What types of writing are covered in College and Career Readiness: Writing?
The program covers every type and purpose of writing described in the Common Core State Standards as essential for a high school graduate: narrative/personal, informative/explanatory, and argumentative/persuasive. The program also includes long-term research projects as well as short, timed, and impromptu writing opportunities.
All assignments are designed to address the specific descriptors and criteria of each type of writing at every grade level.
Which grade level is this book series best suited for?
The complete series is geared toward high school students in grades 9 through 12.
Is this series sequential or recursive?
Like the standards themselves, College and Career Readiness: Writing is recursive. At each grade level, students revisit the same types and purposes of writing, but each level requires more mature thinking and reasoning, increased sophistication of expression, and greater confidence and competence.
How is College and Career Readiness: Writing different from other writing programs?
This series is truly recursive. Growth is expected at every grade level, as demonstrated in the student models and the scoring rubrics. For example, the type of thesis statement or depth of insight that are acceptable in a 9th-grade essay wouldn’t receive a passing score in 11th grade. This is explicitly explained to the students throughout the books.
Is this series intended for use as core curriculum or as a supplemental text?
College and Career Readiness: Writing is intended for use as your core writing program across several disciplines, especially English language arts and social studies.
My school’s students are advanced. Should we start with the Grade 9 book in 9th grade anyway?
You know your students best. If the instructions and models in the Grade 9 book don’t reflect your students’ abilities, it’s fine to move to a higher level. Remember, the series is recursive, so your students will practice all the types and purposes of writing every year.
However, the instructions and models are rigorous, as the standards themselves are rigorous. The Grade 9 book might just be the right level for your students.
My school’s students are working below grade level. Can I reasonably expect them to reach a state of college and career readiness?
Again, you know your students best. That said, the standards are clustered, and the books are designed with those clusters in mind. You may find it beneficial to start with the Grade 9 book and use it for two years, then transition to the Grade 11 book for the next two years.
All of the assignments are carefully scaffolded to help you take even a reluctant or challenged student to a higher level of achievement.
Can College and Career Readiness: Writing be used in an interdisciplinary writing program?
Absolutely! You’ll find this series especially useful in pairing ELA and social studies reading and writing. Every type and purpose of writing covered invites topics from multiple subjects. Many of the student models illustrate writing in non-ELA settings.
The research section includes two full research projects: an ELA/literary topic and something from another discipline.