How Quick Bursts of Writing Align With the Common Core State Standards

 
Great fun at the Mid-South Reading and Writing Conference in Hoover, AL today!  Thanks for having me! I presented information about Quick Bursts of Writing and pledged to post the following about how the techniques connect to the Common Core State Standards. If you're new to Quick Bursts, look under the "Labels" heading to the left on this blog page, scroll down the list, and click on ‘Quick Bursts of Writing.’  As always, I welcome your feedback and friendship!

The following is information from one of my power point slides with some additional notations:

How Quick Bursts of Writing Connect to the Common Core State Standards   (Just a few ideas...)

       Writing is present in all the standards  (If you’ve studied the standards, you know this well.  Hooray!  Writing should be part of everything we are doing and studying across the curriculum.  Putting writing in its proper place at the head of the table right alongside reading will help us better meet Common Core expectations.  Quick Bursts help us efficiently infuse writing into much more of what we do.)

       CCSS assessment is writing-performance based  (Testing ‘phases’ emphasize writing process and collaborative procedures.  Students will be asked to read, study, note and discuss using multiple varied sources, then write more fully about their thinking and learning.  In addition to Writing Workshop then, ongoing, informal opportunities to write and collaborate must be part of their daily experience.)

       Quick Bursts align with CC processes while building confidence, fluency, stamina and a valuing of writing as a mode of thinking and learning  (Through Quick Bursts, students have no problem continually facing the ‘blank page’ and sharing their writing to build knowledge with peers.  This is highly motivating and engaging—every student has the opportunity to respond to what’s happening in the classroom.  Taking a few minutes to jot, note, or think through writing, then talk with friends is simply routine.)  

       Standard 10:  Range of Writing  (I was thrilled when I saw they included this standard!  Yes!  Students should be given abundant opportunities to write/jot for short periods of time, in informal ways, without working through the entire writing process, just as they enjoy a range of reading opportunities (sometimes reading short blurbs, sometimes reading with peers, sometimes reading for short bursts of time, etc. without the expectation that everything they read will be taken to some formal level (i.e. a ‘readers’ theater’ or other).  If we checked everything they read and/or produced some type of formal product with all that was read, how much actual reading would be accomplished?  The same is true for writing, yet, we tend to do much more formal process writing than informal writing.  A more balanced approach will move our students ahead as writers and help them reap the benefits of writing to learn.

P.S. More extensive information about Quick Bursts of Writing is available in my Scholastic book:  Quick Start to Writing Workshop Success.  Happy writing J

2 comments

  1. I really enjoyed your presentation today and can't wait to incorporate the quick bursts of writing into our journals next year! Thank you so much for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Deanna! Thanks so much! So glad you enjoyed the workshop and can make good use of the techniques! I am looking forward to tomorrow. Come up and say 'hello' if you are there! :) -j

    ReplyDelete

Back to Top