Writing Policy

Purpose: This is a legally required SBDM policy.

Junction City Elementary School recognizes that writing is part of literacy, a necessary communication skill for students, and should be authentically taught and practiced in all content areas. The writing curriculum will comply with state and federal standards. Each grade level will have a writing and technology plan to meet all requirements in this policy.

Policy Components:

  1. The school will provide multiple opportunities for students to develop complex communication skills for a variety of purposes.
  2. The school will provide developmentally appropriate access to and use of technology tools for students.
  3. The school will develop procedures for developing and monitoring Student Writing Portfolios.
  4. Feedback will be given to students regarding their writing and communication skills from classroom teachers. When appropriate, students will be given opportunities to self-asses and provide feedback to peers.

Component I

Junction City Elementary School will provide multiple opportunities for students to develop complex communication skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening, observing) for a variety of purposes.

  1. Reading and writing will be aligned both vertically and horizontally with Kentucky Common Core Standards.
  2. Students will experience authentic, meaningful writing at all grade levels:
  • Writing for a variety of purposes and audiences.
  • Experiences that reveal ownership and independent thinking.
  • Writing in which students draw on their own experiences, learning, reading, and inquiry to complete writing tasks.
  1. Writing will be incorporated across all content areas and should be a natural outcome of the content being studied.
  2. Students will be provided with instruction and opportunities to practice proficient communication (speaking, listening, writing) for authentic purposes.

Component II

Junction City Elementary School will prepare students for success in a global society by providing developmentally appropriate access to and authentic use of technology tools.

  1. Students will be provided opportunities to innovatively use technology to communicate.
  2. Students will have access to a variety of technology tools (document camera, projector, SMART Boards, iPads, Chromebooks, computer labs, software programs, and internet access).
  3. Students will be provided with opportunities to actively communicate using technology across content areas.

Component III

Junction City Elementary School will ensure every student has a writing portfolio that includes samples of work that show interests and growth over time, follows the student from grade to grade, and follows the student to any school he/she attends.

  1. Students will engage in three categories of writing: writing to learn, writing to demonstrate learning and writing for publication. Students will learn the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and publishing).
  • Writing to Learn – for all subject area. Writing to Learn activities can include but are not limited to:

Learning Journal, Reading Response Journal

Entry slips

Learning Log, Reading Log, Science Log

Graphic Organizers and note taking

Journaling or Writer’s notebook

  • Writing to Demonstrate Learning – for all subject areas. Writing to Demonstrate Learning activities can include but are not limited to:

Open Response

Short answer questions/Essays

Exit slips involving writing

Summaries/Book Reviews

Lab reports summarizing work

Projects that involve writing

Literacy Design Collaborative tasks

  • Writing for Publication- for all subject areas. Writing for Publication includes pieces that have been taken through the writing process completely and have the potential to be published in the real world. Examples include articles, editorials, letters, speeches, reviews, personal narratives, memoirs, short stories, plays, research papers and autobiographies.
  1. All grade levels and content areas will participate in writing and communication instruction, the development of Student Writing Portfolio pieces, and a portfolio review.

Student Portfolio Writing (hard copy or digital) will follow the student from kindergarten through fifth grade. These portfolios should show a collection of work over time with evidence of alignment to all portfolio categories and genres as described in the Common Core Standards: an argumentative/persuasive piece, a narrative piece and an informative piece. The student, in cooperation with the teacher, will select from their classroom folder their best work in each category to go in their portfolio. The pieces can be revised and edited or finished products. Each piece in the portfolio should be dated. For one of the categories, the student should include a series of drafts to show evidence of conferencing and revision.

Contents for each grade level will be as follows:

K-51 opinion piece or argumentative

1 narrative piece (not necessarily a personal narrative)

*Reference tips on narrative writing below

1 informational/explanatory piece

1 example of writing to learn

1 example of writing to demonstrate learning

**ONLY 1 set of drafts should accompany one of the pieces(reference the common core listed below to see the pieces required at each grade level) to show evidence of conferencing and revision. Evidence of feedback given to the student should be included with the piece (i.e. rubric, analytical scoring guide, primary continuum, etc.)

  1. Student Portfolio Writing will be reviewed on both an individual student level and at the class/grade level. The analysis will provide information for teachers as to how to help individual students grow and improve while also providing instructional information for the entire class or grade level. Grade level reviews will occur in February, March and April. Results will be communicated to all stakeholders (parents, teachers, students).
  2. All teachers will participate in job-embedded professional development based on the review process. PD will be ongoing and job-embedded.
  3. Administration will support and guide the writing and communication instruction, PD, and review process.
  4. The Writing Policy will be reviewed annually and adjusted based on need.
  5. All other pieces should be written ON-DEMAND showing evidence that students are provided near daily practice for on-demand situations.
  6. Students write on-demand nearly every day (i.e. daily journals, blogging)
  7. Daily writing lessons should be focused on how to write informationally, narrativelyand express/supprt an opinion through on-demand situations.
  8. Have students write to a prompt after reading a text (or two texts)
  9. Focus on reading and writing non-fiction rather than fiction.
  10. Don’t focus on writing the whole piece every time. Spend multiple days analyzing prompts and getting the writing started.
  11. Time everything to help students get used to writing with a time limit.
  12. Build stamina: write daily (if at all possible). The key here is to give a time limit for students to write the entire time.
  13. Have students collaborate on writing pieces
  14. Use a graphic organizer that makes brainstorming quick and simple

Component IV

Feedback will be given to all Junction City Elementary students regarding their writing and communication skills.

  1. Teachers will provide constructive oral and written feedback to students in order to help the students progress in their writing and communication skills. Information will also be shared with parents and other stakeholders.

Best practices for providing feedback are:

  • Individual conferences with a written note for the student. Only 1-2 revisions should be noted at a time.
  • Written notes to student should be in the margin of the paper, on a sticky note, or in/on an assessment folder/page. Teachers should never write for the student or make changes for the student unless an IEP includes dictation. In early primary, teachers may use the practice of recording underneath a student’s picture or writing attempts. However, this practice will subside as the student’s work becomes more conventional.
  • Commentary on a student’s strengths should be posted in the hallways and on classroom bulletin boards as examples of meeting standards.
  1. Student writing and communication skills will be analyzed for strengths and weakness. Feedback will be prompt and specific. Teacher practices should lay a foundation that will move students toward the end objective that students can internalize writing skills and write proficient work. Evidence of feedback should/may include: rubrics, appropriate paper marks, student-teacher conference notes, instructional analysis worksheet in Index A of the Kentucky Writing Scoring Handbook, etc.
  2. Students will be given the opportunity to self-assess in order to improve their writing based on teacher and peer feedback (after direct instruction is provided for students in peer evaluation of published pieces).

Keys to Narrative Writing

Teaching narrative writing:

  • Help students provide visual details of scenes, objects, or people
  • Depict specific actions
  • Use dialogue
  • Manipulate pace

Use of narrative writing in Language arts:

  • Fictional stories
  • Memoirs
  • Autobiographies

Use of narrative writing in history/social studies:

  • Narrative accounts about individuals
  • Construct event models of what happened selecting from their sources only the most relevant information

Use of narrative writing in science:

  • Narrative descriptions of the step-by-step procedures

ALL WRITING PLANS ARE ATTACHED K-5. PLEASE NOTE: ALL PIECE TITLES CAN BE WRITTEN TO PUBLISH OR ON-DEMAND ACCORDING TO PORTFOLIO NEEDS

Date adopted: July 2013

Council Chairperson’s Initials: PS

Date reviewed/revised: March 2015