Project Overview
The Greater Madison Writing Project (GMWP), in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and Wisconsin educators, has developed instructional resources informed by research-based practices set by the National Writing Project (NWP), to support the sustainability of writing-rich classrooms. Wisconsin educators who are also teacher consultants through the National Writing Project were invited to work with the GMWP to create these resources. These resources are aligned with the Wisconsin Academic Standards for English Language Arts (ELA) Overarching Statement for Writing, which states that students, “Write routinely for a range of culturally sustaining and rhetorically authentic tasks, purposes, and audiences over extended time frames (time for inquiry, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames.” (Wisconsin Standards for ELA, 2020)
These units support writing standards 2 and 3, which are assessed on the Wisconsin Forward Exam short-write tasks.
Text Types and Purposes
- Anchor Standard W2: Compose writing for a variety of modes to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
- Anchor Standard W3: Select and utilize tools and strategies to develop effective writing appropriate for purpose, mode, and audience.
Resource Overview
The project has produced over 20 units for grades 3–8, emphasizing regular, low-stakes, high-impact writing practices across all writing genres (informative, narrative, and opinion/argumentative).
These instructional units include:
Teacher Guides: Comprehensive strategies for identifying, unpacking, and teaching standards-aligned, rhetorically authentic effective writing prompts.
Slide Decks: Ready-to-use visual materials for classroom instruction.
Writing Prompts: Designed to mirror Forward Exam short-write prompts.
What You Need to Know
These units provide authentic writing opportunities that align with grade-level standards. They are designed to enhance writing instruction in the classroom throughout the school year. When using these resources, it is important to integrate them with your adopted curriculum rather than using them in isolation. It is also important to consider grade-level standards and student needs to ensure effective implementation. Review your district and school-level curriculum for opportunities to increase rigor and student engagement by incorporating these tools.
Before integrating these units into your curriculum ask yourself the following questions:
- How am I currently addressing writing instruction in my existing curriculum?
- How are these lessons similar to my current writing instruction?
- What opportunities can I identify in my current curriculum to use these units to increase rigor in my writing assignments?
- Based on what I currently know about my students’ intersectional identities, which of the units provided can I use to increase student engagement in writing activities?
- How can the provided writing rubrics help me assess the writing performance of my students in alignment with grade-level standards?
- Based on the provided units can I identify/create authentic writing opportunities for my students?
- How can I share information gathered from these materials with other educators to collaborate and improve writing instruction across my school/district?
How to Read the Guides
Using Assessment Rubrics
These units are not designed as test prep but tools to foster student-centered writing environments in daily classroom instruction. However, the Forward Exam short-write rubrics were used to evaluate student writing samples in these units. While these rubrics are not required to assess the writing produced by students in these units, they do provide a useful way to assess student writing in alignment with Wisconsin writing standards and the Forward Assessment short-write tasks.
Writing Unit Teacher Guides
Additional grade-level and writing mode units will be posted as they are finalized.
Narrative Writing Units:
Students will explore the key elements of narrative writing, including characters, setting, plot with descriptive details, transition words, conflict, and resolution. The lessons emphasize the importance of planning before writing and gradually builds students' skills from understanding basic narrative elements to creating complete, well-structured narratives.
Students will learn through a series of low stakes, stand-alone writing opportunities for students to engage in narrative writing throughout the school year. Each set of seasonal prompts has an instructional focus, but individual teachers should feel free to align instruction with existing units or use the writing prompts as opportunities for students to be creative and have fun with their writing.
Students will practice a new stand-alone prompt, culminating with a historical fiction response to a text involving a significant local event or any local lore. Students will be able to explore different points of view and narrative structures as well as engage with a variety of technology tools for writing.
Students will respond to a variety of short, stand-alone narrative prompts centered around NPR’s 3-Minute Fiction series. Students will explore different points of view and narrative structures and use a variety of technology tools to write a historical fiction response to a text involving a significant local event or local lore.
Informative Writing Units:
Students will have the opportunity to engage in regular and low-stakes writing practice. Most prompts focus on informative writing and several provide additional focus on areas of emphasis in informative writing such as strong introductions, logical organization, and writing with detail.
Students will engage in several reading and writing activities including three low-stakes, stand-alone writing prompts along with opportunities to deconstruct the prompt. There is also one opportunity to read a connected text and respond. The goal is to teach how to deconstruct and appropriately respond to a prompt while gaining knowledge of cranberries.
Students will learn about, practice and/or apply their knowledge of nonfiction while learning important Social Studies concepts. The teaching portions of this unit are organized for teachers to use the content as provided or substitute in their own teaching materials. Teachers can supplement materials while having writing practices planned.
Students will focus on paragraph writing, dissecting a prompt, using a prompt to draft a topic sentence, and adding transition words and sensory details. Lessons also provide opportunities to check for genre components and to revise an original paragraph.
Students will respond to a variety of short, expository prompts centered around an understanding of self. This series of lessons is designed to help students craft compelling paragraphs that showcase their observations, expertise, and research, while honing essential writing skills such as structure, transitions, and descriptive detail.
Opinion/Argument Writing Units:
Students will explore the themes of actions and consequences, plot versus character driven stories, and lessons learned from stories, etc. providing excellent opportunities to practice opinion writing with low-stake, routine writing.
Students will form opinions based on information provided from various perspectives. These lessons culminate in the development of an opinion essay, using a Kernel Essay structure, with a claim, supporting evidence, and transitional connections to stay on topic.
Students will develop opinion writing skills by reading relevant perspectives, analyzing student work, and thinking critically. Students will learn how to analyze a prompt and write a paragraph organized into a claim, supporting evidence, and a concluding statement using the painted essay strategy
Students will respond to a variety of short opinion/argument prompts centered around the idea of creativity. These lessons help students to craft compelling claims, support their arguments with evidence, address counterclaims, and refine their writing for clarity and impact.
Students will read a short horror story from WW Jacob and will persuasive paragraphs relating to different themes in the story. These lessons are designed for students to practice writing persuasive/argumentative paragraphs during a narrative reading unit. By integrating different writing genres alongside the reading genre, students will gain diverse and enriching literacy experiences necessary for excelling in a variety of writing tasks.
Professional Learning Opportunities
At no-cost-to-you, educators will have access to virtual, asynchronous professional learning modules. These resources will be available starting Spring 2025 on the DPI website.
Bianca Williams Griffin, DPI ELA Consultant, or