Monitoring Writing Progress: Forrest Elementary Continues to Make Strides with the Being a Writer™ Program

When we last checked in with Forrest Elementary, the school had completed a couple of months of Being a Writer™ instruction in every grade from kindergarten through sixth. The writing instruction has progressed even better than we had hoped! 

• First grade teacher Christine Dreele is finding that her students are able to come up with more detail than in previous years.
• Kindergarten teacher Karen McCormick remarks on how emphasizing that writing is communication and the joy of sharing have her students excited to develop their own ideas, not just suggestions given to them by a teacher or text.
• Fifth grade teacher Karen Osmun is impressed by her students' ability to self-assess and their willingness to rewrite and improve writing pieces.
• Fourth grade teacher Melissa Broiles talks about how the Being a Writer program fits well into the rest of her literacy block.
• Sixth Grade teacher Kate Morris finds having her students read their writing aloud and using the Self-Buddy-Teacher Checklist helps the students self-correct and provide deeper feedback to others.
• Third grade teacher Kathy Solimeo is excited by her students' recognition of, and writing about, their own progress as authors.
• Another third grade teacher, Robin Leddington notes how important great children's literature is to modelling writing, how effective pair conferencing can be for thinking deeper, and how excited her students were to present their work.

We are honored at Developmental Studies Center to have these dedicated teachers using the Being a Writer program in such an effective manner. 

Do you have any questions for these teachers or DSC about the Being a Writer program? Leave a comment on any of their blogs or post something to our forums. 

More stories from Forrest Elementary are coming up in the next month or two!