Writing Skills and Rules in 2010

Disclosure: I run an online writing instruction program called Time4Writing.com.

There's a lot more to be said about how to teach writing as the language, media, and technology advances.  I first started thinking about this when I was looking to create a program to teach writing.

When we were working on the initial concept for teaching writing, I did wide-ranging research on teaching writing and what it should consist of. I studied the six trait writing methodology that is widely adopted. I read about the five paragraph essay that is generally the focus of writing tests on standardized tests such as the SAT, FCAT, and so on. I tested and met with the vendors of the AWE systems. AWE stands for automated writing evaluation and it's a super-hot trend as a technology. Key vendors: Vantage Learning and E-rater. I read a variety of books on teaching writing rating from the most pedantic textbooks to exhilarating books like: Eats, Shoots, Leaves. 

At different points, I was convinced that we should do something highly innovative. I developed a variation on the six trait writing approach which focused on the reality that people write very differently whether they are writing for the web, a newsletter, a school paper, a text message, or a printed journal. I postulated that a key concept was that as you write, you should adopt yourself to the media. Without that obvious first step, "teaching writing" seemed to actually mean; "teaching writing for school ONLY."  I worked closely with a few AWE vendors to explore OEM possibilities.  I loved much of the new thinking including the idea that emoticons represented the start of a new form of punctuation and that text shortcuts would become acceptable in English (ideas explored in Eat Shoots Leaves).

Ultimately, Time4Writing turned out to be more responsive to perceived student needs than anything else.  While Time4Learning teaches grammar and vocabulary and many other key writing skills, there remained a need for teachers to help students grind through building the skills of constructing sentences, paragraphs, and essays.  And this is the current focus of Time4Writing.com. 

Be Relevant - Don't Fade

While not the most important tenant of parenting, one principle that I'd push is that parents need to make an effort to be involved in the new world as it emerges.  This doesn't mean that you need to listen to music that you don't like,  wear clothes that are absurd, or try to say things like "my BFF", LOL, and "OMG.  But it does help if you know what BFF (Best friend forever) and LOL (lots of laughs) means.

One trend that's actually a lot of fun to get swept up is Facebook.  I'm playing today with using Facebook to host videos instead of Youtube.  Here's a Facebook embedded video......



Wow, that was easy. It's a video about the best spelling and vocabulary website.

Preschool Online

While there are many fantastic online websites for preschoolers, they mostly tend to be learning games with no particular sequence or direction. And I use the concept of "learning" loosely, since many of them are primarily games but involve some educational elements.

I think of education as primarily an organized sequence of lessons which systematically cover a defined scope and sequence. I've been looking around and so far, the best online preschool curriculum with preschool activities that I've found is from Time4Learning. And I quote:

The Time4Learning preschool program combines technology, animated characters, original stories and fun music to inspire a love of learning in the littlest e-learners. ...When they're logged in to Time4Learning, preschoolers won't just sit and watch; they'll laugh, learn, participate and explore. They'll sing along with Ed Mouse on the farm and get up and exercise with a group of kids. They'll yell out numbers to an octopus under the sea and politely help a mountain climber scale Manners Mountain. Children can label their virtual school supplies box and library card with their own name and plan their week with a customizable weekly planner. You'll see smiles and hear giggles that let you know that your children are having fun and when they start talking about habitats and tertiary colors, you'll know it's more than just fun.

For more info, you can check out their preschool website with its demos are ask questions on their parents discussion group.

FCAT Explorer

The State of Florida provides a lot of study materials online:

FCAT Explorer: 10 Years of Helping

Students Succeed

Since spring of 2000, FCAT Explorer has been available to

help students review the skills needed to succeed. The 2009-

2010 school year marks the 10th year of the FCAT Explorer

project. The Support Services Team is proud to have served

Florida’s students, teachers, and parents for the entire

10-year period.

FCAT Explorer - More Resources

The Educator Resources section of www.fcatexplorer.

com offers a variety of training materials to help you

make the most of FCAT Explorer and Focus.

Available for Download

• PowerPoint presentations for each FCAT Explorer

program

• School Administrator’s Desk Manual

• Classroom Teacher’s Desk Manual

• FCAT Explorer Best Practice Guidelines

Overview of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT)

If you have a child in elementary, middle or high school in Florida, then you need to know about the standardized tests your child will be taking. To comply with the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, Florida administers standardized tests to students beginning in 3rd grade grade through high school.

Time4Learning, an online education service that teaches many of the skills these exams test, offers this page to help you understand Florida’s standardized tests and how you can help your children prepare.

Fore more info on Florida FCAT preparation try the Time4learning site or FCAT Explorer.

NCLB standardized tests

Hi, I'm not sure if I'm a fan of standardized testing or not. To be honest, I know I'm not. Who likes testing? Nevertheless, I'd like my kids to do well. I'm not a big fan of last-minute test prep are spending a lot of time worrying about test-taking tricks. I'm more a believer in the idea that kids' scores will reflect their skills so they should build skills and then not worry about the tests.

I found an educational website that has the same mentality that I do. They talk only about building fundamental skills, never about test taking tricks. and they have useful info for most states nclb stuff. Here....

Standardized Test by State

State	Standardized Test	Abbrev.	State	Standardized	Abbrev.
Alabama	Alabama Reading and Mathematics Tests	ARMT	Montana	Montana Comprehensive Assessment System	MontCAS
Alaska	Terra Nova	-	Nebraska	Nebraska Content Standards	L.E.A.R.N.S.
Arizona	Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards	AIMS	Nevada	Nevada Proficiency Examination Program	NPEP
Arkansas	Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment and Accountability Program	ACTAAP	New Hampshire	New Hampshire Educational Improvement and Assessment Program	NHEIAP
California	Standardized Testing and Reporting	STAR	New Jersey	New Jersey’s Core Curriculum Content Standards	-
Colorado	Colorado Student Assessment Program	CSAP	New Mexico	New Mexico Statewide Articulated Assessment Program	-
Connecticut	Connecticut Academic Performance Test	CAPT	New York	New York State Testing Program	-
Delaware	Delaware Student Testing Program	DSTP	North Carolina	North Carolina Standardized Test	-
Florida	Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test	FCAT	North Dakota	North Dakota’s State Assessment	-
Georgia	Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests	CRCT	Ohio	Ohio Graduation Tests	OGT
Hawaii	Hawaii Content and Performance Standards	HCPS II	Oklahoma	Oklahoma Core Curriculum Tests	OCCT
Idaho	Idaho State Achievement Tests	ISAT	Oregon	Oregon Statewide Assessment System	-
Illinois	Illinois Standards Achievement Test	ISAT	Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania System of School Assessment	PSSA
Indiana	Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress	ISTEP+	Rhode Island	Rhode Island State Assessment Program	-
Iowa	Iowa Test of Basic Skills	ITBS	South Carolina	South Carolina Statewide Assessment Program	-
Kansas	Kansas Assessment System	-	South Dakota	Dakota State Test of Educational Progress	STEP
Kentucky	Commonwealth Accountability Testing System	CATS	Tennessee	Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program	TCAP
Louisiana	LEAP Alternate Assessment	LAA	Texas	Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills	TAKS
Maine	Maine Educational Assessment	MEA	Utah	Utah Basic Skills Competency Test	USBCT
Maryland	Maryland School Assessment	MSA	Vermont	Vermont Comprehensive Assessment System	CAS
Massachusetts	Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System	MCAS	Virginia	Virginia Standards of Learning	SOL
Michigan	Michigan Educational Assessment Program	MEAP	Washington	Washington State Assessment of Student Learning	WASL
Minnesota	Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments	MCAs	West Virginia	West Virginia Educational Standards Test	WESTEST
Mississippi	Mississippi Subject Area Testing Program	MSATP	Wisconsin	Wisconsin’s Model Academic Standards	-
Missouri	Missouri Department of Education Standardized Tests	-	Wyoming	Wyoming Comprehensive Assessment System	WyCAS