Clearly, the traditional, “units of study” approach focusing on a single genre at a time will not be effective under the new Common Core expectations. In Empowering Writers’ new webinar, “How CCSS Impacts Writing Instruction” Empowering Writer’s Co-Founder, Barbara Mariconda, explains, “Students will not retain genre-specific skills when they’re taught a month at a time, then left behind. There’s just too much to remember and expectations are too great when testing time comes. Studies show that when we revisit and apply skills in an ongoing way, retention rates rise. Students need to be exposed to many genres of writing in meaningful
ways throughout the year, giving them the opportunity to apply skills and relate their writing to what they read.”
With the Essential Guides to Writing, Empowering Writers provides breadth and depth by delivering comprehensive background and lessons in every genre, woven thematically throughout the year. The books were designed in this way to address the Common Core ELA Standards which state that at a curricular or instructional level, within and across grade levels, students need to be exposed to themes that will generate knowledge and allow students to delve into them in depth. Each month the Essential Guides to Writing include detailed lesson plans with clear objectives, foundational lessons in all genres (narrative, expository, opinion, persuasive) research, revision and process writing activities, and tools for building the reading-writing connection. Mentor texts, student writing samples, and literature connections are included. These Essential Guides also give teachers the power to “make it their own” by dropping their own content material into their lesson prototypes.
PR with Panache! entered into new engagements with six diverse, exciting organizations in April, marking a banner month for the award-winning agency. With an emphasis on focused PR and content marketing activities, as well as traditional marketing and branding support, the engagements are a reflection of PR with Panache!’s unique client-centric approach.
