Writing, Grades 2-3
Assessment
Teacher Conferencing
Conferencing with your students one-on-one provides the ideal environment for informally assessing students. Teacher-student conferences help students learn to evaluate, edit, and change their writing. During conferences, focus attention on specific aspects of your students' writing by asking a series of simple questions:
Writing Seminar
The purpose of Writing Seminar is for students to discuss their work in progress and to share ideas for improving it. It is one of the activities in which students may choose to participate during Workshop; alternatively, you may conduct Writing Seminar during a writing lesson. During Seminar, students meet in small groups to read and discuss one another's writing. One student reads a piece in progress. Other students comment on the writing and ask questions about the ideas behind the writing. The student whose work is being critiqued writes down the comments made by his or her classmates and decides how to use these comments to make the writing better.
Writing Seminar provides a perfect avenue for gauging students' growing understanding and skill as writers. Students discuss each phase of a writing project and become more adept at using the constructive criticism of their classmates to improve their writing. As you listen to each student present his or her work, note how well they have incorporated the different aspects of writing they have learned about. Note also the growing maturity of the audience's comments.
Writing Folders and Portfolios
As they write, students should keep their drafts and final pieces in a Writing Folder. These folders serve as a detailed record of your students' growth; they can compare one piece to another, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and reflect on their writing and how it changes and develops over time. Students can also go back and work on pieces in progress that were started and never completed.
In addition to the Writing Folder for works in progress, each student should keep a portfolio—samples of completed work throughout the year. These may be samples of best work for a marking period, most interesting writing attempt, personal favorite work, and the like.
Formal Assessment
In addition to informally monitoring your students' progress throughout the year, you can use Open Court Reading's formal writing assessments located in the Unit Assessment books that accompany this program. These assessments also include guides designed to help you effectively and accurately evaluate your students' progress. In addition, assessment criteria are included at the end of each five-day writing assignment in the Teacher's Edition.
The Level Appendix of each SRA Imagine It! Teacher's Edition contains writing rubrics you can use to evaluate Genre, Writing Process, and Writing Traits.
Learning to write is a complex and challenging process. It involves
much thinking, planning, and problem solving.
Teacher Conferencing
Conferencing with your students one-on-one provides the ideal environment for informally assessing students. Teacher-student conferences help students learn to evaluate, edit, and change their writing. During conferences, focus attention on specific aspects of your students' writing by asking a series of simple questions:
- What do you want to write about?
- What words would you like to use to write about that?
- I like your first sentence. What do you think you can write next?
Writing Seminar
The purpose of Writing Seminar is for students to discuss their work in progress and to share ideas for improving it. It is one of the activities in which students may choose to participate during Workshop; alternatively, you may conduct Writing Seminar during a writing lesson. During Seminar, students meet in small groups to read and discuss one another's writing. One student reads a piece in progress. Other students comment on the writing and ask questions about the ideas behind the writing. The student whose work is being critiqued writes down the comments made by his or her classmates and decides how to use these comments to make the writing better.
Writing Seminar provides a perfect avenue for gauging students' growing understanding and skill as writers. Students discuss each phase of a writing project and become more adept at using the constructive criticism of their classmates to improve their writing. As you listen to each student present his or her work, note how well they have incorporated the different aspects of writing they have learned about. Note also the growing maturity of the audience's comments.
Writing Folders and Portfolios
As they write, students should keep their drafts and final pieces in a Writing Folder. These folders serve as a detailed record of your students' growth; they can compare one piece to another, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and reflect on their writing and how it changes and develops over time. Students can also go back and work on pieces in progress that were started and never completed.
In addition to the Writing Folder for works in progress, each student should keep a portfolio—samples of completed work throughout the year. These may be samples of best work for a marking period, most interesting writing attempt, personal favorite work, and the like.
Formal Assessment
In addition to informally monitoring your students' progress throughout the year, you can use Open Court Reading's formal writing assessments located in the Unit Assessment books that accompany this program. These assessments also include guides designed to help you effectively and accurately evaluate your students' progress. In addition, assessment criteria are included at the end of each five-day writing assignment in the Teacher's Edition.
The Level Appendix of each SRA Imagine It! Teacher's Edition contains writing rubrics you can use to evaluate Genre, Writing Process, and Writing Traits.
