abouttheir work, and take responsibilityfor the development and completionof their work.

During writing conferences, the followingresponses to student writing might be used.

• Ask students to help you understand anyconfusion you may have about theirwriting.

• Have the student add, delete, or rearrangesomething in the work and ask how itaffects the whole piece.

• Think aloud while you do a part of whatthe student was asked to do. Then ask thechild to compare what you did to what heor she did.

• Have the student prescribe as if to ayounger student how to revise the work.

Writing Conference QuestionsWriting conference comments and questionsshould help students reflect on their work, theprocess, and how to solve problems.

Following are suggested writing conferencecomments and questions to help you get started.

Ideas• Who is your audience?

• What is your purpose for writing?

• How does the reader know what yourpurpose is?

• Do you have enough information about thetopic?

• Do you like one part of your work morethan the rest? Why?

• Is your main idea clear?

• Is there a better way to express this idea?

• Is this a good topic sentence?

• Is your introduction engaging?

• Are any important details left out?

• Are any not-so-important details left in?

• Do you use specific vivid details andexamples to support your ideas?

• Are your ideas accurate and, if necessary,supported by research?

• Does your conclusion summarize or restateyour purpose for writing?

• What might be another way to end the work?

• Tell me about your story. How was the storyyou told different from what you wrote?(This can lead naturally into revision.)

• I’m having trouble visualizing what youwrote. What other information can yougive me?

• You’re writing a fairy tale, but you don’tknow what else to write. What have welearned in reading that will help you?(Going to the Writing Area and looking upcharacteristics of fairy tales may be a goodstart.)

• You’re writing a newspaper article butdon’t have enough information. What aresome ways of solving that problem? (Try

Writing 25

26 Writing

doing some more reading, talking with thelibrarian or someone who knows about thecontent area, or interviewing someone.)

Organization• Have you organized your writing in a way

that makes the most sense based on themain idea you have chosen?

• Is your structure clear so that your readercan follow it? Is there a clear beginning,middle, and conclusion?

• Are there smooth transitions from one partto the next?

• Are supporting details ordered in the mostlogical way?

• Do you include strong transitions to movethe reader smoothly from one paragraph tothe next?

• Can you combine any smaller paragraphsor separate larger ones?

• During Seminar, the group felt your storywas too long. What kinds of things couldyou do? (Make two stories or use chapters.)

Voice• Do you sound confident and

knowledgeable?

• Does the voice you use reflect the purposeof your writing? Does your writing soundfunny or serious when you want it to be?

• Is your voice appropriate for youraudience?

• Do you sound interested in the subject ortopic?

• Have you confidently stated your opinion ifnecessary? Have you used the pronoun “I”if appropriate?

• Does your writing sound like you? Changeany overly complex words to simple wordswhenever possible.

• Is your voice too formal or informal?

• Will this writing get a strong response fromthe reader?

• Does your writing make the reader careabout your topic?

Word Choice• Do you use the same word or phrase over

and over?

• How could you say the same thing indifferent words?

• Have you defined words your audiencemay not understand?

• Have you used precise words to describeor explain?

• Is there a better word to express this idea?

• Have you used your own words andphrases when summarizing informationfrom another text?

• Do you use time-order words such as first,

next, then, and last to help the readerunderstand when events take place?

• Have you used original and memorablewords in some places?

Sentence Fluency• Are your sentences clear and to the point?

• Have you used different kinds and lengthsof sentences to effectively present yourideas?

• Would any of your sentences be better ifthey were shorter?

• Could any of your sentences be combined?

• Is there a rhythm to your sentences?

• Does each sentence introduce a new ideaor a new piece of information?

• Do some sentences repeat what has alreadybeen stated? If so, cut or change them.

• Have you used transition words such asin contrast, however, and on the other

hand to move smoothly from one subjectto another?

• Have you used transitional phrases, suchas according to, in addition to, or at the

same time to link sentences?

• Have you used conjunctions such as and,

but, and or to combine short, choppysentences?

Tips• Teachers don’t have to meet with every stu-

dent every day or read every piece eachstudent writes.

• Conferences should be brief; don’t over-whelm students with too many commentsor suggestions. Several short conferencesare often more effective than one long one.

• If appropriate, suggest that students takesome notes to help them remember wherechanges are to be made.

• Don’t take ownership of the students’works. Encourage students to identify whatis good and what needs to be changed, andlet the students make the changes.

• Focus on what is good about the students’works; discuss how to solve problemsrather than telling the student what to do.

• Concentrate on the process that studentsare using, not just the product. Makecomments or ask authors questions thatencourage them to identify problems andto come up with their own solutions.

• Have sign-up sheets for students who needhelp each day.

• Identify students with particular strengthsin revising and editing, and appoint themas student, or peer, editors.

SeminarSeminar provides yet another opportunity forstudents to receive feedback. Seminar is a classdiscussion of the work of two or three studentauthors, called Seminar leaders, chosen to share

their work each day. As each Seminar leaderreads his or her piece, the rest of the class is lis-tening, and a few students will have the chanceto comment when the author is finished. In thebeginning, teachers may want to choose theSeminar leaders. They may be students whohave novel topics, who have written in a particu-lar form, who are revising, who have sloppy firstdrafts, and so on. After the first few weeks, posta class list, taking three students each day in theorder in which their names appear on the list.Initially, it may be necessary to remind studentswho will be the Seminar leader, but graduallyturn the responsibility over to the class. As theyear progresses, students may want to holdsmall-group Seminars during Workshop.

Seminar is an important part of the writingprocess. Students may use Seminar to brain-storm ideas for writing, to get suggestions forrevision, or to focus on a particular problem.

Seminar should accomplish the following:

• Provide opportunities to share and learnfrom each other.

• Encourage discussion and problem solving.

• Foster a sense of community.

• Allow students to share all their writing atany point in the writing process, not justwork they are going to publish.

• Make students responsible for thinking andlearning about writing.

• Reinforce all the language arts.

• Develop self-esteem and self-confidence.

Set up some simple rules at the beginningof the year.

1. The Seminar leader selects who will speakfrom among those who have raised theirhands, including the teacher.

2. Seminar participants must listen carefullyand provide constructive feedback.Participants should focus on what wasgood about a piece and ways to make it better.

Writing 27

28 Writing

3. The author has ownership and can decidewhich suggestions to use. The author doesnot have to incorporate all suggestionsfrom participants.

Seminar usually occurs before publishingso authors can apply the feedback to theirwork. Comments and questions from class-mates should focus on constructive changes.Be sure to model responses and questionsthat emphasize the process, not just thedetails in the story. As happens with writingconferences, feedback from Seminar encour-ages authors to grow.

Seminar for kindergarten writers initiallymay be sharing pictures and labels. Sugges-tions during Seminar may relate to commentsabout changing or adding to the pictures.Gradually, as children start writing words andsentences, the focus will shift to commentsabout the text. In the upper grades, as studentsstart writing and sharing longer pieces of writ-ing, they may want to share only part of apiece. When they do this, the authors shouldexplain why they have chosen a particular sec-tion; for example, it’s a part they particularlylike or one with which they are having prob-lems. Remember, students should use Seminarto share their research in progress, as well.During Seminar, students can get feedback ontheir research, refine their questions, and dis-cuss problems such as finding resources.

Following are some examples of com-ments to try.

• I’d like to hear more about . . . (Stimulateswriters to say more.)

• I wasn’t sure what you meant about . . .(Encourages authors to clarify thoughtsand ideas.)

• I like the part in your drawing where . . .My favorite part was . . . (Provides a goodstarting point for the Seminar.)

• What would you see if you had taken apicture of that? (Helps authors addinformation.)

• How else can you let us know that the dogwas happy? (Encourages authors to say thesame thing in different ways.)

• How are all the ideas in this section alike?What can you do with the ones that don’tfit? (Helps authors organize ideas anddevelop paragraphs.)

• How did you come up with this topic? Whydid you decide to write on it? (Helpsstudents focus on process and think aboutdifferent ideas for writing.)

• What have you learned from reading orfrom other student authors that will helpyou solve this problem? (Focuses on thereading/writing connection, problemsolving, and process.)

Initially, the teacher is the primary re-sponder to the Seminar leaders, but after acouple of weeks, students begin to take over.

If student comments begin to get stale or ifthey ask the same questions routinely, theteacher should interject new ways of thinkingabout writing by modeling additional com-ments and questions.

or she chose a particular part, or whatproblem he or she is having. This helpsorient the class listeners.

• Short stories can be read in their entirety. Asstudents become more proficient and writelonger stories, they should be encouraged toread just a part of the work; for example,one they need help with, one that has beenrevised, or one they particularly like.

• Take notes during Seminar and encourageolder students to do the same. Teachersalso may keep an ongoing record ofSeminar participants, dates, story topics,and stages of development.

• Be sensitive to the attention span of theclass and the feedback being given. Thereis a tendency sometimes for students torepeat the same comments to each author.Encourage students to listen carefully, notjust to the Seminar leader but to each otheras well. Teachers may want to limit thenumber of student responders the leadercalls on to four or five.

• Once students understand the concept ofSeminar and are thinking critically abouteach other’s writing, small-groupseminars can be held in which everyonein the group has the chance to share.These can be initiated by either theteacher or the students.

• Before Seminar is held, have leaders brieflyrecord information on a record sheet, in-cluding the topic or title, the kind of story,where she or he is in the process (drafting,revising, editing), problems, and so on. Thisencourages students to think about theirSeminar presentations before they get up toread. It fosters responsibility and becomesa record sheet for the teacher as well.

Writing 29

Initially, the teacher is the primary re-sponder to the Seminar leaders, butafter a couple of weeks, studentsbegin to take over.

Ownership of work is important. Each stu-dent author decides whether or not to incorpo-rate some or all of the Seminar suggestions intohis or her writing and research. One reason stu-dents may appear reluctant to incorporatechanges is because they are hit with a numberof possible suggestions, some of which they for-get by the time they get back to their writing. Acouple of recommendations may help here.First of all, the teacher may want to take somenotes to share during a subsequent conference.Or, a peer can act as a secretary who takesnotes and then helps the author decide if,where, and how to make changes. Another ideais to allow the Seminar leader to leave thegroup and start making changes immediatelywhile the ideas are still fresh.

Following are some practical tips fromteachers.

• Have a chair designated as the “Author’sChair” from which the Seminar leaders canread their work. This lends importance tothe activity.

• Each Seminar leader should be encouragedto give a bit of background, includingwhere he or she is in the process, why he

30 Writing

The goal of writing in Open Court is todevelop independent, self-directed writers. Com-ments and questions during writing conferencesand Seminar should be constructive and shouldencourage students to reflect on their work andtake responsibility for making changes.

• The author is making thoughtful changes.

• The author can identify unnecessarydetails.

• The author recognizes how and when thetext needs to be reorganized.

• The author identifies places that needelaboration. Young authors initially do thisby adding on at the end and later byinserting information.

• The author spontaneously changes orrevises after reading a piece to you.

• The author makes use of books, the WritingArea, peers, and other resources.

• The emergent author notes the need forlabeling, adding to his or her picture, ordictating a story.

Some teachers like to hold formal evalua-tion conferences with students. Be sure toinvolve the students in the process by havingthem select the piece or pieces to be evaluated.Try asking some of the following questions thatfocus on understanding and lead to change.

• Why did you choose this piece?

• What makes it good or interesting?

• What problems did you have writing thispiece?

• How did you solve those problems?

• How did you revise this piece after youwrote the initial draft?

Comments and questions duringwriting conferences and Seminarshould be constructive and shouldencourage students to reflect on theirwork and take responsibility formaking changes.

Evaluating the Process:Learning from WritingOpportunities for evaluating writing are builtinto Open Court. Writing Folders contain anongoing record of each student’s work. Writingconferences give teachers time to observe stu-dents as they evaluate their writing, solve prob-lems, make decisions about their work, and takeresponsibility for the development and comple-tion of pieces. The focus is on the process, notjust the correctness of the written story.

Evaluation Through ConferencesWriting conferences provide a nonthreateningtime to observe authors as they think aloudabout problems and solutions and demonstratetheir understanding of the writing process. Dur-ing discussions, listen for the following cuesthat indicate growth.

• The author identifies problems.

• The author talks about strategies andsolutions and why they may or may not work.

• How did you follow through on the writingprocess?

• What new things did you learn from writingthis piece or during this marking period?

• What are your plans for the next markingperiod?

• What new ideas do you plan to explore?

After the writing conference, it is helpfulfor the teacher and the student to put theresults of the conference in writing and keep acopy of it in the student’s Writing Folder. Thiscan be used for the next evaluation conferenceand also is good to share with parents.

Periodically, teachers may formally evalu-ate the students’ writing. The Analytical ScoringRubric on page 44 is a scale that can be used tohelp evaluate student writing and monitorgrowth during the year.

Evaluation Through SeminarSeminar is a good time to observe both theSeminar leader and class participants. Noticewhich students are participating, the kinds ofquestions they ask, and the comments theymake. These are often good indicators of stu-dents’ understanding of writing. Take a fewminutes after Seminar to confer with Seminarleaders to find out if they are evaluating classsuggestions and are responding to audienceconcerns by incorporating some of the sugges-tions in their work.

Evaluation Using Writing FoldersStudents’ Writing Folders present an excellentopportunity for evaluation because they containsamples of students’ writing over a period oftime. In reviewing students’ work, look forchanges that indicate growth in understandingof the process, rather than looking only for cor-rectness. When comparing pieces, here aresome ideas to keep in mind.

Writing 31

In reviewing students’ work, look forchanges that indicate growth inunderstanding of the process, ratherthan looking only for correctness.

• Does the work in the folders show ver-satility? What different types of writing hasthe author tried or completed?

• How does the work reflect drafting, re-vising, editing, and publishing?

• What different approaches to revision andediting are found?

• In the early grades, how is the youngauthor showing growth from scribbles topictures, and to pictures with labels thatuse invented spelling?

• How does the student’s writing reflectmore sophisticated thinking?

• How do pieces reflect the author’s use ofstrategies; for example, do works containdifferent types of elaboration like dialogue,description, and extended sentences?

32 Writing

• How does the writing reflect the devel-opment of ideas and the growth ofknowledge?

• Does the revising reflect growth in problemsolving?

• How is the author integrating ideas fromreading into writing?

When reviewing student folders, teachersdon’t necessarily have to read everythingevery student writes. Many teachers workwith their students to develop writing portfo-lios that contain samples of each student’swork. Criteria can be set up that will help thestudent, or the teacher and student together,make selections for the portfolio. Pieces maybe the students’ best work, most interestingpiece, most challenging piece, most unusualpiece, piece that showed the most improve-ment, and so on. Also include copies of drafts,revisions, and the like. Letting the studentsmake the final selection encourages them toreflect on their work yet another time andinvolves them in the evaluation process rightfrom the start.

Many teachers send these portfolios withthe students’ records to the teachers the stu-dents will have the next year. What betterway to find out about your new students’understanding of writing than through theirown words!

Writing Assessments

RubricsA rubric is an established rule or criterion. Itsets goals for students that are clearly stated,attainable, observable, and measurable. Arubric clearly describes the attributes across arange of age-appropriate performance. Rubricsestablished before an assignment is given areextremely helpful in evaluating the assignment.

They take away much of the arbitrary and sub-jective nature of assessment that makes bothstudents and teachers uneasy.

When students know what the rubrics for aparticular assignment are, they can focus theirenergies on the key issues. In addition, rubricsgive the teacher and the student an ultimategoal, so that at all times both can be workingtoward the most sophisticated level on thescale. It is continual movement toward this goalthat assures overall success for the students.

Writing rubrics can provide guidance forstudents and teachers with a structure for cre-ating and evaluating written work. Followingare the rubrics for writing used in Open Court

Reading.

Writing 33

3 Points 4 Points2 Points1 Point

Conventions

Writing Rubrics Grades 1–2

Demonstrates emergingconsistent use of Englishlanguage conventions suchas capitalization and endpunctuation.

Demonstrates limited butinconsistent use of Englishlanguage conventions.

Demonstrates no evidenceof English languageconventions.

Conventions

(Overall grammar,usage, mechanics, andspelling)

Demonstrates consistentuse and awareness ofEnglish languageconventions.

Demonstrates emergingawareness of standardusage and subject/verbagreement.

Includes standard usageand demonstratesunderstanding ofsubject/verb agreement inwriting.

Demonstrates someawareness of standardusage.

Demonstrates minimalawareness of standardusage.

Grammar and Usage

Uses most end punctuationcorrectly.

Uses end punctuation andsome commas correctly.

Uses periods correctly forend punctuation.

Makes little use ofpunctuation.

Mechanics: Punctuation

Capitalizes sentences; mayovercapitalize orundercapitalize otherwords.

Uses capitalizationcorrectly at beginning ofsentences and with propernouns.

Inconsistently uses capitalsat beginning of sentencesand for some propernouns.

Inconsistently uses capitalletters.

Mechanics:

Capitalization

Uses sentences to expressideas in writing.

Uses simple and complexor compound sentences toexpress ideas.

Writes very simplesentences.

Writes words or labels butnot sentences.

Sentence Structure

Uses many correct soundspellings and uses somestructural spellingpatterns.

Uses mostly correct soundspellings and structuralpatterns.

Uses sound spelling as aprimary strategy. Manywords are misspelled.

Mainly uses inventedspellings.

Spelling

Genre Includes adequate detaildescription.

Includes sensory details,motivations, and scenerydetails that add depth ofunderstanding.

Includes minimaldescription.

Includes little or nodescription of setting,character, or motivations.

Descriptive Writing

Main points and supportivedetails can be identifiedbut they are not clearlymarked.

Composition is clearlyorganized around mainpoints with supportivefacts or assertions.

Statements have an evidentpurpose (to describe,explain, argue, etc.).

Writing consists of ideasloosely related to a topic,with no evident order ororganization. Extraneousmaterial may be present.

Expository Structure

Writing adequately reflectsstructure of a particulargenre.

Writing develops aroundelements and structure of aspecific genre.

Writing has minimalelements of genre.

Writing does not reflectany particular genre. Astory is indistinguishablefrom a persuasive orexpository composition.

Genre

Adequately develops plot,character, and setting.

Fully develops andelaborates on plot,character, and setting.

Includes plot outline butdoes not elaborate ondetails of character, plot,or setting.

Narrative has missingdetails or elements(characterization, plot,setting). Logical order isnot apparent.

Narrative

Identifies, describes, andcompares story charactersin terms of basiccategorical descriptorssuch as nice or mean.

Describes characters inincreasing detail inoriginal stories, includingboth physical and mentalqualities such as strength

or kindness.

Characters are named butnot defined or described.

Minimal awareness ofcharacter beyond self isincluded.

Narrative Character

Plot includes problem andits resolution, which moveslogically through time.

Plot is developed with aproblem, failed attempts,complications, andsubproblems beforeresolution. Plot moveslogically through time.

Story is a sequence ofevents in chronologicalorder.

Story is a sequence ofevents that may or may notbe related.

Narrative Plot

34 Writing

3 Points 4 points2 Points1 Point

Creates settings thatinclude descriptions oftime, character, and place.

Adds details that makesetting distinctive andappropriate to the storytype (fantasy vs. realisticsettings).

Minimal elements ofsetting are included.

Story includes nodescription of setting.

Narrative Setting

An opening statementidentifies position. Writingmay develop fewer ormore points thandelineated in opening.Focus may be too broad.

Sets scope and purpose ofposition in introduction.Maintains positionthroughout. Supportsarguments. Includeseffective closing.

Position is vague or lacksclarity. Unrelated ideas ormultiple positions areincluded.

Position is absent orconfusing. Insufficientwriting to show thatcriteria are met.

Persuasive

Writer uses personalwriting to record ordevelop thoughts.

Writer relies on personalwriting to record,remember, develop, orexpress writer’s thoughts.

Some elements of personalwriting reflect writer’sthoughts and ideas.

Minimal effort is made andwriting does not reflectwriter’s ideas.

Personal

Writer has a clear idea toexpress in a poem and hasattempted to use poeticform to express it. Poetryform may reflectestablished forms.

Writer has expressed anidea in an original orestablished poetic form.Writer has carefully selectedwords and arranged themfor poetic effect.

Some effort is made towork with word choiceand arrangement todevelop a thought inpoetry form.

Little effort is made toselect and arrange wordsto express a particularthought or idea. The mainidea of the poem is notevident.

Poetry

The WritingProcess

Is aware that writingrequires thinking aboutcontent and ideas.

Evaluates and alters ideasas writing proceeds.

Consciously calls on ownexperience and knowledgefor ideas in writing.

Shows little awareness thatown ideas are the materialof writing.

Getting Ideas

Elaborates on the modelfor planning.

Develops own plan basedon the model.

Uses a given model to planwriting.

Makes little or no attemptto develop a plan forwriting.

Prewriting—

Organizing Writing

Uses plan to draft. Elaborates on plan indrafting.

Writes a minimal amountwith some attention to plan.

Writes without attention toplan or is unable to write.

Drafting

Welcomes feedback andadvice from teacher orother students.

Actively seeks feedbackfrom other students andteacher.

Pays attention as teacherprovides feedback aboutwritten work.

Quickly finishes writingproducts and doesn’t seekfeedback.

Revising

Corrects many errors inEnglish languageconventions.

Corrects most errors inEnglish languageconventions. Usesresources or seeksassistance to addressuncertainties.

Some errors in Englishlanguage conventions arecorrected. Many are notcorrected.

Demonstrates no attentionto correcting grammar,usage, mechanics, orspelling errors.

Editing

Includes adequatepresentation efforts withillustration, format, andstyle.

Provides impressivepresentation of writtenwork with attention toformat, style, illustration,and clarity.

Recopies final draft withno extra presentation.

Presents revised andedited draft as final.

Presentation/

Publishing

Allows time for writing butnot enough for planning,gathering information, etc.

Listens to advice abouttime requirements andplans accordingly.

Allows some, but often notenough, time for writingtasks.

Puts writing tasks off untilthe last minute and seldomfinishes work on time.

Self-Management

When reminded, usesclassroom resources suchas word walls anddictionaries.

Makes active use of variedclassroom languageresources.

Asks teacher or otherstudents for help withwords.

Seldom refers to languageresources such as wordwalls or dictionaries.

Language Resources

Writing Rubrics Grades 1–2 (continued)

Writing 35

3 Points 4 points2 Points1 Point

Writing Traits Writes with audience inmind throughout.

Displays a strong sense ofaudience. Engagesaudience.

Displays some sense ofaudience.

Displays little or no senseof audience.

Audience

Writes one’s own wordsand refrains from copyingthe work of others.

Takes pride in one’s ownwords and acknowledgesideas of others.

Uses others’ work as amodel.

Does not understand thedifference between one’sown work and the work ofothers. Clearly copies thework of others.

Citing Sources

Includes sufficient detail todevelop or support ideas.

Elaborates on ideas withsupporting details.

Minimal detail. Little or no elaboration ofdetail.

Elaboration

(supporting details andexamples that developthe main idea)

Topic/position is statedand direction/purpose ispreviewed and maintained.Mainly stays on topic.

Topic/position is clearlystated, previewed, andmaintained throughout thepaper. Topics and detailsare tied together.

Topic/position/direction isunclear or reader has toinfer.

No focus is present. Mainidea cannot be inferred.

Focus

The writing is clear andfocused. The reader caneasily understand the mainideas. Support is present,although it may be limitedor rather general.

Writing is exceptionallyclear, focused, andinteresting. Main ideasstand out and aredeveloped by strongsupport and rich details.

The reader can understandthe main ideas althoughthey may be overly broador simplistic, and theresults may not beeffective. Supporting detailis limited, insubstantial,overly general, or off topic.

Superficial and/or minimalcontent is included.

Ideas/Content

Organization is clear andcoherent. Beginning orconclusion is included.

The organization developsthe central idea. The orderand structure move thereader through the texteasily. Beginning grabsattention. Conclusion addsimpact. Uses a variety oftransitions that enhancemeaning.

An attempt has been madeto organize the writing.Writing may be a listing offacts/ideas.

Organization is notapparent.

Organization

The writing flows, howeverconnections betweenphrases or sentences maybe less than fluid.

The writing has an effectiveflow and rhythm. Sentencepatterns are somewhatvaried, contributing to easein oral reading.

The writing tends to bemechanical rather thanfluid.

The writing is difficult tofollow.

Sentence Fluency

A voice is present. Thewriter demonstratescommitment to the topic.In places, the writing isexpressive, engaging, orsincere. Words andexpressions are clear andprecise.

The writer has chosen avoice appropriate for thetopic, purpose, andaudience. Unique stylecomes through. Thewriting is expressive,engaging, or sincere.Exhibits strongcommitment to the topic.

The writer’s commitmentto the topic seemsinconsistent. A sense of thewriter may emerge attimes; however, the voiceis either inappropriatelypersonal or inappropriatelyimpersonal.

The writing provides littlesense of involvement orcommitment. There is noevidence that the writerhas chosen a suitablevoice.

Voice

Words effectively conveythe intended message.Exhibits adequate wordusage. Contains someinteresting words. Includessome vivid, descriptivelanguage.

Words convey the intendedmessage in an interesting,precise, and natural wayappropriate to audienceand purpose. Exhibitsexceptional word usage.Frequently includesinteresting words.

Language is ordinary, filledwith familiar words andphrases. Exhibits minimalword usage. Words andexpressions are clear, butusually more general thanspecific.

The writing shows anextremely limitedvocabulary and frequentmisuse of words.

Word Choice

36 Writing

Writing Rubrics Grades 3–43 Points 4 Points2 Points1 Point

Conventions The writing demonstratescontrol of standard writingconventions (punctuation,spelling, capitalization,paragraph breaks,grammar, and usage).Minor errors, whileperhaps noticeable, do notimpede readability.

The writing demonstratesexceptionally strongcontrol of standard writingconventions (punctuation,spelling, capitalization,paragraph breaks,grammar, and usage) anduses them effectively toenhance communication.Errors are so few and sominor that the reader caneasily skim over them.

The writing demonstrateslimited control of standardwriting conventions(punctuation, spelling,capitalization, paragraphbreaks, grammar, andusage). Errors sometimesimpede readability.

Numerous errors in usage,grammar, spelling,capitalization, andpunctuation repeatedlydistract the reader andmake the text difficult toread. The reader finds itdifficult to focus on themessage.

Conventions

(Overall grammar,usage, mechanics, andspelling)

Writing mainly includesstandard usage and correctsentence structure.

Writing uses a variety ofsentence structuresappropriately for effect anddemonstrates understandingof standard usage.

Writing demonstrates someawareness of standardusage and proper sentencestructure.

Writing shows lack ofawareness of standardusage and has many errorsin subject-verb agreement.

Grammar and Usage

Uses most punctuationcorrectly.

Uses end punctuation,commas, quotation marks,parentheses, ellipses, andother forms of punctuationcorrectly andappropriately.

Uses end punctuationcorrectly.

Uses periods correctly, butmakes little use of otherpunctuation.

Mechanics:

Punctuation

Capitalizes sentences; mayovercapitalize orundercapitalize otherwords.

Uses capitalizationcorrectly at beginnings ofsentences, with propernouns, and in titles.

Consistently uses capitalsat beginnings of sentencesand for some propernouns.

Inconsistently uses capitalsat beginnings of sentencesand seldom uses them forproper nouns.

Mechanics:

Capitalization

Uses standard sentenceconstruction throughoutand a variety of simple andcomplex sentencepatterns. Writing may havea few run-on sentences orsentence fragments.

Uses standard sentenceconstruction throughout.Sentence patterns andlength are varied, effective,and enhance what is said.Writing has no unintentionalrun-on sentences orsentence fragments.

Primarily uses simplesentences. Writing hassome run-on sentences orsentence fragments. Mayuse repetitive sentencepatterns.

Some sentences arestandard, but many arerun-on sentences orfragments.

Sentence Structure

Uses mostly correct soundspellings and structuralpatterns.

Uses correct soundspelling patterns andstructural patterns, andunderstands affixes andhomophones.

Uses many correct soundspellings and somestructural spellingpatterns.

Uses sound spelling as aprimary strategy. Manywords are misspelled.

Spelling

Genre Includes adequate detaildescription.

Includes sensory details,motivations, and scenerydetails that add depth ofunderstanding.

Includes minimaldescription.

Includes little or nodescription of setting,character, or motivations.

Descriptive Writing

Main points and supportivedetails can be identifiedbut they are not clearlymarked.

Composition is clearlyorganized around mainpoints with supportivefacts or assertions.

Statements have an evidentpurpose (to describe,explain, argue, etc.).

Composition consists ofstatements loosely relatedto a topic, with no evidentorder or organization.Extraneous material maybe present.

Expository Structure

Writing adequately reflectsstructure of a particulargenre.

Writing develops aroundelements and structure of aspecific genre.

Writing has minimalelements of genre.

Writing does not reflectany particular genre. Astory is indistinguishablefrom a persuasive orexpository composition.

Genre

Writing 37

Narrative adequatelydevelops plot, character,and setting.

Narrative fully developsand elaborates on plot,character, and setting.

Narrative includes plotoutline but does notelaborate on details ofcharacter, plot, or setting.

Narrative has missingdetails or elements(characterization, plot,setting). Logical order isnot apparent.

Narrative

Describes the internalmental world of storycharacters by explicitlydescribing thoughts,feelings, and desires.

Creates lifelike characterswhose action and speechreflect unique qualities thatare integral to the plot.

Describes characters inincreasing detail inoriginal stories, includingboth physical and mentalqualities such as strength

or kindness.

Identifies, describes, andcompares story charactersin terms of basiccategorical descriptorssuch as nice or mean.

Narrative Character

Plot includes problem,failed attempts,subproblems, andresolution. Evidence ofcoherence and cohesionbut may depend onformulaic structure.Subject and theme areclear and maintained.

Plot is elaborated withdescriptive details andelements that addexcitement or color.Narrative structure isclear—sequence of eventsmoves logically throughtime with a beginning,middle, and ending, with aneffective closing. Subjectand theme are clear anddeveloped throughout.

Story has a simple plot,comprising problem andresolution. May endabruptly or lack closing.Subject is clear but themeis not. May have majordigression or inappropriatetransitions that disruptprogression of ideas.

Story is a sequence ofevents that hang togetherin chronological order.

Narrative Plot

Adds details that makesetting distinctive and areappropriate to the storytype (fantasy vs. realisticsettings).

Describes settings in waysthat contribute to mood,suspense, humor, orexcitement of the story.

Creates settings thatinclude descriptions oftime, character, and place.

Creates simple settingsconsisting of time (once

upon a time or one day)

and/or place for originalstories.

Narrative Setting

A theme is expressed butnot well developed.

The narrative fullydevelops a theme thatexpresses an underlyingmessage beyond thenarrative plot.

Superficial theme isincluded but notintegrated.

No theme is apparent. Narrative Theme

An opening statementidentifies position. Writingmay develop fewer ormore points thandelineated in opening.Focus may be too broad.

Sets scope and purpose ofpaper in introduction.Maintains positionthroughout. Supportsarguments. Includeseffective closing.

Position is vague or lacksclarity. Unrelated ideas ormultiple positions areincluded.

Position is absent orconfusing. Insufficientwriting to show thatcriteria are met.

Persuasive

Writer uses personalwriting to record ordevelop thoughts.

Writer relies on personalwriting to record,remember, develop, orexpress writer’s thoughts.

Some elements of personalwriting reflect writer’sthoughts and ideas.

Personal writing is seen asan assignment rather thanas an aid to writer. Minimaleffort is made and writingdoes not reflect writer’sideas.

Personal

Writer has a clear idea toexpress in a poem and hasattempted to use poeticform to express it. Poetryform may reflectestablished forms.

Writer has expressed anidea in an original orestablished poetic form.Writer has carefully selectedwords and arranged themfor poetic effect.

Some effort is made towork with word choiceand arrangement todevelop a thought inpoetry form.

Little effort is made toselect and arrange wordsto express a particularthought or idea. The mainidea of the poem is notevident.

Poetry

The WritingProcess

Is aware that writingrequires thinking aboutcontent and ideas.

Evaluates and alters ideasas writing proceeds.

Consciously calls on ownexperience and knowledgefor ideas in writing.

Shows little awareness thatown ideas are the materialof writing.

Getting Ideas

Elaborates on the modelfor planning.

Develops own plan basedon the model.

Uses model to plan. Makes little or no attempt todevelop a plan for writing.

Prewriting—

Organizing Writing

3 Points 4 Points2 Points1 Point

38 Writing

Uses plan to draft. Elaborates on plan indrafting.

Writes a minimal amountwith some attention to plan.

Writes without attention toplan or is unable to write.

Drafting

Welcomes feedback andadvice from teacher orother students.

Actively seeks feedbackfrom other students andteacher.

Pays attention as teacherprovides feedback aboutwritten work.

Quickly finishes writingproducts and doesn’t seekfeedback.

Revising

Corrects many errors inEnglish languageconventions.

Corrects most errors inEnglish languageconventions. Uses resourcesor seeks assistance toaddress uncertainties.

Some errors in Englishlanguage conventions arecorrected. Many are notcorrected.

Demonstrates no attentionto correcting grammar,usage, mechanics, orspelling errors.

Editing

Includes adequatepresentation efforts withillustration, format, andstyle.

Impressive presentation ofwritten work withattention to format, style,illustration, and clarity.

Recopies final draft withno extra presentation.

Presents revised andedited draft as final.

Presentation/

Publishing

Allows time for writing butnot enough for planning,gathering information, etc.

Listens to advice abouttime requirements andplans accordingly.

Allows some, but often notenough, time for writingtasks.

Puts writing tasks off untilthe last minute and seldomfinishes work on time.

Self-Management

When reminded, usesclassroom resources suchas word walls anddictionaries.

Makes active use of variedclassroom languageresources.

Asks teacher or otherstudents for help withwords.

Seldom refers to languageresources such as wordwalls or dictionaries.

Language Resources

Writing Traits Writes with audience inmind throughout.

Displays a strong sense ofaudience. Engagesaudience.

Displays some sense ofaudience.

Displays little or no senseof audience. Does notengage audience.

Audience

Demonstrates commitmentto the quality andsignificance of researchand the accuracy of thewritten document.Documentation is used toavoid plagiarism and toenable the reader to judgehow believable orimportant a piece ofinformation is by checkingthe source.

Demonstratesexceptionally strongcommitment to the qualityand significance ofresearch and the accuracyof the written document.Documentation is used toavoid plagiarism and toenable the reader to judgehow believable orimportant a piece ofinformation is by checkingthe source.

Demonstrates limitedcommitment to the qualityand significance ofresearch and the accuracyof the written document.Documentation issometimes used to avoidplagiarism and to enablethe reader to judge howbelievable or important apiece of information is bychecking the source.

Demonstrates littlecommitment to the qualityand significance ofresearch and the accuracyof the written document.There is no documentationof sources.

Citing Sources

Includes mix of generalstatements and specificdetails/examples. Supportis mostly relevant but maybe uneven and lack depthin places.

Includes specific detailsand supporting examplesfor each key point/idea.May use compare/contrastto support.

Includes sketchy,redundant, or generaldetails; some may beirrelevant. Support for keyideas is very uneven.

States ideas or points withminimal detail to supportthem.

Elaboration

(supporting details andexamples that developthe main idea)

Topic/position is statedand direction/purpose ispreviewed and maintained.Mainly stays on topic.

Topic/position is clearlystated, previewed, andmaintained throughout thepaper. Topics and detailsare tied together with acentral theme or purposethat is maintained/threadedthroughout the paper.

Topic/position/direction isunclear and must beinferred.

Topic is unclear orwanders and must beinferred. Extraneousmaterial may be present.

Focus

The writing is clear andfocused. The reader caneasily understand the mainideas. Support is present,although it may be limitedor rather general.

Writing is exceptionallyclear, focused, andinteresting. Main ideasstand out and aredeveloped by strongsupport and rich details.

Main ideas areunderstandable, althoughthey may be overly broador simplistic, and theresults may not beeffective. Supporting detailis limited, insubstantial,overly general, or off topic.

Superficial and/or minimalcontent is included.

Ideas/Content

Writing Rubrics Grades 3–4 (continued)

3 Points 4 points2 Points1 Point

Writing 39

3 Points 4 points2 Points1 PointOrganization is clear andcoherent. Order andstructure are present, butmay seem formulaic. Planis evident. Reasons for theorder of key concepts maybe unclear. Beginning orconclusion is included butmay lack impact.Transitions are present.Paragraph use isappropriate.

The organization enhancesthe central idea and itsdevelopment. The orderand structure arecompelling and move thereader through the texteasily. Plan is evident. Keyconcepts are logicallysequenced. Beginninggrabs attention. Conclusionadds impact. Uses a varietyof transitions that enhancemeaning. Uses paragraphsappropriately.

An attempt has been madeto organize the writing;however the overallstructure is inconsistent orskeletal. Plan is evident butloosely structured or writeroveruses a particularpattern. Writing may be alisting of facts/ideas with aweak beginning orconclusion. Transitions areawkward or nonexistent.Includes beginning use ofparagraphs.

The writing lackscoherence; organizationseems haphazard anddisjointed. Plan is notevident. Facts arepresented randomly. Notransitions are included.Beginning is weak andending is abrupt. There isno awareness of paragraphstructure or organization.

Organization

The writing flows, howeverconnections betweenphrases or sentences maybe less than fluid. Sentencepatterns are somewhatvaried, contributing to easein oral reading.

The writing has an effectiveflow and rhythm.Sentences show a highdegree of craftsmanship,with consistently strongand varied structure thatmakes expressive oralreading easy and enjoyable.

The writing tends to bemechanical rather thanfluid. Occasional awkwardconstructions may forcethe reader to slow down.

The writing is difficult tofollow, either choppy orrambling. Sentences areincomplete or awkwardconstructions force thereader to slow down orreread.

Sentence Fluency

A voice is present. Thewriter demonstratescommitment to the topic.In places, the writing isexpressive, engaging, orsincere. Words andexpressions are clear andprecise.

The writer has chosen avoice appropriate for thetopic, purpose, andaudience. Unique stylecomes through. The writingis expressive, engaging, orsincere. Exhibits strongcommitment to the topic.

The writer’s commitment tothe topic seemsinconsistent. A sense of thewriter may emerge at times;however, the voice is eitherinappropriately personal orinappropriately impersonal.

The writing provides littlesense of involvement orcommitment. There is noevidence that the writer haschosen a suitable voice.Does not engage audience.

Voice

Exhibits adequate wordusage. Words effectivelyconvey the intendedmessage. The writeremploys a variety of wordsthat are functional andappropriate to audienceand purpose. Containssome interesting words.Includes some vivid,descriptive language.

Exhibits exceptional wordusage. Words convey theintended message in anexceptionally interesting,precise, and natural wayappropriate to audienceand purpose. The writeremploys a rich, broadrange of words, whichhave been carefully chosenand thoughtfully placed forimpact. Frequentlycontains interesting words.Uses literary deviceseffectively.

Exhibits minimal wordusage. Language isordinary, lacking interest,precision, and variety. Maybe inappropriate toaudience and purpose inplaces. The writing is filledwith familiar words andphrases. Contains only afew interesting words.Words and expressions areclear but usually moregeneral than specific.

Exhibits less than minimalword usage. The writingshows an extremelylimited vocabulary andfrequent misuse of words.Language is monotonous.Includes no interestingwords. Words andexpressions are simple andmay be repetitive,inappropriate, or overused.

Word Choice

40 Writing

Writing Rubrics Grades 5–63 Points 4 Points2 Points1 Point

Conventions The writing demonstratescontrol of standard writingconventions (punctuation,spelling, capitalization,paragraph breaks,grammar, and usage).Minor errors, whileperhaps noticeable, do notimpede readability.

The writing demonstratesexceptionally strongcontrol of standard writingconventions (punctuation,spelling, capitalization,paragraph breaks,grammar, and usage) anduses them effectively toenhance communication.Errors are so few and sominor that the reader caneasily skim over them.

The writing demonstrateslimited control of standardwriting conventions(punctuation, spelling,capitalization, paragraphbreaks, grammar, andusage). Errors sometimesimpede readability.

Numerous errors in usage,grammar, spelling,capitalization, andpunctuation repeatedlydistract the reader andmake the text difficult toread. The reader finds itdifficult to focus on themessage.

Conventions

(Overall grammar,usage, mechanics, andspelling)

Writing mainly includesstandard usage and correctsentence structure.

Writing uses a variety ofsentence structuresappropriately for effect anddemonstrates understandingof standard usage.

Writing demonstrates someawareness of standardusage and proper sentencestructure.

Writing shows lack ofawareness of standardusage and has many errorsin subject-verb agreement.

Grammar and Usage

Uses most punctuationcorrectly.

Uses end punctuation,commas, quotation marks,parentheses, ellipses, andother forms of punctuationcorrectly and appropriately.

Uses end punctuationcorrectly.

Uses periods correctly butmakes little use of otherpunctuation.

Mechanics:

Punctuation

Mainly uses capitalizationcorrectly.

Uses capitalizationcorrectly in sentences,proper nouns, and titlesand demonstratesawareness of capitalizationrules in unique situations.

Consistently uses capitalsat beginnings of sentencesand for some propernouns.

Uses capitals correctly atbeginnings of sentencesbut inconsistently in otherplaces.

Mechanics:

Capitalization

Uses standard sentenceconstruction throughoutwith a variety of simpleand complex sentencepatterns. Writing may havea few run-on sentences orsentence fragments.

Uses standard sentenceconstruction throughout.Sentence patterns andlength are varied, effective,and enhance what is said.Writing has no unintentionalrun-on sentences orsentence fragments.

Primarily uses simplesentences. Writing hassome run-on sentences orsentence fragments. Mayuse repetitive sentencepatterns.

Some sentences arestandard, but many arerun-on sentences orfragments.

Sentence Structure

Uses mostly correct soundspellings and structuralpatterns.

Uses correct sound spellingpatterns and structuralpatterns; understandsaffixes, homophones, andmeaning patterns.

Uses many correct soundspellings and somestructural spellingpatterns.

Uses sound spelling as aprimary strategy. Manywords are misspelled.

Spelling

Genre Includes adequate detaildescription.

Includes sensory details,motivations, and scenerydetails that add depth ofunderstanding.

Includes minimaldescription.

Includes little or nodescription of setting,character, or motivations.

Descriptive Writing

Presents adequate,appropriate evidence tomake a point or support aposition. Positions arecompared and contrastedin the course of developingthe main point.

Traces and constructs aline of argument,identifying part-to-wholerelations. Main points aresupported with logical andappropriate evidence.

Composition is clearlyorganized around mainpoints with supportivefacts or assertions.

Main points and supportivedetails can be identified,but they are not clearlymarked.

Expository Structure

Writing adequately reflectsstructure of a particulargenre.

Writing develops aroundelements and structure of aspecific genre.

Writing has minimalelements of genre.

Writing does not reflectany particular genre. Astory is indistinguishablefrom a persuasive orexpository composition.

Genre

Writing 41

Narrative adequatelydevelops plot, character,and setting.

Narrative fully developsand elaborates on plot,character, and setting.

Narrative includes plotoutline but does notelaborate on details ofcharacter, plot, or setting.

Narrative has missingdetails or elements(characterization, plot,setting). Logical order isnot apparent.

Narrative

Creates lifelike characterswhose action and speechreflect unique qualities thatare integral to the plot.

Creates complexcharacters, identifyingpsychological traits thatare representedthroughout the narrative.

Describes the internalmental world of storycharacters by explicitlydescribing thoughts,feelings, and desires.

Describes characters inincreasing detail inoriginal stories, includingboth physical and mentalqualities such as strength

or kindness.

Narrative Character

Plot is well developed withsubplots andcomplications integratedinto the resolution.

Includes more complicatedplotlines with varied timelines, flashbacks, or dualstory lines.

Plot is elaborated withdescriptive details andelements that addexcitement or color.Narrative structure isclear—sequence of eventsmoves logically throughtime with a beginning,middle, and ending witheffective closing. Subjectand theme are clear anddeveloped throughout.

Plot includes problem,failed attempts,subproblems, andresolution. Evidence ofcoherence and cohesionbut may depend onformulaic structure.Subject and theme areclear and maintained.

Narrative Plot

Identifies how settingsinfluence story problemsand their resolutions orcontribute to other storyelements, such ascharacter and plot.

Creates settings thatinclude metaphoric orsymbolic elements that helpdevelop story elements.

Describes settings in waysthat contribute to themood, suspense, humor, orexcitement of the story.

Creates settings thatsimply includedescriptions of time,character, and place.

Narrative Setting

A theme is expressed butnot well developed.

The narrative fullydevelops a theme thatexpresses an underlyingmessage beyond thenarrative plot.

Superficial theme isincluded but notintegrated.

No theme is apparent. Narrative Theme

An opening statementidentifies position. Writingmay develop fewer ormore points thandelineated in opening.Focus may be too broad.

Sets scope and purpose ofpaper in introduction.Maintains positionthroughout. Supportsarguments. Includeseffective closing.

Position is vague or lacksclarity. Unrelated ideas ormultiple positions areincluded.

Position is absent orconfusing. Insufficientwriting to show thatcriteria are met.

Persuasive

Writer uses personalwriting to record ordevelop thoughts.

Writer relies on personalwriting to record,remember, develop, orexpress writer’s thoughts.

Some elements of personalwriting reflect writer’sthoughts and ideas.

Personal writing is seen asan assignment rather thanas an aid to writer. Minimaleffort is made and writingdoes not reflect writer’sideas.

Personal

Writer has a clear idea toexpress in a poem and hasattempted to use poeticform to express it. Poetryform may reflectestablished forms.

Writer has expressed anidea in an original orestablished poetic form.Writer has carefully selectedwords and arranged themfor poetic effect.

Some effort is made towork with word choiceand arrangement todevelop a thought inpoetry form.

Little effort is made toselect and arrange wordsto express a particularthought or idea. The mainidea of the poem is notevident.

Poetry

The WritingProcess

Is aware that writingrequires thinking aboutcontent and ideas.

Evaluates and alters ideasas writing proceeds.

Consciously calls on ownexperience and knowledgefor ideas in writing.

Shows little awareness thatown ideas are the materialof writing.

Getting Ideas

Elaborates on the modelfor planning.

Develops own plan basedon the model.

Uses model to plan. Makes little or no attemptto develop a plan forwriting.

Prewriting—

Organizing Writing

3 Points 4 Points2 Points1 Point

42 Writing

Uses plan to draft. Elaborates on plan indrafting.

Writes a minimal amountwith some attention to plan.

Writes without attention toplan or is unable to write.

Drafting

Welcomes feedback andadvice from teacher orother students.

Actively seeks feedbackfrom other students andteacher.

Pays attention as teacherprovides feedback aboutwritten work.

Quickly finishes writingproducts and doesn’t seekfeedback.

Revising

Corrects many errors inEnglish languageconventions.

Corrects most errors inEnglish languageconventions. Usesresources or seeksassistance to addressuncertainties.

Some errors in Englishlanguage conventions arecorrected. Many are notcorrected.

Demonstrates no attentionto correcting grammar,usage, mechanics, orspelling errors.

Editing

Includes adequatepresentation efforts withillustration, format, andstyle.

Impressive presentation ofwritten work withattention to format, style,illustration, and clarity.

Recopies final draft withno extra presentation.

Presents revised andedited draft as final.

Presentation/

Publishing

Allows time for writing butnot enough for planning,gathering information, etc.

Listens to advice abouttime requirements andplans accordingly.

Allows some, but often notenough, time for writingtasks.

Puts writing tasks off untilthe last minute and seldomfinishes work on time.

Self-Management

When reminded, usesclassroom resources suchas word walls anddictionaries.

Makes active use of variedclassroom languageresources.

Asks teacher or otherstudents for help withwords.

Seldom refers to languageresources such as wordwalls or dictionaries.

Language Resources

Writing Traits Writes with audience inmind throughout.

Displays a strong sense ofaudience. Engagesaudience.

Displays some sense ofaudience.

Displays little or no senseof audience. Does notengage audience.

Audience

The writing demonstratescommitment to the qualityand significance ofresearch and the accuracyof the written document.Documentation is used toavoid plagiarism and toenable the reader to judgehow believable orimportant a piece ofinformation is by checkingthe source. Minor errors donot blatantly violate therules of documentation.

The writing demonstratesexceptionally strongcommitment to the qualityand significance ofresearch and the accuracyof the written document.Documentation is used toavoid plagiarism and toenable the reader to judgehow believable orimportant a piece ofinformation is by checkingthe source.

The writing demonstrateslimited commitment to thequality and significance ofresearch and the accuracyof the written document.Documentation issometimes used to avoidplagiarism and to enablethe reader to judge howbelievable or important apiece of information is bychecking the source. Errorssometimes violate the rulesof documentation.

The writing demonstrateslittle commitment to thequality and significance ofresearch and the accuracyof the written document.Frequent errors indocumentation result ininstances of plagiarism anddo not enable the reader tocheck the source.

Citing Sources

Mix of general statementsand specificdetails/examples isincluded to elaborate onideas. Support is mostlyrelevant but may beuneven and lack depth inplaces.

For each key point/idea,specific details andsupporting examples withdepth are given. May usecompare/contrast tosupport.

Sketchy, redundant, orgeneral details, which maybe irrelevant, are included.Support for key ideas isvery uneven.

Elaboration of ideas islimited to a related listwith no details orexamples given.

Elaboration

(supporting details andexamples that developthe main idea)

Topic/position is statedand direction/purpose ispreviewed and maintained.Mainly stays on topic.

Topic/position is clearlystated, previewed, andmaintained throughout thepaper. Topics and detailsare tied together with acentral theme or purposethat is maintained/threadedthroughout the paper.

Topic/position/direction isunclear or reader has toinfer.

Insufficient length todetermine if writermaintains focus. Topic isunclear or wanders.Reader has to infer thetopic. Extraneous materialmay be present.

Focus

Writing Rubrics Grades 5–6 (continued)

3 Points 4 Points2 Points1 Point

Writing 43

3 Points 4 points2 Points1 PointThe writing is clear andfocused. The reader caneasily understand the mainideas. Support is present,although it may be limitedor rather general.

Writing is exceptionallyclear, focused, andinteresting. Main ideasstand out and aredeveloped by strongsupport and rich details.

The reader can understandthe main ideas althoughthey may be overly broador simplistic, and theresults may not beeffective. Supporting detailis limited, insubstantial,overly general, or off topic.

Superficial and/or minimalcontent is included.

Ideas/Content

Organization is clear andcoherent. Order andstructure are present, butmay seem formulaic. Planis evident. Reasons fororder of key concepts maybe unclear. Beginning orconclusion is included butmay lack impact.Transitions are present.Paragraph use isappropriate.

The organization enhancesthe central idea and itsdevelopment. The orderand structure arecompelling and move thereader through the texteasily. Plan is evident. Keyconcepts are logicallysequenced. Beginninggrabs attention. Conclusionadds impact. Uses a varietyof transitions that enhancemeaning. Uses paragraphsappropriately.

An attempt has been madeto organize the writing;however, the overallstructure is inconsistent orskeletal. Plan is evident butloosely structured oroveruses a particularpattern. Writing may be alisting of facts/ideas.Includes a weak beginningor conclusion andawkward transitions. Someparagraph organization isevident.

The writing lackscoherence; organizationseems haphazard anddisjointed. Plan is notevident. Facts arepresented randomly withno transitions. Includesweak beginning and abruptending. Demonstrated noattention to paragraphorganization.

Organization

The writing flows, howeverconnections betweenphrases or sentences maybe less than fluid. Sentencepatterns are somewhatvaried, contributing to easein oral reading.

The writing has an effectiveflow and rhythm.Sentences show a highdegree of craftsmanship,with consistently strongand varied structure thatmakes expressive oralreading easy and enjoyable.

The writing tends to bemechanical rather thanfluid. Occasional awkwardconstructions may forcethe reader to slow down.

The writing is difficult tofollow, either choppy orrambling. Sentences areincomplete or awkwardconstructions force thereader to slow down orreread.

Sentence Fluency

A voice is present. Thewriter demonstratescommitment to the topic.In places, the writing isexpressive, engaging, orsincere.

The writer has chosen avoice appropriate for thetopic, purpose, andaudience. A unique stylecomes through. Thewriting is expressive,engaging, or sincere. Astrong commitment to thetopic is evident.

The writer’s commitmentto the topic seemsinconsistent. A sense of thewriter may emerge attimes; however, the voiceis either inappropriatelypersonal or inappropriatelyimpersonal.

The writing provides littlesense of involvement orcommitment. There is noevidence that the writerhas chosen a suitable voiceand does not engageaudience.

Voice

Exhibits adequate wordusage. Words andexpressions are clear andprecise. Words effectivelyconvey the intendedmessage. The writeremploys a variety of wordsthat are functional andappropriate to audienceand purpose. Containssome interesting words.Includes some vividdescriptive language.

Exhibits exceptional wordusage. Words convey theintended message in anexceptionally interesting,precise, and natural wayappropriate to audienceand purpose. The writeremploys a rich, broadrange of words, whichhave been carefullychosen, and thoughtfullyplaced for impact.Frequently containsinteresting words. Usesliterary devices effectively.

Exhibits minimal wordusage. Language isordinary, lacking interest,precision, and variety. May be inappropriate toaudience and purpose inplaces. The writing is filledwith familiar words andphrases. Contains only afew interesting words.Words and expressions areclear, but usually moregeneral than specific.

Exhibits less than minimalword usage. The writingshows an extremelylimited vocabulary andfrequent misuse of words.Language is monotonous.Includes no interestingwords. Words andexpressions are simple andmay be repetitive,inappropriate, or overused.

Word Choice

44 Writing

Analytical Scoring RubricName Date

Teacher Grade

Low High

Focuses on the topic 0 1 2 3 4

Includes appropriate level of detail 0 1 2 3 4

Has a beginning, middle, and end 0 1 2 3 4

Uses a variety of sentence types 0 1 2 3 4

Exhibits appropriate word choice and variety 0 1 2 3 4

Is written clearly 0 1 2 3 4

Uses complete sentences 0 1 2 3 4

Shows subject-verb agreement 0 1 2 3 4

Contains standard English language usage 0 1 2 3 4

Has correct punctuation 0 1 2 3 4

Has correct capitalization 0 1 2 3 4

Has correct spelling 0 1 2 3 4

Is legible 0 1 2 3 4

Overall Rating 0 1 2 3 4

Teacher’s Notes:

Writing 45

Alternative AssessmentDifferent types of assessment provide multi-ple measures of student performance anddevelopment.

School Portfolio A school portfolio canshow a student’s progress from year to year. Ifstudents do a similar assignment in each gradelevel, the progress can be demonstrated acrossmany years. The writing rubrics can be used toevaluate the school portfolio.

Unit Portfolio A unit portfolio can show allof the work a student has done in a certainperiod of time. The student can choose his orher best work to publish, display, or present toparents. The writing rubrics can be applied toevaluate the unit portfolio.

On-Demand Writing Prompt Periodically, ashort, structured, and limited writing promptthat students respond to can provide valuableinsight into a student’s understanding of genre,conventions, or structures of writing.

Questions Teachers Ask

Questions Teachers Ask about theDevelopmental Nature of WritingQ. Writing is fine for children once they

have learned how to read, but my

children are too young for this or

don’t come with enough early literacy

experiences to write. What’s expected

from young children?

A. Writing is a process, and teachers need tounderstand that their expectations shouldbe different for children at different times.For some young children, just picking up a

crayon and making marks on a page maybe sufficient. For others, drawing a pictureand talking about it is a natural part ofdeveloping understanding. Inventedspelling is also natural, and teachers andparents should be encouraged rather thandiscouraged by these early attempts to tieoral language to writing. Children discoverby doing. Early experimentation withwriting is an important part of this process.

Seminar supports reluctant writersas they hear and discuss the work ofother students, their ideas for topics,and their writing problems.

Q. How does this developmental ap-

proach work with reluctant writers?

A. There are many reasons children arereluctant to write. Many children, even theyoungest, come to school thinking that theteacher expects everything to be perfect, andif it’s not, then it’s wrong. Many children arereluctant to write for fear of misspellingwords or of making other mistakes. Otherslack confidence or are afraid their storieswill be compared to those of others.Teachers need to create classrooms thatencourage all children to write. Sloppycopies are welcomed, and spelling andgrammar are put into proper perspective aspart of editing. Each writer’s work is notcompared to that of others. Seminarsupports reluctant writers as they hear anddiscuss the work of other students, theirideas for topics, and their writing problems.Group support, in addition to teachersupport, is an important function in Seminar.

Questions Teachers Ask aboutPlanning, Revising, Editing, and PublishingQ. Is brainstorming with the class in

order to find a single topic a good

idea?

A. While this is an often-used technique,teachers need to ask themselves “Is thiswhat real authors do?” Authors haveownership of their topics and write aboutwhat they know or care about or whatinterests them. Be careful that studentsdon’t misinterpret brainstorming and think,“I must write on this topic (which I knownothing about or does not interest me),” “Imust use all these words (which makes itcontrived),” or “I’m going to be comparedto everyone else in the class (Ugh!).”

Q. Is it ever OK for all students to write

on the same topic?

A. Sometimes the class itself may elect towrite on a topic or use the same form.Children love to make books of riddles orwrite different stories that will go into aclass newspaper or anthology. Sometimeschildren may choose to write about aparticular theme or trip they’ve taken. Letthe authors decide.

Q. Do students need to revise every-

thing?

A. No, only those drafts on which studentscontinue to work. By taking this approach,students are encouraged to make decisionsabout their work and to prioritize it.

Q. My students read their pieces and don’t

see the need to revise. Everything looks

fine to them. How do I get them to see

where and how to change their work?

A. Students often don’t understand or valuethe idea of revising. Revising can beintroduced naturally through writingconferences and Seminar. Students willneed gentle reminders about revising,particularly in the beginning. Postingrevising activities that students can use toguide them is helpful. Also, a revisingchecklist can be put on a chart and madeavailable in the Writing Area or copied intoeach student’s writing journal or WritingFolder. Start small and encourage studentsto take responsibility for one or two typesof revising techniques, building upon thatfoundation during the year. Encourageauthors to read their work in progressaloud or have a partner read it aloud. Thistype of activity sometimes makes it easierto identify parts that don’t make sense, thatneed additional information, or that couldbe deleted. Remind students that revisingis just as important as any of the stages inthe whole writing process.

Q. Does every piece need to be edited?

A. No, only those pieces that are going to bepublished or shared publicly in some way.

46 Writing

Writing 47

Q. Do students have to publish every-

thing?

A. Absolutely not. Not everything is worthy ofpublication, and authors need to be selective.Based upon feedback from Seminar, they canchoose their personal favorite, a particularlycreative piece, and so on.

Q. What do you do about children who

never publish?

A. Structure the environment to ensure thatall students publish. It is perfectlyacceptable to tell students that six or sevenpublished pieces are expected a year. Theycan choose which pieces or get advice fromtheir teacher or from peers. It makes senseto spread out publishing over the year. Inupper grades, teachers may want to bemore specific and set guidelines, forexample, that student publishing shouldinclude a biography, a descriptive piece, anewspaper article, and so on. This givesstudents choices within limits.

Q. Publishing takes a lot of time. How

can I get it done?

A. Publishing can be simple; it doesn’t need tobe time consuming. If possible, parents,aides, and peers can help put the final copyon the computer for a more polished-looking product. Several cautions need tobe kept in mind. The author and the adultneed to sit down first and discuss wherethe illustrations will be going and whatcopy needs to be on that page. Second, theadult needs to remember not to changewords in the story to make it sound better.Finally, even these typed copies need to beproofread to catch mistakes that may havebeen made during keyboarding.

Questions Teachers Ask aboutManaging Writing in the ClassroomQ. I have a small room. How can I find

the space for all this?

A. These centers do not need to be elaborate.Use shelves of bookcases for supplies anda small table for the publishing area.Plastic containers that are clearly labeledhelp with storage.

Writing can and should be integratedinto all learning, including science,math, and social studies.

Q. How much time do I spend each day

on writing?

A. At the beginning of kindergarten and firstgrade, children may draw or write for onlyabout ten minutes, followed by a five- orten-minute Seminar. As the year goes on,children will be able to spend more time onwriting. From second grade on, about 25minutes for writing and another tenminutes for Seminar or sharing isappropriate. While writing is consideredpart of the language arts block of time, itcan be done at any time during the day—inthe afternoon or first thing in the morning.Writing can and should be integrated intoall learning, including science, math, andsocial studies. The important point is thatstudents write regularly each week,preferably every day.

Q. What do I tell parents who are upset

when they see misspellings on papers

in their child’s folder?

A. First, drafts should be marked “DRAFT” bythe students. A great purchase is an ink padand stamp that says “DRAFT.” Second,parents will need some explanation of thewriting process. Discuss writing expectationswith parents during open house and otherparent meetings.

Q. Can you give me any suggestions

about managing centers?

A. Student helpers can be assigned to hand outwriting folders during regularly scheduledwriting times. Sign-up sheets are useful inthe Publishing Center to help avoid a largegroup of eager publishers all needing to usethe same materials at the same time. Somesimple rules like “only five people at thecenter at one time” and “only whispering isallowed” may be useful here. Managementtechniques should not discourage studentsfrom working together and learning fromeach other.

Questions Teachers Ask aboutManaging Writing Conferencesand SeminarQ. How can I get to every student every

day?

A. It is not expected that teachers will workwith every student every day. Work withseveral students each day and use peers tohelp. Another alternative is to have small-group conferences with students who arehaving similar problems. This is particularlyuseful during the editing stage, whichcomes before publishing. Remember alsothat Seminar is another opportunity forfeedback. Once students are comfortable

with Seminar, they may want to hold small-group seminars so everyone in the grouphas a chance to share and receive feedback.

Q. How long should conferences be?

A. Conferences should be brief and coverone or two points that the student canincorporate when revising his or herwork. Conferences that are too long andcover too many points often leave thestudent overwhelmed and confused aboutwhere to begin. Short conferences aremore valuable than long ones. (Forchildren in kindergarten and first grade,two or three minutes is more than enough.For older children, three to five minutes isa good estimate. Age and need will helpteachers decide.)

Q. What if students haven’t finished?

Can they be Seminar leaders?

A. Yes! Work in progress as well as completedpieces should be shared. Feedback duringSeminar can help students as they developideas and revise drafts.

Q. How do you get Seminar participants

to pay attention?

A. Two or three students should be leaderseach day, and comments from participantsshould not go on endlessly. Three or fourgood comments that leave the author withsuggestions for change is enough for onetime. When necessary, the teacher needs tomodel meaningful comments.

Q. How do you get reluctant participants

to share during Seminar?

A. Some children are naturally shy orinsecure and don’t volunteer for Seminar.Keep track so these children don’t gowithout sharing. To help these reluctantsharers, have them do their sharing insmall-group sessions that are less

48 Writing

Writing 49

intimidating than being Seminar leaders infront of the whole group. Or, the teacher oranother student can read the piece to thelarger group. Be sure that the author sits ina chair in front with the reader. This getsthe author up in front of the group in anonthreatening situation, and additionally,the author is there to help with anyillegible words and to call on participantsfor feedback. Or, the teacher and thestudent can read the piece to the wholegroup together. Frequently, once analternate reader starts reading, thereluctant author will take over naturally.

Q. When should Seminar be held?

A. Seminar can be held before students writeso the teacher can model strategies andstudents can receive feedback to useduring writing. However, student-initiatedseminars can be held during writing aswell. This arrangement gives students timeto get started, time to get feedback, and thechance to return to their writing to makechanges while the suggestions are fresh intheir minds. Also, seminars can be held atthe end of the writing period to providefeedback to authors, as well as closure tothe writing process.

Questions Teachers Ask about EvaluationQ. Should students have everything

correct in order to get an “A”?

A. Students, particularly younger students,cannot be expected to get everythingcorrect. Remember, teachers should holdstudents responsible only for what theyhave learned or are developmentally readyto learn. Consequently, evaluation shouldbe based on how students use what theyknow, how they are changing, and howthey are beginning to use newlyintroduced ideas.

Q. I need to give writing grades. My

school requires it, and the parents

want them. What do I do?

A. Grades should be based on each student’sgrowth and improvements that the studentmade during the semester. For example,teachers would point out to parents thattheir child is now able to revise at the wordlevel, something he or she was unable to dopreviously. Grades also can be based on howsuccessfully students have met the goals setat the end of the previous semester ormarking period.

To educate parents who are used to amore traditional grading system, consider apresentation about evaluating writing at anopen house at the beginning of the schoolyear. Teachers can describe their alternativeapproach, explain the benefits, and showparents what to expect.

Conclusion

Let the Writers Speak for Themselves

ReferencesBereiter, C. and Scardamalia, M. (1987). The

Psychology of Written Composition. Hills-dale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Hillocks, G. (1986). Research on Written Com-

position. Urbana, IL: National Conference onResearch in English.

Spandel, V. and Stiggins, R. J. (1997). Creating

Writers: Linking Writing Assessment and

Instruction. White Plains, NY: Longman Pub-lishers.

Temple, C., Nathan, R., Temple, F., and Burris,N.A. (1993). The Beginnings of Writing.

Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Williams, J. D. (1998). Preparing to Teach

Writing. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

50 Writing

“It feels good to look at a goodstory and say ‘I did that.’”

Tessa Barber, Grade 5

Students become full-fledged members of thecommunity of writers when they take owner-ship of their writing; when they recognize thatwriting is learning, a way of organizing andreorganizing information; and when they appre-ciate that writing is a special way of touchingthose around them. Some members of Open

Court’s community of writers have sharedtheir thoughts about writing. Here are their“unedited” reflections on writing.

“I like writing because you can keep it forever.”

Heather Weneck, Grade 3

“Writing is fun because you get to create

things. You don’t have to be a pro to write.”

Rachel Simmons, Grade 4

“I fL hBe wn Irit.”

(I feel happy when I write.)Deanna Steyer, Grade 1

“What makes you a better writer? Lots of quiet

for me.”

Malynda Schumaker, Grade 2