Quality Writing PD

Last week, our Writing Precept Team delivered some great PD for our faculty on Quality Writing.  We discussed the progression of one of the writing standards (narrative writing) across the grade levels.  It was extremely insightful and revealed the importance of students mastering those standards to ensure there are no writing gaps.  The Quality Writing Precept Team will continue to work on the other standard progressions.  The following are some of the key progressions of narrative writing by grade level:

1. Kindergarteners should use drawing, dictating, and/or writing to narrate an event.
2. First grade should be able to recount 2 or more sequenced events with some details, incldue transition words to show order, and provide some sense of closure..
3. Second grade should recount a well-elaborated event/sequence of events with details and transition words; provide a sense of closure.
4. Third grade should write about real or imagined experiences with details, transitions, and include dialogue.
5. Fourth grade should should include a narrator, characters, or both, and include character responnses to situations; use transition words and concrete details to provide sensory details and provide a conclusion.
6. Fifth grade should use narrative techniques, including dialogue, description, and pacing; provide conclusion.

Our Writing Precept Team created flip books showing quality Narrative writing from Kindergarten through 5th.  These will be available in the library and in the shared Google Folder.  Please take time to examine the writing products from your students compared to the flipbook sample to guide your instruction.

Our Precept Team will provide us with writing prompts for students, and rubrics, at the end of the year.  These samples will become part of each student's red folder to provide future teachers with important information on each student's baseline writing skills.

We discussed usage of RACE to guide writing in response to questions.  Our Precept Team discussed the importance of a starting point in achieving our vision of developing quality writers.  We are asking that each grade level reinforce the R in RACE.  Have students restate the question and turn it into a statement (including the answer).  If this is practiced in Kindergarten through 5th Grade it will become organic or second nature for students.  

Our Challenge for ALL Students this Year