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TWR's curriculum focuses on sentence-level writing activities for students in K-12.

Developing questions using pictures is one of my favorites to use in all subject areas!

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Being a long term sub, who doesn't work consistently, I really do not have a go to resource for writing resources.  In my past teaching experiences, I have done a writer's workshop model, using picture books as mentor texts.  I love doing writing this way and exposing students to many different authors, illustrators, and genres.

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One resource that many of my teachers have liked to utilize to help students organize their thinking are the Engage NY Writing Graphic Organizers.  These provide different formats for student writing.

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One resource that many of my teachers have liked to utilize to help students organize their thinking are the Engage NY Writing Graphic Organizers.  These provide different formats for student writing.

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-Marian Walsh

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One resource that I like is Patterns of Power by Jeff Anderson and Whitney LaRocca.  It uses an invitation process to explore and notice conventions writers use.
I really like the way you focus on authentic literature and the correct use of a technique vs looking at something incorrect and having students try to fix it. This technique can be used in reading and writing workshop.

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I have completed the SIOP training twice in the last six years. The strategies that are provided in the book can apply to all students. SIOP helps build students' reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.

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Previously as a third grade teacher, I utilized Michael Clay Thompson's Grammar Island. As the website below states, "Grammar Island introduces, in a simple fashion, the full four-level grammar analysis of (1) parts of speech, (2) parts of sentences, (3) phrases, and (4) clauses." The students would have to break apart sentences and discuss the various parts. I utilized this in the "learning to write" process instead of "writing to learn" process.
https://www.rfwp.com/series/mct-english-language-arts-curriculum-level-1-the-island-level#book-grammar-island-1

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At our school we instruct/encourage students to use the RACE method when they are responding to a writing prompt or reading passage. R stands for Restating the question, A stands for answering that question, C stands for citing evidence they gather from the text, and E stands for explaining the evidence. We have them answer questions from reading passages using this method on a daily basis. The class is also currently working on a persuasive writing piece about whether or not we should invest in space exploration, and they are using the RACE method to support the claims they are making. This method helps our students in both reading and writing as it helps them utilize the text to strengthen their arguments/statements as well as answering questions in a more efficient manner. Here is the link for an example of a RACE visual that teachers can display in their classroom for students to reference. https://mrssolsclass.blogspot.com/2014/11/race-to-english-class.html

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I'm a special education teacher so I haven't used your typical writing resources. I've worked in a literacy center designed for students with dyslexia. We used multi-sensory grammar (MSG) to provide students a hands on and color-coded approach to learning the different parts of speech.  As a  warm up, I would use my laminated color strips and place them on the board. The students would write a sentence based on the colors. Here is a link to a pdf for more information.    http://storage.schoolnet.com/cfisd/LANG_2-5_A_Conventions_MAT_1%20Multisensory%20Grammar%20Overview.pdf

I currently use the Orton-Gillingham approach to help students write sentences. This consists of using visual cues, pounding syllables, counting words, and using CUPS as a self-check for writing.  Dictation is part of the OG approach.

To help students with an IEP with writing, I often use various graphic organizers depending on need.  Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers have been helpful with providing graphic organizers for different types of writing. I’ve also used Reading Rockets to get ideas.

https://www.readingrockets.org/article/graphic-organizers-help-kids-writing

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Writing Resource~The Writing Strategies Book

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Writing Resource~The Writing Strategies Book

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We currently use Lucy Calkins, Units of Study, as our Writing curriculum in the 4th grade .

But, I do make frequent trips to The Writing Strategies Book.  It is a wonderful supplement, especially when I'm looking for genre specific skills and strategies to focus on with my students. It is also a great tool for revising and editing and has  parts of speech specific lessons that help aid in the editing process.

I am also loving Khan Academy grammar! This is a newly found resource.

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Introduction
A Very Brief Introduction to Principles, Research, and Theory, and How to Use This Book
The idea for a book of writing strategies exists many times over. This one is possible only because of the great books that have come before it. There are books suggesting writing strategies meant for professional writers and college students, such as those by Noah Lukeman, Roy Peter Clark, and Janet Burroway, among others. There are countless examples of excellent compilations of writing strategies in books written for teachers of writing, such as Fletcher and Portalupi's Craft Lessons Series, Barry Lane's After "The End" (1993), Carl Anderson's Strategic Writing Conferences series (2008-2009), Donald Graves' many books, Katie Wood Ray's Wondrous Words (1999) and other titles, Katherine Bomer's books, Georgia Heard's books, Nancie Atwell's In the Middle (2014) and other resources, Lucy Calkins' Units of Study series, and many more. My aim in this book is to offer my favorite, most useful collection of strategies that span all aspects of the writing process, all genres and modes of writing, and that will work well with students in grades K-8. I want to offer you a little bit of everything. I streamlined the language and examples, and I present the strategies in a format that is organized so that the busy teacher can find just the right strategy at just the right moment. Of course, you'll elaborate on the streamlined language and make it your own.

But wait-before you dive in, I'm so glad you're taking the time to spend a few moments with this "Getting Started" introduction. In this introduction, you'll gain a helpful overview of the thinking that undergirds this book's ideas as well as an overview of its organization. You'll learn about strategies and all the aspects that I chose to include to elaborate on them-mentor texts, prompts, lesson language, teaching tips, and more. You'll learn how to navigate the pages of the book so you can find what you're looking for quickly and easily, for this is not a read-every-single-page kind of book (unless you want it to be). You'll get a quick crash course on some important terminology and concepts that will help you use this book to its fullest- thoughts about writing as a process, and modes and genres of writing, for example. And finally, you'll learn how to adapt what's in the book to fit your students' writing time in the classroom, no matter what form that time takes.
Click here to download more of the introduction of this book.
Goal 1: Composing with Pictures

Strategy Go back to your picture(s). Point to the part or picture that teaches something important about your topic. Touch or turn to the next part. Tell what new fact about your topic this part of the picture or this page teaches.

Lesson Language If I wrote or drew to teach, then when I read my writing back I'm going to make it sound like a teaching book. I'm going to tell my reader the facts I wrote about. Let me show you. I drew a picture of a big T. rex. I know a lot about them so I added a lot of details in my picture. I'm going to touch one part and teach what that part says. "The T. rex had very large jaws with big sharp teeth." Now I'm going to touch a new part and teach what that part says. "The T. rex had very short arms. It would only run using its hind legs."

Goal 2: Engagement - Independence, Increasing Volume, and Developing a Writing Identity

Strategy First, identify the problem you're having. Then, check the spot in the room, a resource, or a friend that might help you solve the problem. Try a solution. If it doesn't work, try something else.

Teaching Tip This strategy, like "Use the Room" that appears earlier in this chapter, assumes that there are things in the room that can be helpful, and that you've taught children how to use them. For example, in a primary classroom a word wall may help a writer to spell high-frequency words. If you've introduced and used mentor texts, then having these available for children to reference on their own could help them. Sometimes the problem might be that they need to work in a new spot in the room because of the amount of distractions at their current spot. Brainstorm possible problems with your students, and come up with a list of resources and solutions. Or, this strategy can be like a culmination of past teaching from this and other chapters.

Goal 3: Generating and Collecting Ideas

Strategy Decide on a new place to visit. Go there with no more than a notebook and a set of listening ears and observing eyes. Let yourself pick up on conversation and details of the person. Jot down what you observe, and also what you imagine, about the people you see.

Teaching Tip This strategy will take you outside of the classroom, so it would work well as a whole-class lesson followed by a field trip, or as a suggestion to a student, group, or class for independent writing outside of the school day.

Goal 4: Focus/Meaning

Strategy Think about a memory and all the events that are part of that memory. Think about what's important about that memory, or the big idea the memory leaves you with. Identify the one part of the memory that feels the most important. Write some ideas about what's important about it, and why it's important. Try to write just that one smaller part of the larger moment. Tell it bit by bit.

Teaching Tip The amount a writer will be able to reflect on the overall significance of a small moment will depend on her maturity level and experience with writing. For younger children, you may want to suggest choosing a small moment that will make a good story, rather than one imbued with a deep or heavy significance, or simply encourage them to narrow down the window of time

Goal 5: Organization and Structure

Strategy Before beginning to draft, visualize the shape of what you're going to make. Create some sort of quick visual, in pictures or in words, to represent the overarching structure. As you write, check back to see where you are in your plan.

Teaching Tip This is going to be most helpful after students have learned a variety of ways to structure their pieces and have been introduced to a variety of graphic organizers that would help them to organize, or shape, the information into a structure.

Goal 6: Elaboration

Strategy Think about the subtopics for which you'll want to collect information. Write each of your subtopics as a heading on a notebook or booklet page. As you find new information for your topic, think, "What page in my notebook should this go on? Which subtopic does it provide details for?"

Lesson Language I just found this interesting fact: Ballerinas really wear out their shoes. Many go through as many as 2-3 pairs per week! I'm going to look across the pages of my booklet to see where this would best fit. Would it belong in the section called "Types of Ballet Positions?" No, that's not about the positions. Would it go in the section called "Famous Ballets?" No. "What Ballerinas Wear?" Well, I do talk about pointe shoes in this section, so it might be cool to add this fact about how many pairs of pointe shoes the average ballerina needs. I'll keep the fact here.

Goal 7: Word Choice

Strategy Find all the action verbs in your piece. Focus on any that you think aren't as clear, precise, or exact as they could be. List several options for what might replace that word (use a thesaurus if you need it!). Choose the word that best matches your meaning.

Teaching Tip For this strategy to work, children will need to understand what an action verb is, so identification of verbs is a first step in this strategy. Many teachers weave in some instruction during other balanced literacy components such as word study, read-aloud, and/or shared reading. You could also plan to teach direct minilessons to the class or small groups for those who do not understand parts of speech.

Goal 8: Conventions - Spelling and Letter Formation

Strategy When trying to spell a word, try to visualize where you've seen it written and how you've seen it written before. It may help to close your eyes. Then, in a margin or on a piece of scrap paper, write how you think it's spelled. Try it a second or maybe even third way. Look back at what you've written and ask yourself, "Which of these tries looks right to me?"

Prompts

Check off the parts that look right to you.

Write the word as you think you've seen it before.

Which parts look right? Which part looks off?

Do you think there are some letters missing?

What part of that word is tricky for you?

The part you're trying to spell is also in the word _______. Does that help?

Goal 9: Conventions - Grammar and Punctuation

Strategy Find two sentences that talk about the same topic. Think about the relationship between those sentences. Choose a connector word and try combining the sentences into one. Reread and decide if you like the combined way or original way better.

Lesson Language Here's one spot in my draft where I have two sentences that I
think go well together. I wrote: "A dog is something that can keep you company. A dog
can cheer you up." What's the relationship between those two sentences? They both have
to do with something that is positive about owning a dog, so I think they are related. I'm
adding more information on. I'll try using and to combine those sentences: "A dog can
keep you company and cheer you up." Here's another spot: "I would love to have a dog.
My mom won't let me have a dog." What's the relationship between those two sentences?
The second sentence gives more information that feels in contrast to the first. I'll combine
them with however: "I would like to have a dog, however my mom won't let me." The
new sentence I made seems clearer and more to the point.

Goal 10: Collaborating with Writing Partners and Clubs

Strategy Talk with your partner about your goals (for the writing period, for the week, and/or for writing work to take place at home, and so on). Discuss together how you might get that work done. Write the goal, and make the promise...then check in with your partner soon.

Teaching Tip Reflect on your own life and goals you've set out to accomplish. Now think about how successful you've been and whether or not you made your goals public ahead of time. I know that when I share my goals with my partner, my friends, my colleagues, my editor, I am more likely to get things done. The built-in accountability, the opportunity to celebrate together, the lifeline of support in case something does not go according to plan-these are invaluable.

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Writing Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo.

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Collection of strategies that span all aspects of the writing process, all genres and modes of writing, and that will work well with students in grades K-8. Organized so the busy teacher can find just the right strategy at just the right moment.

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As an elementary principal, I have been out of teaching writing for a few years. Although I am not in the trenches of instruction personally, I am very passionate about helping my staff elevate writing instruction in their classrooms. As a part of this goal, I have been researching best practices for writing instruction, and writing resources to prompt engagement and learning gains in the classroom. One resource that I am very interested in is boomwriter.com. This is an online resource that allows students to collaborate on writing, extend a story (book beginnings provide don the site), and integrate key vocabulary in a writing to demonstrate understanding. I love the collaborative nature of this, and its ability to link resources, slides, and information from google drive. I can see this being used as an "early finisher" activity or a tool for class writing assignments.

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Writing Resource~ www.superteacherworksheets.com                      

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Writing Resource~ www.superteacherworksheets.com                      

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We currently use Lucy Calkins, Units of Study, as our Writing curriculum in the 4th grade.

I look to outside resources to supplement my writing lessons with some grammar.  I add grammar to our program by grabbing basic grammar worksheets from many websites. Superteacherworksheets.com is one that I use often. I teach the skills with much practice and modeling. I assess the skills with the worksheets.

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As an Instructional Coach, a writing resource I love to use is Smekens Education Solutions- WebPD.  Kristina Smekens has numerous videos and resources that are practical and easy to implement into any classroom situation.

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Individual subscriptions provide access to webPD for one person. School-wide subscriptions provide access for every staff member in the building.

Sharing access to your webPD subscription is strictly prohibited. A violation of this policy will result in a non-refundable cancellation of any and all active subscriptions.

District-wide discounted pricing is also available. Please contact our office to get the details, (888) 376-0448.

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webPD On-Demand Online Professional Development for Teachers | Smekens Education

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Individual subscriptions provide access to webPD for one person. School-wide subscriptions provide access for every staff member in the building. Sharing access to your webPD subscription is strictly prohibited. A violation of this policy will result in a non-refundable cancellation of any and all active subscriptions. District-wide discounted pricing is also available.

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When I was a classroom teacher, I used the Tier 1 curriculum of Benchmark Writing that our district adopted. It focused on 6 different units of writing (memoirs, historical fiction). There was some embedded grammar, but I also used some of our old "more traditional" grammar lessons. We are currently revamping our ELA curriculum maps, so thank you to those who have shared what they are doing. I hope to bring some of these to our ELA team when we are ready to look at resources.

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A new resource teachers! Students use mentor text examples to notice and imitate grammar conventions to create meaning in their writing.

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I am piloting Amplify CKLA this year in my 4th grade classroom. In this program, students are writing everyday. The program also weaves grammar into the program as well.

My school is also using RACE as a resource in writing extended responses. We also use OREO for our persuasive essays, so trying to give students a foundation-a guide to their writing.

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I have taught Kindergarten, First, Second, Third and Fifth grades.  I have taught the writing process through various video resources  on line, 4-Block, 4 Square and through Smeckens' 6 Traits of Writing.

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What your reading curriculum is missing

Any reading curriculum or series will tell you comprehension skills to teach -but what you really need to know is to teach those skills so that students can actually read and comprehend independently.

That's where The Comprehension Playbook comes in. Providing a full year of lesson ideas and a week-by-week roadmap for implementation, this indispensable resource is the new how-to guide for teaching reading comprehension in any grade level.

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Professional Development for Educators | Smekens Education

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Smekens Education Solutions offers top-tier PD courses, empowering K-12 teachers with engaging, strategy-packed training to strengthen readers and writers.

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Writing Resource~ www.superteacherworksheets.com                      

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Writing Resource~ www.superteacherworksheets.com                      

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We currently use Lucy Calkins, Units of Study, as our Writing curriculum in the 4th grade.

I look to outside resources to supplement my writing lessons with some grammar.  I add grammar to our program by grabbing basic grammar worksheets from many websites. Superteacherworksheets.com is one that I use often. I teach the skills with much practice and modeling. I assess the skills with the worksheets.

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We have several writing resources at my school that we are able to utilize. We primarily use Lucy Calkins writing workshop for our writing curriculum. This is used as our daily writing curriculum. We also have Patterns of Power books for grammar and supplements with various other resources. No Red Ink, Khan Academy, Super Teacher Worksheets, etc. are a few good, quick resources too.

I’m always looking for additional resources to add to our writing and grammar in order to meet the needs of my students.

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Lucy Calkins and Colleagues Units of Study

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A Workshop Curriculum - Grades K-8

by Lucy Calkins and Colleagues from TCRWP

Dear Teachers,
I couldn't be more delighted to be sharing this work with you. It is the understatement of a lifetime to say that Units of Study grow out of years of work in thousands of classrooms. This series also grows out of the greatest minds and most beautiful teaching that I've seen anywhere. To write the Units of Study, my colleagues at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project and I have done what teachers throughout the world do all the time. We've taken all that we know-the processes, sequences, continua, books, levels, lessons, methods, principles, strategies...the works-and we've made a path for children, a path that draws all we know into a cohesive, organic progression. Our hope is that this path brings children along to the place where they can write clearly and skillfully and read flexibly and joyfully-and can live together as caring, thoughtful readers and writers. Lucy Calkins

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Units of Study Reading, Writing & Classroom Libraries by Lucy Calkins

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by Lucy Calkins and Colleagues from TCRWP Dear Teachers, I couldn't be more delighted to be sharing this work with you. It is the understatement of a lifetime to say that Units of Study grow out of years of work in thousands of classrooms. This series also grows out of the greatest minds and most beautiful teaching that I've seen anywhere.

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The Big Ideas newsletter is fantastic for 6 + 1 trait ideas. Additionally, I have used the webPD with staff for many topics including writing! Good stuff!

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What your reading curriculum is missing

Any reading curriculum or series will tell you comprehension skills to teach -but what you really need to know is to teach those skills so that students can actually read and comprehend independently.

That's where The Comprehension Playbook comes in. Providing a full year of lesson ideas and a week-by-week roadmap for implementation, this indispensable resource is the new how-to guide for teaching reading comprehension in any grade level.

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Professional Development for Educators | Smekens Education

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Smekens Education Solutions offers top-tier PD courses, empowering K-12 teachers with engaging, strategy-packed training to strengthen readers and writers.

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Writing Resource - Launching the Writers Workshop 

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Writing Resource - Launching the Writers Workshop 

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Angela Crook
At the present time we are using a combination of Kristina Smekens and Linda Schmidt's "Launching the Writers Workshop", grades K-2 and 3-12 and our new Pearson Reading series. The writers workshop book includes lesson plans, anchor papers, classroom photos, downloadable handouts, and mentor texts.  Our reading series connects to the stories used in class each week.  https://www.smekenseducation.com/webacademy-launching-writers-workshop-k2.html

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I am teaching RACE to my fourth grade students. (R - restate the question, A - answer the question, C - cite evidence from the passage, E - explain the evidence)
For many students, this has helped them understand what is needed to completely answer a question.
RACE strategy

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A writing resource that I used when I was in the classroom was 6+1 Traits of Writing by Ruth Culham.  There is a primary guide as well as an intermediate resource. I love that each component of the writing process is broken down into easy steps so that students and the teacher are not overwhelmed.  My school also purchased the Trait Crates from Scholastic which reinforced the concepts in the book.  The crate come with mentor texts and easy to implement lesson plans.  I love how this resource uses common vocabulary and visual representations for students to reinforce the writing traits.

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https://books.google.com/books/about/A_Writer_s_Notebook.html?id=fBYp-RrKu30C
I cannot say enough about this book.  Ralph Fletcher teaches you what a writer’s notebook is and it is not. According to Fletcher, “A writer’s notebook gives you a place to live like a writer, not just in school during writing time, but wherever you are, at any time of day”. (pg. 4).  Fletcher gives you lots of ways you can use your writers notebook and looks at ways to reread your notebook so you can use old entities to write your next great piece. The book is full of examples and they are all easy to relate to.   “A Writer’s Notebook” can be used at any grade level.  Our students need to see themselves as capable writers. A writers notebooks gives them a tool to use to gain confidence and success in writing. A personal place for them to get started, plan their writing, and revisit to add to their writing.

I used writers notebooks with my first grade class. They loved them!  The notebooks gave them purpose, confidence, help,—a powerful tool to revisit and a jump start for each writing piece.

Colleen Kobi-Berger

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Tap into your inner writer with this book of practical advice by the bestselling author of How Writers Work and the ALA Notable Book Fig Pudding.

Writers are just like everyone else-except for one big difference. Most people go through life experiencing daily thoughts and feelings, noticing and observing the world around them. But writers record these thoughts and observations. They react. And they need a special place to record those reactions.

Perfect for classrooms, A Writer's Notebook gives budding writers a place to keep track of all the little things they notice every day. Young writers will love these useful tips for how to use notes and jottings to create stories and poems of their own.

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Tap into your inner writer with this book of practical advice by the bestselling author of How Writers Work and the ALA Notable Book Fig Pudding. Writers are just like everyone else-except for one big difference. Most people go through life experiencing daily thoughts and feelings, noticing and observing the world around them.

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I like to sprinkly in some of the mini lesson into my writing from Smekens Education. https://www.smekenseducation.com/
I like that the strategies are mini lessons that you can add wherever you see the need for a specific lesson with you class. If you have the ability to attend a workshop that is a great plus, but just signing up for the newsletters helps add some new strategies to your writing toolbox. - Jennifer Rausei

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We have run the gamete of writing curriculum, from Four Block to Writer's Workshop to mentor texts to 6+1 Traits to Smekens to Close Writing.  Despite all that, I feel like my building has lost its focus on writing.  It seems we use many miscellaneous resources now, but one of my favorites for tools and strategies remains Smekens Education, especially for PD.  I get the emails of tips and ideas and that often keeps me thinking forward regarding integrating writing.  Her strategies can be incorporated in all content areas, which is how I believe writing should be taught.  I also like online practice sites such as Edcite, Actively Learn, ReadWorks, and Criterion.

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-Lisa Harvey
As the school counselor, I don't teach writing, but my colleagues use Patterns of Power, a resource for teaching grammar, in addition to our Lucy Calkins writing workshop writing curriculum.
https://www.stenhouse.com/content/patterns-power

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-Benjamin Harvey
I use a few different resources for writing.  I have used Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide by Ralph Fletcher and JoAn Portalupi.  I have also the book 6+1 Traits of Writing by Ruth Culham.  Both of these books provide some good advice about how to structure and teach Writer’s Workshop.  Additionally, I use the Guided Reading Plus model to teach about reading and reading comprehension.  During the sentence writing day I work with students to develop writing techniques.

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I absolutely LOVE everything Smekens. Her writing resources are incredibly beneficial. Her posters are great to hang around the room so the students can look at them. We utilize the 6+1 traits so using her ideas to display them so the students understand them is incredible! https://www.smekenseducation.com/6Traits-Displays-for-the-Upper-.html

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I have been working on getting our 5th grade students to use text evidence to support their their written response answers. This Yes MA'AM strategy has been a huge help! I love that the last part is explaining their thinking. I've told my students that this helps the grader understand the connections they make in their head.

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Constructed-responses are a specialized type of writing that requires explicit, formulaic instruction. Smekens Education utilizes the Yes MA'AM strategy to teach students the essential facets of the formula.

This simple acronym acts as a frame, ensuring all components are included. Strong responses require a combination of reader inferring (ME) and textual support (AUTHOR). Utilizing the concepts learned during Smekens Education workshops, Break-O-Day Elementary (Whiteland, IN) teacher Sara Ambler crafted the acronym Yes MA'AM. Each letter of MA'AM reminds students of the type of information required (M=Me, A=Author, A=Author, M=Me).

The first sentence of the response should reword the question and state a personal opinion or direct response to the question.

The first "A" prompts the student to look at what the author said and to include a detail from the text to support his answer. Here are some suggested sentence starters:

In the text...

The text states...

According to the passage...

One example from the text...

The author states...

A--AuthorThe second "A" reminds the student that a constructed response requires multiple supporting details from the author.

In the text...

The text also states...

According to the passage...

A second example from the text...

The author also states...

The response ends with the student (me) explaining or interpreting the significance of the evidence. One of these sentence starters might help:

This shows...

This demonstrates...

I believe...

Now I know...

This proves...

Additional Resources
Samantha Rutherford teaches 6th grade literacy at Stephen Decatur Elementary School (Indianapolis, IN). To encourage her students to include textual evidence in their Yes, MA'AM reading response practice, she had them use their desks as white boards.

Katie Opdyke from Madison Elementary School (Lombard, IL) has used the Yes MA'AM strategy in her 5th grade classroom. Check out the tweet she shared. Thanks for sharing, Katie!

Erica Shadley from Upper Sandusky Exempted Village Schools (Upper Sandusky, OH) shared images from her 8th grade classroom. She used the Yes MA'AM strategy with her students and provided students with the Finding Author Evidence and the Constructed-Response handouts to complete after reading Two Girls of Gettysburg.

Class Rubric

In addition to practicing the strategies listed above, build a class rubric for well-written constructed responses. Criteria might include the following:

Fully addresses the topic/answers the question.

Goes beyond the text to say something new (gives an opinion, draws a conclusion, offers a prediction, makes an inference, etc.).

Provides at least two different and specific details from the text to support opinion/conclusion/inference.

Restates the question in the opening sentence of the response (introductory sentence).

Concludes the short response with a sentence that interprets the evidence (explains what the details from the text prove).

Avoids pronouns. (Defines all nouns in this short response to avoid confusion.)

Writes a complete, coherent response. (The scorer only reads what is written--not the original question. The response must be complete, giving context.)

Uses basic conventions (capitalization, spelling, grammar, etc.).

Here's her original tweet.
Taryn Saulmon, reading teacher at Monroe Central Elementary (Parker City, IN) used this strategy with her 5th and 6th graders. Check out their silhouette and their Yes, MA'AM response:

Katie Cadle, 2nd grade teacher at Throop Elementary (Paoli, IN) asked Kristina: "My principal has decided to use RACE for constructed response building wide. Do you have a tutorial on that?"

Kristina responded with this Soapbox video and MAAM = RACE downloadable.

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Constructed Responses Require Textual Evidence

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Constructed-responses are a specialized type of writing that requires explicit, formulaic instruction. Smekens Education utilizes the Yes MA'AM strategy to teach students the essential facets of the formula. This simple acronym acts as a frame, ensuring all components are included. Strong responses require a combination of reader inferring (ME) and textual support (AUTHOR).

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I use RACE with my 4th graders.  (R-restate the question, A-answer the question, C-cite evidence, and E-explain the evidence)  I feel like RACE is great to help for struggling writers to learn how to answer questions.

*No link, just the acronym.

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Our 4th grade team uses R.A.C.E to help students explain their open ended responses. R-Restate, A-Answer, C-Cite, E-Explain. There are many variations of this, but this is what is working best from us. Students are encouraged to use text evidence to explain their answers. We also provide a list of stems such as, ¨The author stated,¨

We do not have a resource as it is just an acronym we use.

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Chris Van Allsburg's "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick"

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Chris Van Allsburg's "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick"

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I love love love using this book when teaching narrative writing- it's a collection of strange and interesting pictures/illustrations that each have a title and a short one-two liner. The premise is that a potential children's literary author left them at a publishing company as a pitch for some of his stories, but then the company was unable to find the man and hence only have these small clips. After reviewing narratives and parts of a plot, I let the kids recreate/finish one of the stories of their choosing. Every year it never fails to get them into the writing process and they always come up with such creative ideas in their stories! Link leads to amazon, but you can find it on Thrift Books for much less.

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Chris Van Allsburg's "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick"

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Chris Van Allsburg's "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick"

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I love love love using this book when teaching narrative writing- it's a collection of strange and interesting pictures/illustrations that each have a title and a short one-two liner. The premise is that a potential children's literary author left them at a publishing company as a pitch for some of his stories, but then the company was unable to find the man and hence only have these small clips. After reviewing narratives and parts of a plot, I let the kids recreate/finish one of the stories of their choosing. Every year it never fails to get them into the writing process and they always come up with such creative ideas in their stories! Link leads to amazon, but you can find it on Thrift Books for much less.

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I have used "Launching the Writer's Workshop" by Kristina Smekens. (https://www.amazon.com/Launching-Writers-Workshop-Grades-3-12/dp/0979018684/ref=dp_ob_title_bk) It gives great ideas for not only starting your writing workshop at the beginning of the year but includes mini lessons that can be used throughout the year. The book is very adaptable to whatever grade level you might teach. I bought my original copy at a Smekens workshop but you can definitely get the book on Amazon for a reasonable price. I used it when planning mini lessons that focus on the 6 Trait Model. 

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I have used "Launching the Writer's Workshop" by Kristina Smekens. (https://www.amazon.com/Launching-Writers-Workshop-Grades-3-12/dp/0979018684/ref=dp_ob_title_bk) It gives great ideas for not only starting your writing workshop at the beginning of the year but includes mini lessons that can be used throughout the year. The book is very adaptable to whatever grade level you might teach. I bought my original copy at a Smekens workshop but you can definitely get the book on Amazon for a reasonable price. I used it when planning mini lessons that focus on the 6 Trait Model. 

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-Tori Geiger

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We don't have a formal writing program, but we use Smekens as a resource for most of our writing. We use the Yes Ma'am strategy as well. I also pull in resources from Razzle Dazzle and Amy Buckner to teach specific skills and setting up the writer's notebook.  We also use Newmark Learning: Writing.  We use these to read passages and respond to prompts based on the two passages read.  It also has them write in multiple writing genres.  This is a great resource to prepare for ILearn.

This is the link that shows the book we use.
Lauren McReynolds

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I don't have a formal writing program so I use the mini-lessons from Smekens. We talk a lot about using the YES Ma'am strategies when responding to text. It helps my students make sure they have evidence that supports their answer.

https://www.amazon.com/Launching-Writers-Workshop-Grades-3-12/dp/0979018684/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=smekens&qid=1581538700&sr=8-2

Brandi Froehling

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I have used/am still using Padlet for different writing opportunities. In padlet I have had them respond to questions about the text or to share their thinking or interesting facts about a science/reading topic.

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As a teacher of students with significant needs, I often work on teaching the basics of written language. This begins with letter formation. I absolutely love Handwriting Without Tears! This program provides a multi-sensory approach to writing that provides multiple types of exposure to writing. I love using the wood piece set for capital letters, dry/wet trace, mat man, and the whole body sing alongs.

https://www.lwtears.com/

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Our school currently uses the HMH Into Reading Writing Curriculum. This is our first year with this resource, so we are still exploring. I like to use the graphic organizers and writing anchor charts they provide. It is a good visual element to help students as they begin their writing.

https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Workshop-Teachers-9781328469823-1328469824/dp/1328469824/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=HMH+Into+Writing&qid=1581605511&sr=8-1

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As an Instructional coach I often have teachers asking me how to help students write about what they are reading, especially with informational text. In The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo there are short lessons intentional instruction on summarizing, finding the main idea, and what is the author saying?

Jeanne Dolan

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Your Research-based Guide to Developing Skilled Readers. 300+ strategies with learning progressions support 13 reading goals, with each strategy cross-linked to skills, teacher tips, prompts, research, and reading levels—everything from fluency to literary analysis.

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I have homeschooled my four children for the past eleven years, and this is my first year working again in public school. I am currently doing Title 1 math, so I haven't had the opportunity yet do do any writing. However, when I homeschooled my own children I enjoyed  the Institute for Excellence in Writing  iew.com  . This curriculum gave them a wonderful foundation of the writing skills they will need later in life. 

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I have homeschooled my four children for the past eleven years, and this is my first year working again in public school. I am currently doing Title 1 math, so I haven't had the opportunity yet do do any writing. However, when I homeschooled my own children I enjoyed  the Institute for Excellence in Writing  iew.com  . This curriculum gave them a wonderful foundation of the writing skills they will need later in life. 

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Latest Trends on Pop Culture and Technology

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Read the most recent trends and releases on products, technology, entertainment, fashion, music and more.

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Our school system has chosen to use Smekens writing.  We have had several trainings and have had teacher attend the summer workshops.  It is expected in every grade level so there is consistency in the writing vocabulary and instruction.

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What your reading curriculum is missing

Any reading curriculum or series will tell you comprehension skills to teach -but what you really need to know is to teach those skills so that students can actually read and comprehend independently.

That's where The Comprehension Playbook comes in. Providing a full year of lesson ideas and a week-by-week roadmap for implementation, this indispensable resource is the new how-to guide for teaching reading comprehension in any grade level.

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Professional Development for Educators | Smekens Education

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Smekens Education Solutions offers top-tier PD courses, empowering K-12 teachers with engaging, strategy-packed training to strengthen readers and writers.

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I have utilized the Fragments or Sentences activity and the Developing Questions activity in Google Slides.

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I've had trainings that have involved  Smekens and Orton-Gillingham. Our  schools use 6 + 1 Traits but I haven't been formally trained in that program. Despite those, I still feel like it's difficult to get students to write. At the 4th grade level, our teachers are feeling more of a need to move toward writing in response to reading. We are also trying to incorporate science and social studies into our reading curriculum which would then lead to writing in those subjects as well.

On a separate note, I work with students with behavioral disabilities and they always seem to struggle the most with writing and that's when I see a lot of problem behaviors. If anyone has used something that works with students who truly get upset with writing....I am looking for ideas.

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What your reading curriculum is missing

Any reading curriculum or series will tell you comprehension skills to teach -but what you really need to know is to teach those skills so that students can actually read and comprehend independently.

That's where The Comprehension Playbook comes in. Providing a full year of lesson ideas and a week-by-week roadmap for implementation, this indispensable resource is the new how-to guide for teaching reading comprehension in any grade level.

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Professional Development for Educators | Smekens Education

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Smekens Education Solutions offers top-tier PD courses, empowering K-12 teachers with engaging, strategy-packed training to strengthen readers and writers.

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I utilized a choice board for Science and Social studies topics where writing was included no matter which 3 mini-projects students chose to do. Attached are samples a Solar System board and Social Studies board. This integrated my content areas into our writing time which used the Writing Workshop format. Inclusion language students were included in my general educaton classroom and were able to accomplish the tasks with support.
Kristina Smekens introduced us to the Grocery List as a way to teach brainstorming ideas on a topic and organizing those ideas. This worked very well for 3rd grade students.

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I was not logged in to my account- but wanted to attach my name to my work and add this link for the Grocery List.

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Mini-Lesson Trigger Video: Pre-Write a Grocery List of Details Grades 3-12

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Kristina Smekens uses a table to show students how to add

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Teaching the Qualities of Writing by JoAnn Portalupi and Ralph Fletcher

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Teaching the Qualities of Writing by JoAnn Portalupi and Ralph Fletcher

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This resources has grammar and convention lessons for use in writing workshop. It also includes many other valuable lessons that are categorized into the topics of ideas, design, language, and presentation. Multiple genres are included as well!

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I utilized the develop a question activity and the fragment or sentence activity. Students access this assignment through Google Slides.

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During my Title 1 instruction time I am currently using what we call the R.A.C.E method for writing. (RESTATE the question, ANSWER the questions and all its parts, CITE the evidence from the text, EXPLAIN the evidence). https://app.oncoursesystems.com/school/webpage/466878/1054513
Using this method allows for the students to get great practice for the iLearn test and also allows them to ensure they are completing all the steps necessary to answer the question completely and accurately.

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With teaching 3rd grade students are just learning how to form paragraphs with multiple sentences and organize a paragraph. The RACE strategy has really helped. Each letter stands for a way to help with constructed response questions. R (Restate the question) A (Answer ALL the parts of the question) C (Cite evidence) and E (Explain the evidence). I loved this resource I found on Teacher pay teacher. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/RACES-Strategy-Posters-2007969

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Our writing curriculum, unfortunately, is all over the place.  Teachers are drawing pieces from TPT, Six Traits, & Smekens, plus many others I'm sure.  We've had some teachers trained in 6 traits, some have gone to Smekens conferences.  We are currently in the process of adopting a new LA curriculum, so one of our main goals is alignment!

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Several years ago, I went through professional development with Doug Fisher and he introduced us to the power of using literacy letters to enhance reading and writing experiences for our students. Students would summarize a text and have specific questions to answer or prompts surrounding the text, using a friendly letter structure. Teaching elementary, I would often scaffold the letters and use the GRR method to eventually release responsibility to the students.

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I a

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I have actually been using a comprehensive writing workshop project that I found on Teachers Pay Teachers a few years ago.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Second-Grade-Writing-Workshop-Curriculum-Bundle-1361891

Our school had just received training and materials for Lucy Culkins before I was hired, and wasn't about to provide any training to me for writing, so I was quite desperate for someone to just spell it all out for me. (I found the Lucy Culkins books so pedantic that they actually made the job immensely more stressful when trying to figure out the WW for the first time during my first school year.)

I liked the TPT writing workshop program because of the single-page lesson plans complete with mentor text suggestions and a way to incorporate 6 Traits and grammar if needed. It's perfectly succinct and shows a newcomer, like I was, what the writing workshop should look like with very minimal planning. Everything is broken down very well for primary students, too, so you can go as slowly or as quickly as your students need by teaching every lesson, or skipping those you feel they've mastered already.

I have used this program differently through the 5 years since owning it. Sometimes, with fidelity, other times, not. This year, with the 6 Traits component. In prior years, not. I guess you could say that I'm still working hard to find my groove with writing.

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I have used NoRedInk in the past.  It is a great resource for extra grammar/writing practice and quick writes.  The only problem is that if you are not a paying customer, the resources are limited. I have used this during my Argumentative Writing Unit--it is also great for sentence practice, parts of speech, etc.
Other resources I have used include:
Storybird
Grammarly
Quill
Scholastic (Scope)
ReadWriteThink

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I have used the App. Prezi where students have created presentations for the class in a report form. Most of the time for writing activities I use writing through Google Classroom. While students are typing I get on and give each child corrective and positive feedback. I can talk to the students as they are writing if I see a pattern of items that they need improvement on. Frequently, I do a 5-day instruction on writing activities and then give a quiz on it. When we write essays, they are required to apply the strategies and change each one they have used in a different color. Another item online I like that I do not currently have access to, but it you have a Pearson textbook; they have an online scorer (http://essayscorer.com/cgi-bin/phes/teacher/login.cgi) which is really great to push the students to correct and expand on the topics that they are writing on.

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Download Free Prezi Templates from https://prezibase.com

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The Smekens resources online have really helped me teach the writing traits better. When I watch Christina Smekens teaching a middle school class, I see great strategies at work.
Here is info on helping students paraphrase:
https://www.smekenseducation.com/Paraphrase-Author-Ideas.html

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I have not yet used writing in  my current position of K-2 computer teacher for 1.5 years. I will be going back to middle school math in a few weeks for the remainder of the school year. When I was there before teaching computers, I remember the English teacher having the rest of the team teachers using a RAISIN method. I do not however remember what all of the parts stand for...R is restate the question; A is answer the question; I know stating facts or evidence was there, and restating the answer and question at the ends was there too.
I have found the following site that seems pretty interesting also...https://www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources/

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https://edulastic.com/I have used the site Edulastic for students to practice writing about mathematics.

As a math teacher, I sometimes struggle to find methods to encourage writing in a way that builds and deepens knowledge.  This year, I have been challenging myself to encourage and create opportunities for students to practice explaining a concept or a method in their own words.

Edulastic allows me to pick standards based topics for my students to practice specific questions.  I can also pick questions in which students practice a skill, and then explain their process using math vocabulary and prompting from the math problem that they just solved.

Below, is the link to Edulastic:

https://edulastic.com/

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There is no link but I do like table 5.1 in TWR titled Transition Words and Phrases. I turned it into a poster and handed it out to teachers to post in their classrooms for students to use when writing in the different modes of writing.

I have also found Ruth Culham’s book, The Traits of Writing, A Complete Guide for Middle School, Grades 6-8 very helpful.

https://www.culhamwriting.com/THE_BOOKSTORE/teachwritingwell.html

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As a 5th grade ELA high ability teacher, we used Michael Clay Thompson's grammar program. It teaches students the parts of speech through visual models and incorporates excerpts from challenging texts. Students spent a lot of time developing well-constructed sentences with rigorous literature as their model. I used this, along with Essay Voyage, to show students how to develop meaningful sentences, paragraphs, and essays. This program is best used consecutively.

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Grammar Island, Grammar Town, Grammar Voyage, and The Grammar of Literature by Michael Clay Thompson provide a comprehensible yet sophisticated introduction to grammar for children in the elementary grades. They ignore the low limits traditional at this level and include content often withheld until middle school or even high school.

The MCT secondary grammar series consists of three volumes of The Magic Lens. Each volume is beautifully designed in full color and with a layout that offers clarity for both student and instructor.

Michael has begun work on two preliminary levels of his language arts curriculum, which will come before Grammar Island. The first book, Poodle Knows What?, for children ages 6-8, is already available. It provides a delightful introduction to the eight parts of speech.

Our aim in producing these books is to clarify, simplify, and illuminate the fascinating complexity of English grammar. The texts are visually and thematically accessible and a great asset to our curriculum.

The student books are compact and intended for use in the early part of the school year so that students can benefit from the knowledge throughout the year.

Instructors should begin the language arts curriculum by teaching grammar. The first part of the year is devoted to teaching the child the four parts of grammar that comprise the whole package: parts of speech, parts of the sentence, phrases, and clauses, as well as some common English grammar, usage, and punctuation problems. This will enable the child to continue on in language arts by using that grammar when studying vocabulary, writing, and poetics.

"From a utilitarian point of view, I think grammar is an intellectual pocketknife; it is small, easily purchased, and so useful that one would not dream of being without it. Grammar is so lovely that even if it were useless, one would irresistibly explore it, as one explores chess, or architecture, or the spiral geometries of shells. It is a sort of magic aesthetic lens, through which we can view the delicate structures of ideas." - Michael Clay Thompson

For a complete overview of our language arts program, go to the Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts Curriculum page.

Our practice workbooks supplement the grammar program. These low-cost, consumable workbooks provide in-depth instruction with 100 practice sentences for four-level analysis.

All of the grammar books contain Michael's four-level analysis. He explains why here.

Michael Clay Thompson Level Packages
We have made special packages of the curriculum available to help make ordering easier and to save you money: Homeschool Packages

MCT Grammar C omponent Online
The books in the grammar strand have been developed into online courses that will allow children to think deeply through a variety of learning activities. Each book can work as a standalone course, or it can be integrated into a larger course of study. These online courses allow academically talented students access to an education that meets their needs. The online component for the grammar strand provides homeschool families with options that are flexible and affordable. Online seats may be purchased separately or in conjunction with the printed student book. See our online options.

Grammar Island, Grammar Town, Grammar Voyage, and The Grammar of Literature by Michael Clay Thompson provide a comprehensible yet sophisticated introduction to grammar for children in the elementary grades. They ignore the low limits traditional at this level and include content often withheld until middle school or even high school.

The MCT secondary grammar series consists of three volumes of The Magic Lens. Each volume is beautifully designed in full color and with a layout that offers clarity for both student and instructor.

Michael has begun work on two preliminary levels of his language arts curriculum, which will come before Grammar Island. The first book, Poodle Knows What?, for students in Grades 1/2, is already available. It provides a delightful introduction to the eight parts of speech.

Our aim in producing these books is to clarify, simplify, and illuminate the fascinating complexity of English grammar. The texts are visually and thematically accessible and a great asset to our curriculum.

The student books are compact and intended for use in the early part of the school year so that students can benefit from the knowledge throughout the year.

Instructors should begin the language arts curriculum by teaching grammar. The first part of the year is devoted to teaching students the four parts of grammar that comprise the whole package: parts of speech, parts of the sentence, phrases, and clauses, as well as some common English grammar, usage, and punctuation problems. This will enable the students to continue on in language arts by using that grammar when studying vocabulary, writing, and poetics.

"From a utilitarian point of view, I think grammar is an intellectual pocketknife; it is small, easily purchased, and so useful that one would not dream of being without it. Grammar is so lovely that even if it were useless, one would irresistibly explore it, as one explores chess, or architecture, or the spiral geometries of shells. It is a sort of magic aesthetic lens, through which we can view the delicate structures of ideas." - Michael Clay Thompson

For a complete overview of our language arts program, go to the Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts Curriculum page.

Our practice workbooks supplement the grammar program. These low-cost, consumable workbooks provide in-depth instruction with 100 practice sentences for four-level analysis.

All of the grammar books contain Michael's four-level analysis. He explains why here.

Michael Clay Thompson Classroom Packages
We have made special packages of the curriculum available to help make ordering easier and to save you money: School Packages

MCT Grammar Component Online
The books in the grammar strand have been developed into online courses that will allow students to think deeply through a variety of learning activities. Each book can work as a standalone course, or it can be integrated into a larger course of study. These online courses work effectively for schools using Response to Intervention (RtI) and Balanced Literacy frameworks so that academically talented students can access an education that meets their needs. The online component for the grammar strand provides school districts with options that are flexible and affordable. Online seats may be purchased separately or in conjunction with the printed student book. See our online options.

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Grammar Island, Grammar Town, Grammar Voyage, and The Grammar of Literature by Michael Clay Thompson provide a comprehensible yet sophisticated introduction to grammar for children in the elementary grades. They ignore the low limits traditional at this level and include content often withheld until middle school or even high school.

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I use the Purdue  Writing Lab Online Resource as a tool to cite in the MLA format those sources used in our historical research.

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General Format - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University

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Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

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We give our sixth graders the diagnostic test and then Quill will offer activities that match the standards where additional help is needed. It is differentiated for everyone! Students are able to practice the mechanics that they will use in their writing. I have them do a certain number of activities for each grade period.

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I often used writing mentor texts in my classroom to demonstrate a writing technique, skill or strategy.
https://amandawritenow.com/mentor-texts-for-middle-school/
https://ncte.org/blog/2018/02/mentor-texts-narrative-writing-chapter-books/
https://ncte.org/blog/2018/01/mentor-texts-teaching-argument-writing/

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Rubric Maker allows you to put all your requirements in so that you don't have to worry about formatting.

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Rubrics help you articulate your expectations, defining what will be assessed, and describing how it will be evaluated. Clearly expressing what excellence looks like helps students understand what they need to do to succeed.

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Rubric Maker - Create custom assessments

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Rubrics help you articulate your expectations, defining what will be assessed, and describing how it will be evaluated. Clearly expressing what excellence looks like helps students understand what they need to do to succeed.

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My classes enjoy the use of Mentor Texts. They are really able to make those connections and transfer/practice it in their own writing.

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We use this power-point for teaching simple, compound, complex, compound/complex sentences. The pictures really help the students understand the differences.

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Website
https://www.shmoop.com/
or YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/shmoopdotcom
I love showing Schmoop videos that explain grammar, writing, or research topics. They address gobs of other things as well. Their website and YouTube channel are amazing and I've only used the free version. Here's one on semicolons as an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMKufGCs1Ec&list=PLPS8GkIUM8Ud7nenmHaqrYoo2Eg8U2bIT&index=57

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I use CommonLit to reinforce writing constructed responses. It gives a passage that you can sort by standard, grade, book, and lots more. It has multiple-choice questions and then one or two constructed response prompts. I love pairing it with the novels I teach.

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CommonLit definitely keeps me organized. It's easy for me to grade and it's easy for me to see students' reading growth increase throughout the year.

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The CommonLit assessment questions are aligned to our ELA standards, which is extremely helpful when prepping for the state exam.

Teachers trust CommonLit to foster students' reading comprehension

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CommonLit | Free Online Reading Passages and Literacy Resources

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CommonLit is a comprehensive literacy program with thousands of reading lessons, full-year ELA curriculum, benchmark assessments, and standards-based data for teachers.

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In my middle school science classes, we use what we call CER - Claim, Evidence, Reasoning.  A Claim is the answer to a question or a statement you are making.  The Evidence are the facts that support the claim.  We usually require students to have 3 pieces.  The Reasoning part is the explanation of how the evidence supports the Claim.  I believe this framework actually works in many other writing contexts in other disciplines.  

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In my middle school science classes, we use what we call CER - Claim, Evidence, Reasoning.  A Claim is the answer to a question or a statement you are making.  The Evidence are the facts that support the claim.  We usually require students to have 3 pieces.  The Reasoning part is the explanation of how the evidence supports the Claim.  I believe this framework actually works in many other writing contexts in other disciplines.  

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Often in scientific writing I need my students to focus their thoughts to support a claim. This writing can support a simple lab question or be the starting point for a class debate.
I use this format to help my students prepare for open ended questions on the AP exam.
The following video describes the CER process:

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https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/teacher_and_tutor_resources/teaching_resources/writing_process_presentation.html
Like the process of refocus, reorder,  add, and delete.

I use this in my classroom when students are presenting their results of conducted in experiments.

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I love the NY Times The Learning Network resources. One of my favorite lists compiled by the resource involves their 1,000 prompt list. My students love the list and the opportunity to choose topics and ideas from the list. It's a good launch pad for discussions or for writing activities. Sometimes starting can be the hardest part, and this takes off some of the pressure. It is great for journaling too. The prompts are all clickable and take students to articles that go along with the prompts.

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I love the NY Times The Learning Network resources. One of my favorite lists compiled by the resource involves their 1,000 prompt list. My students love the list and the opportunity to choose topics and ideas from the list. It's a good launch pad for discussions or for writing activities. Sometimes starting can be the hardest part, and this takes off some of the pressure. It is great for journaling too. The prompts are all clickable and take students to articles that go along with the prompts.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/learning/over-1000-writing-prompts-for-students.html

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I like to use the "Every-Day Edits" resource from Education World's website. They offer a variety of paragraph editing skills/review that are good bell work activities. Some are better than others, but there is enough variety that I can usually find a high-interest paragraph for my students to practice editing skills.

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https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/professional_technical_writing/workplace_writers.html
The Purdue Owl website is a great general writing resource that also offers workplace writing help for the technical business writing my students often tackle.

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My school is a strong proponent of Read 180 and System 44, which is mainly focused on reading.  But, teachers implementing the curriculum are using writing assignments embedded within the program.

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Barbara Miller
When students are learning to write counterarguments, Procon.org can be a good tool to use.  In their own writing, students often want to skim over the sometimes valid counterpoints of an argument and focus on the rebuttal. Seeing valid reasoning on the other side of an argument can help students present the counterpoint fairly and create a more solid rebuttal. On this website, the topics are timely and engaging to students and give teachers and students easy access to both sides of a topic.

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ProCon.org - Pros and Cons of 100+ Topics

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Explore both sides of debated issues. Presented in a non-partisan format with supporting background information, statistics, and resources.

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I have used SIOP (Sheltered Instructional Opperational Protocol).  It is used for language development teaching and using skills not only in writing but reading, listening, and speaking.

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I use this link when my entrepreneurship students are researching their business idea. We discuss primary and secondary research and the need for both types in a well researched business plan.

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This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Summary:
Primary research involves collecting data about a given subject directly from the real world. This section includes information on what primary research is, how to get started, ethics involved with primary research and different types of research you can do. It includes details about interviews, surveys, observations, and analyses.

Primary research is any type of research that you collect yourself. Examples include surveys, interviews, observations, and ethnographic research. A good researcher knows how to use both primary and secondary sources in their writing and to integrate them in a cohesive fashion.

Conducting primary research is a useful skill to acquire as it can greatly supplement your research in secondary sources, such as journals, magazines, or books. You can also use it as the focus of your writing project. Primary research is an excellent skill to learn as it can be useful in a variety of settings including business, personal, and academic.

But I'm not an expert!

With some careful planning, primary research can be done by anyone, even students new to writing at the university level. The information provided on this page will help you get started.

What types of projects or activities benefit from primary research?

When you are working on a local problem that may not have been addressed before and little research is there to back it up.

Example: You are conducting research on a proposed smoking ban in Lafayette, IN. Little information has been published about the topic other than a few editorials and letters to the editor in the local paper. You can conduct primary research in the form of surveying individuals in the surrounding community and local decision makers to gain more information.

When you are working on writing about a specific group of people or a specific person.

Example: If you are writing about the activities of the Purdue Football team one of the best ways to learn about the team is to go talk to them and observe their behavior.

When you are working on a topic that is relatively new or original and few publications exist on the subject.

For example, if you wanted to write on the connection between the Purdue University Glee Club performance locations and estimated attendance of events, you would have to determine this yourself through primary research methods.

You can also use primary research to confirm or dispute national results with local trends.

For example, if you are writing about people's opinions on Social Security reform, you could conduct a local survey and see how your local results compare to a nationwide survey conducted by the New York Times.

What types of primary research can be done?

Many types of primary research exist. This guide is designed to provide you with an overview of primary research that is often done in writing classes.

Interviews: Interviews are one-on-one or small group question and answer sessions. Interviews will provide a lot of information from a small number of people and are useful when you want to get an expert or knowledgeable opinion on a subject.

Surveys: Surveys are a form of questioning that is more rigid than interviews and that involve larger groups of people. Surveys will provide a limited amount of information from a large group of people and are useful when you want to learn what a larger population thinks.

Observations: Observations involve taking organized notes about occurrences in the world. Observations provide you insight about specific people, events, or locales and are useful when you want to learn more about an event without the biased viewpoint of an interview.

Analysis: Analysis involves collecting data and organizing it in some fashion based on criteria you develop. They are useful when you want to find some trend or pattern. A type of analysis would be to record commercials on three major television networks and analyze gender roles.

Where do I start?

Consider the following questions when beginning to think about conducting primary research:

What do I want to discover?

How do I plan on discovering it? (This is called your research methods or methodology)

Who am I going to talk to/observe/survey? (These people are called your subjects or participants)

How am I going to be able to gain access to these groups or individuals?

What are my biases about this topic?

How can I make sure my biases are not reflected in my research methods?

What do I expect to discover?

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What is Primary Research? - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University

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This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice. Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.

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I use the following link when my entrepreneurship students are researching their potential business idea. We talk about primary and secondary research and the value of having both types in a well-researched business plan.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Summary:
Primary research involves collecting data about a given subject directly from the real world. This section includes information on what primary research is, how to get started, ethics involved with primary research and different types of research you can do. It includes details about interviews, surveys, observations, and analyses.

Primary research is any type of research that you collect yourself. Examples include surveys, interviews, observations, and ethnographic research. A good researcher knows how to use both primary and secondary sources in their writing and to integrate them in a cohesive fashion.

Conducting primary research is a useful skill to acquire as it can greatly supplement your research in secondary sources, such as journals, magazines, or books. You can also use it as the focus of your writing project. Primary research is an excellent skill to learn as it can be useful in a variety of settings including business, personal, and academic.

But I'm not an expert!

With some careful planning, primary research can be done by anyone, even students new to writing at the university level. The information provided on this page will help you get started.

What types of projects or activities benefit from primary research?

When you are working on a local problem that may not have been addressed before and little research is there to back it up.

Example: You are conducting research on a proposed smoking ban in Lafayette, IN. Little information has been published about the topic other than a few editorials and letters to the editor in the local paper. You can conduct primary research in the form of surveying individuals in the surrounding community and local decision makers to gain more information.

When you are working on writing about a specific group of people or a specific person.

Example: If you are writing about the activities of the Purdue Football team one of the best ways to learn about the team is to go talk to them and observe their behavior.

When you are working on a topic that is relatively new or original and few publications exist on the subject.

For example, if you wanted to write on the connection between the Purdue University Glee Club performance locations and estimated attendance of events, you would have to determine this yourself through primary research methods.

You can also use primary research to confirm or dispute national results with local trends.

For example, if you are writing about people's opinions on Social Security reform, you could conduct a local survey and see how your local results compare to a nationwide survey conducted by the New York Times.

What types of primary research can be done?

Many types of primary research exist. This guide is designed to provide you with an overview of primary research that is often done in writing classes.

Interviews: Interviews are one-on-one or small group question and answer sessions. Interviews will provide a lot of information from a small number of people and are useful when you want to get an expert or knowledgeable opinion on a subject.

Surveys: Surveys are a form of questioning that is more rigid than interviews and that involve larger groups of people. Surveys will provide a limited amount of information from a large group of people and are useful when you want to learn what a larger population thinks.

Observations: Observations involve taking organized notes about occurrences in the world. Observations provide you insight about specific people, events, or locales and are useful when you want to learn more about an event without the biased viewpoint of an interview.

Analysis: Analysis involves collecting data and organizing it in some fashion based on criteria you develop. They are useful when you want to find some trend or pattern. A type of analysis would be to record commercials on three major television networks and analyze gender roles.

Where do I start?

Consider the following questions when beginning to think about conducting primary research:

What do I want to discover?

How do I plan on discovering it? (This is called your research methods or methodology)

Who am I going to talk to/observe/survey? (These people are called your subjects or participants)

How am I going to be able to gain access to these groups or individuals?

What are my biases about this topic?

How can I make sure my biases are not reflected in my research methods?

What do I expect to discover?

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What is Primary Research? - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice. Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.

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I like to use Issues and Controversies.com to provide students with timely issues and topics in a dynamic fashion.
Students can find timely and real world topics here, and they also see the controversial nature. These are often presented debate style, promoting argument/counter argument writing.
https://Issuesandcontroversies.com

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This is a common resource for teachers to introduce the Writing Traits. I use 6 +1 Writing Traits resources in my classroom because my school has used it for many years. I see the benefit of common language and emphasis on "what is good writing" but TWR is so much more helpful in developing the actual writing.

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President & Lead Consultant | Connect:
About

The Ultimate Guide to the Six Traits of Writing

The responsibility of building strong writers can seem overwhelming, regardless of the grade you teach. And since every classroom includes a broad range of students at varying writing levels, a canned writing curriculum will never meet the unique needs of every student.

That's why our team believes so strongly in the Six Traits of Writing. It's not a program, but a framework that uses the six qualities of "good" writing to guide every lesson, assignment, and assessment.

If you want to learn about the Six Traits of Writing, you've come to the right place! For more than a decade, we've been helping educators build strong writers with the Six-Traits framework. In this guide, you'll find a comprehensive overview of the Six Traits of Writing with suggestions for implementation in your own classroom. Let's get started!

Don't have time to read the entire guide now?

Fill out the form to download a printable version that you can reference later.

Table of Contents
Read through the whole guide or quickly jump to a section.

One of the most powerful aspects of the Six-Traits language is its application beyond instruction. Provide writers with clear feedback within formative assessments and daily conferences utilizing the same six ingredients.

How do I use the Six Traits to offer feedback?

Engage in trait-based writing conferences

A conference is nothing more than a conversation. It doesn't have to be a formal 20-minute ordeal at a "conferencing table" in the corner of the room. In fact, execute fewer "product" conferences and more "process" conferences. This way you can help students when they are in the middle of the writing process instead of after they are "done."

The most vital pieces of a writer conference include offering a specific trait compliment (area of strength) and comment (area of weakness). The same "raindrop" writing skills taught within mini-lessons are referenced within these trait-based conferences.

For example, Jeremy, your word choice in this piece is fantastic! I love the words "bloated, alarmed and screeched." AWESOME verbs! Now, I am wondering about your sentence fluency. Most of your sentences are the same length. Consider inserting some compound sentences and then put your draft through the Slinky Test.

Recognize the traits in action

In order to label each compliment and comment with its broader trait "umbrella," you will need more than a poster on the wall. That's why many teachers rely on the Six-Traits Cheat Sheet during their writers' conferences. While students share their writing, you'll be able to quickly glance at your cheat sheet to anchor your feedback with Six-Trait connections.

Free Six-Traits Mini-Lessons

After providing explicit writing instruction, it's time to assess for mastery. The same trait-based skills taught within mini-lessons are embedded within rubric criteria.

How do you assess student writing with the 6 traits?

Build a kid-friendly Six-Traits writing rubric

Often teachers draft a rubric on their own and then "go over" it with the kids. However, with this approach, students have little ownership and may not understand some of the rubric language.

Consequently, create a writing rubric with your students. Since the criteria and language are generated by the students, this ensures that it's a kid-friendly assessment tool. Furthermore, this method honors the education research.

Here's the process for building a Six-Traits rubric with students:

HIGH: Work together to describe what each trait looks like within a "good" one.

MIDDLE: Then, consider a "pretty good" piece-one not as strong as the HIGH but not LOW either. This MIDDLE level must include parallel criteria described in the HIGH level.

LOW: Repeat this process describing the qualities and characteristics of a LOW-level product.

With three rubric levels described, stretch them out to represent Levels 1, 3, and 5. Then add Levels 2 and 4 in between.

Provide individualized feedback using the rubric

With a kid-friendly Six-Traits rubric, you can provide students with individualized feedback on their writing. But contrary to popular belief, providing precise feedback to student writers does not have to involve an all-encompassing critique with the red pen.

After creating/updating the rubric with students, use this tool to do the majority of the work. Accompany each piece of student writing with a copy of the rubric.

Instead of writing Add more detail or Fantastic verb choice in multiple places on the student's draft, simply highlight those criteria within the rubric.

Next to the highlighted criteria, include specific words or paragraph numbers the comment pertains to.

Using the annotated rubric, students apply your customized comments and compliments in revision.

This approach helps teachers transition from simply fixing writing to focus on building writers.

Use a Six-Traits writing rubric to assign grades

This same kid-friendly analytic Six-Traits rubric can be used to generate grades as well. However, it's important to adhere to these three guiding principles:

1. NO ONE CAN FAIL ON THE RUBRIC. Students earn a failing grade if they do not attempt the assignment (i.e., do not turn it in). However, submitting a product must qualify them for at least a D-. If a weak attempt is valued the same as no attempt (i.e., failing), then many students stop trying. Therefore, the lowest score on the rubric, a Level 1, needs to be within a passing range (e.g., 60% or D-).

2. HONOR THOSE WHO GO BEYOND THE GOAL. Include at least one level that describes a product that knocks your socks off. Have an A level (Level 4), but then have an exceeding or A+ level (Level 5).

3. DON'T WEIGH TRAITS EQUALLY. Depending on the piece, different traits are emphasized. If students are only writing a first draft, then conventions would likely weigh less than the traits of ideas and organization. However, in poetry, word choice and sentence fluency might be valued more. Identify the traits you want to score and the point-value that coincides with where you spent your instructional time.

Regardless of which traits you are scoring and/or emphasizing, be sure to communicate this information to students before they write. Remember, they are trying to shoot at a target, so clearly define what it is.

Convert Six-Traits rubric scores to a grade

When it comes time to convert a rubric score to a grade, avoid the temptation to simply add up the levels as if they are points. Rather, utilize the Smekens Six-Traits Rubric Calculator with any 5-point rubric of your choosing.

With this free interactive online tool:

1. Identify which traits you want to score.

2. Determine the value you want to give each one.

3. Read a student's piece.

4. Click each individual trait score based on rubric criteria.

5. Click to calculate the earned grades, points, and percentage for your grade book.

How are the Six Traits assessed on standardized tests?

For most standardized writing assessments, students earn a passing score for their strong execution of the traits of ideas and organization. This typically includes communicating relevant and well-developed information (with textual evidence) in a logical and coherent order all within a first draft. This is why we refer to the traits of ideas and organization as the "Trump" Traits.

Although many rubrics include criteria for word choice, sentence fluency, and/or voice, they are often labeled as "style." Although these traits are usually not essential to earn a passing score, these ingredients may bump their performance to the "exceeding" or "pass-plus" level.

Because the Six Traits are present in all good writing, it stands to reason that the rubrics for state and national writing exams are rooted in the same six ingredients-and they are!

However, it can take a critical eye to determine which criteria fall under which trait. We have taken the time to do just that with many standardized-test rubrics. To appreciate the emphasis on the traits of ideas and organization, note the amount of blue and green criteria within each of the downloadable rubrics listed below.

What do I have to buy to implement the Six Traits?

Because the Six Traits of Writing aren't a program or a new curriculum, you don't need to purchase specific products or canned materials in order to implement them. Any well-written writing curriculum naturally includes lessons to teach the skills that fall under each trait.

Granted, it's one thing to know the six words, but it's another challenge altogether to weave those traits into daily instruction. If you surf the internet, you'll find hundreds of cute signs, graphic organizers, and downloadable templates that are tied to the traits.

But for a cohesive collection of free, innovative resources, the best place to start is the Smekens Education Idea Library. Here you'll find Six-Traits lesson ideas, pictures, videos, whiteboard downloads, anchor papers, rubrics, graphic organizers, and more.

Or consider using our resource Launching the Writer's Workshop. It's customized for grades K-2 and grades 3-12 and filled with lessons to help you establish a writer's workshop, introduce the traits, and teach trait-based lessons all year long.

But whether you are starting with nothing or your toolbox of resources is full to the brim, none of it matters if the Six Traits do not become part of your daily writing classroom. Remember, it starts with recognizing that all good writing contains ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. These are the six ingredients that define, dissect, and describe "good" writing.

Continue learning with the Six-Traits online workshop

This dynamic online workshop equips K-12 teachers with the knowledge and tools they need to start teaching the Six Traits of Writing right away. Whether you need to learn a lot about the Six Traits in a hurry or want a "refresher" workshop to get you back on track, this introductory training led by Kristina Smekens provides teachers with the confidence and resources they need to begin implementing the Six-Traits model. Click here to learn more.

Let's Connect

Complete the form below or call (888) 376-0448.
We are eager to help you achieve your PD goals!

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Ultimate Guide to the Six Traits of Writing - Smekens Education Solutions, Inc.

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President & Lead Consultant | Connect: About The Ultimate Guide to the Six Traits of Writing The responsibility of building strong writers can seem overwhelming, regardless of the grade you teach. And since every classroom includes a broad range of students at varying writing levels, a canned writing curriculum will never meet the unique needs of every student.

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One resource that I really like is Mechanically Inclined by Jeff Anderson.  Its main focus is building grammar, usage, and style into Writer's Workshop.  Not only does this book have great activities for your grammar instruction, but also provides numerous opportunities for writing.
https://www.stenhouse.com/content/mechanically-inclined

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I LOVED seeing resources I've used pop up on here so often, like Smekens, 6+1 Traits, SIOP, RACE, etc...

I really enjoyed using Lucy Calkins Units of Study in my past experiences. This is a structure for teaching writing that really centers on small group conferring based on skills rather than whole class instruction. The units can be done in any order and can be integrated with any curriculum, so I loved the flexibility. I like to start with Opinion writing because students always seem to have an opinion :-)

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Lucy Calkins and Colleagues Units of Study

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Home / Our Series - K-5 Writing

A Workshop Curriculum for Kindergarten-Grade 5

High Expectations, Achievable Goals

The writing units of study help teachers provide their students with instruction, opportunities for practice, and concrete doable goals to help them meet and exceed any set of high standards.

Proven Tools and Methods

It is an understatement to say these units have been piloted many times. The teaching in these books has been planned, taught, revised, and retaught, through a cycle of improvement involving literally thousands of classrooms in schools dotting the globe.

A Clear Instructional Arc

Each writing unit represents about five to six weeks of teaching, structured into three or four "bends in the road." Rather than tackling the entire journey all at once, it's easier to embark on this series of shorter, focused bends, pausing between each to regroup and prepare for the next.

A Guide to the Writing Workshop

Describes the essential principles, methods, and structures of effective writing workshop instruction. (Available for separate purchase-ideal for administrators and coaches who are supporting implementation of Units of Study.)

Writing Pathways: Performance Assessments and Learning Progressions

A powerful assessment system offering learning progressions, performance assessments, student checklists, rubrics, and leveled writing exemplars. (Available in a K-8 version - ideal for administrators and coaches)

Trade Book Packs
(recommended optional purchase)

Across each unit, trade books are used to model effective writing techniques, encourage students to read as writers, and provide background knowledge.

Up the Ladder

Just getting started with the Units of Study in Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing? Consider the Up the Ladder units to accelerate intermediate students' progress to the work they will do in the grade-level units. Who should choose the Up the Ladder units?

Teachers in grades 3-6 whose students are new to writing workshop

Teachers in grades 3 and up who want to help students accelerate their progress in writing

Teachers in intermediate grades who want to give their students a refresher in writing workshop fundamentals

Note that Up the Ladder units are not meant to be an alternative to the core Units of Study, but rather a ramp to accelerate kids to the grade-level work they will do in those units.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Overview

Getting Started

Workshop Methods

Assessment

The Grades K-5 Units

Purchasing Options

Series Bundles

Purchase Recommendation: choose the bundle with the Trade Book Packs if your library does not already include the mentor texts referenced in the Units.

Each Grade Level with Trade Pack

Each Grade Level without Trade Pack

Additional Units of Study for Selected Grade Levels

The TCRWP is a learning organization that is continuously building on their earlier work. These additional book-length units fit tongue-and-groove with the original grades K, 2, and 5 units. Additionally, Small Moments, the first unit in the core set of first grade writing units, is available for separate purchase.

Guides to the Writing Workshop

A copy of the appropriate Guide is included in your Units box. These Guides are offered as an optional purchase for administrators and coaches.

Trade Packs

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Units of Study Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing

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Home / Our Series - K-5 Writing High Expectations, Achievable Goals The writing units of study help teachers provide their students with instruction, opportunities for practice, and concrete doable goals to help them meet and exceed any set of high standards. Proven Tools and Methods It is an understatement to say these units have been piloted many times.

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I utilized resources from various Smekens trainings that I have attended.

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One resource that I stumbled upon a few years ago is writingfix.com. This site was created by a teacher named Corbett Harrison and (in part) by the Nevada Writing Project. This site is full of all kinds of resources from mentor text ideas/lessons, lesson plans based on six traits writing, interactive idea generators, graphic organizers, and more. I have gotten many new lesson idea from this site. I like the fact that it is good for students in both elementary and secondary grades.

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Welcome, K-12 Writing Teachers: You've found WritingFix's new home. We officially ran out of funding in October of 2020, but Dena and I believe we have found a way to keep the popular website we started back in 1999 online. The process will involve patience on your parts, as in order to merge WritingFix with our second website- ALWAYS WRITE website, we have to completely re-format WritingFix's lessons.

Your input requested: We assume you're here because you have used WritingFix in the past-and you're surprised to see our website of 20+ years is now temporarily missing from the web. We will be reformatting WritingFix's best and most popular lessons only, but as a retired teacher, I don't know what's popular with our teacher users anymore.

If you have a lesson/resource you used at WritingFix that you would like added to our "waiting list," we'll add you requests on a first-come-first-formatted basis. Please, only one request per teacher. You can email your requests for reformatting lessons to: corbett@corbettharrison.com

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Welcome, K-12 Writing Teachers: You've found WritingFix's new home. We officially ran out of funding in October of 2020, but Dena and I believe we have found a way to keep the popular website we started back in 1999 online.

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Our entire district uses the Smekens Education Solutions writing resource.  https://www.smekenseducation.com/
It focuses on the 6+1 traits of writing, strategies for writing/reading, writer's workshop, writing to iLearn, etc.
As I am in year 6 of teaching, with years 1-2 teaching 2nd grade, year 3 teaching 5th grade ELA/SS + High Ability, and now years 4-6 teaching 6th grade ELA/SS, I haven't had much consistency to find any type of rhythm in strategies.  About 3 years ago, our district went full-on for one particular curriculum: Smekens.
I use the Smekens strategies to "teach to the test" of iLearn. In particular, we will receive 1-2 workshops per year with an instructor from Smekens, and she helps us with a particular strategy to help us teach it in a more explicit way to meet the kids' needs. I love Smekens, but there is so much information, it'd difficult not to get "lost" in space.

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Our entire district uses the Smekens Education Solutions writing resource.  https://www.smekenseducation.com/
It focuses on the 6+1 traits of writing, strategies for writing/reading, writer's workshop, writing to iLearn, etc.
As I am in year 6 of teaching, with years 1-2 teaching 2nd grade, year 3 teaching 5th grade ELA/SS + High Ability, and now years 4-6 teaching 6th grade ELA/SS, I haven't had much consistency to find any type of rhythm in strategies.  About 3 years ago, our district went full-on for one particular curriculum: Smekens.
I use the Smekens strategies to "teach to the test" of iLearn. In particular, we will receive 1-2 workshops per year with an instructor from Smekens, and she helps us with a particular strategy to help us teach it in a more explicit way to meet the kids' needs. I love Smekens, but there is so much information, it'd difficult not to get "lost" in space.

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One of TWR's strategies reminded me of Kristina Smekens strategy to Super Size sentences through adding who, what, when, where, why, and how details. LINK HERE

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As a high school scienc teacher, I am a fan of the claim, evidence, reasoning strategy.  I fell like it can be modified for several assignments in my science classes, even if it is just the reminder for students to include data in their lab reports :). But it is also helpful in helping students prepare for AP testing as well.

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I returned to work part-time after having kids, and I am now teaching writing again for the first time in years! I am very grateful to be in this book study and am looking forward to checking out the other recommendations shared here.  Here are a few resources I've found helpful.

Pebble 365 is a very nice site for writing prompts, and they have an interesting or thought-provoking pictures for each day of the year.  Since I haven't been teaching writing, I've used it mostly to start discussions or have students write a few sentences about the picture, but they also provide story starters, questions students could answer (or they could write their own), and "sick sentences" that students can improve.  https://www.pobble365.com

As a teacher reference for writing, I've found the Purdue Owl helpful. It has informations about general writing, citations, and grammar explanations.
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html

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Jill Juday (Writer's Workshop)

When I was a new Kindergarten teacher I found these Writer's Workshop lessons incredibly helpful. It breaks down the most basic lessons for beginning learners. For example, one lesson is all about how to hold a pencil. It also set a clear, but slow standard of how the writing process would take place in our class and how to actually become a young writer.  I found that these lessons also gradually increased the amount of time required for them to sit and write, which was helpful as the became acquainted with the rigors of school. I used these lessons daily until we made our way through all of them and then we would move on to more difficult skills.

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I love NoredInk to remind my seniors of how to punctuate and use subordinating conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs.

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NoRedInk has completely transformed the way I teach grammar and writing in my class. Students start each concept at their own level and learn at their own pace, and because of this type of delivery, my students not only learn grammar, they master it.

Jo Rohde, Teacher, North Dallas High School

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Unlock Every Writer's Potential | NoRedInk

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NoRedInk offers authentic assessments, adaptive practice, personalized content, and actionable data to improve your students' writing and grammar skills!

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I teach Writing with 3rd graders and they really responded to this single lesson.  It is based on the book, The Great Kapok Tree  by Lynne Cherry.  We read the book and the two articles: one in favor of saving the rainforest and one in favor of cutting trees down.  There are graphic organizers for notes, planning pages as well as a revising checklist and rubric that I edited.
The lesson is on Teachers Pay Teachers authored by The Friendly Teacher. It is in printable and distance learning format (Google Apps).

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As a school we utilize Smekens resources. I also use Patterns of Power to incorporate grammar in context. An area of focus for us in 5th grade is Expanding Thinking in RACE responses. I really enjoy the materials by Hello Fifth and Jennifer Findley for this particular area of writing.

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I use the books, “Nonfiction Craft Lessons: Teaching Information Writing K-8” and “Craft Lessons: Teaching Writing K-8” by Ralph Fletcher and Joann Portalupi.  They are both full of writing craft lessons. Each lesson has a suggested real aloud book that contains the focused craft lesson.

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Writing nonfiction represents a big step for most students. Most young writers are not intimidated by personal narrative, fiction, or even poetry, but when they try to put together a "teaching book," report, or persuasive essay, they often feel anxious and frustrated.

JoAnn Portalupi and Ralph Fletcher believe that young nonfiction writers supply plenty of passion, keen interest, and wonder. Teachers can provide concrete strategies to help students scaffold their ideas as they write in his challenging genre.

Like the authors' best-selling Craft Lessons: Teaching Writing K-8, this book is divided into sections for K-2, 3-4, and middle school (grades 5-8) students. These divisions reflect various differences between emerging, competent, and fluent writers. In each section you'll find a generous collection of craft lessons directed at the genre that's most appropriate for that particular age. In the K-2 section, for example, a number of craft lessons focus on the all-about or concept book. In the 3-4 section there are several lessons on biography. In the 5-8 section a series of lessons addresses expository writing. Throughout the book each of the 80 lessons is presented on a single page in an easy-to-read format.

Every lesson features three teaching guidelines: Discussion--A brief look at the reasons for teaching the particular element of craft specifically in a nonfiction context. How to Teach It--Concrete language showing exactly how a teacher might bring this craft element to students in writing conferences or a small-group setting. Resource Material--Specific book or text referred to in the craft lesson including trade books, or a piece of student writing in the Appendixes.

This book will help students breathe voice into lifeless "dump-truck" writing and improve their nonfiction writing by making it clearer, more authoritative, and more organized. Nonfiction Craft Lessons gives teachers a wealth of practical strategies to help students grow into strong writers as they explore and explain the world around them.

Be sure to look at the When Students Write videotapes too.

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nonfiction craft lessons: teaching information writing k-8

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english language;composition and exercises;study and teaching (middle school)

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early childhood (incl. preschool & kindergarten)

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education/early childhood (incl. preschool & kindergarten)

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education/teaching methods & materials - language arts

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english language - composition and exercises - study and teaching (elementary)

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english language - composition and exercises - study and teaching (middle school)

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english language;composition and exercises;study and teaching (middle school)

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exposition (rhetoric) - study and teaching (elementary)

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exposition (rhetoric) - study and teaching (middle school)

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teaching methods & materials - language arts

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writing nonfiction; strategies; scaffolding; fluent writers

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education/early childhood (incl. preschool & kindergarten)

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education/teaching methods & materials - language arts

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teaching methods & materials - language arts

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Nonfiction Craft Lessons: Teaching Information Writing K-8

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Amazon.com: Nonfiction Craft Lessons: Teaching Information Writing K-8 (9781571103291): Portalupi, JoAnn, Fletcher, Ralph: Books

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My grade level started our writing block this year using the trait crate and the corresponding mentor texts to introduce students to the 6 traits of writing. I loved the practice with each trait, and I love having a book that models the writing for kids.

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Using fiction and nonfiction children's books as mentors, Trait Crate® Plus adds new life and energy to the teaching of writing through thoughtful and creative lessons that are ready-to-use tomorrow. Everything you need is provided. Traits Crate Plus helps students learn and use the six traits-ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions-to improve specific skills in writing. With six all-new mentor texts per grade and 24 time-saving lessons, Ruth Culham's Trait Crate® Plus expands and enriches the reading-and-writing experience. In addition to the valuable features and components of the original Trait Crate this enhanced edition offers:

An emphasis on modes - narrative, informational, and opinion-to help you address higher standards.

A companion website that provides access to dozens of downloadable pages for students, video interviews with children's authors, and student-friendly scoring guides.

Culham's bestseller The Writing Thief, which takes a deep dive into the theory and practice of using mentor texts to teach the craft of writing.

Mentor Texts:

Ideas: Buried Sunlight, by Molly Bang and Penny Chisolm

Organization: Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad, by Henry Cole

Voice: The Adventures of Ook and Gluk;Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future, by George Beard and Harold Hutchins

Word Choice: Testing the Ice: A True Story About Jackie Robinson, by Sharon Robinson and Kadir Nelson

Sentence Fluency: Jangles: A Big Fish Story, by David Shannon

Conventions: What's New? The Zoo! , by Kathleen Krull

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trait crate plus traits writing nwrel 6+1 modes mentor text thief narrative informational opinion common core ccss nwp national project scoring guides craft model lessons

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Using fiction and nonfiction children's books as mentors, Trait Crate® Plus adds new life and energy to the teaching of writing through thoughtful and creative lessons that are ready-to-use tomorrow. Everything you need is provided. Traits Crate Plus helps students learn and use the six traits-ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions-to improve specific skills in writing.