The Being a Writer program is a yearlong curriculum that inspires students to love writing, to develop personal stamina, and to have an appreciation and understanding of the craft and convention of writing. It includes grade- level packages with mentor texts and mini-lessons for skill instruction.

• Research Base- The program is influenced by the last two decades of research in writing and the work of recognized authors including Atwell, Calkins, Graves and Fletcher.
• Workshop Model- The program supports a writer’s workshop approach to writing instruction with explicit lessons for teaching the writing process, genres, the craft and conventions.
• Literature Books- Includes high-quality literature as “mentor text” specifically selected to demonstrate the craft of professional writers and expose students to a range of genres
• 6+1 Traits- Instruction in the Being A Writer program correlates closely with goals of the 6+1 Traits Writing Framework.
• Skills Instruction and Mini Lessons- Students conferring is the time to determine whether instruction is working.
• Writing Stamina- The initial focus is on giving students enough sheer practice writing so that they can really want to write.
• Assessment- Monitoring student progress includes three kinds of assessments: Class Assessment weekly, Social Skills Assessment, Individual Assessment.
• Building Community- The programs foster a deliberate creation of classroom writing community.
  

Now bring the benefits of Marcia Freeman's powerful and proven program to your school with this comprehensive, video-based, on-site, staff development resource and enjoy:

• Ongoing cost-effective professional development
• School-wide coordination of writing instruction
• Flexible training schedules
• Continual cooperative learning
• Mentoring opportunities
• Smooth integration of new and reassigned teachers
• Substantial in-service credit hours
  And the biggest benefit of all: a dramatic improvement in student-writing achievement.
  

THE EVOLUTION OF MARCIA FREEMAN'S PROGRAM

In 1983, Marcia Freeman energetically embraced The Writing Process in her fourth-grade classroom. Her students quickly became eager participants in a daily writing workshop, but at the end of the school year she was disappointed to note that the quality of their writing had not significantly improved.
Upon reflection, she saw that the writing process is only how writers go about their task rather than what they know in order to write well. She reasoned that her students needed to know these same things if they were to write well. Over that summer, she sought out that body of knowledge and discovered the wonderful world of writing craft. She then devised age-appropriate ways to teach craft skills. By the start of the new school year she was ready - ready to introduce writing as a rigorous academic subject.

"The writing process is what writers do; the writing craft is what they know."
Marcia Freeman

In her new curriculum, she substantially increased the emphasis on non-fiction genres. The traditional, almost exclusive, emphasis on "story" had long struck her as out of synch with the nearly total dominance of expository writing after elementary-school.

"Ninety-nine percent of what ninety-nine percent of people write in their life is expository."

In response to the new approach, her students soon became eager and considerably more skillful young writers. Their enthusiasm grew as she had them utilize their abilities to write across the curriculum. She saw her students become more avid and competent readers. This was particularly true for non-fiction as they began to recognize and understand an author's use of expository writing craft, such as organization, supporting details, and text structures.

"Look at how the author circles back to the hook, Mrs. Freeman!"
4th-grade student

Throughout the 1990s, Marcia Freeman's workshops, conference appearances, and writing-education textbooks introduced her concepts and methodologies to primary and intermediate elementary classrooms across the country. The feedback was universally rewarding-the approach worked for others as it had worked for her. Teachers found her approach a uniquely effective and satisfying way to respond to the writing-education imperatives they faced. The most significant improvements came when her approach was implemented consistently across all grades.
Now, with the support of several school districts and Maupin House Publishing, Marcia Freeman has developed a comprehensive, video-based, on-site, staff development resource that makes the benefits of her powerful and proven K-5 program readily available to every school.