Writing

The objectives of our writing programs are to provide the opportunity for students to become the best writer they can be and to build a solid foundation on which they can continue to achieve success in the education continuum.

ReadingTown Approach
  • We have revised Writing Master, our popular writing program, to cope with the requirements of Common Core State Standards in writing. Through the revised program students learn the process of writing faster than before and engage in actual essay-writing and the production of writing while effectively applying their knowledge in the process.
  • We have set students' writing goal with the ratio of persuasive writing (to persuade), expository writing (to explain), and narrative writing (to convey experience) as follows: up to 4th grade (30:35:35), up to 8th grade (35:35:30), and up to 12th grade (40:40:20).
  • We have upgraded W2, our web-based interactive writing tool, which allows instructors as well as parents to carefully monitor every step of students' writing process toward completion of annual goal of essay writing individualized for each student.
  • We have brought over our previous grammar programs—Grammar and New Grammar Skills—to our writing curriculum for more effective teaching approach for writing.
  • We have revised our book report form to combine reading and writing effectively.
  • We have implemented the following new curricula to meet the Common Core State Standards in writing:
    • (1)Research Writing: to meet the requirement of research writing even at the start of Kindergarten, and let students conduct research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
    • (2)Essay Writing: to meet the requirement of various essay writing: persuasive, expository, and narrative.
Introduction
To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students need to learn to use writing as a way of offering and supporting opinions, demonstrating understanding of the subjects they are studying, and conveying real and imagined experiences and events. They learn to appreciate that a key purpose of writing is to communicate clearly to an external, sometimes unfamiliar audience, and they begin to adapt the form and content of their writing to accomplish a particular task and purpose. They develop the capacity to build knowledge on a subject through research projects and to respond analytically to literary and informational sources. To meet these goals, students must devote significant time and effort to writing, producing numerous pieces over short and extended time frames throughout the year.

Besides, to build a foundation for college and career readiness in language, students must gain control over many conventions of standard English grammar, usage, and mechanics as well as learn other ways to use language to convey meaning effectively.
Standards
The ability to write logical arguments based on substantive claims, sound reasoning, and relevant evidence is a cornerstone of the writing standards, with opinion writing—a basic form of argument—extending down into the earliest grades.

Research—both short, focused projects (such as those commonly required in the workplace) and longer term in-depth research—is emphasized throughout the standards but most prominently in the writing strand since a written analysis and presentation of findings is so often critical.

The standards help prepare students for real life experience at college and in 21st century careers. The standards recognize that students must be able to use formal English in their writing and speaking but that they must also be able to make informed, skillful choices among the many ways to express themselves through language. The Language standards include the essential “rules” of standard written and spoken English, but they also approach language as a matter of craft and informed choice among alternatives.

The standards acknowledge the fact that whereas some writing skills, such as the ability to plan, revise, edit, and publish, are applicable to many types of writing, other skills are more properly defined in terms of specific writing types: arguments, informative/explanatory texts, and narratives. Standard 9 stresses the importance of the writing-reading connection by requiring students to draw upon and write about evidence from literary and informational texts. Because of the centrality of writing to most forms of inquiry, research standards are prominently included in this strand, though skills important to research are infused throughout the document.
Text Types and Purposes
  • Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
  • Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
  • Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
Production and Distribution of Writing
  • Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
  • Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
  • Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
  • Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
  • Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
  • Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Range of Writing
  • Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Conventions of Standard English
  • Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
  • Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Knowledge of Language
  • Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.