Standard 2: Reading and Writing Process

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

Student Actions 

Teacher Actions 

• Students will decide what organization is most effective for purpose, audience, and task.

• Teachers provide guidelines for choosing the organizational structure that fits the purpose of the task.
• Teachers emphasize how different organizational structures affect the reader.
• Teachers provide guidance for students to expand on information and fully develop ideas.
• Teachers will provide time and guidelines for the students to improve their draft through small groups or with the teacher.
• Teachers will provide feedback as needed to guide the students with the development of the draft.
• Teachers allow students to select the organizational structure that will effectively convey their message.

• Students will expand their ideas into multiple paragraphs.

• Teachers provide time and guidelines (e.g. length, requirements, formatting) for students to develop a draft and build on ideas in a multi-paragraph essay selecting a specific organizational structure of description, compare/contrast, sequential, problem/solution, cause/effect, or any other structure.

• Students will use appropriate transitions to link together sections, ideas, and/or paragraphs within the compositions.

• Teachers provide opportunities for students to practice using transitions.
• Teachers ensure students receive feedback about the effectiveness of their transitions and flow.

Supporting Resources 

Teacher Insights 

• Organizational structure does just what it sounds like: provides structure for the reader and helps organize the writer. Structures should be chosen depending on the audience and purpose.

• It is possible that more than one pattern of organization can be used within a composition.

• The University of Washington provides the following patterns of organization structure:

• Narration: telling a story

• Description: relating what you see, hear, taste, feel, and smell

• Process: describing a sequence of steps necessary to a process

• Definition: illustrating the meaning of certain words or ideas

• Division and Classification: grouping ideas, objects, or events into categories

• Compare and Contrast: finding similarities and/or differences between topics

• Analogy: making a comparison between two topics that initially seem unrelated

• Cause and Effect: explaining why something happened, or the influence of one event upon another

• Transitions between ideas, paragraphs, and evidence are necessary for an essay’s cohesion and provide guidance for the reader.

• A comprehensive list of transitions can be found at the University of Wisconsin’s Writing Center.

• In multi-paragraph compositions, each paragraph should have a clear topic sentence that is stated or implied and reflects the ideas from the thesis.

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.