Being a Writer
 Introduction |  Materials Overview |
 Partners: Instructional Perspective |  Partners: Student Perspective |
Is your classroom a place where students love writing?
The Being a Writer program is a yearlong writing curriculum for grades K–6 that combines two decades of research in the areas of writing, motivation, and learning theory with social and ethical development.
The program has two goals: to develop the creativity and skills of a writer, and to cultivate the social and ethical values of a responsible person. It uses high-quality trade books for genre immersion and author studies, and easy-to-teach mini-lessons to reinforce the skills and conventions taught in the program. The lessons integrate writing instruction, regular community-building elements, and guided partner work to develop in students a sense of autonomy, belonging, and competence.
How Being a Writer Will Help You Teach to the Common Core
The Common Core State Standards for writing expect students to:
- Produce high-quality writing regularly and independently, beginning in the primary grades
- Write routinely over both extended and shorter time frames across disciplines and for different purposes
- Develop and strengthen their writing by planning, revising, editing, and publishing
- Build on skills for narrative, informational, and opinion writing from one year to the next
- Share ideas, give and receive feedback, and respond to and challenge their peers to make their writing even better
The Being a Writer program invites students to:
- Take ownership and responsibility for their writing
- Be proficient in each stage of the process—prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and publishing
- Develop pride and confidence in sharing their work with others
- Appreciate multiple genres through selected mentor texts
- Explore elements of genre by analyzing an author’s craft
- Participate in writing conferences with teachers and peers
- Formulate and support opinions and arguments in their writing
New Writing Units to Support the Common Core
DSC has produced new units, lessons, and extension activities that address specific Common Core standards not previously covered.
The new instructional materials support the following Common Core State Standards in Writing:
- Standards 1, 4, 5, 9, 9a, 9b, and 10
These supplements are offered free of charge exclusively to users of the Being a Writer program. Click here to learn more.
For additional support correlating your instruction to the goals of the CCSS, you can also use our correlation tool. It allows you to search by either DSC program or CCSS standard to: identify all standards addressed in a selected DSC program within a unit, week, or lesson; or find which lessons in any DSC program address a selected standard.
