writing

Create a writing curriculum of mini-units

If you are working to develop strong writers, the first step may be to take a fresh look at your current writing curriculum.

Most often, the traditional writing curriculum is built around large units that dedicate several consecutive weeks to a single mode of writing, like narrative, informative, or persuasive. During these all-inclusive writing units, students are only thinking about that one type of writing.

While there’s a lot of power in immersion, working on one type of writing for an extended period of time isn’t authentic; it doesn’t represent the real world, and it’s definitely not what students will experience on state test day. In real life, individuals are constantly communicating to different audiences on different topics and for different purposes.

Consequently, let’s consider an alternative approach. Rather than tackling each genre in large chunks, or mono-units, consider using a mini-unit approach.

With mini-units, writing skills are parceled out across the school year, appearing within several smaller units. Instead of teaching six writing skills within one multi-week unit, only two or three are taught in a shorter two-week mini-unit.

Students receive instruction and practice with only those two or three skills and end the shorter mini-unit with a product that includes only those skills. Then, a couple of weeks later, those same two skills are reviewed, reinforced, or retaught as needed. A third or fourth unit-specific skill is also taught and practiced for a couple of weeks, culminating in another new, from-scratch writing that assesses for all four skills.

This continues across the year, where by the end, the same number of skills in the traditional mono-unit have been taught within the same number of weeks. However, the mini-unit approach layered the new instruction over time and at a manageable rate.

In between mini-units on one mode of writing, conduct parallel mini-units on the other two modes. Teach the unique purposes, ingredients, and structures of each type of writing.

Comparing the approaches

Recognizing that a lot of our adopted writing curriculum silos each mode into these large mono-units, I want to challenge that thinking and propose the mini-unit approach.

• Depth of understanding: While mono-units offer a deep dive into a single genre, they might limit students’ ability to retain and apply the skills learned. Students show up to class for weeks in a row knowing that we’re going to continue to do the same type of writing. They often forget all the skills they learned about writing before this unit, and they likely won’t remember these skills when they move on to the next.

Mini-units, with their repeated exposure, can reinforce understanding and facilitate long-term retention. This constant exposure and review keeps all three modes in front of them all year long.

• Frequency of exposure: In a mono-unit approach, each type of writing happens once, giving students one opportunity to master everything about that mode of writing. However, in mini-units, students have several chances to develop their narrative, persuasive, and informative writing skills. The cumulative nature of spiraled mini-units allows students to revisit and apply previously-learned skills while also dabbling with new skills.

• Growth in confidence: Continuous review and layering of each mode builds students’ confidence with that type. They become more familiar with the ideas and organization for each type.

• Focus on skills: Mono-units unintentionally overemphasize the final product. Working on a single piece for multiple weeks and taking it through the complete writing process inherently puts the focus on the product. However, mini-units typically end with a new, first-draft-only piece. And with mini-units starting and finishing in such short cycles, students find themselves composing numerous pieces for each mode of writing in a single year.

This highlights one of the greatest advantages of a writing curriculum composed of mini-units—the shift in focus from the writing to the writer, from the final product to skill development. It’s not about what a student produced in this unit or on this topic. Instead, it’s about developing writers who are mastering standards-based skills they can apply to any type of writing—now and in the future.

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