Writing (Competency 1)

Learning logs

A brief written response to a text passage, discussion, lesson, or prompt. A way to check for understanding and reflect on learnings.

Syntax

A sentence-level structure that is part of academic writing and requires explicit instruction and support. Sentence starters/stems (One reason is ____); transition words (also, then, finally, etc.); ordinal words (first, second, third, etc.); transitional adverbs (however, nonetheless, furthermore, etc.).

Author's chair

A special chair that students sit in to read their writing to their peers.

Exit tickets

A way to check for understanding at the end of the lesson.

Academic Word Wall

A way to display important academic language or content specific language that you plan to use in your lesson, module, or unit. Academic language (ex. explain, evidence, paragraph) Content specific language (ex. timeline, suffrage, etc.). This is considered a planned language support. It can support writing instruction by displaying the words that students may need to understand related to academic writing and/or the topic students are writing about.

Discourse

Academic ___________ is related to how we speak and write academically. Paragraph structure (topic sentence, details, closing sentence); text types/patterns (compare/contrast, description, cause and effect, etc.); discussion (taking turns, building on each other's ideas, etc.)

5 Step Approach to Writing

Also known as the process approach to writing. It includes pre-writing, composing, revising, editing, and publishing. Each step is separate and builds on previous steps. It teaches students that writing is a process, not just a final product.

Writing Guide

Also might be called graphic organizer. It helps students to organize their research, ideas, and notes to help them produce more coherent writing that is organized and descriptive/detailed. It can also help them make sure that they have all the required components. They can help students either during pre-writing or during composing.

Color Coded Graphic Organizers

Can help students visually see the connection across the writing process. For example, if the organizer has facts/details colored in orange when students take their notes from the organizer into their draft, they can check to see if they included the facts/details by highlighting those in orange.

Shared writing practices

Children are given the opportunity to share their writing and listen to the writings of others. This is part of a culturally responsive practice.

Writing Conferences

Either individually or in groups, this is an excellent way to conduct a formative assessment to see how students are developing as writers. This can be done as part of guided practice during a lesson. It can be done also at any stage of the writing process to provide formative feedback on their writing. It is also a good time for students to ask for assistance on aspects that they might be having a hard time with.

Role of metacognition in writing development

Giving students opportunities to reflect on the writing process can help them better understand what they find challenging and therefore build up their strategies. For example, students might write in their learning logs about the process they took for completing an essay and what they learned about themselves as writers, the writing process, that kind of writing, etc. This can be done in writing (ex. learning logs or exit tickets), during writing conferences, or even during a class discussion.

Quick writes

In the middle of a lesson, students respond to a prompt on what they are learning, what is confusing, or what they know about a topic. This can serve as a formative assessment.

Mentor text

Mentor texts serve as a model for writing. It can help students learn about the various features within a genre, as well as specific skills (such as developing sensory language, using evidence, punctuating dialogue, etc.).

Planned Language Supports

Students need to be provided with scaffolds, tools, processes, and guides to support their development of academic language. In teaching writing, these might include graphic organizers, word walls, anchor charts, mentor texts, etc.

Language Experience Stories

The teacher and the students write about an experience had by the entire class. The teacher writes as the students dictate their ideas. Pictures can be drawn around the story or pictures taken from the event can be posted around the story to help children make connections. This is a strategy frequently used to support ELLs. This strategy incorporates reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Anchor Chart

These are a way to make thinking visible as you record strategies, processes, cues, guidelines and other content during the learning process. These can be helpful for teaching writing. Ex. on the writing process, describing different genres of writing, explain how to organize a paragraph or how to revise, etc. This is considered to also be a suitable planned language support.

Scoring Tool

These are needed to show HOW a students writing will be assessed for competency. Scoring tools vary in complexity from simple checklists, holistic rubrics, to analytic rubrics. The criterion is the score students must get on the scoring tool to demonstrate competency. Refer to the Assessments deck for more information on specific rubrics. Your scoring tool is considered part of your Summative Assessment Description.

Pre-writing

This is first step of the writing process. It includes brainstorming, choosing a topic, planning, research, outlining, etc. It includes all of the work that the writer does to prepare before beginning the rough draft.

Publishing

This is the fifth and last step of the writing process. In this step, the writer will take the draft which has been revised and edited and transform it into a final copy. This might be re-writing into a clean draft, typing and printing, or publishing to a class website, etc.

Editing

This is the fourth step of the writing process. Sometimes this is also called "proofreading". In this step, the writer will look for errors - spelling, punctuation, grammar, conventions, capitalization, etc.

Composing

This is the second step of the writing process. Sometimes, this is also called "drafting." It includes writing the rough draft. During this step, the writer is not concerned with errors. The goal of this step is to develop a "sloppy copy" or rough draft.

Revising

This is the third step of the writing process. In this step, the writer will look for ways of improving the content of the writing. This will include improvements in word choice, sentence structure, sentence order, clarity, etc.

Whole class writing practice

This is when you as the teacher and all of your students practice a writing skill together. For example, you may practice completing a graphic organizer. The completed organizer may become an anchor chart that students can then refer to when they transition to independent practice.

Write to learn

This strategy is a low-stakes strategy where writing is either ungraded or minimally graded to support students in making their own connection to the material through the act of writing. Ex. Learning logs, interactive notebooks, and quick writes.

Procedural - Informative writing

This type of expository writing is also known as "how-to" writing. It details how to do something in a step-by-step manner. It's important that it be fact-based, so how to wash your hands, not how to be a friend. An example of procedural writing might be a recipe.

Descriptive - Informative writing

This type of expository writing is designed to describe the features or characteristics of a person, place, event, etc. with facts. Ex. Describing the contributions of a historical figure or writing about a country.

Sequential - Informative writing

This type of expository writing is fact based writing about a cycle or a sequence. For example, this might be a life cycle of an animal or a plant or the water cycle.

Cause & effect - Informative writing

This type of expository writing is fact based writing about the relationship between the cause of an event and its effects. Ex. Erosion or cause/effects to a particular historical event.

Narrative Writing

This writing is designed to convey experiences or tell a story. It can also be called fiction or story writing. It can be narrating something that happened or creating something imaginative. The purpose of this writing is to tell a story with rich, descriptive details. Story elements include setting, character, plot, dialogue, theme, sequencing, etc.

Opinion / Persuasive Writing

This writing is designed to persuade or share out an opinion. It can also be called argumentative writing. The purpose of the writing is to share an opinion. Ex. Why a school should adopt an anti-bullying program or why a particular historical figure is the most admirable. While it may include facts as part of the evidence used, it is not the same as expository writing. Elements include opinions, evidence, explanation of reasons, etc. Needs to use facts and/or evidence to support claims/reasons.

Informative / Explanatory / Expository Writing

This writing is fact-based. It does not include any opinion or any fictional information. Ex. compare/contrast cultural traditions; description of country; historical contributions of a Civil Rights leader; causes and effects of the American Revolution; etc. Elements include topic sentences, transition words, facts, content specific language, etc.