Argumentation

Expository

Literary

Narrative

Jane Schaffer®

Methodology

Our Philosophy

  • All students can think, and all students can write.

  • Formula/structure is a place to start for students who need it; some don’t need it at all. We want students to leave the formula behind when they are ready to do so. Breaking the formula is called weaving – mixing evidence and analysis / concrete detail and commentary.

  • Consistency of the program outweighs individual teacher preference. Everyone abides by majority vote.

  • Common terminology for the paragraph and essay helps students learn.

  • Writing is a process that includes decoding the prompt, reading and annotating one or more texts, completing the JSWP™ graphic organizers, drafting, editing, revising, and following the guidelines of the rubric. All of these steps are required.

  • Meeting regularly to talk about student work is critical.

What We Do In Class

  • We color-code the paragraph and the essay in our presentations (black, blue, red, and green pens).

  • We use rubrics for each step in the process and the final product.

  • We see students in one-to-one conferencing as often as possible.

  • For each student, we have multiyear, cumulative writing portfolios through jswponline.com.

  • We write with each other and with our students (Shared Writing); “We can’t teach what we don’t do” (Carol Jago).

  • We follow the Gradual Release of Responsibility Methodology.

Upcoming Trainings

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Apr
14
,
2025
April 14, 2025
Live Online Webinar
Train-the-Trainer: Personal and Fictional Narrative
Teaching Narrative
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Apr
24
,
2025
April 24, 2025
Live Online Webinar
Grammar Boot Camp
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