Kindergarten through fifth-grade teachers from Daniel Warren Elementary School and F.E. Bellows Elementary School collaborated with the district’s literacy consultant on June 22 to roll out new writing units of study for the upcoming 2018-2019 school year.
Under the leadership of Daniel Warren Principal Tara Goldberg and F.E. Bellows Principal Michael Scarantino, the teachers spent the day unpacking the components of writing workshop before planning the first unit of study their students will engage in this fall.
“The writing units of study balance providing students opportunities to immerse themselves in narrative, information and opinion writing,” Goldberg said. “The work K-5 will provide a consistent approach across the grades where writers write for real purposes and audiences.”
The units of study that will be launched in the fall include We Are Writers (kindergarten), Building Your Writing Toolbox (first grade), One Scene Stories (second grade), Reviving Our Writing Lives (third grade), Perspective Short Fiction (fourth grade) and Fifth-Graders Take Action on Issues (fifth grade).
“It was wonderful to see teachers engaged in the work as they prepared to roll out the writing units in the fall,” Scarantino said. “It was a great day of learning for our teachers.”
During this past school year, both schools implemented a successful reading curriculum, which will be further complemented by the new writing curriculum.
“We look forward to participating in continued curriculum development, as we will continue to work with our literacy consultant throughout the upcoming school year, so that reading and writing workshop are successful and engaging for all students,” Goldberg added.
Families will be invited to publishing parties throughout the school year to celebrate their writing work.