Writing Journey Transformation: From Novice to Competent

"The road from a novice to a • competent writer is paved by • changes in student's writing • knowledge, motivation for writing, strategic writing • behaviors andbasic • writing skills" (Steven Graham, 2007)

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/resources/5821/preview/ Dr. Steven Graham Vanderbilt University Author of Writing Next

Today’s Agenda • Reflect on our writing journey—Past • Writing for 2012/2013: Presentation by the writing team of the Pacing Guide and its new components • Vision for our current journey

Reflections of our first year Sometimes At Cross Purposes Sometimes Confusion But a LOT more students were writing!

Writing Time Line • Assessment Expectations • On-Demand and Samples • Portfolio/End of year • Recording assessments—plans for the future • Scoring Center

Writing Time Line • 2012 ̶ 2013 • September 4-14th: Writing Sample • Beginning of the year writing sample (prompts to be chosen from a list of suggested prompts—teacher's choice but he/she is to give students 2-3 choices of prompts) to be kept in a folder as a comparison for end of the year • Kindergarten and 1st grade teachers select one prompt • Kindergarten teachers will give prompt between September 10-21st • Use this time to get an understanding of what skills students possess • Set the tone for your writing program • September 17th-November 30th (Narrative): • Teach Key Elements of Narrative Mode (Writing that tells a story, truth or fiction, to entertain a reader) • Main Trait Focus: Idea Development & Sentence Fluency (See trait posters in the Curriculum Support section of the Writing Pacing Guide for details)Support Trait Focus: Voice & Conventions • December 3-7th: On demand writing—the first secured prompt in the narrative mode • Prompt scored by the scoring center and teacher, then put a copy in the (buff) Writing Evidence folder • December 10th-March 1st (Explanatory): • Teach Key Elements of Explanatory Mode (Writing that explains or reports information that has been learned) • Main Trait Focus: Organization & Idea Development (See trait posters in the Curriculum Support section of the Writing Pacing Guide for details) • Support Trait Focus: Sentence Fluency & Conventions • March 4-8th: On demand writing—second secured prompt in the explanatory mode • Prompt scored by the scoring center and teacher, then put a copy in the (buff) Writing Evidence folder • Mid March-May 17th (Opinion): • Teach Key Elements of Opinion Mode (Writing that shares an opinion with reasons and information)

Main Trait Focus: Voice, Organization, & Word Choice (See trait posters in the Curriculum Support section of the Writing Pacing Guide for details) • Support Trait Focus: Organization & Conventions • May 20-23th: On demand writing—third secured prompt • Prompt scored by the scoring center and teacher, then put a copy in the (buff) Writing Evidence folder • Mid May-End of the year: End of the year writing sample, (prompts to be chosen from a list of suggested prompts—teachers choice but he/she is to give students 2-3 choices of prompts) to be compared to the writing sample at the beginning of the year. Celebrate growth! • End of the Year Folder: All five assessments will go home to parents. (Parents will be told in advance to be looking for these papers.) REMEMBER TO INCLUDE ONE BEST-PIECE FROM THE YEAR IN THE WRITING EVIDENCE FOLDER. • Love of Writing: Below is a partial list of writing activities that many of you teach. By all means, include them during your writing time this year! We've suggested the possible mode that they fit in, others will work as well. Writing should be fun! • Poetry unit (Opinion, Narrative) • Letter writing (Explanatory; Opinion) • Books (Narrative) • Autobiographies/Biographies (Narrative) • Reports (Explanatory, Opinion) • Plays (Narrative; Opinion) • Objects, pictures (Narrative, Opinion) • Creative writing (Narrative) • Pen Pals (Explanatory; Opinion) • Other

The scoring center will be open and available to score elementary K-5 papers October 2012. Pam Weiler will send a district-wide email with the exact date when the center opens. Scoring Center Time Line for Required Scoring K-5(Summative Assessments): *These papers will be copied, with one set gathered by building principals and sent as a school to the scoring center. The other set will be scored by teacher teams during designated PLC time. Scoring center turn around after receiving a set of papers is usually one week, but may be as many as three weeks around the time of the new required assessments. Scoring Center Availability (Formative Assessments) Teachers may send classroom sets of papers to the scoring center at other times during the year. Many teachers have used the center in the past to help inform their writing instruction. The option is again open for this use. We will start the year without use restrictions. If the center is too busy, we may need to amend this. Scoring Center Training The raters are trained by an ODE writing expert. They spend two days training and calibrating papers. In these next two years of the switch over to the Common Core State Standards, we will continue to have our raters trained by ODE. The raters will score 3-5th grade papers using Oregon's current official scoring guide. We are asking the raters to score K-2 papers using the rubric that the writing team developed. Be patient, since there is no expert to train them on how to score using this guide. Scoring Center 2012-2013 View the scoring center as an extra set of eyes looking at student growth. Work Sample Submission Forms (MUST accompany classroom sets of papers) Work Sample Submission Forms are found on the DO website under Curriculum and Instruction. (pam.weiler@albany.k12.or.us) As always, feedback (positive and constructive) is encouraged and welcomed!

Using Data to Inform Instruction • Class Record Sheet (One example of ways to use the scores from the scoring center)

WRITING RECORD SHEET TEACHER______________________ IDEA/CONTENT ORGANIZATION SENT FLUENC VOICE WORD CHOICE CONVENTIONS KEY: N=NARRATIVE E=EXPLANATORY O=OPINION

Pacing Guide 2012-2013

CCSS Language Section (Conventions) added to last page Last page of each pacing guide has the added standards from the language section of the CCSS • L.2.2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. • Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names. • Use commas in greetings and closings of letters. • Use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives. • Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words (e.g., cage → badge; boy → boil). • Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings. • L.2.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. • Use collective nouns (e.g., group). • Form and use frequently occurring irregular plural nouns (e.g., feet, children, teeth, mice, fish). • Use reflexive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves). • Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs (e.g., sat, hid, told). • Use adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified. • Produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound sentences (e.g., The boy watched the movie; • The little boy watched the movie; The action movie was watched by the little boy).

Check out the new resources!  Writing Pacing Guide - September-November (Narrative)  3rd Grade New Info!

Prompt Choices • Writing Prompts—Select from these for the September and June writing samples • Narrative • Tell about a time you got hurt. • Tell about an unforgettable moment. • Think about a time when things did not turn out the way you expected. Tell the story of what happened to you. • Did you ever have a day where everything went wrong? Tell about this day from beginning to end. • Tell a true story about an experience that you have had with an animal. • Tell about a time something funny happened to you. • Tell about the happiest experience you have ever had. • We all get angry for a variety of reasons. Tell about a time you were angry. Tell how you solved the problem. • Many people have a favorite toy. Describe one of your favorite toys, and tell why the toy is special to you. • Explanatory • Explain how to have fun outdoors when it snows. • Think of one thing you know how to make. Explain very clearly how to make it. • Explain how you celebrate a holiday or event in your home. Use details so the audience can picture what it is like on that special day. • Explain the reasons why exercise is important for the body. • Explain why it is important to respect adults. • Explain how you would solve a problem in your school (bullying, vandalism, littering, noise, etc.) • Explain how a person can make a good choice when other people are pressuring them to make a bad choice. • Explain about an interest or hobby. • Opinion • Do you think kids should be allowed to spend the night at a friend’s house on a school night? • Do you think kids should be allowed to have their own pet? • Summer, Winter, Spring, and Fall. Every season has its own special qualities that make it the best. What do you think the best season is? • Why do you think it is the best? • Do you think that students need more recess during the school day? Why? • What is your favorite food and why is it your favorite? • What is the most important subject in school? Why?

Curriculum Support

The Plan • Supportwith Curriculum ideas • Curriculum Packet • Video Clip • Web Resources • Monthly Newsletter • Social Networking • PLC Team Work

Writer’s Workshop Components Explained in packet

Writer's Workshop Ideas/Comments from teachers @ ProTeacher.net Teacher #1 My Writer's Workshop time is actually very simple to implement (although, looking at the size of this email, I am not so sure anymore!) The schedule is as follows:10 mins Sustained Silent Writing10 - 20 mins Mini-Lesson20 - 30 mins Writing Block5 - 10 mins Author's ChairSustained Silent Writing -- The students begin each Workshop day with 10 minutes of uninterrupted writing. Similarly to Sustained Silent Reading, they may do nothing but write. They may either continue a story they are currently working on, begin a brand new story, or write in their journal (I always have some topics posted for those who are stumped) During this time, their pencil MUST be moving....Mini-Lesson -- During this time, I teach a writing lesson. Any lesson that is appropriate at that time. Craft, grammar, punctuation, or the actual lesson that is in our reading program. (These lessons come from many different sources....writing inservices, grade level meetings focused on writing, various books, etc...) The lesson is no longer than 20 mins. Read the rest of this teacher’s use of Writer’s Workshop along with how three more teachers use Writer’s Workshop

6+1 Trait Posters

Step Up to Writing This is a writing program that focuses on making the writing process simple and easy to remember. Students will become familiar with the 3 main steps in writing by relating them to colors-- green, yellow and red. At each grade level, students master skills of increasing length and complexity. Title Topic Sentence: The main topic of the composition is stated. Reason/Detail/Fact : Give the reader a main reason, detail or fact that relates to and supports the topic sentence. Use transitions (First,... First of all,... In addition,... Also,...) to start these sentences. Explain/Example: Give an example for the statement made in the reason/detail/fact sentence. Concluding Sentence: The topic is restated to remind the reader what the composition was about. (Begin this sentence with Clearly,... In conclusion,... All in all,..)

Writer’s Workshop Video Clip • (How one teacher begins a mini lesson 1:33) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKY_7AhnS3o&feature=related • Writer’s Notebook • Difference between a Writer’s Notebook and a journal according to Corbett Harrison: corbettharrison.com • A writer's notebook is a place where writers can freely play with words, sentences, paragraphs, and topics that might inspire a bigger piece of writing. • Journals are tools that can be kept in a box in the classroom; notebooks beg the owner to take them home to continue work on them. Both journals and writer's notebooks should house ideas that students might eventually want to take through the writing process, but writer's notebooks are less "paragraphy" and more about celebrating snippets of ideas with lots of visual support. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZE3_j6a59w&feature=related • Writing Overview Companion • Modes/Traits/Writing Process(m)

Book Mark Mode: Teacher Choice Click: On a resource

Three • Year • Plan

Three Year Writing PLan • 2011-2014 • Year  • What is it we want students to learn? • Be kind to ourselves.We need to give ourselves permission to not be perfect! • Get familiar with the pacing guide and the new standards. • Check out some of the websites listed on the Web Resource sheet. • Try to spend 60 minutes a day teaching writing (handwriting not included). • Begin the "best practices" journey. Become familiar with such research as "90/90/90 and Beyond" by Doug Reeves, and "Writing Next", by Steven Graham. • Students will write to FIVE prompts of varying modes: a pre- and post- assessment, and three other prompts to be given at the end of each trimester. Pre/post tests will be administered in the same formal fashion as the state test. Results of these assessments will be recorded on the provided record sheets, to be analyzed in PLC teams as an instructional tool. Pre/post tests will be scored by the center and viewed at the district level. • Staff will be trained by writing team members to score writing papers. • The writing team will collect teacher feedback, and be an integral part of writing support to staff at the building level.

Year  • How will we know that they have learned it? • Give permission to not be perfect, but stretch ourselves. • Spend 60 minutes a day engaging students in writing. This includes writing across the curriculum. You may want to consider implementing such models as a Writer's Workshop model and a writer's notebook, as these methods ensure that students are actively writing. • Participate in discussions on instructional practices. What lessons have you found to be especially effective? What resources do you turn to the most? (The writing team is working on a plan for teachers to be able to engage in professional discussions via social media. Be looking for details in the curriculum newsletter.) • Instructional video and video clips will be available on subjects such as 6+1 trait teaching, components of writer's workshop, best practices etc • Teachers double-score the three on-demand writing prompts and send papers to the scoring center for a third score. Teacher’s practice, analyze, and refine calibration of scoring. Teachers use classroom data to adjust instruction. • A writing evidence folder will be kept for each child that will hold a beginning of the year writing sample scored by the teacher, three On Demand writing pieces scored by the teachers and the scoring center, and end of the year sample scored by the teacher. An end of the year conference with students is recommended to discuss their growth over the year. Keep the student’s best piece of work to remain in the writing evidence folder that moves from grade to grade. The remaining folder contents will be sent home with child for them to share with their parents. • Writing team will review and revise pacing guide/District Curriculum and Instruction Web Page/team created documents based on feedback.

Year  • What kind of interventions/enrichments will we offer students? • Begin to use prompts in other subject areas. • Learn how to integrate writing across the curriculum • Implement strategic interventions and enrichment. • Ensure 60 minutes per day is spent on writing. • Writing team will review and revise pacing guide/District Curriculum and Instruction Web Page/team created documents based on feedback. • Analyze data collected. Make a plan based on the analysis. Results of district prompts will be recorded and data analyzed at the building and district level. The writing team and instructional coordinators will look for patterns in the data to guide follow up support, training, and revisions to pacing guide and resources to improve instruction and learning.

Doug Reeves Author of the 90/90/90 Study http://www.leadandlearn.com/multimedia-resource-center/video-library-topic/school-improvement

Please fill out an exit ticket before you leave. • What new concept/thoughts/ideas are you taking away from this presentation? • Any other feedback? Have A Great year

Writing Journey Transformation: From Novice to Competent