A Complete Writing Curriculum Designed to Support Virginia Students

Strategy #1

Dedicated Writing Time

Although applying writing skills naturally happens in other subject areas, studies support having a dedicated writing time where students can receive adequate practice and instruction in writing.

Graham, S. (2019). Changing How Writing Is Taught. Review of Research in Education, 43(1), 277–303.

Strategy #2

Strategy-Focused Direct Instruction

Strategy-focused instruction is one of the most effective approaches to improve writing skills. It teaches developing writers strategies that give them executive control over their writing processes through direct instruction, modeling, and scaffolded practice.

Lopez, P. (2017). Effects of Direct Instruction and Strategy Modeling on Upper-Primary Students' Writing Development. Frontiers Psychology.

Strategy #3

Teacher Modeling & Exemplar Usage

We provide age-appropriate model texts for every unit that reflect the elements of the writing genre students should replicate. Research shows students in the Models group received significantly higher scores than students without models.

Charney, D., & Carlson, R. (1995). Learning to write in a genre. Research in the Teaching of English, 29, 88–125.

Strategy #4

Teacher Clarity

Teacher clarity goes beyond simply writing standards on the board. We provide clear purpose, success criteria, and learning goals for every lesson — a logical pathway from where students are to where we want them to be.

Hattie, J. (2010). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge.

Strategy #5

Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers provide a necessary visual element for ELL and visual learners. Students using a concept- mapping learning strategy do better and retain learning longer than those limited to text-only strategies.

Harris, K. R., & Graham, S. (1996). Making the Writing Process Work: Strategies for Composition and Self-Regulation.

Strategy #6

Consistent & Timely Feedback

Feedback is the cornerstone of revision. Alongside peer and teacher feedback strategies, we include many self-assessment opportunities built around the principle that "where to next" comments are necessary for student improvement.

Hattie, J. A., & Clarke, S. (2019). Visible learning: Feedback. Routledge.

"I was able to spend more in depth time for kids who had trouble with the mechanics of writing. Going over the example for personal narrative really helped my stamina writers figure out what they needed to put next. Also, I found it linked well with our reading program, because they were able to give more feedback about their language arts stories based on what we talked about in writing."

Adrienne J.

Norfolk, VA