Developing Proficient Developing Proficient Writers Writers

Barren County SchoolsBarren County SchoolsPlan to Develop ProficiencyPlan to Develop Proficiency

20062006

Barren County Classrooms

School-wide Writing Program

Category 1:Writing to Learn

Category 2:Writing to

Demonstrate Learning

Category 3: Authentic Writing

Category 1:Category 1:Writing to LearnWriting to Learn

Category 1: Purpose of Writing to Learn Activities• To help student assimilate

learning• To help students remember

information• The audience is the learner

Category 1: Writing to Learn Samples

• Writer’s Notebook• Reading Response

Journal• Learning Log• Class Journal• Dialogue Journal• Opinion Journal

• Sketch Journal• Response Paragraph• Personal Journal• Observation Logs• Learning Logs• Grammar Log• Do Now’s

Category 1: Writing to Learn

• Often a response to a prompt• Intended to promote student’s understanding

of content and stimulates thinking• Indicates how well a student understands

what has been taught• Open to student’s thinking• Brief, single draft writing (never corrected)• Not real world form or authentic• Can be written in or out of class• May give credit for it, but never graded

Category 2:Category 2: Writing to Demonstrate LearningWriting to Demonstrate Learning

Category 2: Writing to Demonstrate Learning

• The purpose is to demonstrate learning

• The audience is the teacher• Requires students to think and

respond at higher levels

Category 2: Writing to Demonstrate Learning

Examples• Answer to open response• Test answer• Summary reading• Explanation or summary of activity• Book, research, or library report• Lab report• Essay for a quiz

Category 2: Writing to Demonstrate Learning

• Is a response to a school exercise, prompt, or teacher assignment

• Demonstrates to the teacher that the student has completed assigned work

• Intended to assess learning• Correct answers with standard explanations• Usually a single draft, not in a real world form

and not intended for authentic readership

Category 3: Category 3: Authentic WritingAuthentic Writing

Category 3: Authentic Writing

• The purpose is to synthesize, analyze, or evaluate what the student has learned

• To communicate with a wider audience outside the classroom in a real world form

Category 3: Authentic Writing Samples

• Articles• Editorials• Text for speeches• Letters• Memos• Proposals• Reviews• Short Stories

• Chapters for a book• Manuals• Picture books for

children• Personal Narratives• Memoirs• Poems• Plays, scripts

Category 3: Authentic Writing

• May be written in response to teacher prompt, but defined to some extent by student

• Specific authentic purpose in a real world form writing is driven by the purpose

• Intended to develop student writing skills• Reveals student ownership• Usually taken through full writing process

Category 3: Authentic Writing

Is the only writing appropriate for inclusion in the assessment portfolio

Barren County’s Writing Plan Must Do’s

• All classrooms will focus on the three categories of writing

• All writing will be embedded in units of study• Students will be reading and discussing the

kind of material they will be writing• All students will receive regular feedback on

writing progress • Student work will be celebrated• Move from compliance to culture change