# Presentation: 692014

## Milltown ElementaryMilltown, Indiana

- Milltown ElementaryMilltown, Indiana

- Presented by:  Patricia Key, 2nd grade teacher
- Assisted by:  Tami Geltmaker, Principal

*Increasing Writing Test Scores *
*in the Elementary Classroom*

## School Facts

- Elementary
- 221 students, K-6
- Rural southern Indiana
- Veteran staff with few new members
- ISTEP ( Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress) , 3-6 grades, county benchmarks K-6
- 60% poverty, 33% Title I, 14% disability, 20+% mobility- Top 7% in statewide testing last few years

## Milltown Elementary is Successful in Writing

- Professional development
- Workshops
- Books
- Observations of other teachers
- In-school PD
- Writing team analyzes data
- Present to rest of staff
- Develop building-wide strategies
- After-school meetings
- Teacher collaboration building-wide

**Notes:**
Workshops – Barry Lane
Books – “First Days of School” by Harry Wong
Handout- Bibliography of some of our most useful books to help with writing and strategies

Observations in Seymour – “simple 6”  and “ Draw and Write”
Teachers collaborate not only at grade level, but across the building “What can I do to help you?” attitude

## Classroom Practice

- Structure
- No wasted time
- Bell work
- Established daily procedures
- Practice Work to Establish Strong Language
- DOL
- Draw and Write
- Doodle Loops
- Four Block Model and Write
- Strong language practice
- Daily teacher modeling
- Students share work with  their class, teacher, and other classes

**Notes:**
Structure – as proposed by Harry Wong in “First Days of School”
Strong Language Practice – see handout
Daily teacher modeling- standing in bus line “What are you going to do on your way to the bus? “

## Language Through Literature

- Charlotte’s Web
- Trumpet of the Swan
- American Girl series

- Games
- Wordo
- Memory Match

## The Dead Verb Funeral

- Memorize strong verbs for _**moving**_, _**talking**_, and _**looking**_
- Dead verbs: are, is, have, had, am, be, was, were, has, went
- Technique:  flip sentence to remove dead verb
- School-wide list creates teacher ownership

**Notes:**
Hated writing myself 
“Blowing Away the State Writing Assessments”   gave ideas
Handout – Strong Language – (to be memorized)

Example of flip:  The girl was sad. ----The sad girl sat in the corner and sobbed.
Every grade has adopted a list of strong words – adjectives and verbs- that they teach and take ownership for through spelling and writing.
Handout -  Strong Writing Wall

##  Planning Your Writing

- Add _**strong verbs**_, _**similes**_, and a _**good lead**_ to your planning page
- Beginning, Middle, End (Sideways for a list)
- Map

**Notes:**
Handout- took our state planning page and I added details that students could memorize and use 2-6.

## Good Leads

- Question
- Onomatopoeia
- Start with an Ending
- Quotations or Dialogue
- Point of Excitement

## Examples of Student Work

- ISTEP (Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress) writing prompts
- Locally designed benchmarks writing prompts

**Notes:**
Handout – ISTEP writing rubric

## Summary Points

- Great literature
- High expectations, committed to excellence
- Professional development- in and out of building
- Teamwork
- Analyze data in teams across the building
- Develop strategies building-wide
- Challenges still ahead
- Training new staff

**Notes:**
Teamwork – teacher to teacher (“What can I do for your attitude?”), teacher to student, students sharing with each other