Teaching Compositional Writing Skills
Welcome to the Teaching Compositional Writing Skills module! This module is the twelfth module in the Primary Literacy series designed to assist all educators and other interested stakeholders in helping students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to become proficient readers and writers. This module explores the research and practical applications of evidence-based compositional writing. Students as young as 1st grade are expected to be able to write a paragraph, so this content will cover 1-5th grades at the sentence, single paragraph, and multi-paragraph levels of writing.
Estimated Completion Time: 4 hours
Welcome!
Welcome to the Primary Literacy (K-5) Series in the ALL Ohio Literacy library! We present two modules in this series designed to assist all educators and other interested stakeholders in preparing students to be proficient in writing tasks corresponding to their grade levels.
Whether you are an early interventionist, caregiver, teacher, administrator, paraprofessional, parent, related service provider, higher education faculty or candidate, or have another role in helping a child develop their reading skills, we want to first say THANK YOU. We know that your time is valuable and you would not be here if you weren’t interested in supporting outcomes for children and families.
Prerequisites
We recommend completing The Simple View of Reading module and PL11: Teaching Foundational Writing Skills module before enrolling in this module.
Module Description
This module is the twelfth module in the Primary Literacy series. It focuses on the research and process of compositional writing at the sentence, single-paragraph, and multi-paragraph levels of writing.
The following topics are discussed in the text, linked resources, embedded audio, and video:
- Composition Components
- Setting purpose and goals for writing
- Scaffolding the content of writing text
- The Writing Process: Think, Plan, Write, Revise & Edit
- Writing Knowledge
- Writing Instruction Considerations
- Explicit Instruction
Although this module will likely be most helpful for upper elementary (4-5) educators, educators in all grades and content areas may find this module to be beneficial.
This module aligns with Ohio’s Plan to Raise Literacy Achievement, the importance of evidence-based, differentiated core literacy instruction, and Ohio’s Multi-Tiered System of Supports structure as a Theory of Action to guide the design of effective instruction and appropriate interventions as part of school improvement efforts.
In addition, the module aligns with the following recommendations in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Practice Guide – Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers.
- Recommendation 1: Provide daily time for students to write.
- Recommendation 2: Teach students to use the writing process for a variety of purposes.
- Recommendation 3: Teach students to become fluent with handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, typing, and word processing.
Module Learning Objectives
The purpose of this module is to increase your knowledge and understanding of compositional writing instruction methods. By completing this module, you will be able to:
Identify the components of compositional writing and describe the foundational writing skills required to support comprehension skills for all learners through purposeful writing instruction.
Describe the rationale and process of setting a purpose for writing.
Describe the process for choosing appropriate word choice and accurate vocabulary to clearly elaborate on ideas in complex sentences.
Explain the recursive writing process using graphic organizers, paragraph frames, and multiple levels of reviewing.
Define writing genres, text structures, audience, and voice while writing narrative and informative texts.
Explain instructional and intervention strategies to effectively engage and support all students in writing practice before, during, and after reading.
Identify appropriate intervention plans and supports to screen, diagnose, and evaluate student progress in writing development.
Course Navigation, Design, and Policies
Throughout each course, you will see a Course Outline with a green ribbon and the title of the course at the top right corner of the page. The outline displays every section of the course. Click any section to jump right to it.
At any time you are in a module, you can go back to the Home Module page by clicking the Back to Module button located directly under the module outline.
As you go through the course, you will have the opportunity to click the Mark Complete box at the end of each section. When you do this, the sections you have completed will be crossed off in your outline, and you will be taken to the next section of the course.
Your progress will automatically be saved within the learning management system, and you can view your course progress through the progress bar located near the top of most sections.
Exiting and Resuming a Module
Know that your progress will automatically be saved within the learning management system. If you exit the website, once you log back in you can easily access your courses by clicking the on the My Dashboard button located on the gray ribbon on top of every page.
Note Feature within the Modules
Throughout each module, you will notice some Reflection boxes that provide various prompts. Each reflection will be in a grey box with an image of a pen/lightbulb. A built in feature of each module is the ability to take notes and save them for your future use. This feature can be used within any part of the module, but is especially helpful for the reflection activities.
To access the note feature, simply click on the purple Take Notes button fixed in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. When you click on this button, a Take Notes box will appear. This box can be moved anywhere on the screen. Within the box, there is a SAVE button as well as a Print Button.
The easiest way to print all the notes you take from the entire module is to click View All Notes. When you click View All Notes, you will be taken to a page like the one below.
Click the boxes of the Notes you would like to print, and then click Download Selected. All your notes will be downloaded into one document separated by headers.
All Ohio’s comprehensive learning modules are relevant to any educator working to support students’ literacy development. In each module, you will find in-depth narrative text, linked resources, realistic scenarios, reflection activities, and embedded audio and videos.
Each module is self-paced. The approximate time for completion of the module is listed in the Simple View of Reading Module text box on the home page of the module.
Additional information included on each module’s home page include:
- Required prerequisites for the module.
- A more detailed description of the module.
- Helpful downloadable resources for the module including an outline of the module’s content and supporting resources, a step-by-step guide to assist you in navigating the professional learning modules, and an in-depth information about the purpose and key elements of the Ohio Literacy Library.
Certificates
Professional Development Certificates
are available for each comprehensive learning module. To earn a Professional Development Certificate, you must obtain a passing score of 85% or more on the module post-test. Please note that you are only allowed up to two attempts to obtain a passing score to earn your certificate.Badges
When completing professional development modules within All Ohio, you can earn badges based on your engagement in and mastery of content within each comprehensive learning module. You earn
Achievement Badges when you demonstrate proficiency with module content (i.e., obtaining a score of at least 85%), whereas Engagement Badges are awarded based on your level of participation on the site. Your earned Certificates and Badges will be displayed on your “All Ohio Dashboard.”
If you have any issues with accessing the content or functionality of this course, please email: allohioprojectteam@uc.edu
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Helpful Resources Related to this Module:
Module Resources
An outline of the module’s main content and supporting resources.
Welcome & Navigation
Step-by-step guide to assist you in navigating the professional learning modules.