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The Collins Writing Program
The teachers at Coosa Elementary
desired a school-wide writing
program which would integrate
writing with the learning taking
place across the curriculum.
We also wanted an approach that
would balance the writing process
and the final product. It
was important for our writing
program to be student-centered,
yet ensure the development of
student’s critical writing and
thinking skills. After
reviewing several programs, the
decision was made to adopt the
Collins Writing Program.
Most of our staff was trained by
Collins consultant, Henry
Dembowski in June of 2004.
The program was developed by Dr.
John Collins in his work
through the Center for Effective
Communication. This program has
helped thousands of teachers focus
and improve their writing
instruction. It consists of
five types of writing.
Type One: Capture Ideas
Type One writing gets the ideas on
paper-brainstorming. Type
One is timed and requires a
minimum number of items or lines.
Questions and/or guesses are
permitted.
Type Two: Respond
Correctly
Type Two writing shows that the
writer knows something about a
topic or has thought about the
topic. It is a correct
answer to a specific question.
Type Three: Edit for FCA’S
Type Three writing has substantive
content and meets up to three
specific standards called focus
correction areas. It is read
out loud and reviewed to see if
the draft meets the following
criteria: completes the
assignment, is easy to read, and
meets standards set by the focus
correction areas. Revision
and editing are done on the
original. There is one
draft.
Type Four
Type Four writing is Type Three
writing that is read out loud and
critiqued by another. This
requires two drafts.
Type Five: Publish
Type Five writing is of
publishable quality.
Coosa’s trainer, Henry Dembowski
visited our school on September 1,
2004. Several of the
teachers observed Mr. Dembowski
teach writing lessons in a
kindergarten, first, third, and a
fourth grade class. He also
conferenced with teachers about
problems and/or successes in
implementing the program. He
will return in January for further
instruction and conferencing.
Two Parent Write Nights
will be held during November to
further explain the program, and
give parents some ideas about how
to help their children with
writing, and how to improve their
own writing. We are all
excited about writing, and ask you
to join us as we “Celebrate
the Writing Process” here
at Coosa.
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