FL WIN: Florida Language and Writing Initiative Network

About Writing Instruction

Writing is a means of expressing knowledge and also a way of finding it.

• We take notes to assimilate and organize the ideas and thoughts expressed in other texts.
• We write in journals to express our thoughts and beliefs and to record the actions of our lives.
• We write a myriad of fiction and nonfiction to entertain and to inform.

Across all disciplines and across our global community, writing is a major means of communication.

In the English language arts classroom, the writer�s workshop provides a well- organized, social, learning environment where the purposes of writing � to persuade, to explain, and to convey experience - are studied and practiced.

Also embedded in the teaching of writing is the importance of responding to reading and engaging in active research. This concept is best represented in the Introduction to the recently adopted Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

• The Standards acknowledge the fact that whereas some writing skills, such as the ability to plan, revise, edit, and publish, are applicable to many types of writing, other skills are more properly defined in terms of specific writing types: arguments, informative/explanatory texts, and narratives. Standard 9 stresses the importance of the writing-reading connection by requiring students to draw upon and write about evidence from literary and informational texts. Because of the centrality of writing to most forms of inquiry, research standards are prominently included in this strand, though skills important to research are infused throughout the document.

Writing Instruction in the 21st Century Classroom

Reliable research in the teaching of writing has increased over 600 percent over the last twenty years. The information on this site reflects much of this research, highlighting especially the following concept:

• Content and form - idea and style - are dual components of writing proficiency.

Not only what we say, but how we say it influences the reader. Florida students are expected to be thoughtful, judicious writers who reflectively engage in both critical and creative thinking.

Florida students are expected to craft their words purposefully. Drafting and redrafting, often over a period of time, students pursue mode, sentence, and word that complement and reinforce their message.

How May this Site Help Teachers?

This new site is intended to assist Florida's K-12 teachers in their dedication to K-12 Florida writers and the students's increasing academic achievement in writing.

Many lessons and site recommendations also are linked to one or more grade-level Florida writing benchmark(s) for Florida SSS alignment.