Integrating Utah Compose with Your Curriculum

High-quality English/Language Arts curricula incorporate regular opportunities for evidence-based writing, encouraging students to engage in thoughtful analysis, robust argumentation, and the presentation of clear and factual information. Additionally, these resources facilitate a balanced blend of immediate, task-driven writing and the cultivation of writing skills over time, which may involve multiple drafts and revisions. They also encourage the completion of concise, targeted projects, and incorporate digital tools when suitable. These materials enable students to construct knowledge through a seamless integration of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language-based activities. Furthermore, these resources empower educators to maximize the curriculum's potential, gain insights into their students' skills and learning progress, and provide support for a diverse range of learners.

If you implement a high-quality curriculum like this in your classroom, you may be wondering how to make the most of it with Utah Compose. The solution centers on increasing use of best practices for writing instruction.

Best Practices for Writing Instruction

Many students fail to attain writing proficiency. Historically, this has, in part, been due to students’ limited exposure to evidence-based practices for writing. The table below presents essential components of evidence-based writing instruction and assessment practices.  

The essential components collectively emphasize the importance of integrating writing comprehensively into the curriculum and recognizing varied approaches to teaching writing. They stress the significance of focusing on both the process and product elements of writing, including the use of technology to support students' writing skills and the importance of effective assessment and feedback. Basic writing skills, such as spelling and grammar, are also highlighted as essential, and it is recommended to incorporate writing as a tool for learning from informational sources. Promoting independent and reflective writers through goal setting and self-evaluation is crucial, as is creating a supportive writing environment where students feel motivated, valued, and well-supported in their writing endeavors.

In summary, these components underscore the need for a holistic approach to writing instruction, incorporating technology, skills development, assessment, and a nurturing environment to foster effective writing skills. Thus, when using Utah Compose in the context of your ELA curriculum, consider: In what ways can I implement Utah Compose to better facilitate these essential components?

How Utah Compose Supports Best Practices

Teachers typically find that Utah Compose allows much more writing and revision than is typically in classrooms. Thus, look for daily opportunities for writing practice. Remember Utah Compose can provide feedback to short constructed responses in addition to essays. Don’t limit writing to the ELA block; instead, integrate writing practice opportunities across the curriculum. Leverage Utah Compose to ensure students receive specific instruction in the writing process and in specific strategies for managing this process. For example, use Utah Compose’s modeling feature to support your instruction of specific writing skills. Students will particularly benefit when you model effective monitoring and control strategies related to planning, goal-setting, self-evaluation, use of writing resources, self-questioning, and pre-writing. Utah Compose employs programming, design, and architecture that diverse student populations can access equitably to increase learning and improve expression; look for opportunities to use it to better differentiate instruction.

In addition, consider how Utah Compose can facilitate gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student. Utah Compose includes additional instruction and practice across a range of writing skills—from writing a sentence to structuring an argument to avoiding passive voice—to support teachers’ direct instruction. Teachers can develop and assign custom writing tasks to engaging students in guided practice as they take ownership of learning new content. Moreover, Utah Compose delivers prompt, relevant, and actionable feedback. There are numerous ways to collect and use Utah Compose assessment data throughout the school year.  
 

Important Considerations for Integrating Utah Compose with an English/Language Arts Curriculum