September 2025�Writing

Using School-Wide Write for Formative Assessment (K-7)

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www.sd68.bc.ca

Content

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Rationale�

It starts with WHY...

Questions to Ask?

Try to use these as a starting point for reflection and discussion.

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Helpful Hints

These actionable items that can promote writing within your school.

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Look for these symbols:

The School-Wide Write (SWW) is one way to assess FOR Learning. In the Fall, every school should collect and analyze a writing sample from each student to inform planning and guide teaching. The writing sample will tell us about a learners’ strengths as a writer and areas requiring improvement.

In the Spring, reflecting on student writing samples is a way to celebrate growth and once again prioritize what to teach.

Examining student writing through the lens of the BC performance standards will guide teachers to the explicit skills that need to be taught to the individuals and to the group.

School Wide Writes are most useful when marked in a collaborative manner. Teachers will collect writing samples from students in their own classrooms, then come together in grade groupings to collaboratively assess the writing.

By working with other professionals, we are broadening our understanding of:

• details to notice in student writing
• skills to prioritize for explicit instruction, in order to support student improvement
• grade level expectations

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Writing Formative Assessment

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September 2020

Question to Ask?

What adaptations do you need to make so all student can participate? Refer to IEPs, when necessary.

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Overview

Students are given a common topic and follow a similar writing process.

The writing process includes:

• co-constructing criteria
• reviewing the rubric
• focused class discussion
• brainstorming
• planning
• writing
• revising & proofreading

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Choosing a Topic

The topic needs to be:

• broad enough to engage a wide range of students
• relatable so students can make connections to personal experiences

The classroom teacher will build background knowledge on the topic to support the writing process.

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Preparation

Prior to administering the assessment, teachers will need to:

• provide students with suitable planning supports
• consider choices for where to write
• Eg: blank or lined paper? Loose or in a book?
• prepare copies of BC performance based standards specific to their grade(s)

Helpful Hints

When appropriate, consider adapting the FSA topic so that the required writing sample for grades 4 & 7 can also be used in this context. You may however need to adjust the topics for different groups of grades.

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Picture books, field trips or images can also be places to get topic ideas and provide a shared common experience.

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Keep prompts open-ended.

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If I had a million dollars…

The best day ever would…

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Try to choose a topic which allows students to make connections to personal experiences.

Be aware that some sentence starters can be limiting and don’t give students’ the opportunity to show their creativity.

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Protocol

Writing Formative Assessment

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September 2020

Introduction and Criteria Development

• Talk to students about:
• the purpose of the assessment
• the importance of students working independently to show what they know as writers
• Co-create or review previously co-created criteria for grade level writing expectations or with older students, share the rubric. (Students should work together to examine the “fully meeting expectations” category.)
• Introduce the writing prompt.

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Pre- Writing

• Ask students to think about how they will be responding to the prompt. (Older students should record some of their ideas on a planning page, using words or images).
• In pairs, have students share their idea. Encourage them to ask each other questions and develop their ideas further.
• Students should extend their thoughts on their writing plan after talking with their partner. Depending on the age of students, you may want to revisit the co-created criteria or rubric.

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Goal Setting (optional)

• Based on the criteria, ask students to set a goal for their writing. The goal should be recorded at the top of their planning page or on the optional Goal Planning form (Appendix A).
• When students have stopped writing they should revisit their goal to reflect on how they felt they did and how their goal may have changed.

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Writing

• Provide students with writing paper that each student feels comfortable with. The options can be diverse and do not all have to be the same.
• Provide appropriate amount of independent writing time based on your students (~15-30 minutes for primary; ~30-45 minutes for intermediate)This is an independent writing time.

Note: Teachers/EAs are not to support with spelling, structure, ideas, etc. unless specific adaptations or modification have been planned prior to administering the assessment.

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Revising, Proofreading & Reflecting (can be done on the next day)

• Invite students to revisit their writing.
• Encourage students to re-read their writing for:
• Meaning (Does it sound right and does it make sense?)
• Conventions (capitals, punctuation and spelling)
• As a class, have a discussion reflecting on the process.
• What worked?
• What did students notice about themselves as writers?

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Writing Formative Assessment

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September 2020

Marking the Writing Sample

The marking protocol helps promotes consist administration and is important as it promotes calibration, validity and consistency.

Setting Up

• With a colleague from your grade group, gather:
• Student writing samples
• CFA Writing Single Point Rubric (print 1 per student)
• Class Writing Profile form (Appendix B)
• Highlighters, pens, and scrap paper

Helpful Hints

Prior to marking, have a group discussion to acknowledge personal biases, expectations and the use of an appreciative lens for looking at student work.

Question to Ask?

Why would it be important to have more than one person mark the same writing sample?

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Marking

Read a piece of writing in its entirety before starting the assessment. When re-reading, teachers will use the BC Performance Standard for Personal Writing.

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Choose the approach that works for your team:

1. Teachers gather as a pair (or groups of 3). Sit together to read each piece of writing in their pile and work together to assess the sample.
2. Teachers gather as a pair (or groups of 3). Take a pile of student writing and individually assess the samples. Once complete, exchange piles to read, then check for discrepancies.

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During marking, teachers are encouraged to discuss the features of student samples.

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Keep in mind that the BC Performance Standards reflect achievement for the end of the year. Many students may be not yet meeting or minimally meeting the expectations in October.

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What’s Next?

Writing Formative Assessment

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September 2020

• Classroom teacher collects the marked samples and summarizes student information on the Class Writing Profile form (Appendix B)
• Using the Class Writing Profile as a guide, teachers prioritize what they need to teach to:
• the whole class
• individual students
• Findings will be summarized on the Planning for Instruction form (Appendix C)
• Students will now have an identified strength of their writing and a writing goal

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Additional Information

• Personal Response Writing includes: journal entries, letters, a response to a personal experience / literature or a personal opinion. Personal response writing IS NOT story writing.
• If students regularly use word walls, dictionaries or thesauruses during writing, they should be encouraged to continue to do this. These tools are NOT adaptations or modifications. ALL students may access these tools.
• Students may have as much time as they need.
• Students do not necessarily have to write about the same topic. Teachers may allow students to choose their topics. The topic students do write about needs to be Personal Writing from experience. They cannot create a story or poem.

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Appendix A: Goal Planning form

Grade:

Student:

Date:

Before the SWW

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My writing goal is ...

After the SWW

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In my writing, I want you to notice that …

One thing I am still working on as a writer is ...

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Appendix B: Class Writing Profile form

Print one page per grade. More than one page may be needed.

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Teacher: Grade: Date:

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Appendix C: Class Writing Profile form

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Teacher: Grade: Date: