Writing

Cherry Hill Public Schools uses Zaner-Bloser's Strategies for Writers as its primary resource for writing instruction. Though writing is encouraged throughout the school day in all academic subject areas, units of instruction focus on four modes of writing.

• Narrative Writing: Telling a story

• Informative/Explanatory Writing: Explaining something or providing facts about a topic

• Opinion Writing: Describing thoughts or feelings about a topic

• Descriptive Writing: Creating a clear picture of a person, place, thing, or event

This six-step writing process can help your child become a successful writer.

1. Prewrite: Plan writing

2. Draft: Get thoughts on paper

3. Revise: Make writing better

4. Edit: Make writing correct

5. Publish: Finish and share writing

Your child also will learn to strengthen writing by using the Six Writing Traits (VOICES).

V (Voice): Personality and Enthusiasm

O (Organization): Strong beginning and ending, with everything in the correct order

I (Ideas): Interesting thoughts, information, and details

C (Conventions): Correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar

E (Excellent Word Choice): Using specific and interesting words

S (Sentence Fluency): Using a variety of sentences