Authors Carden and Godley-Sugrue provide a standards-based curriculum consisting of daily journal prompts, weekly writing lessons, and reproducible planning pages to assist third grade teachers in guiding students through the writing process. This book is the third in a three book series, which includes similar resources for grades one and two. Specifically, the third grade writing curriculum presented is intended to “scaffold students as they build up to writing multi-paragraph essays and hone their writing skills, leaving them well prepared for the state assessments” (p.7). In a statistics-rich introduction the authors address the reality that low test scores and poor performance are a common result in many states and that these results have a negative impact on the nation. In light of these findings, the authors present the need for a “comprehensive writing curriculum” (p.5) that includes direct instruction and guided practice wherein skills are taught sequentially and reinforced as needed. The authors successfully meet this need with this book.
As a former third grade teacher I appreciated the extensive first chapter titled, “Teaching Third Grade Writers”, wherein the authors acknowledge the specific needs and challenges of teaching writing in third grade. The authors recognize that teachers will have a variety of writing levels within their classroom. Also, they address the challenges third grade writers’ face such as paragraphing, spelling, and length. A thoughtful bonus within the discussions of these challenges is the useful advice and recommended strategies included to help teachers in the classroom. Provided at the end of the chapter is an overview of the curriculum, including a helpful, easy-to-read table that outlines the entire curriculum by assignment, writing genre, skill(s), and standard(s).
The remaining ten chapters of the book contain the week-by-week writing lessons. The chapters are divided and titled according to the months of the academic calendar, which allows for quick reference. Each chapter/month includes a list of suggested daily journal prompts to be used throughout the month. Each prompt includes corresponding sentence starters that provide a supportive framework for the students. The bulk of each chapter consists of three to four weeks of lesson plans. Each week a new high interest writing topic such as, “A Good Memory” and “How I Clean My Room” is introduced. The writing topics cover a wide range of genres including narrative, expository, and persuasive, as well as letter writing, short stories, speeches, and poetry. Each topic is presented in an organized format listing the genre, skill, standard, assignment, focus, model, and a conferring tip. The step-by-step instructions that guide the teacher through the lesson are easy to follow, while the reproducible planning pages provide an appropriate scaffold to support student learning. An added bonus is the appendix which includes informative and evaluative reproducibles as well as various writing templates. Overall, although each lesson is heavily guided and supported by the teacher, the instruction and reproducibles invite student voice and individual ideas, which are commonly diminished in many writing programs.
Within the many highlights, I have only one minor critique of the book. I am concerned with the promotion of “boost[ing] test scores” as one rationale for teaching students to compose a multi-paragraph essay. Although the authors effectively promote building a solid foundation to encourage competent writers, another motivation presented is that this foundation is also needed to raise test scores. While testing is a realistic pressure and concern in the classroom, it is my hope that the authors’ primary intent outshines the secondary for the users of this valuable resource. The quest to encourage third graders to write multi-paragraph essays, specifically the five paragraph essay referred to in the book, is a grand undertaking. Thus, when the purpose for writing becomes motivated by testing the process can easily become one which is driven by formula rather than creative ideas. However, I believe this is not the intended use for this book. Instead, the authors present a curriculum that provides direct instruction and support with many opportunities for the students’ individual ideas to be included.
Grade 3 Writing Curriculum is a useful resource that targets a diversified audience of teachers and students. The 25 years of collective experience between the two authors shines through in the book’s practical, teacher-friendly methodology. With this book, new teachers can easily implement an effective writing program while veteran teachers can use the variety of strategies and reproducibles to enhance an existing curriculum. Overall, the authors have successfully achieved their goal to create a comprehensive writing curriculum that provides a solid foundation to support and encourage proficient writers in grade three.
Pages: 160 Price: $19.99 U.S. / $26.99 CAN ISBN: 0-439-52984-0
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