Ch 5: Planning the Writing Curriculum
About This Chapter
Planning the Writing Curriculum - Chapter Summary
In this age of text messages and Internet-speak, the beauty and rhythm of well-written English prose has taken something of a beating. By implementing the tools you will find in these lessons, you can build a writing curriculum that can develop and hone your students' skills and rekindle their appreciation of the power of the written word. In these video lessons, you will find the following information:
- An overview of expository, interactive, hands-on and collaborative instructional strategies
- How to build lessons using expository instruction
- What an advance organizer is and how to use it
- How to use academic language
- Strategies for checking how well your students are learning
- How to use a curriculum guide and a curriculum model
- Strategies and techniques for teaching writing in the classroom
- Implementing the Writer's Workshop approach
- Methods for teaching content-area writing
- Approaches for teaching writing to culturally diverse students
Our videos provide a brief but comprehensive body of information, and are presented by instructors who are experts in their fields. Lesson quizzes and chapter tests enable you to reinforce your retention of the material, and access to the instructors allows you to ask questions or seek clarification if you should need additional assistance.
How It Helps
- Provides structure and organization: The lessons will help you build a focused, effective writing curriculum for your students.
- Expands your teaching strategies: By learning strategies for students at various stages of development, you will be able to target your writing curriculum towards the needs of your students.
- Addresses cultural differences: You will be able to apply the information here to second-language speakers and students from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Skills Covered
When you have completed the lessons in this chapter, you will be able to:
- Apply the four instructional strategies effectively
- Describe the function of academic language
- Design and implement a solid, comprehensive writing program
- Structure your classes using models, guides and advance organizers
- List strategies for differentiating instruction for students at various stages of development or for ELL students
1. Instructional Strategies: Hands-On, Interactive, Expository & Collaborative
In this lesson, we will use the fictional Academy of Magic to illustrate four types of instructional strategies that teachers use in the classroom: expository instruction, interactive instruction, hands-on instruction and collaborative instruction.
2. Expository Approaches to Instruction
Good expository instruction goes beyond just giving information to students. In this lesson, we describe effective expository instruction and how it is used to structure lessons in a way that optimizes learning.
3. Advance Organizers in the Classroom: Teaching Strategies & Advantages
An advance organizer is a very useful tool for teachers to help students understand, retain and remember new learning material. In this lesson, we define an advance organizer and discuss examples and benefits of use in the classroom.
4. Academic Language: Definition, Examples & Functions
In this lesson, you'll be able to learn about academic language, and how it fits into a school's curriculum. Check out some various examples and functions of this way of writing and then test your knowledge with a quiz!
5. How to Check for Understanding in the Classroom: Strategies
Checking for understanding is an important part of teaching that helps you determine whether your students are learning what they need to. This lesson will detail some strategies you can use to check for understanding in your classroom.
6. What is a Curriculum Guide?
Knowing what to teach and when is a common source of anxiety among novice teachers. Many states, districts, and schools help teachers pace their lessons with a curriculum guide. Though sometimes stringent, these tools can make teaching more focused.
7. What is a Curriculum Model?
Curriculum models are a tool used by educators. Much is made of their development and implementation, but does anyone actually know what one is? Let's take a look at curriculum models and see what all the buzz is about.
8. Guiding Students in Authentic Writing
Authentic writing is an important skill for your students to learn. This lesson will provide some techniques and strategies you can use to help guide your students in authentic writing.
9. How to Differentiate Writing Instruction for Students
How can teachers reach all learners during writing instruction? This lesson highlights several strategies to differentiate writing instruction and gives examples of how each is used in the classroom.
10. Using the Writer's Workshop Approach in the Classroom
Writer's workshop is a method used to teach students great writing skills. How does it work? This lesson will describe the writer's workshop classroom and provide examples of techniques used in each stage of the process.
11. Teaching Strategies for Content-Area Writing
All subject areas are required to incorporate writing in some form. This lesson offers strategies for teaching content area writing in two ways - learning to write and writing to learn.
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Other Chapters
Other chapters within the How to Teach Writing Skills course
