How and why should I

have my students write

more in my class?
No really, Im serious. Its not something else to
do. Its not a mandate. But it will really help
kids improve their communication skills that are
already damaged from spending too much time
acquiring language skills via texting & tweeting.

Why should kids

write more?
Tangible life skills? Go figure.
PSSA Scores? Yay public perception.
Cruel & Unusual Punishment? The
Constitution is dead anyway.

1.
2.
3.
4.

Go to classroom.google.com
Click the + sign and select Join Class
Type in the class code: 6am4iy
Take the Teaching Writing Survey which

includes 3 simple questions

Practice vs.
Deliberate Practice

Practice vs. Deliberate Practice

My father taught
me that the
only way you
can make good
at anything is
to practice, and
then practice
some more.
!

Pete Rose

Simply hitting a bucket of balls is

not deliberate practice, which is
why most golfers don't get better.
Hitting an eight-iron 300 times
with a goal of leaving the ball
within 20 feet of the pin 80
percent of the time, continually
observing results and making
appropriate adjustments, and
doing that for hours every day that's deliberate practice.

If you see
players who
hate practice,
their coach
isnt doing a
very good
job.
!
!

Bill Walsh

Case Study:
Quaker Valley Middle School 2010-2014

Get WACed
All teachers bought into the idea of
infusing writing into their classes in some
way
However, specific strategies were taught so
that writing would be practical, natural,
and compliment what was already going
on in the classroom
If everyone does a little, a lot can happen

How am I going to fit writing into my

already jam packed classes?!?!?!?!
Number of minutes spent
Minutes of writing

writing in all academic

per week in classes

classes per week (assuming

(36 week year)

there are 5 academic

Minutes spent writing

per class period

classes)

Hours spent
writing per
school year

30 minutes

6 minutes

1.2 minutes

18 hours

1 hour

10 minutes

2 minutes

36 hours

2 hours

20 minutes

4 minutes

72 hours

3 hours

30 minutes

6 minutes

108 hours

4 hours

40 minutes

8 minutes

144 hours

5 hours

50 minutes

10 minutes

180 hours

Incorporation
Techniques
PRACTICE - Quick Write: Quick, timed,
minimum number of sentences that can
serve as summarizers, brainstorming
ideas, or checks for understanding
DELIBERATE PRACTICE - Writing
Assignments with Focused Correction
Areas (FCAs)

PRACTICE:
Quick Writes
Helps students to get their ideas on
paper quickly
Allows the thought process to flow
without the fear of being right or
wrong

TAKES ONLY 1-3 MINUTES

DELIBERATE PRACTICE:
Writing with FCAs
You set specific criteria that you
will use to assess students
CONTENT AREA SPECIFICITY
Have students underline or bold the
areas you are assessing
Quick to grade!

Sample FCAs for

Middle School and High School

Quick Write Pros

- Spontaneous & requires little
preparation by teacher

- Quick assessment of
student knowledge

- Takes very little class time

- Easy to evaluate

- Promotes active learning

by requiring students to

- Provides all students an

opportunity to review prior

produce information
rather than simply identify

knowledge, develop questions, or

information or asking for

think critically

a show of hands for

- When used prior to instruction,

allows teachers to assess student
knowledge to guide instruction
- Gives an advantage to quiet, less
verbal students to actively
participate
- Promotes writing fluency and
comfort level

responses
- Promotes content-rich
writing

Quick Write Con

- Does not directly improve specific
writing skills (sentence variety,
organization, word choice, etc.)

Writing with FCAs

Pros
- Requires a bit more time than
quick writes, although still very
efficient
- Excellent preparation for content
area essays or standardized
writing exams like the PSSA
- Improves writing skills through
frequent writing opportunities
based on the clearly stated
Focused Correction Areas
- Helps students organize and
connect content knowledge in
written form

Cons
- Student does not
receive feedback on
errors other than the
FCAs

Writing Practice in the Classroom

My father taught
me that the
only way you
can make good
at anything is
to practice, and
then practice
some more.
!

Pete Rose

- Quick writing allows students

to practice almost daily
- Repetition allows students to
develop a comfort level with
getting thoughts on paper
- Serves as an opportunity to
actually use LFS in a
meaningful way to have
students summarize what they
have learned or what they are
thinking

Deliberate Writing Practice

in the Classroom
Simply hitting a bucket of
balls is not deliberate
practice, which is why most
golfers don't get better.
Hitting an eight-iron 300
times with a goal of
leaving the ball within 20
feet of the pin 80 percent
of the time, continually
observing results and
making appropriate
adjustments, and doing
that for hours every day that's deliberate practice.

FCAs allow you as the

teacher to have students
focus to develop specific
writing skills for your
content area
Students have specific targets
they should be hitting
Gives the students specific
feedback
Gives the teacher a break
grading everything, which
saves time, energy, pain,
agony, wine consumption,
etc.