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Good Habits, Great Readers Writing

Introduction

Good Habits, Great Readers™ Writing is based on key research about best practices in writing instruction. It is a unique, K–5 writing program that complements Good Habits, Great Readers. This guide discusses

• connectionsbetweenWritingandSharedReading;• programgoals;• Writingprogramcomponents;• pacingoftheWritingunitsandlessons;• componentsofaWritinglesson;and• WritingWorkshop• embeddedwritingactivitiesinbothGuidedandSharedReading.

Connections to Shared Reading

TheWritingprogramconnectstoGood Habits, Great ReadersSharedReadinginmanyways, including the following:

• TheWritinglessonsarestructuredtoallowforagradualreleaseofresponsibility.• TheWritingprogramemphasizesgenresofnonfictionandfiction.• ThesevenunitsinbothSharedReadingandWritingarecloselyalignedsothat

students are reading and writing in the same genre.• Theconnectionsbetweenthestrategiesofgoodreadersandthoseofgoodwriters

areemphasizedthroughouttheWritingprogram.Forexample,studentsuseSharedReadingtextsasmodelsforwriting,andthesetextsoftenprovidethecontentforstudentassignmentsintheWritingprogram.

• Professionaldevelopmentisembeddedinbothprograms.Writingoffersmodeledteacher instructional dialogue.

Program Goals

Good Habits, Great Readers Writing helps teachers

• identifyinstructionandwritingpracticethathelpsstudentsgrowaswriters;• establishaWritingWorkshopintheclassroom;• maketherelationshipbetweenreadingandwritingahighpriority;• provideweeklywriting-processinstructionandpracticethatisauthentic;• impartexplicitinstructiononwritingcraftsandthesixtraitsofgoodwriting;• establishamotivatingenvironmentinwhichstudentsarepraisedandencouragedto

blossomaswriters;and• buildacommunityofwritersintheclassroom.

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Program Components

Good Habits, Great Readers Writing has resources that help provide focused writing instruction. The program relies on real literature to model writing and highlight techniques used by published authors.

Teacher’s Guide

TheTeacher’sGuideservesastheWritingprogram’sprimaryresource.Itisorganizedaround genres and modes or forms of writing. In the seven units in the Teacher’s Guide,lessonsarelaidoutsoteacherscanlead students through fiction and nonfiction genres, work in varied writing modes, and emphasizethesixtraitsofwriting.

Conference Card

This laminated card is a helpful resource when conferencing with students about their writing. It serves as the backbone for the one-on-onemeetingswithstudents.Thiscard contains prompts, reflection questions, and a guide to advising students based on their responses.

Teacher Resource CD

This CD contains resources that support instruction across the grades. These available resources include

a chart on the steps of the writing •process;alistofthesixtraitsofwriting;•aneditingchecklist;•studentrubricsforeachofthesixtraits•ofwriting;benchmark papers that help students •becomefamiliarwiththesixtraits;modeltextsandgraphicorganizersfor•manymodesofwriting;valuable assessment resources, such •asaConferencingRecord,forstudents;andscored anchor papers that provide •samples of student writing.

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Skills for Super Writers: Student and Teacher’s Editions

This workbook and companion Teacher’s Guidecanstrengthenstudents’grammar,usage,andmechanicsskills.TheStudentWorkbookprovidesadditionalpracticetohelpstudents develop revising and editing skills.

Pacing of the Writing Units and Lessons

Good Habits, Great Readers Writingisorganizedintosevenunitspergrade.Theprogramhasbeenplannedtogiveteachersflexibilityinweeklyandmonthlylessonplans.InGradesK–1,therearetwenty-fourweeksofwritinginstruction.Duringeachweek,therearethreedaysofinstruction.ThegoaloftheWritingprogramintheearlygradesistogetstudentsto start to write and to think of themselves as writers by communicating their thoughts in picturesorwords.Studentsstartwritingrightfromthebeginningofeachgrade,andtheycontinue to write throughout the year.

InGrades2–5,therearetwenty-sixweeksofinstruction.Forthesegrades,therearethreetofourlessonsperweek.Fromthestart,studentsareintroducedtothewritingprocess.They generate ideas or topics to write about, plan their writing, make drafts, edit and revise, and publish their work.

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The Pacing Chart shown here gives an overview of what teachers do with their class in each unitofWritingforGrade4.ThefollowingaresomeofthefeaturesoftheWritingprogramreflected in this Pacing Chart:

Genre:• Theprogramisorganizedbythemostrelevantfictionandnonfictiongenresstudents need to learn as both readers and writers.Mode:• Studentwillpracticedifferentmodesorformsofwriting,includingdescriptive,narrative,responsetoreading,creative,information,writingtoexplainandlearn,andpersuasive.Trait Time:• Theselessonsteachthesixtraitsofwriting.

Note: Trait Time is introduced in second grade. The other features are addressed in the program when developmentally appropriate.

Craft:• The chart can also be used to determine which lessons provide an opportunity to draw out specific aspects of polished writing, such as using dialogues, varying sentence structure, and adding details.

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Components of the Writing Lesson

All lessons in Good Habits, Great Readers Writingfollowthesamestructure.Thirty-fivetofifty minutes a day is allotted for daily writing instruction in the classroom. Each lesson in theTeacher’sGuideprovidestentofifteenminutesofdirectinstruction.Therestofthetimeis spent having students write, conference with their teacher, or publish their writing. The followingfeaturesarefoundintheGoodHabits,GreatReadingsWritinglessons:

MaterialsEach lesson has two lists of materials that help teachers and students collect the items they need for a lesson.

ObjectiveThe simply stated objective aligns with many state standards and follows the scope and sequence for the program.

IntroduceTheIntroducesectionprovidescontextforthe lesson, connecting the lesson to previous instruction and naming the main teaching point of the day.

TeachThe Teach section gives the teacher the opportunity to demonstrate a writing process, skill, or strategy and then have the class practice it.

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ApplyThis portion of the writing lesson provides closure to the lesson by having students work independently. On the first day of a new mode of writing, independent writing is optional. On all other days, students write on their own.

Conferencing PromptsIn one or two lessons per week, Conference Prompts offer tips for conferencing with students on their independent work. These tips are prompts for praising students on their work and provide thoughtful questions that encourage students to reflect on their writing.

ShareTheSharesectionistheteacher-directedorstudent-directedlessonwrap-up.

ELL TipThe ELL Tip section provides two tips that offer scaffolding for the week’s lessons for English language learners. The tips also sug-gest support for important content, concepts, and vocabulary.

Grammar/Usage/MechanicsThislessonfeatureprovidesaGrammar/Usage/MechanicsMini-lessonatthebackoftheTeacher’sGuide.Thereisalsoafollow-upactivity that appears at the end of each unit.

Teacher TipTeacher Tips are useful suggestions, provided byexperiencedteachers,forcontentinstruction and classroom management duringtheWritingWorkshop.

Wrap UpWrapUpincludestwosections:thePublishing portion and the Informal Assessment section. The Publishing portion suggests an authentic opportunity for students to publish or share their work, and theInformalAssessmentprovidesReflectiveWritingquestionsorpromptsforstudents.

Unit PlannerTheUnitPlannershowshowtheWritinglessonsareorganizedandconnectedtooneanother,aswellashowtheyrelatetoSharedReadinglessons.

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The Writing Workshop

ThegoaloftheWritingWorkshopistobuildacommunityofwritersinwhichrisk-takingisencouraged and students help each other grow. The units are presented in four steps:

Step 1: Introduce concepts and skills

Step 2: Teach (including teacher modeling)

Forthefirstfivetofifteenminutes,theclass meets as a group. During this time, theteachergivesaMini-lessononawritingconcept or craft. This time frame includes both the Introduce and Teach segments of a lessonintheTeacher’sGuide.Thissegmentoften involves sharing a writing model fromtheTeacherResourceCDorusingtheteacher’s writing as a model for the class.

Step 3: Apply (independent writing)

In the Apply portion of the workshop, students work independently on their writing. Thissegmentshouldlasttwenty-fivetothirty minutes. During this time, teachers talk with individual students in brief writing conferences.

Step 4:Share

ThelastfivetotenminutesofeveryWritingWorkshopshouldbereservedforsharing.During this segment, students share a short portion of their writing. The Teacher’s GuideprovidesdetailsforseveralsharingtechniquesfortheWritinglessons,including

teacher-directedandmodeledsharing;•studentpartnersharing;•small-groupsharing;and•whole-classsharing.•

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Embedded Writing Activities

Good Habits, Great ReadersSharedandGuidedReadingalsoprovideopportunitiesfor students to practice writing in response to reading directly in the program.

EachGuidedReadinglessonplaninGradesK–5 includes writing activities that are tied to each leveled reader.

InSharedReadingforGradesK–3,CenterActivitiesincludewritingpractice.InGrades4–5,theSharedReadingMini-lessonsfocusonawriter’scraft.TheweeklyWrapUpfeature Write About It also enables students topracticeExtendedResponseWriting.

Review

ThisguideexplainedtheconnectionsbetweenWritingandSharedReadinginGood Habits, Great Readers.ItexplainedtheWritingprogramgoalsandcomponents,discussedthepacingoftheWritingunitsandlessons,andexploredthecomponentsofaWritinglesson.Next,itdetailedthegoalandstepsinaWritingWorkshop.Finally,itreviewedtheembeddedwritingactivitiesfoundinbothGuidedandSharedReading.

Formoreinformation,pleaselookfortheothertutorialsonGood Habits, Great Readers on myPearsonTraining.com.