Curriculum Audit Lauren Bauer My selected curricular area of interest is writing.

In Waterford we use a workshop model for instructional delivery in elementary schools. The writing workshop model first came out of New Yorks Teachers College, and has made its way into classrooms all over the U.S. The idea behind writing workshop is that students participate in four predictable daily activities: a mini-lesson conducted by the teacher, independent writing time in which students are constructing, improving or publishing a written piece, a partner time when writing is shared and analyzed ,and a whole class sharing time. We are currently in the process of revamping our writing curriculum. We are making these changes out of necessity. These new units reflect the expectations of the Common Core as well as the need for our students to be able to communicate their ideas clearly. Our test scores (48% writing proficiency in fourth grade) have also given us motivation to find ways to reach all students in the area of writing. I began by gathering all the instructional guidance available to teachers. This guidance takes the forms of unit abstracts in which teachers can see graphic organizers illustrating big ideas in a unit, a unit of study in which lesson overviews are available, resources are suggested, common core connections are highlighted, as well as also providing sample lesson scripts and formative assessment ideas. Units provide titles of professional books that teachers can reference for more information or clarification. Lists of mentor texts are also provide for students to use as guides while planning and constructing texts, as well as technological link available to supplement the unit. Scoring guides are provided for teachers to use while looking at student work, as well as class composite forms where teachers can track class progress through

units to ensure students are making progress. There is also a sample calendar with lesson titles to aid teachers in planning with their grade level teams and/or PLC colleagues. After viewing the standard for teaching and learning I do think our writing curriculum achieves Benchmark A, as described below: BENCHMARK A: ALIGNED, REVIEWED & MONITORED School/district written curriculum is aligned with, and references, the appropriate learning standards (Michigan Curriculum Framework, Grade Level Content Expectations, Addressing Unique Educational Needs, International Society for Technology in Education, etc.).

Waterford assures the written curriculum in each content area is vertically aligned across grades by also providing documents in which yearlong grade level plans for writing are listed alongside yearlong plans for kindergarten through fifth grade to ensure alignment and cohesiveness from grade to grade. To address the needs of our students, we have recently been trained in a nonfiction writing initiative similar to what other districts in the state use. It is a way for students to organize their writing using color coding to aid in organization. We are weaving the ideas into all our writing units, and having great results. The district believes this initiative will improve our writers and therefore our test scores. In terms of gaps and overlap, that has been a problem in the past. We previously used a set of writing workshop units provided by the New York Teachers College where students from kindergarten through second grade were taught the same units from year to year, without too much of a bump up in expectations from year to year. As a result students were maintaining the same poor level of writing and not being challenged each year to reflect on their prior knowledge

about a skill or writing genre and then reach a little farther to grow as a writer. Our new units reflect alignment and increasing rigor as students progress through grade levels. Key areas that need further attention to meet the needs of all students more effectively include continued training for staff on our nonfiction writing initiative. We need to be sure instructional leaders are out in buildings and classrooms to ensure delivery is happening. We have in the past had teachers who, without proper training and/or support have abandoned district curriculum and replaced with their own perception of what their students needed. We need to ensure teachers know the power of this writing initiative as well as the need for alignment horizontally and vertically in the district