What writing instruction covers
Writing is how students show and sharpen their thinking — writing forces thinking in a way little else does. School writing is organized around three text types and around the writing process, and it develops across every grade and every subject.
The three text types
The Common Core organizes writing into three purposes, taught with growing sophistication each year:
- Narrative — telling a real or imagined story
- Informative/explanatory — explaining a topic clearly
- Argument — making a claim and supporting it with evidence and reasoning
Argument writing gets special emphasis in the upper grades, because building an evidence-based case is central to college and career.
The writing process
Strong writers don't write in one pass. The writing process makes that visible:
- Plan — brainstorm, gather ideas, organize
- Draft — get ideas down without perfecting
- Revise — rework ideas, structure and clarity (the hardest, most important step)
- Edit — fix grammar, spelling and mechanics
- Publish — share the finished piece
Learning to revise — not just fix typos — is what separates developing writers from strong ones.
How writing develops
Early grades focus on getting ideas down and forming sentences. Elementary students write paragraphs across all three text types. Middle school builds multi-paragraph structure and the use of evidence. High school demands sustained argument, research-based writing, and control of style — preparing students for college essays and workplace writing.
Grammar, conventions and craft
The Common Core writing standards cover not just the text types but the language conventions (grammar, usage, punctuation) and the research and revision skills that support good writing. The modern emphasis is on writing for real audiences and purposes, not filling in worksheets.
How writing is measured
Writing is increasingly assessed through actual essays — on state tests, the optional SAT/ACT essay (where offered), AP exams' free-response and document-based questions, and of course college application essays. The ability to write a clear, evidence-based argument under time pressure is highly valued.
How families can help
- Let them write for real audiences and reasons
- Respond to ideas first, mechanics second
- Model revising — show that good writing is rewriting
- Keep a low-stakes journal or family writing habit
- Read widely — strong writers are almost always strong readers
Lessons and related resources
See the Teaching Writing toolkit, the English Language Arts and Reading guides, and the ELA lesson library.
Frequently asked questions
- What are the three types of writing taught in school? Narrative (telling a story), informative or explanatory (explaining a topic), and argument (making a claim with evidence). These come from the Common Core writing standards.
- What is the writing process? Plan, draft, revise, edit and publish. Good writers cycle through it rather than writing once and stopping, with revision being the most important step.
- How do I help without doing the work for them? Talk about ideas and structure, ask questions, and let them make the changes. Fix mechanics last, and never rewrite it for them.
- Why is argument writing emphasized so much? Because building an evidence-based case is central to college and career. The upper-grade standards prioritize it heavily.
- Is handwriting still taught? Early grades still teach handwriting, and some teach cursive, but keyboarding and composition get more emphasis as students get older.