Kathleen Crain, Wyoming Indian Elementary School, Ethete, WY

Research question:
How will student-generated rubrics impact writing in my classroom?

I have developed two different rubrics with my students so far. We will continue to develop more as the year goes on. As we develop a rubric, we practice evaluating writings and also continue talking about what makes a good piece of writing. I have been introducing the six-traits of writing and so far have covered three of them in depth. The ones I have covered so far are: ideas and content, voice and word choice.

The students enjoy scoring a sample writing and discussing it. I told them they are the teachers. They love that opportunity! I have noticed them using the vocabulary of the six traits and qualities of a good writer when we are reading books aloud as well. Many of my students have published their own little books and shared them with the class.

Just recently, we administered our school-wide writing assessment again. We administered it also in the beginning of the year. We will score both writing assessments on January 29th as a second grade staff. This is some of the data I will be keeping and then presenting. I will also keep stats on their writing vocabulary and sentence dictation which should also increase. Of course along with the assessments, I will keep individual authentic writing samples in their portfolios so that I can show growth over the year.

I feel it is going well but always expect more and will continue to have high expectations of my students. They really enjoy Writer’s Workshop which is evident when an unexpected event disrupts our schedule and we are unable to do it. My students will comment that we didn’t do Writer’s Workshop that day. Many times when it ends they want to continue on!!!