Writing Curriculum and Instruction
The Writing Process:
Writing workshop is a place where students learn the many ways in which writing plays a role in their lives. Students are encouraged to find their voice and creativity through mentor texts, personal experiences, and writing partnerships. Writing workshop allows for student choice, skill development, guidance, and feedback from teachers and peers.
The workshop model promotes self-reflection, develops a community of writers, and, most importantly, provides the time to write. Students generate writing though a systematic process in which specific skills and techniques are taught through demonstration and routine.
Teachers scaffold lessons to increase student independence. The writing of any genre follows a similar cycle of thinking and planning, writing, revising, editing and publishing.
Mini-Lesson: (approximately 10 minutes)
Independent Writing: (20-40 minutes depending upon stamina and age group*)
Conferring and Small Group Work: (takes place during independent reading)
Mid Workshop Teaching: (3-5 minutes)
Share/Closing: (10 minutes)
TOTAL TIME: approximately 40-60 minutes depending upon the grade level
Independent writing stamina should increase over the course of the school year. *
Scarsdale elementary instruction currently uses Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Units of Study (TCRWP) for Teaching Writing as the foundation for our writing curriculum. Instruction includes at least three TCRWP units (Narrative, Opinion, and Information Writing) to help expose students to a variety of writing genres, skills, and strategies and to to build a strong vertical alignment for our learners across grade levels.