Standard 8: Independent Reading and Writing

Students will read and write for a variety of purposes including, but not limited to, academic and personal.

Student Actions 

Teacher Actions 

With guidance and support:

• Students will communicate thoughts and ideas through drawing and emergent writing or conventional writing for varying length of time.

• Teachers discuss ways to communicate thoughts ideas.

• Teachers model communicating thoughts and ideas through a combination of drawing and emergent writing.

• Teachers model communicating thoughts and ideas through conventional writing.

• Teachers provide opportunities for students to communicate their thoughts and ideas using drawing and emergent writing or conventional writing with support for varying lengths of time.

• Teachers monitor and provide opportunities for students to receive feedback about their writing.

Supporting Resources 

Teacher Insights 

Emergent Writing Stages (webpage)

Emergent Writing Samples(webpage)

Reading Rockets:  Interactive Writing(webpage)

Reading Rockets:  Learning to Read and Write, What Research Reveals(webpage)

Scaffolding Suggestions and Emergent Writing Goals (webpage)

• A classroom can encompass students from all the stages of writing development. Students should be transforming their writing from emergent to conventional writing, using proper grammar, spelling (grade-level appropriate), and punctuation.  

• Students should be writing daily. It can be a daily journal entry, writing center, or formal writing assignment.

• Every writing piece does not need to go through the complete writing process (editing, revising, final copy) and be displayed. Let students select which of their writing samples they would like to use for this process.

• Although writing is improving, it is still important for kids to get their ideas on paper without concern for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.  Students may revise and edit work later.

• Modeling print awareness  during whole group shared writing experiences may help students understand and use print conventions in their writing.

Due to recursive nature of the standards, it is essential that teachers are aware of how all objectives within and between strands work together for optimal instruction.