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Project: |
Writing Proficiency Project
Grades 4-9 sequence and standards for writing applications |
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District
Goal: |
All
students achieve grade-level proficiency in writing by the end of
grade 8 |
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Purpose: |
- To
develop a clear, common understanding of grade-level standards
in writing
- To
develop a genre-specific focus for each grade level in order to
sequence and scaffold writing development in grades 4-9.
- To
design professional development for teachers grades 4-9 on the
teaching of writing
- To
create toolkits for writing instruction and scoring of writing
that include: rubrics, anchor papers, process for scoring, matrix
of common problems and weaknesses and instructional strategies
and activities to address them, description of genres, models
of genres and sample prompts.
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Rationale: |
Teachers engage in meaningful and productive professional development
when they examine their student writing using rubrics and exemplars.
By identifying a specific writing genre focus at each grade level,
teachers develop an expertise in teaching a genre. Students, in turn,
develop proficiency in genres and writing skills in a sequential and
development manner and are prepared for high stakes on-demand writing
in high school.
By bringing exemplary teachers
together to build on their best practices and develop instructional
resources to enhance the core program, we draw on the creative capital
of OUSD's best and brightest teachers who have proven effective
classroom practice in the teaching of writing. The production
of writing assessment anchor papers and a protocol for scoring will
allow teachers at individual school sites to score writing assessments,
talk about student strengths and weaknesses and develop instructional
strategies aimed at improving student writing. In particular, teachers
need to enhance the core program in order to meet the needs of struggling
students and English Language Learners.
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