Units of Study for Teaching Writing

I am intrigued by Lucy Calkins' work in helping teachers improve their writing instruction. She has created two writing programs with her colleagues from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project in an effort to model good teaching. One is called Units of Study for Primary Writing, and the other is Units of Study for Teaching Writing, Grades 3-5. In each of these programs, Calkins lays out how to establish a Writers Workshop and then provides step-by-step instructions for teaching the many different skills involved in writing.

If you click on one of the above links, you will be taken to a page that lists the units of study. From there, you can click on a specific unit of study to view its annotated table of contents and a summary of the unit. You may also view sample lessons by following the links.

When I was teaching, I proposed buying the Units of Study for Primary Writing to my principal. I thought that one of my colleagues and I could pilot it as a potential writing program for our grade level. He didn't see that there was money in the budget for it (It costs $159), and I didn't have the time to write a grant to obtain funding.

In reviewing the tables of contents again today, I saw some similarities between the progession of my writing program and what Calkins has put together. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised - organizing a Writers Workshop certainly follows some standard "steps," as many books can attest. I wonder, then, if her progression of the units of study might also be a standard progression, and if one might consider her tables of contents as mini-lesson topics and a guideline for developing one's own writing program. After all, as teachers we all borrow each other's ideas and adapt them to fit our teaching style and preferences! Just a thought...