Preview a previous issue:

November 2004

Welcome to Exemplary Initiatives online!

Exemplars is a community of users dedicated to helping schools become successful in standards-based performance assessment and instruction. Our monthly newsletter features short pieces from Exemplars users, as well as brief reflections on current education issues and trends that impact standards, assessment and instruction.

If you would like to contribute, or have comments you would like to share, please get in touch with us at info@exemplars.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

In This Issue:

Welcome to Developing Writers
Learning to Write, Writing to Learn
Paint and Writing?
The Painted Essay™: An Effective Writing Tool for All Grades
An Interview with Karen Kurzman, Ed.

Welcome to Developing Writers

Ross Brewer
President, Exemplars

Writing is fundamental. It is not only the vehicle by which we communicate our thinking with others, but as Karen Kurzman points out in her article, it is also a way we process information. As we organize our thoughts to write, we learn content. Exemplars has always felt that communicating our thinking is critical, and should be considered a basic skill.

From the beginning, our math and science rubrics have included criteria focused on communication. Over the years, many of you have told us how using our material has improved your students' communication skills. That is why we are so pleased to introduce our new series Developing Writers, a systemic program for grades K-4.

We are very excited about Developing Writers and believe it is an effective approach that will help your students become better writers, communicators and inevitably learners. We hope you will find it to be a valuable tool in your classroom. Please enjoy the pieces in this newsletter by those who have made this series possible.

In addition to publishing Developing Writers, we have been very busy at Exemplars. Over the summer, we launched a new and improved web site. Please visit exemplars.com and let us know what you think. We have also differentiated the tasks on the Best of Math I CD and have translated them into Spanish. At this time, we are in the process of doing the same for the Best of Math II CD. Assessment guides are currently being developed to help teachers more accurately assess their students' performance and new science materials are in the works. We are also pleased to report that our summer institutes in Westfield, NJ and San Antonio, TX were a success!

If you are an Exemplars user, write to us at the Online Users Group and let us know what is new in your classroom. The Online Users Group is a free forum where you can join in discussions with our editors and consultants as well as other teachers, curriculum and instructional leaders and those involved in professional development. To join, send an email to info@exemplars.com. We look forward to hearing from you! Back to top

Learning to Write, Writing to Learn

By Karen Kurzman
Author of the Developing Writers series

"School days, school days, dear old golden rule days ... Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, taught to the tune of a hickory stick" goes the old song. While we are all thankful that the hickory stick has been retired, in too many classrooms, writing has all but disappeared as well. With the demands of the No Child Left Behind law, more emphasis is being placed on reading and math while writing is often put on the back burner.

However, in April 2003, the National Commission on Writing called for immediate action from every state.

Writing's time has come ... and it's time for a revolution in how it is taught ... We recommend that the nation's leaders place writing squarely in the center of the school agenda and that policymakers at the state and local levels provide the resources required to improve writing. (The Neglectd "R:" The Need for a Writing Revolution. National Commission on Writing. April 2003.)

Writing has a significant purpose when used as a means of learning content. In inquiry-based classrooms, when writing becomes the tool for investigation and learning, students become engaged.They are forced to think rather than memorize. When students write, they construct, organize and communicate content. Good writing is evidence of clear thinking about subject matter, and writing becomes the fundamental tool in developing critical thinking skills as well as a way to gauge a student's level of understanding.

As a nation we can barely begin to imagine how powerful K-16 education might be if writing were put in its proper focus. (ASCD: Curriculum Update, Summer 2003.)

Exemplars has accepted the challenge from the National Commission by creating a series of books to help teachers in grades K-4 teach this all important skill. Developing Writers is a series that addresses how to teach writing in the primary grades. The first module, Writing is Elementary: Teaching Young Children to Write, concentrates on the the four qualities found in all types of writing and gives practical, classroom-tested activities to help students improve all writing skills. Module two, Bookmarks: Responding to Text, concentrates on teaching students how to write analytically about texts. This module gives guided lessons that teachers can immediately implement in the classroom. It includes hands-on and proven-to-work activities that are fun and effective. Modules three and four, which will be published later this year, concentrate on narratives and expository writing.

At a time when state and national exams are looming over students and teachers, the key to student learning, as well as achievement on state and national assessments, may well be an emphasis on writing. Back to top

Paint and Writing?

by Diana Leddy
Creator of the Painted Essay™

In classrooms all over New England, students are learning to write nonfiction pieces using color, shape and movement. The Painted Essay™ was created as a tool for teaching young students the components of a well-written piece. Developed by a former kindergarten teacher, the Painted Essay™ combines a traditional writing form - the basic essay - with color, activity and oral practice. Different colors are used to represent different parts of an essay. For example, the introduction is red, to catch the reader's attention.

Students begin by writing short pieces on simple topics and gradually progress to more complex pieces. In a memorable and developmentally appropriate way, children learn to focus their nonfiction pieces and to support that focus with evidence and reasoning. The Painted Essay™ format, enables students to develop a deeper understanding of content, while learning how to organize and clearly express their thinking. Most importantly, writing instruction expands to include many learning styles, reaching even those who traditionally struggle with a purely "paper and pencil" approach.

The Painted Essay™ is a primary component of Exemplars Developing Writers series. It is a method that is easy to teach and easy to learn. Teachers and students alike are enjoying this new, "colorful" way to teach writing. Back to top

The Painted Essay™: An Effective Writing Tool for All Grades

By Kosha Patel, Ph.D.
Literacy Specialist - Sheldon School

One of the primary focuses for our upcoming school year was on writing. As the Literacy Specialist for the Sheldon and Highgate Elementary Schools, I was responsible for implementing a successful writing program. The Painted Essay™ was first introduced to our school district by its author, Diana Leddy. Many of our teachers said it was the best professional development that they had ever had!

Throughout the last year, I have gone into many classrooms to demonstrate the "Painted Essay™" method. By giving students the structure of the writing piece, teachers saw first hand that students could focus on the content of the writing. In fact, one teacher even commented that she had not realized how much structure students need in their writing. By using the Painted Essay™ format, students are able to remember what to put where. They learn the paragraph form easily and can begin to enjoy writing. Our teachers saw results in terms of a better quality of writing. Several teachers at the Sheldon School said their greatest success for the year was seeing children's writing improve using the Painted Essay™ form.

Working with our district technology coordinator, I was able to create an electronic template of the Painted Essay™. Our teachers were trained in using this template, which enabled them to customize various writing assignments (using the Painted Essay™) for any grade level.

During a recent trip to India, I introduced the Painted Essay™ to a 5th grade class at the Bombay International School, a private school based on the American school system (which I attended as a child!). The teacher happened to be my fifth grade class teacher, Mrs. Esmayel, from 30 years ago!

I began with an introductory lesson on the Painted Essay™ to a group of 31 fifth graders. Many teachers observed the demonstration and saw how quickly the students grasped the concept of the Painted Essay™. I went on to have a one-hour session with eight teachers that went on for two hours! I showed them many samples of writing using the Painted Essay™ form. We color-coded some and the teachers quickly saw how students had used the form to write their reports.

The simplicity of the Painted Essay™ form and the logic it follows makes it a highly effective tool to use in teaching children to write. Once students master the form, teachers can focus on developing voice and the more individualistic, creative aspects of writing. Back to top

An Interview with Karen Kurzman, Ed.

Karen Kurzman is the author of Exemplars new K-4 series Developing Writers. Karen is a National Board Certified Teacher and has more than 27 years of experience in the classroom. She is currently the director of writing for the Vermont Institutes and a writing consultant for the Vermont Department of Education. Additionally, Karen is an adjunct professor at the University of Vermont and Lyndon State College, and works as an Exemplars consultant.

How did you get your start in education?

I developed a love for literature in high school, and like many other 18 year olds, I aspired to be a great journalist/novelist. I was going to write Pulitzer Prize winning articles and the "great American novel" that would change the world. I did get my foot in that hectic, swinging publishing door, but not as a writer. I worked as production manager, first for Cahner's Publishing and then for Boston Magazine. City life was exciting, and I especially enjoyed the theater while I was there. However, I missed the mountains and peacefulness of the country, so I went back to school and earned a master's degree in both elementary and secondary education. I began my career in education teaching preschool/kindergarten, first, and third grades in the rural settings of Whitefield, New Hampshire and Canaan, Vermont. That was the first fifteen years. I then was then offered a job teaching grades 6-8, and, always looking for a challenge, I accepted. Later I was transferred to grades 9-12 in the same district and enjoyed the opportunity to teach all those novels that I had read and loved as a teen. Teaching all grade levels gave me a unique insight into the development of student learning, especially writing skills.

What is it that you enjoy most about your work?

When I was teaching primary and elementary children, I enjoyed the excitement and the love of learning they brought to the classroom every day. They exude enthusiasm and have such a desire to learn. In the upper grades, it was watching students discover the philosophies of life through literature, and I particularly enjoyed the interaction and discussions with students.

Why is there a need to focus on writing in the K-4 classroom?

Writing is a critical life-skill. It is as important as reading and math. Yet, it is often neglected in the primary grades. The concentration has always been on reading and math, which are, of course, extremely important skills as well. However, students can learn to read without learning to write, but they cannot learn to write without learning to read and think as well.

The philosophy used to be "Let them write often, and they will write well." So, teachers would just say, "Write a narrative." Or, "Write about your summer vacation." We now realize that students have to be taught the skills of rhetorical effectiveness. It is important to have students write often, but that does not guarantee that they will improve. Let me give you an analogy. I could practice basketball every day for the rest of my life and not become a good basketball player until someone teaches me the rules and skills of the game, until someone guides me so that I am practicing the correct way. Otherwise, I simply keep practicing the same mistakes. It is the same in writing. Students need to be taught how to write and then given ample opportunities to practice with a teacher's guidance before writing independently.

Education majors are offered many courses in the strategies of teaching reading and math, and they feel confident in their abilities to instruct in these areas. On the other hand, there are very few courses in how to teach writing, and consequently, teachers tend to feel less comfortable with it. Often students are given writing assignments without direct instruction first, or the instruction is based in grammar and usage rather than the art of effective writing. We would not ask students to read or to add and subtract without teaching them how; and yet, we expect students to know how to write instinctively.

That's what Developing Writers supplies - lessons to help teachers give that direct instruction and guided support.

How do proper writing skills translate into other content areas?

Writing is an active process. We have a saying in Vermont, "Good writing is evidence of clear thinking about a subject." When students are asked to write about a topic from a clear point of view (what we call a focus/controlling idea/thesis), they are required to process what is read and/or learned in class, organize it, and communicate this knowledge to others. It requires total engagement from the writer. In order to get a point across, the writer has to really understand the subject matter. This is true regardless of the content area. Students can write about important subject issues in social studies, math, science, physical education, art or any other content area.

What are your hopes for writing in the K-4 classroom?

That every student learns to write well, but also learns to enjoy and value the art of writing. I will be a happy woman when I can read well-written letters to the editor in magazines and newspapers, especially the local ones.

Please list some examples of success you have seen in the classroom, using the Developing Writers style.

I have been amazed at the improvement in writing in the classrooms where the teachers are using this process. I worked with over 90 teachers last year, and the results were exceptional. The hardest job I had was to find examples of "lower level" writing for the Developing Writers series.

So many teachers have told me that their students have learned to love writing time and have become competent writers. It is simply because both teachers and students now know how to write and feel confident in their own abilities. I can give example after example, but I will only quote one teacher who wrote in her log:

"I love this process. Not only have my struggling writers improved, but my good writers have, too. My struggling writers may not be quite meeting the standards yet, but they have come so far, I know that they soon will be. Thank you."