Writing and a Freebie

We adopted a new language arts curriculum last spring. We chose a program called Write Steps for our writing program. It is written by teachers in Michigan and is aligned to our state assessment and the common core. That wasn't as much of a determining factor for purchasing it, as much as a need for  consistency at each grade level. It seems as though we have had a school improvement goal of writing or writing across the curriculum f-o-r-e-v-e-r! We still struggle with writing.

The Write Steps program is more of a framework. If you are not passionate about writing, it can hold your hand to get your students writing. They include videos to help teachers, and writing samples. I don't see it as being a very motivating program for those that love to write.

As part of the curriculum review process, I piloted Scholastic's Traits Writing and loved it. It was pricey. I weave as much of that into my writing lessons as possible. There are short interviews with real authors (of the mentor texts). I love the mentor texts that came with the program. Unfortunately, I am the only one that uses it. So much for consistency!

I also am using a writing center. I had been looking for some new materials when I found Rory's story cubes at Target a couple of weeks ago. I made a writing center activity to go with the Story Cubes. There is a Basic, Getting You Started, and For Lefties version. Click on the link  to download it for free from my Teachers Pay Teachers store or Teacher's Notebook shop.