Writing to Sources: Session I

Washoe County educators gathered Tuesday evening for the first of a two-session inservice, "CCSS: Writing to Sources". The focus for these sessions is how teachers might better support students to use evidence from text and media to write opinion and informative pieces.  Over two evenings participants will explore the CCSS Instructional Shifts, Standards for Writing, instructional activities, and CCSS-aligned resources that support teaching and learning focused on writing to sources. 

This first session began as participants used print and video content as well as student writing samples to explore the Instructional Shifts and Common Core Standards for Writing. Participants then reviewed instructional supports to move from reading to writing and an instructional move, Think and Write, that supports students to use evidence from text when writing to inform and writing to persuade. Between this first and second session, teachers will draft (and perhaps teach) a lesson that focuses on writing. 

Materials for this session are linked below. 

• Presentation deck in PDF and Keynote
• Session I Note-Taker 
• Instructional Shifts for ELA/Literacy 
• 5th Grade Writing Samples (from In Common samples): Opinion, Narrative, Informational
• 5th Grade Standards for Writing
• From Reading to Writing: Super Annotator, Annotating for C - R - E, Keep It or Junk It
• Article, "Writing Revolution", Excerpted and Original 
• Think and Write: "Writing Revolution" and "Black Cowboys, Wild Horses" and CRE Terms and Sentence Starters