Standard 2: Reading and Writing Process

Students will use a variety of recursive reading and writing processes.

Student Actions 

Teacher Actions 

• Students will use appropriate planning templates for various modes of writing.

• Teachers provide students with rubrics, organizational templates, and/or other resources to help students plan writing.
• Teachers may allow students to self-select appropriate topics to meet various writing tasks.
• Teachers allow students to choose a prewriting strategy when appropriate.

• Students will write a first draft.

• Teachers guide students to think about and narrow a topic.
• Teachers provide multiple opportunities to prewrite.
• Teachers provide time for students to complete a first draft.

Supporting Resources 

Teacher Insights 

ELAOK Framework: Student Proficiency Levels (website)

Lumen’s Narrowing Down a Topic(website)

Rubric maker(website)

• Prior to the pre-writing stage, students should have clear understanding of the writing task.

• Teachers should provide clear rubrics (holistic or analytical) that reflect the task and purpose.

• See Student Proficiency Levels to help determine actionable points on rubrics that can be directly tied to standards.

• While some formal assignments may have specific graphic organizers, (after scaffolding) students should eventually feel comfortable enough to choose an organizational tool based on the task.

• During pre-writing students should select a specific topic.

• Lumen’s OpenCourseWare provides a good model for how to help students narrow down a topic.

• Graphic organizers are an effective way for students to plan writing.

• Examples of graphic organizers can be found here.

• There are many pre-writing approaches available in textbooks, writing handbooks, and online, such as from the KU Writing Center. However, the main goal is to first determine audience and purpose. Students should be provided guidance but should use whatever strategy works best for them (and the teacher).

• Revising and editing are not stand-alone processes that are to be done just before publishing, but as with all parts of the process, should be done periodically, both formally (with specific guidance) and informally (through frequent reminders to check for errors).

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.