Curriculum and Writing

So, last spring, the English department at my school was tasked with creating ALL new curricula for every grade level. Essentially, students were not cutting it by the time they graduated. Many schools struggle with students not performing, but in our case it was a disproportionate number. The hope was that in changing things up, we would reach more kids, more effectively.

In terms of 9th and 10th grade, that meant throwing out what we did and starting over. It was amazing! I got to work with my colleague to choose and design and discuss what we WANTED to teach and how we would reach kids best. So far, it's been awesome! For juniors and seniors, well ... we went from year-long surveys to semester-long courses. In the fall, both juniors and seniors have taken Critical Reading and Writing. The concept? Great - they need to read and write critically. In practice? Too much content, too fast. In a week's time, we will move from these courses to electives (everything from Outdoor Lit to Creative Writing).

Today, during our faculty meeting, we spoke as a department about what changes we want to make in the CRW courses. There was basic consensus that instead of worrying about whether a kid has read 1984 or Hamlet, we need to focus on whether they can construct an effective essay. Even though most of us agreed, there was dissension - a few teachers who push for the "classics" to be taught to every kid.

Since I'm taking Writing and the Teaching of Writing, I piped in and suggested that perhaps a focus on writing would be good. In the junior year there is a huge focus on SAT Prep (barf). Rather than focusing solely on SAT essays, why not teach kids how to write effectively in REAL LIFE?? Isn't that the point? What good is it if they can construct a lackluster essay for a test if they can't string together an analysis? Is it important to read the classics or learn to express yourself?

It boggles my mind when we get so focused on content (isn't that what reading one particular title is, essentially?) if kids can't critically write? Don't they need to write to think, solve, educate, communicate, and so on before they can truly read and interact with a text?

Reading and writing go hand-in-hand, and they're both important. But, if writing is a tool for thinking, and we want kids to think about texts, where do we start? What came first, the chicken or the egg?

So much to think about.