Best Practices
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How can I use WriteAlign to guide Instruction?
WriteAlign is designed to support teachers in making informed decisions to help students grow as writers. The system provides targeted feedback aligned with key components of the TEA rubric and offers exemplar responses. It is not recommended to use WriteAlign scores as formal grades for student writing. Instead, best practice involves teachers reviewing the system’s feedback and determining how to use it to support each student’s writing growth.
WriteAlign can serve as a thought partner by analyzing student responses and offering insights to inform instructional strategies. Below are examples of scenarios where WriteAlign can provide valuable support. Each scenario includes:
A focus area to guide instruction.
A sample chatbot prompt to generate useful insights.
An example of the type of output you can expect from the system.
Always Consider the Learning Outcomes
WriteAlign was designed as an instructional tool to help teachers develop effective strategies that lead to improved student outcomes. Always consider the learning outcomes as you work through the tool.
What prompt(s) can you develop to improve learning outcomes?
Use the chat discussion to help customize learning activities.
Consider whole-group, small-group, and individual feedback.
Scores are static; feedback is dynamic. Every score is a starting point for growth.
Whole-Class Instruction
What is provided?
WriteAlign’s trend reports and instructional strategy reports help teachers identify common skill gaps across an entire class. For example, if a trend report reveals that students need additional support with editing and revision, teachers can plan targeted lessons to address these areas. By focusing on the skills highlighted in the reports, whole-class instruction becomes more strategic and aligned to student needs.
Example Prompt: Generate a whole group trend report prioritizing skills from greatest need to least need based on student responses.
What action do you need to take?
1. Name and Celebrate What’s Working
Identify class-wide strengths. Highlight specific student exemplars and name the skill they demonstrate to reinforce growth.
2. Choose One High-Impact Focus Skill
From the Areas for Improvement, select one priority skill to address through explicit modeling and guided practice.
3. Practice Within Existing Drafts
Have students revise their current writing to apply the focus skill. This reduces cognitive load and keeps attention on improvement — not starting over.
What is provided?
Consider using an Instructional Strategies prompt to access targeted suggestions derived from student responses. These recommendations can be directly applied to Tier 1 whole-group instruction, ensuring lessons are aligned with the specific needs and trends identified in student writing.
Example Prompt: Please generate a list of instructional strategies for students struggling with ____. (Central Idea, Evidence, Explanation of Evidence, Organization, Conventions, etc.)
What action do you need to take?
1. Narrow the Target
1. Narrow the Target
Select one high-priority skill from the report. Avoid stacking multiple reteach goals at once.
2. Teach It Explicitly
2. Teach It Explicitly
Provide:
A clear exemplar
Think-aloud modeling
Chunked practice that builds toward mastery
Move from “I do” → “We do” → “You do” with intention.
3. Vary Access Points — Not the Skill
3. Vary Access Points — Not the Skill
Engage learners through discussion, visuals, sentence frames, annotation, or guided practice.
Keep the skill constant; vary the way students interact with it.
4. Keep It Simple
4. Keep It Simple
Choose strategies students already know when possible.
If the process is new and complex, it competes with the skill you’re trying to teach.
Small-Group Instruction/Writing Workshops
What is provided?
WriteAlign analyzes student responses to create groups based on shared areas of need and skill levels. Teachers can then organize their Writing Workshop or small-group lessons around these targeted groupings, allowing for focused instruction that addresses specific student needs.
Example Prompt: Divide into small groups based on the area(s) of greatest need.
What action do you need to take?
1. Assign a Clear Skill Focus
1. Assign a Clear Skill Focus
Identify the specific skill each student is working on. Track who is receiving support for each skill to ensure targeted instruction.
2. Align Goals to Instruction
2. Align Goals to Instruction
Use the identified skill focus to set clear writing goals during conferences. Goals should directly reflect the student’s current area of need.
3. Teach Along a Skill Continuum
3. Teach Along a Skill Continuum
Prioritize foundational skills before advancing to more complex ones. Avoid moving students to advanced skills before core skills are secure. Students must build proficiency step by step to reach end-of-year mastery. ECR skills in order of necessity for basic to advanced success are:
Understand the Prompt
Find relevant evidence
Answer the question
Explain how the evidence supports your answer
Write a Clear Central Idea/Controlling Idea/Thesis/Claim
Organization
Word Choice.
Conventions/Sentence Structure
What is provided?
WriteAlign can generate tailored instructional strategies based on the specific areas of need within each group. These suggestions help teachers plan targeted lessons that effectively support student growth in Writing Workshop or small-group settings.
Example Prompt: Develop a list of instructional strategies for students in Group __ who are struggling with ____.
What action do you need to take?
- Keep the Structure Familiar
Use the same instructional framework as Tier 1 (model → guided practice → application), but shorten the delivery.
2. Intensify the Feedback
2. Intensify the Feedback
In a small group, increase opportunities for immediate correction, questioning, and revision.Have students apply the strategy directly within their own writing. Avoid disconnected practice tasks.
3. Monitor and Adjust Quickly
3. Monitor and Adjust Quickly
After 1–2 sessions, reassess. If the skill improves, move forward. If not, reteach with a different access point — not a new skill.
Student Specific Feedback
Generate student-specific exemplars to encourage small steps towards mastery of writing skills and better overall writing.
Use a student's original writing to generate an exemplar. Consider asking WriteAlign to only improve the original response by 1 point.
Example Prompt: Using Student 3's original response (including vocabulary and syntax), write a 3-sentence example that would improve their score by 1 point.
Considerations:
Set the student's goal based on the skill you want them to apply to improve the overall quality of the writing. Avoid focusing on length or on formulaic writing.
Allow students to apply the skill they are learning to an already-created draft to strengthen it for the next writing application.
Consider using WriteAlign to help with individual writing conferences.
Example Prompt: Develop a list of learning activities to help student 3.
Action Steps for Individual Conferences
1. Start with One Strength
1. Start with One Strength
Name a specific skill the student is demonstrating well. Be precise so they know what to keep doing.
2. Choose One Clear Next Step
2. Choose One Clear Next Step
Identify the highest-leverage skill from the feedback report. Avoid overwhelming the student with multiple corrections.
3. Model in Their Writing
3. Model in Their Writing
Use the student’s draft to demonstrate the revision. Think aloud so they see the decision-making process.
4. Practice Together
4. Practice Together
Have the student try the skill immediately in another section of their draft while you guide and prompt.
5. Set a Short-Term Goal
5. Set a Short-Term Goal
End the conference with a clear goal tied to the focus skill. The student should be able to say, “Today I am working on ______.”
6. Expect Immediate Application
6. Expect Immediate Application
The student should continue applying the skill independently during workshop time.
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