Good Habits, Great Readers - My Savvas Training

Good Habits, Great Readers Writing Introduction Good Habits, Great Readers Writing is based on key research about best practices in writing instruction. It is a unique, K–5 writing program that complements Good Habits, Great Readers. This guide discusses connections between Writing and Shared Reading; program goals; Writing program components; pacing of the Writing units and lessons; components of a Writing lesson; and Writing Workshop embedded writing activities in both Guided and Shared Reading. Connections to Shared Reading The Writing program connects to Good Habits, Great Readers Shared Reading in many ways, including the following: The Writing lessons are structured to allow for a gradual release of responsibility. The Writing program emphasizes genres of nonfiction and fiction. The seven units in both Shared Reading and Writing are closely aligned so that students are reading and writing in the same genre. The connections between the strategies of good readers and those of good writers are emphasized throughout the Writing program. For example, students use Shared Reading texts as models for writing, and these texts often provide the content for student assignments in the Writing program. Professional development is embedded in both programs. Writing offers modeled teacher instructional dialogue. Program Goals Good Habits, Great Readers Writing helps teachers identify instruction and writing practice that helps students grow as writers; establish a Writing Workshop in the classroom; make the relationship between reading and writing a high priority; provide weekly writing-process instruction and practice that is authentic; impart explicit instruction on writing crafts and the six traits of good writing; establish a motivating environment in which students are praised and encouraged to blossom as writers; and build a community of writers in the classroom. Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 1

Program Components Good Habits, Great Readers Writing has resources that help provide focused writing instruction. The program relies on real literature to model writing and highlight techniques used by published authors. Teacher’s Guide The Teacher’s Guide serves as the Writing program’s primary resource. It is organized around genres and modes or forms of writing. In the seven units in the Teacher’s Guide, lessons are laid out so teachers can lead students through fiction and nonfiction genres, work in varied writing modes, and emphasize the six traits of writing. Conference Card This laminated card is a helpful resource when conferencing with students about their writing. It serves as the backbone for the one-on-one meetings with students. This card contains prompts, reflection questions, and a guide to advising students based on their responses. Teacher Resource CD This CD contains resources that support instruction across the grades. These available resources include a chart on the steps of the writing process; a list of the six traits of writing; an editing checklist; student rubrics for each of the six traits of writing; benchmark papers that help students become familiar with the six traits; model texts and graphic organizers for many modes of writing; valuable assessment resources, such as a Conferencing Record, for students; and scored anchor papers that provide samples of student writing. Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 2

Skills for Super Writers: Student and Teacher’s Editions This workbook and companion Teacher’s Guide can strengthen students’ grammar, usage, and mechanics skills. The Student Workbook provides additional practice to help students develop revising and editing skills. Pacing of the Writing Units and Lessons Good Habits, Great Readers Writing is organized into seven units per grade. The program has been planned to give teachers flexibility in weekly and monthly lesson plans. In Grades K–1, there are twenty-four weeks of writing instruction. During each week, there are three days of instruction. The goal of the Writing program in the early grades is to get students to start to write and to think of themselves as writers by communicating their thoughts in pictures or words. Students start writing right from the beginning of each grade, and they continue to write throughout the year. In Grades 2–5, there are twenty-six weeks of instruction. For these grades, there are three to four lessons per week. From the start, students are introduced to the writing process. They generate ideas or topics to write about, plan their writing, make drafts, edit and revise, and publish their work. Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 3

The Pacing Chart shown here gives an overview of what teachers do with their class in each unit of Writing for Grade 4. The following are some of the features of the Writing program reflected in this Pacing Chart: Genre: The program is organized by the most relevant fiction and nonfiction genres students need to learn as both readers and writers. Mode: Student will practice different modes or forms of writing, including descriptive, narrative, response to reading, creative, information, writing to explain and learn, and persuasive. Trait Time: These lessons teach the six traits of writing. Note: Trait Time is introduced in second grade. The other features are addressed in the program when developmentally appropriate. Craft: The chart can also be used to determine which lessons provide an opportunity to draw out specific aspects of polished writing, such as using dialogues, varying sentence structure, and adding details. Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 4

Components of the Writing Lesson All lessons in Good Habits, Great Readers Writing follow the same structure. Thirty-five to fifty minutes a day is allotted for daily writing instruction in the classroom. Each lesson in the Teacher’s Guide provides ten to fifteen minutes of direct instruction. The rest of the time is spent having students write, conference with their teacher, or publish their writing. The following features are found in the Good Habits, Great Readings Writing lessons: Materials Each lesson has two lists of materials that help teachers and students collect the items they need for a lesson. Objective The simply stated objective aligns with many state standards and follows the scope and sequence for the program. Introduce The Introduce section provides context for the lesson, connecting the lesson to previous instruction and naming the main teaching point of the day. Teach The Teach section gives the teacher the opportunity to demonstrate a writing process, skill, or strategy and then have the class practice it. Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 5

Apply This portion of the writing lesson provides closure to the lesson by having students work independently. On the first day of a new mode of writing, independent writing is optional. On all other days, students write on their own. Conferencing Prompts In one or two lessons per week, Conference Prompts offer tips for conferencing with students on their independent work. These tips are prompts for praising students on their work and provide thoughtful questions that encourage students to reflect on their writing. Share The Share section is the teacher-directed or student-directed lesson wrap-up. ELL Tip The ELL Tip section provides two tips that offer scaffolding for the week’s lessons for English language learners. The tips also suggest support for important content, concepts, and vocabulary. Grammar/Usage/Mechanics This lesson feature provides a Grammar/ Usage/Mechanics Mini-lesson at the back of the Teacher’s Guide. There is also a follow-up activity that appears at the end of each unit. Teacher Tip Teacher Tips are useful suggestions, provided by experienced teachers, for content instruction and classroom management during the Writing Workshop. Wrap Up Wrap Up includes two sections: the Publishing portion and the Informal Assessment section. The Publishing portion suggests an authentic opportunity for students to publish or share their work, and the Informal Assessment provides Reflective Writing questions or prompts for students. Unit Planner The Unit Planner shows how the Writing lessons are organized and connected to one another, as well as how they relate to Shared Reading lessons. Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 6

The Writing Workshop The goal of the Writing Workshop is to build a community of writers in which risk-taking is encouraged and students help each other grow. The units are presented in four steps: Step 1: Introduce concepts and skills Step 2: Teach (including teacher modeling) For the first five to fifteen minutes, the class meets as a group. During this time, the teacher gives a Mini-lesson on a writing concept or craft. This time frame includes both the Introduce and Teach segments of a lesson in the Teacher’s Guide. This segment often involves sharing a writing model from the Teacher Resource CD or using the teacher’s writing as a model for the class. Step 3: Apply (independent writing) In the Apply portion of the workshop, students work independently on their writing. This segment should last twenty-five to thirty minutes. During this time, teachers talk with individual students in brief writing conferences. Step 4: Share The last five to ten minutes of every Writing Workshop should be reserved for sharing. During this segment, students share a short portion of their writing. The Teacher’s Guide provides details for several sharing techniques for the Writing lessons, including teacher-directed and modeled sharing; student partner sharing; small-group sharing; and whole-class sharing. Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 7

Embedded Writing Activities Good Habits, Great Readers Shared and Guided Reading also provide opportunities for students to practice writing in response to reading directly in the program. Each Guided Reading lesson plan in Grades K–5 includes writing activities that are tied to each leveled reader. In Shared Reading for Grades K–3, Center Activities include writing practice. In Grades 4–5, the Shared Reading Mini-lessons focus on a writer’s craft. The weekly Wrap Up feature Write About It also enables students to practice Extended Response Writing. Review This guide explained the connections between Writing and Shared Reading in Good Habits, Great Readers. It explained the Writing program goals and components, discussed the pacing of the Writing units and lessons, and explored the components of a Writing lesson. Next, it detailed the goal and steps in a Writing Workshop. Finally, it reviewed the embedded writing activities found in both Guided and Shared Reading. For more information, please look for the other tutorials on Good Habits, Great Readers on myPearsonTraining.com. Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 8

1 Good Habits, Great Readers Writing Introduction Good Habits, Great Readers Writing is based on key research about best practices in writing instruction. It is a unique, K-5 writing program that complements Good Habits, Great Readers. This guide discusses connections between Writing and Shared Reading; program goals;