Walnut Road Elementary 22-23

Our Focus

Literacy is a  key focus for all of our learners as it plays an instrumental role in the ways in which our students experience and engage in the world. It is our desire that each learner meaningfully develops reading, writing, thinking, listening, and speaking skills in order to facilitate effective communication and understanding throughout their lives. Continually working to develop the literacy skills of our learners, with a particular focus on writing,  is our main focus.  

Our student learning goals, as they relate to writing, include:

• Using writing and design processes to plan, develop, and create text for a variety of purposes and audiences.
• Using the features and conventions of language to express meaning in their writing and representing.

All of our learners, across all grades, are provided with a variety of creative and relevant opportunities in the area of writing development. These opportunities include various strategies and processes that work to support this . In order to discover both the key successes and areas for further growth in this area, we monitored the progress of a cohort of intermediate students in relation to the student learning goals listed above.

Writing and Communicating

Our students consistently engage in the writing process in all areas of the curriculum. Specifically, they use various planning techniques such as brainstorming, drawing, and communicating with their peers to first draw out their ideas and then to refine them through various revision processes such as peer editing and conferencing. 

Hands-On Learning

Our learners love to create! They value the creative process which includes thinking outside-the-box,  brainstorming various possibilities, refining their ideas through trial-and-error, asking questions, communicating their thinking with others, being open to feedback, and putting their ideas into action. 

Our Next Steps

Through actively engaging with our literacy focus, specifically as it relates to writing, evidence of our students' learning demonstrates that our cohort of learners have been positively impacted by this focus as the majority of students have demonstrated growth in relation to our two literacy goals.

• Using writing and design processes to plan, develop, and create text for a variety of purposes and audiences.
• Using the features and conventions of language to express meaning in their writing and representing.
  

Our results indicate that in relation to our two writing goals (as stated above), the most significant growth occurred for our students who were developing in these skills at the beginning of the year. By the end of the year, some of these students demonstrated proficiency  in the writing and design progress as well as in their ability to use the conventions of language in meaningful and creative ways.

Our learners use writing and design processes to plan, develop, and create text for a variety of purposes and audiences.

An example of writing criteria followed by initial brainstorming and research.

Learners engage in the process of writing a first draft.

Learners refine their draft by receiving feedback from teachers and peers.

Our learners use the feedback they receive to create their final copy.

Our learners use the features and conventions of language to express meaning in their writing and representing.

When I am creating a piece of non-fiction writing, I begin by making sure I am in a focused a quiet environment with just me and my thoughts. I begin by thinking about topics I find interesting. When I decide on a topic, I begin my research and try to answer specific questions I have about the topic. I write down notes about what I discover and once I complete this process, I start by writing a rough draft version of my text in paragraphs. Once I am finished this, I start editing for the first time, checking for details like spelling, spacing, grammar, and indentation. I take a break and then go back to revising and editing once again. I edit and revise over and over! I think about how I can add more complexity to my writing during this process. I write my good copy once I finish the revision process in a way that I am proud of.  ~ Grade 7 student

I think about what I am going to write about and how I am going to put that information on the paper. I often think of things I want to put in the story but need to first figure out how to connect the ideas. To help me do this, I use a story map and think about different writing techniques that I can use, such as flashbacks, back stories, and scenes that can lead up to what is happening. This helps my writing come alive. ~ Grade 7 student

One Student's Story

We would like to celebrate the success of one of our intermediate students who found their writer's voice in creative and unique ways. This student began the year by finding it difficult to write even a simple sentence on the page. This was not due to lack of ability, but rather, a desire to write perfectly right from the start. Through thoughtful and careful guidance from their teacher, however, this student's writer's voice blossomed as the year progressed; first slowly, then with more ease and confidence. This student's teacher provided the opportunity for this student to engage in the writing process in a way that worked for them, particularly in the planning stages. Specifically, this student was encouraged to brainstorm their ideas verbally and through pictures, rather than solely focusing on paper and pen. In time, these verbal and visual ideas transformed into engaging poems that came alive in beautiful ways.

Moving Forward

Based on the evidence of our students’ progress in relation to our two learning goals, our next steps will include:

Exchanging ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding.

• We would like to devote more time and attention to creating opportunities for students to communicate more frequently with both their teacher and peers in relation to the writing process. Specifically, we would like to be intentional about setting aside devoted time for writing conferences. In doing so, the sharing and understanding of ideas can be facilitated in meaningful and purposeful ways.