Wisconsin

Teaching of the entire writing process: planning, drafting, editing/revising, and publishing some pieces.

Every Simplify Writing® unit covers the writing process from brainstorming to publishing, with mini-lessons that guide students through each step. At the end of each unit, students will have produced a published piece for a specific writing genre.

There is explicit instruction in handwriting including letter formation, posture, and grip, and there are opportunities for practice using lined paper to guide letter formation.

Explicit lessons on writing posture, pencil grip, paper positioning, and letter formation are included in the Simplify Writing® curriculum starting in Kindergarten. Additional letter formation and handwriting practice resources are provided for additional support and practice. Students progress from writing on blank paper, to using scaffolded dotted lines, and finally regular lined paper.

Sentence-level writing is a focus in grade K-2 writing instruction. 

Starting in Kindergarten, students learn to produce and expand sentences, with explicit instruction on the components and various types of complete sentences. Grammar resources are provided for specific sentence-level writing skills such as compound/complex sentences, subjects/predicates, parts of speech, and more.

Emphasis is placed on the quality -not quantity -of written work: organization, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are prioritized.

Each Simplify Writing® unit includes both a teacher and student-friendly rubric that describes how writing will be assessed, focusing on categories such as Content, Organization, Elaboration, Language/Vocabulary, and Conventions. 

Writing to learn is emphasized in the curriculum; writing is used as a meansto comprehend the content under study. Writing is always directly or indirectly linked to the curriculum content. 

The Simplify Writing® curriculum incorporates writing across the content areas, with units at each grade level that focus on science, social studies, and literature-related topics. 

Curriculum includes writing assignments that vary in purpose, length, and duration. 

Every writing genre is covered throughout the Simplify Writing® program, with units on narrative, informational, explanatory, and opinion/argumentative writing. Students will produce both simple and extended writing pieces, learning to complete the writing process over a period of days or weeks, as well as in a condensed time frame as might be required in a testing environment.

Curriculum includes frequent writing opportunities that are evidence-based and anchored in the content students are studying to extend and solidify their learning. Writing also includes regular use of short, focused research projects with teacher support (appropriate to the grade level), again anchored in the assigned content. 

Throughout the Simplify Writing® units, students will learn research skills, incorporating evidence from outside texts to support their thinking in writing. Reference texts or paired passages related to content areas are provided in many units as a source for building background knowledge, as well as citing evidence through quotes or paraphrasing. These skills are modeled explicitly using a mentor text, with opportunities for the student to apply the skill in their own writing.

Practice automatizing transcription skills is included, incorporating the use of digital tools or technology to produce and publish writing. 

Interactive, digital student pages are provided for every Simplify Writing® unit in grades 2+, with opportunities for students to use technology throughout the writing process to plan, draft, edit/revise, and publish their writing. Tutorials are provided to assist with using digital tools.