Measuring Growth in Writing Using Rubrics   

This course will teach you about typical writing expectations for your K-3students, introduce common writing tasks, and teach you how to design holistic and analytic rubrics to track student progress over time.

This teacher professional development course provides you with a specific guide to measure your student's writing growth using analytic and holistic rubrics. You will learn about what typical writing looks like from kindergarten through third grade, understand the use of holistic and analytic rubrics, and then learn how to create rubrics for your lessons. Explore each rubric type during your course and analyze ways to use them to monitor student writing skill growth. You will also consider how these rubric types can be applied across content areas. You will leave the course with a rubric plan in place, as well as several downloadable resources to support you in utilizing rubrics in your classroom.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

• This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

• PC: Windows 10 or later.
• Mac: macOS 12 or later.
• Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox is preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
• Microsoft Word Online
• Editing of a Microsoft Word document is required in this course. You may use a free version of Microsoft Word Online, or Google Docs if you do not have Microsoft Office installed on your computer. Model Teaching can provide support for this.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

• Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

1. Writing in the Primary Grades
   1. What typical writing looks like for each grade level, kindergarten through third grade
   2. The purpose of, and how to use, holistic and analytic rubrics to assess writing
   3. How to create both holistic and analytic rubrics
2. Understanding Rubrics
   1. The differences between analytic and holistic rubrics and the benefits of each type
3. How to create both holistic and analytic rubrics
   1. Analytic rubrics based on the six traits of writing
   2. Customized analytic rubrics
   3. Holistic rubrics
4. Assessing Student Growth with Rubrics
   1. How to use rubrics to monitor student growth in writing skills
   2. How to use rubrics to collect data to be used in setting student goals
   3. How to use rubrics to guide your writing instruction
5. Rubrics for Cross-Curricular Connections
   1. The value of using rubrics to assess writing in other subject areas (Science, Math,Social Studies, & Reading)
6. Putting it All Together
   1. Using the sample provided, build your own rubric for an upcoming lesson.
7. Applying What you Have Learned
   1. Get ideas on how to implement the concepts into your classroom, find a list of online resources that feature additional rubrics and ideas for measuring writing progress, and read the research behind the content covered in this course.

What you will learn

• Evaluate what typical writing looks like for each grade level, from kindergarten through third grade
• Analyze components of holistic and analytic rubrics to understand their purpose in assessing writing
• Create your own analytic and holistic rubrics that can be used in your classroom

How you will benefit

• Your students will have clearer expectations of what they need to do when completing writing tasks
• You will have a straightforward method for assessing student progress and growth
• Your students will improve their writing skills because you can track progress using clear expectations and your designed rubrics for writing assignments