Skill in writing is developed through excellent instruction and plentiful opportunities to write
for meaningful purposes daily. The panel recommends a minimum of one hour a day be devoted
to writing, beginning in grade one, with about half of the time dedicated to learning strategies,
techniques, and skills appropriate to students’ levels and
needs, and half in application across the curriculum.
Students write in science, history–social science,
performing and visual arts, and other content areas. For
example, students record the steps they take in a science
investigation, explain their understanding of a graph,
write an argument for or against a new classroom rule,
record personal responses to a literary text in a journal,
present facts about the history of a community and explain
features of a community map, write invitations for family
and community members to attend a school event, write
scripts in preparation for a performance, respond in written
language to a work of art, and write requests to merchants
for donations of sports equipment. There is no dearth of
topics or purposes for writing.
Contributing to students’ development as effective writers are opportunities to listen to, view, and
read exemplary texts and to discuss the author’s craft. Thus, rich classroom and school libraries are
important, as are time to read and time to discuss what is read. Additionally, teachers model writing
and engage in collaborative writing with children. They provide opportunities for children to develop
and strengthen their writing through planning, revising, and editing based on teacher and peer
support and feedback, as well as self-identified areas for refinement. Furthermore, teachers create
supportive environments and attend to students’ motivation by fostering a community of writers,
offering students’ choice, and valuing students’ work (Graham and others, 2012).
Formative assessment informs teachers’ practice and is a crucial component of effective writing
instruction. Romero (2008) suggests teachers employ the following types of informal approaches in
order to engage in formative assessment in the area of writing:
- Observations of students’ strategies, skills, behaviors, and apparent dispositions as they write
and revise (keeping anecdotal records) - Inventories, such as individual interviews and written
surveys, in which students identify their writing strengths,
needs, and interests - Checklists, completed by the teacher or the writer, in
which targeted objectives are highlighted ( “I included a
conclusion.” or “I checked for capitalization at the beginning
of sentences.”) - Conferences in which the student and the teacher discuss a
single work, a collection of works, progress, and goals - Rubrics constructed by the teacher and/or the students and completed by either or both as a
writing project is under development - Portfolios that include a large collection of artifacts selected by the student in consultation with
the teacher and are used to identify goals and inform subsequent instruction
This focus on writing is amplified in the CA ELD Standards. Much of Part I is focused on students
examining how successful writers use particular language resources to convey their ideas and on
making strategic choices to use language purposefully in writing for increasingly academic purposes.
Contributing to students’
development as effective
writers are opportunities
to listen to, view, and read
exemplary texts and to discuss
the author’s craft. Thus, rich
classroom and school libraries
are important, as are time to
read and time to discuss what
is read.Formative assessment
informs teachers’
practice and is a crucial
component of effective
writing instruction.300 | Chapter 4 Grades 2 and 3