About this ebook
In today′s high-stakes environment, standardized test scores not only gauge student performance, but are also linked to a school′s status and the funding it receives. This helpful resource provides educators with a classroom-tested writing curriculum that has proven to boost student scores on standardized writing tests while helping them develop skills for lifelong writing success.
The authors offer structured, day-to-day lesson plans linked to national standards; easy-to-use writing tools; and carefully crafted, unscripted lessons that cover a scope and follow a sequence that aims for student success. This curriculum is designed to help you:
- Become a confident writing teacher
- Prepare your students for all practical applications of writing
- Provide students with the analytical tools and skills they need to succeed on standardized writing tests
- Accommodate students′ strengths and weaknesses
- Create confident readers and writers of your most reluctant students
Your students need more than writing prompts and grammar lessons to ensure they will have lifelong writing success. Finally--a way for teachers to provide quality writing instruction that allows them to meet testing demands on time and with confidence!
About the author
Since earning her MEd from the University of Florida in 2000, Karen Donohue has worked to develop and implement a writing curriculum for elementary students. She has experience with Early Intervention programs with students in first-, third- and fourth-grade classrooms in both Reddick Collier Elementary in Reddick, Florida and Pine Forest Elementary in Marietta, Georgia. With student writing becoming a benchmark for students as young as first grade, Karen has researched, developed, and taught Staff Development courses for K-5 teachers. Her workshops titled "Writing to a Prompt (Grades K-5)," "Write Way to Success (Grade 3-5)," and "Writer’s Workshop – Getting Started" have been implemented schoolwide at Pine Forest Elementary where she was a Grade 1 Team Leader. She is currently a Grade 1 Team Leader at Lockheed Elementary in Marietta, Georgia, where she is a member of the International Reading Association.
Nanda Reddy earned her MEd from the University of Florida in 1999 and subsequently worked as a fourth grade teacher in Marion County, Florida. At her school, she served as a team leader and worked to develop a writing curriculum to accommodate the pressures of standardized tests and student writing needs. Nanda taught the curriculum at the school, and for that, she was honored as Rookie Teacher of the Year. She has workshopped this material under the titles "Teaching Reluctant Writers" and "Teaching Kids to Write" in both Florida and Reno, Nevada, where she now resides. Nanda, a member of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), currently works full time raising her family and writing fiction. She hopes to continue conducting writing workshops for teachers.
